Progressives Have a Big Tent at the Dem Convention

[babylonsister]

Progressives Have a Big Tent at the Dem Convention

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted July 14, 2008.

A tent for 800 journalists, bloggers and activists will be set up at Denver's Democratic Convention site.


Few activities are more filled with political insiders than national political party conventions. But this August in Denver, a coalition of progressive groups hopes to broaden the coverage and conversation surrounding the Democratic Convention by hosting 800 bloggers, nonprofit leaders and independent journalists.

ProgressNow.org, the largest online community in Colorado; the Alliance for a Sustainable Colorado; and Daily Kos will put up a big tent next to the Pepsi Center, where writers, bloggers and activists can cover the convention and showcase a progressive agenda.

"There are two things we want to accomplish," said Bobby Clark, ProgressNow deputy director. "The first is to give access to people who are often left out, who don't have a seat at the table. This is not just bloggers, but independent media and nonprofit leaders. It's about access."

"We also want to broaden the conversation during the convention," he said. "We will be hit over the head by the mainstream media with political process stories. Lost in that coverage will be the fact that 48 million Americans don't have health insurance and issues like that. So we want to generate content that can get out that week."

An estimated 15,000 members of the media are expected to go to Denver, with approximately 5,000 receiving credentials to attend the official proceedings. Only 125 bloggers will be credentialed.

The solution is called "the big tent," a 9,000-square-foot, two-story, fully wired platform for alternative coverage and a stage for newsmakers that will be a counterpoint to the usual convention activities such as the adoption of the party platform; nomination of both a vice presidential and presidential candidate; speeches and rallying of campaign workers by party leaders; and a not-insignificant amount of elbow-rubbing by political insiders.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/election08/91339/