The contradiction of the lefty blogosphere

[burythehatchet]

There is a trend taking place with lefty netroots which is very disconcerting. Certain members, authors of popular blogs are being elevated to celebrity status and it does not bode well for our future.

The power of the netroots, indeed the reason we have had an impact over the last 4 years, is in numbers. Ergo, Net"roots".

We have shown the corporate media that we cannot be suppressed, because of our numbers. While we don't act, nor are controlled in a monolithic system, we have certain positions and preferences that seem to speak on a fairly united platform.

The problem come in when the power of numbers and our representation as grass roots (semi) activists becomes circumvented. How does this happen? This occurs when a few select members are accorded celebrity status. While we generally agree with the positions of these individuals, they do not represent us. But the corporate media, in their inane attemps to simplify the "debate", have elevated them into de facto spokespeople for our causes.

In essence, this dynamic effectively takes away our power becasue it dilutes the power of numbers by identifying a few people who the media can present as representative of the left. This is not and should not be the case.

While it seems a positive thing that we are getting more main stream exposure, it does not help us in the long term because it reduces and minimizes our source of power.

Personally, I believe that we have been making our presence felt quite effectively and I do not wish to see a few bloggers becoming talking heads who speak for us.

[JeffR]

1. Thoughtful post

One way or the other the MSM will craft a narrative about this, to put the netroots in a box and slap a label on it.

On the other hand, anyone in the blogosphere who succumbs to being turned into a celebrity does so at the peril of losing their relevance in the eyes of those of us who read, trust and support them, so there's a potential downside for them personally. In other words, some may sell out, but they'll pay quite a price for it.

[burythehatchet]

4. It occured to me when I found myself

disassociating myself from, in spirit, from Kos. (Don't know him, don't post there). Then when I heard that in CT, Kos is part of the debate, Lieberman Vs. Kos, I said WTF? How does making him part of the debate help anyone except Kos?

[JeffR]

6. Your post certainly made me think of Kos right away

[Swamp Rat]

2. good point n/t

[Minnesota Libra]

3. I would be the last person on earth to propose liberals............

....start walking/talking in lock-step with anyone or any particular idea.

That having been said I liberals shoot themselves in their political foot by not trying to have at least a tad more consensus among the rank and file.

I know, I know, those words normally invite a flame fest but they are not meant that way, it's merely meant as friendly hope and pray.

[burythehatchet]

5. But I think we do generally have consensus.

Its a matter of allowing the media and the oppositinon to define and label us , as the first poster said.

[Minnesota Libra]

9. Oh you've seen a consensus at DU about...........

.....what exactly?? Anytime a issue is mentioned or a candidate is proposed all we hear at DU is "I won't vote for anyone who believes........." or, "I will never vote for (insert candidate's name) because........." So I don't know what consensus there is among liberals but whatever it is I haven't seen much of it in a long time.

[burythehatchet]

10. About what exactly??

The war in Iraq

Social security reform

Gay right

Flag burning

Election reform

Civil rights

Voting for or supporting a specific candidate is not a position.

...I have to run now.:)

[Minnesota Libra]

14. What good will that "Position" list do if we liberals can't............

....agree on who to vote in to office in order to carry those positions out??? I'll admit the list itself is very admirable but a list is worthless without people to make it all come true. That's what I'm talking about, the list of items themselves I thought was a given. My point was liberals agreeing on who to bring them about - that will be the sticking point.

[burythehatchet]

17. That's an entirely different debate

which is a departure from the original post.

[Minnesota Libra]

19. Right!! Of course!!! Sure!!!.................

....sounds good I guess.:applause:

[Bandit]

7. The whole reason I ended up at this site is because

The person who started Buzzflash was on Washington Journal. I first went to Buzzflash and followed their link to DU. That was early 2001. It was a very positive result to have a spokesperson on TV IMO. just my $.02 worth :shrug:

[BillZBubb]

8. When there is a leadership vacuum, it gets filled.

Since there is no Democratic leader willing or able to step up and take an unequivocal position for the left, we are drawn to the blogs. They have the only megaphone available to us. We have no other spokespeople for the left. I would rather have Kos debating for my side than Lieberman, Biden, H. Clinton, Schumer, or Reid. Someone has to talk for the left and the bloggers are the logical choice given the lack of an alternative.

