To follow the Democratic National Convention by blog is to absorb a kaleidoscope of sliced-and-diced images and stare cross-eyed until a larger image surfaces, a la Magic Eye.
You’ve got teary-eyed R.T. Rybak leading the “Teddy, Teddy” chants in the Minnesota section of the Pepsi Center. Michelle doting on her hubby. Protestors chanting. A photographer grumbling that he can’t use a tripod.
And it’s all filtered through ongoing analysis of the mainstream media, such as this sample:
7:52 Shawn: TV guys (NY1 and PBS) are irritating me, keep talking about how there doesn’t appear to be “energy for the candidate” in the hall
7:54 Rick: Certainly doesn’t look that way to me!
7:55 Shawn: I would agree
Chicago Public Radio‘s Justin Kaufmann noticed that Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ last name was misspelled on the huge LED sign he spoke in front of. D.C. techie Jill Foster shared an elevator with Arianna Huffington and exchanged a “hey,” which she relayed in an ecstatic audio report on Utterz.
And a deaf college student was tickled that Anderson Cooper greeted her so graciously.
To follow the DNC by blog is to experience the scene outside the Pepsi Center. The elephant and donkey mascots rolling through downtown Denver on Segways to promote MSNBC. The Google Retreat pictured on Flickr.
That’s exactly what you get: flickers of colors and shapes and sounds. Multi-sensory, multimedia. You can almost taste the Google smoothies and smell the B.O.
Some 120 credentialed bloggers — and countless unofficial ones — are chronicling the DNC, minute by minute, blow by blow, sneeze by sneeze. Day 1 in Denver provided ample fodder for sarcasm and swooning alike.
If you invite the bloggers, they will come. And if the Democratic Party opens a thread on its blog Monday morning with the simple instruction “Chat away…,” 291 comments will be posted before bed.
Suddenly, you’ve got that raw, uncensored vibe that’s become so vogue. You’ve gone viral.
The first-ever credentialed convention bloggers have already delivered a more candid take on a political rally, and some members of the mainstream media are following their lead. Those of us following online in the Twin Cities are picking up personal bits of both observers and politicians. Soon we’ll be seeing high-resolution images of Obama’s nose hair. And to think that 68 years ago, Americans didn’t know their president was paralyzed.
Following their lead?
No.
I blogged the ’04 conventions, I blogged (although we didn’t call it that) in ’96, and I’m blogging this one.
I know a lot of bloggers they’re the first to discover a different way of covering these conventions, but they’re not.
Thanks Christina for covering the DNC blogger perspective.
And on a personal note, I appreciate you citing that elevator encounter with Arianna Huffington…what a thrill! The entire week with its immersion into MSM, social media, and issues was unforgettable.
What particularly stood out was how top democratic leaders – governors, senators, reps – took initiative to visit the Big Tent blogger lounge a few blocks from the Pepsi Center. The bloggers were given interview time, voluntarily, with these individuals. That was a powerful surprise to see that type of acknowledgment for political bloggers. –Jill Foster, also http://www.utterz.com/jillfoster