David and I will speak on, “The Agony and Ecstasy of Successful State-Local Blogging,” panel next Thursday at YearlyKos from 11-12:30. What points do you think we should stress?
Here is the official description of the session:
Building successful state-wide networks in the online and offline worlds is a key component to your success. Find out how to tap the rich resources of progressive groups and like-minded bloggers to help build your influence. Then, once your blog hits the big time, how do you deal with trolls, flame wars, crazy uncle bloggers and the seedy side of your newfound virtual fame?
Of course, we didn’t start BMG so much as a way to, “build our influence,” but, rather, as a way to fulminate about all of the things that bug us, like collapsing $14.6 billion tunnels, local politicians who don’t even know how to treat a dog properly, Vice Presidents who preach the virtues of war but can’t handle a shotgun, regressive propagandists for the Republican Party who pretend to be news outlets, grotesquely inefficient health care systems that deliver sub-standard care for gold-plated prices, and the like.
But I digress. I am grateful as always for your thoughts.
I never claimed to be a news outlet!
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Seriously, let me opine about your fulminations. Collapsing tunnels? True mission. ‘Local’ dog abusers? Good – progressives will look to you for local color. Health care – good – part of national discussion. Gun toting Voldemorts? Less so, unless the gun was made here (?).
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You are good local bloggers BECAUSE you talk about the MA-5th, John Bonifaz, and other local phenomenons. While everybody can write about what bugs them, indeed, may feel compelled to, it is not your highest and best use.
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I like a good argument about METCO or Howie best of all, as THAT is State/Local. Anyways, Invisible Bob, this is quite an honor for you both, and well deserved.
Hurray for local blogs. The wisdom of the circle gathered around the crackling wood fire at the back of the local general store transplanted into the 21st century.
OR – come to visit it’s modern equivalent, Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans, with free wi-fi and lattes!
Of the back of the Barnard General Store in Vermont in the winter.
–Like minded group. I’m a liberal and most of the people here are, too. So a lot of the discussions are able to go further because they don’t get caught up on partisan talking points. That being said, I enjoy respectful dissenting posters who keep people honest. I’ve been accused of being one, even.
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–Consistent style and format. I come here to read about dem biased politics and I generally like the style of discussion between posters. I go to JayFitz, Dan Kennedy, Adam Reilly and Keller for completely different things, but similar reasons. They all know their niche and don’t try to be what they are not.
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–Easy to use. There’s a core of peole that do most of the work for me. Seriously, as much as I’d like to think I’m capable, I can’t stay committed to finding, thinking about and posting enough and in an interesting enough way to draw a crowd consistently. Kudos to the proprietors and core people who post enough to make BMG interesting after the 10th visit of the day. And where comments tend to add so much to the original post.
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–Not all links. I don’t like to have to jump from one site to forty others to get the jist of things. Atrios frustrates me for this at times. BMG keeps me a little focused. I benefit from following links to stories, but it isn’t always mandatory to get the point.
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That’s plenty from me. The contrarian in me starts twitching if I give out too many compliments at once.
links is something that I appreciate too. It really is a hassle when a lot of links are embedded in a comment making hard to read. At the same time I think that links for the meat of a post that refers to someone elses writing is necessary. Especially now that we are more aware of the copyright protections for writings. It wasnt that long ago that just cutting and pasting whole articles (with proper attribution) was common but it isnt kosher so a link is needed when you are suggesting that someone read a whole article.
Especially when he’s rude. And the polls. Love the polls.
Having gotten myself involved in local politics and therefore with folks who had an opportunity to look at BMG for the first time, I saw first hand how some comments — humorous in that inimitably rude style — were a tremendous turn-off and made people think that Blue Mass Group is some sort of arcane, weird world not to be visited often. It was difficult to explain EB3 and his role here.
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That experience suggests to me that posts and commentary of the spicy sort might get lots of typists active but they may not increase readership. On the contrary.
and participate in a discussion. This has been my only gripe about this blog.
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No pets allowed.
Thank you for all of your comments. I’ll definitely mention this kind of issue during our discussion if I have a chance.