I don't believe we have made our presence felt effectively at all. Without the blogs, our position wouldn't even be heard. Frankly, I don't understand your post.

[burythehatchet]

11. Your comments are proof positive of my point

In a short paragraph, you have equated Kos with "the blogs".

In your second paragraph you say "without the blogs, our position wouldn't even be heard". Have I advocated doing away with blogs? Did the blogs not generate the candidacies of certain political newcomers? Didn't blogs, or the netroots to be more precise, bring Ned Lamont to life? How many news reports do you see because WE kept an issue alive and dissected it until the corporate media is forced to cover it? How can you not recognize that this medium has made a difference?

[BillZBubb]

13. I still don't GET YOUR POINT!!!!!

Kos is a blogger. He speaks as a blogger. He is not a substitute for "the blogs". But when you need one person to speak as is the case with the media, someone has to stand up. I have no problem with a blogger like Kos taking the leftist side in a media debate. That doesn't diminish the other blogs.

I totally recognize the medium has made a difference. I don't get your point.

[burythehatchet]

15. I'm aware you don't GET MY POINT!!!!!

Not much more I can do to help. Sorry. :(

[rman]

20. point is: Centralized authority of any kind can easily be abused/corrupted

It's true in government, in the economy, in the traditional media.
No reason why it wouldn't be true in the new media.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. AHHH! yes, exactly.

People are social creatures. People have comfort in numbers, and people enjoy giving certain duties and responsibilities to a few capable of and responsible enough to be leaders, spokespersons and representatives. For one thing, it is efficient. For another, it allows those not capable or not wishing to be leaders or spokespersons to concentrate their talents on tasks they prefer or excel at.

I have no problems with Kos or others gaining celebrity status, not if they understand the base, if they are responsible and mature, and if the "power" or popularity does not go to their heads. If it does, the netroots march on elsewhere. If it does not, and if they are effective, more power to them.

Social engineering is taking place, to be sure. The "internets" are changing the way we communicate, govern, and more. We have yet to fully understand the full impact of this medium. the full weight and strength have not been measured or analyzed. And this medium is still in its infancy. (consider that 10 yrs ago, relatively few people actually used the net)

I do not worry so much about the fleeting influence, popularity or the MSM's selection process in chase of a story or in an effort to create contraversy. Those are all normal events.
What I do worry about is the MSM and big bizniz attack on the medium itself. What they cannot control, they fear. and what they fear, they want to change, package and sell. And of course, control.

[blm]

12. I agree - and I am angered at the apparent lax ethics regarding accuracy

in the blogoshpere and I think they are doing it to support their own opinions.

I used to go to many sites to hear them analyze the statements of the corporate media and CORRECT them with the real facts - it was very helpful to stick to the historic record as if facts mattered. Now too many throw out bad facts almost as much as the media if it supports their preferred storyline.

Many are becoming no different than the corporate mediawhores they once replaced.

[seabeyond]

25. we had an opportunity that was needed in this country. i am

disappointed too. it i smore opinion than reporting news. gosh for the days when news was simply given without some mouth telling us how we were suppose to interpret it. i dont need media for it. and they diss the dems as hard and fast as any msm or republican in the name of being democrat. they use the same talking point over looking or forgetting events that happen. they have progressively gotten worse seperating themselves from the pack with individual character at the expense of democrats. i think we will see the negative effects of this as our dems run and are dissed and not valued for the positive they do. getting the negative coverage equal to msm. i think we should all be wary of our blogs. and i am disappointed because a year ago i saw the opportunity of our left creating blogs into a msm that would be a positive effect for all of america, not just dems. it is not going to be that way

[bluestateguy]

16. Those are good points

Bloggers who are annointed as celebrities by the media are then vulnerable to charges of having "gone establishment" from the people in the trenches.

[MazeRat7]

18. Squeaky wheel gets the grease....

you are dead on... those that "evangelize" the loudest will get the most attention. Unfortunately, those folks are generally the extreme, regardless of political bent, and speak mostly to hear themselves speak rather than speaking for others.

Ahhh...the net blog where any schmo can have their 15mins of fame... :rofl:

MZr7

[The2ndWheel]

21. Has anything ever not ended up doing that though?

Power centralizes and consolidates. That's what it does. That's all it does really. It eventually breaks up, and then the process starts all over again, until it breaks up, then starts over, then breaks up, starts over...............................................

This is why I never really got into the whole blog thing. I don't see it revolutionizing a damn thing.

[Junkdrawer]

22. I think there's been an effort over the last few years to rein in...

the Left blogosphere. While this was always the case, the recognition that more and more people were turning to the Internet for news and the interpretation of news meant that something had to be done to extend the reach of the ruling corporate elite to the Internet and the Left blogs.

Planting moles to steer us in one direction or another would be just one obvious way of doing this.

[izzybeans]

23. I was surprised at even the amount of star gazing that goes on in here

Good ideas sink like a stone by less known members and the old boys and girls club publish utter rubish and it hits the greatest page.

However there will from time to time be someone who rises up through the ranks to the level of a political leader. That is something I would support; Politicians coming from the roots.

Faux-celebrity bloggers/posters are just annoying. Not personally, but the idea of them and the fawning over them is. I have yet to come across a blogger or a poster on this board or Kos or any other that I would elevate above and beyond just another like minded individual. Good people all of us.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. Who are they? Name them and we'll cut the hits to their webpages.

Just kidding.

[burythehatchet]

27. heh..heh..if the point makes sense then

I suppose I wouldn't have to tell you who they are
:)

[PATRICK]

28. Some other effects

besides boosting egos already sorely tested by chat room dominance, many bloggers are not that good on TV or on the radio. Nerdy, unedited, shaky, some have left their particular literary skills at the keyboard.
One advantage- a negative one- is that they reveal their humanity, their shakiness and often their on the spot commitment to certain beliefs readers often gloss over in the text world.

Most I would suspect enter the TV world fully vulnerable to being used as has been stated in the post. Most perform very well on the issues even so, but seem to drift into the celebrity machinery and develop those skills which are destructive of their actual strengths. A pro radio announcer can be flattered and part of the gang too much also, but it must be worse for amateur fish really out of their element.

It seems too that the TV-radio media have been anointing blog representatives for too long. They tried hard to pick right or "centrist" leaning blogs to their advantage and have now graced more truth-telling investigative lefties with their unwanted attentions.

One of the big slippery oddities in the information wars is that blogs so largely frame themselves around the MSM whether as critics or viewers. The liars and propagandists hogging access to TV and radio become the luminaries around which the Internet revolves much too much. TV must be invaded, not as controlled guests, but as rival networks linked to internet research and opinions. The mainstream is still occupied territory and "freedom fighters" who appear in the puppet media do so at their predictable risk.

I think it was Robert parry who made the point that it is wrong to abandon all the major media outlets to the corporate right. They certainly remain the focus of much internet discussion and not viewing them as much doesn't mean the average American is not harmed by the universal absence of fair media. We need more actual networks, stations and papers, not to narrow and encircle the blogosphere into the current MSM as a defanged adjunct. Getting the one alternative off the ground is taking entirely too long- and it would have NO competition at all in the field of fair and complete news.

[Armstead]

29. We complain when our voices aren't in the MSM.....And now we complain....

because spokespeople for our positions are getting into the MSM?

Sounds like a Catch 22.

I take your point that by elevating and personalizing all of this, it does narrow the scope somewhat. But pragmatically, as long as the celebrity bloggers don;t sell out to the siren song of celebrity, they are getting new perspectives into the media.

[Southsideirish]

30. Often when folks are lionized they start reaching out for more of it.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see certain celebrated bloggers begin to enter the MSM as an "alternative thinker" type thereby they could rationalize it to themselves that they were advancing the cause. The money, fame and power would be quite an intoxicant.

Pretty soon the blog gets delegated to "guest bloggers" and eventually, a new host.