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Thanks also to the other commenters on this thread. I agree with most of the points. And God forbid anyone should ever get self-congratulatory around here. I’m jolly conscious of my own warts, just for starters, so you won’t hear much of that from me I hope.
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Finally, PP, I would like to note that you were not the one I had in mind when I fulminated about regressives!
it was a subtle nod to this.
It is hard to be local in these days of constant world/national crisis and drama. One thing I like about the BMG approach to local blogging is that it isn’t limited to local issues–local issues are integrated with national and world issues.
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The reach and scope of the media has changed over the years. We used to get the Herald Traveler in the morning and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune in the evening every day. The local-national-world evening news was more of a reliable nightly source – so that most people were on the same page with what was going on in the news whether they agreed or not. Radio talk was less homogeneous. Now if you are not
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A lot more of us commute to work nowadays and have less involvement in local issues. At my house we often only get to read newpapers on the weekends. That abstracts us a bit from local issues. That being said, I think the local approach is where it is at.
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Indulge me if I dont remember the story exactly —Howard Dean told a funny story when he began his trip across the country to kick off his 50 state strategy. He said he went to Alaska and visited a small town with a handful of democrats involved in the local party. They told him that no one from the DNC had been in touch in >20years. Any time there is a dispute over close votes — it is the party with the best local operation that is going to have the advantage.
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Blogs can function as a bridge for some of us who have been a little distant from local issues. If not for seeing real people talk about the Middleborough casino issue here it would have just been a boring story to fast-forward past in the newspaper.
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Speaking of local: there has been a lot of nice stuff going on in Massachusetts this weekend: The Lowell Folk Festival and the Newburyport Yankee Homecoming.
It is hard to be local in these days of constant world/national crisis and drama. One thing I like about the BMG approach to local blogging is that it isn’t limited to local issues–local issues are integrated with national and world issues.
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The reach and scope of the media has changed over the years. We used to get the Herald Traveler in the morning and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune in the evening every day. The local-national-world evening news was more of a reliable nightly source – so that most people were on the same page with what was going on in the news whether they agreed or not. Radio talk was less homogeneous.
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A lot more of us commute to work nowadays and have less involvement in local issues. At my house we often only get to read newpapers on the weekends. That abstracts us a bit from local issues. That being said, I think the local approach is where it is at.
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Indulge me if I dont remember the story exactly —Howard Dean told a funny story when he began his trip across the country to kick off his 50 state strategy. He said he went to Alaska and visited a small town with a handful of democrats involved in the local party. They told him that no one from the DNC had been in touch in >20years. Any time there is a dispute over close votes — it is the party with the best local operation that is going to have the advantage.
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Blogs can function as a bridge for some of us who have been a little distant from local issues. If not for seeing real people talk about the Middleborough casino issue here it would have just been a boring story to fast-forward past in the newspaper.
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Speaking of local: there has been a lot of nice stuff going on in Massachusetts this weekend: The Lowell Folk Festival and the Newburyport Yankee Homecoming.
Hi, My name is Mary Eaton and I am the “editor” of the Newburyport Blog. The Newburyport Blog has been around since January 2006. (I don’t know if I am allowed to put the url, but if I am, it is http://marybakerart…..)
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Writing a “local” blog is very different than writing a “state” blog, because I see and know the people that I write about all the time around town. And I like almost all of them, whether I agree politically with them or not. I try to write about issues with tact and humor. I don’t want to “slam” someone for whatever they have done politically and then meet them in the supermarket.
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Because they are interrelated, state issues often come up on the Newburyport Blog. This spring we had an override for the Newburyport Schools, and the Municipal Partnership Act is discussed (and supported by me).
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One of the things that I like about having a local blog issues are not discussed in the “abstract.” Real people that the community knows are involved from all sorts of points of view in something like a school override. So how that override evolved and was voted on had a personal story. Probably the story is not unlike other communities. So in that way the issues on the Newburyport Blog are in some sense “universal” and apply not just to people who live in Newburyport, MA.
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So, I think a good local blog is a combination of issues, and empathy towards the people in the community that contribute to those issues, and telling the story on a very human level about how those issues come about, evolve and occasionally, very occasionally get resolved.