Convention a ‘coming-out for bloggers’

Politicians have found a way to embrace the Internet.

For the first time, writers who post their work directly to the Internet on Web logs -- or blogs -- have earned press credentials to cover the Democratic National Convention this week in Boston. The bloggers will add their independent, unpredictable voices to the din of political coverage generated by thousands of print and broadcast reporters.

Democrats invited the bloggers -- Web-savvy, political junkies -- to get the word out to a growing audience of people who turn to the Internet for information.

Republicans plan to credential bloggers for their convention next month.

"It is a national coming-out for bloggers. It's given the blogosphere a whole new level of visibility," said Markos Moulitsas, who works in Berkeley, Calif., and posts his political analysis on DailyKos.com.

The 2-year-old Web site gets about 150,000 visitors a day.

Including bloggers also has raised concerns. Conservatives argue that Democrats are stifling opposing views by not inviting more Republican bloggers. Academics warn all bloggers are suspect sources for accurate information because they have no obligation to remain objective.

Mr. Moulitsas is one of about 30 bloggers invited to work alongside print and broadcast reporters. The convention committee hasn't disclosed the precise number of bloggers or mainstream journalists granted credentials.

Recruiting bloggers to cover the convention is a strategic move to reach people who may not read newspapers or watch television for convention coverage. An estimated 11 percent of Internet users have read blogs, according to a report published in February by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Blogs have had an impact. Two blogs are credited with first reporting comments in 2002 by Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, then majority leader, who praised Sen. Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential bid. Mr. Thurmond promoted segregation. ABCNews.com's blog, the Note, and Joshua Micah Marshall's TalkingPointsMemo.com included stories about Mr. Lott's remarks before mainstream news outlets reported the story.

"When you want to get the message out, you have to go where the people are. More and more, they are going to blogs. Many blogs have a readership that some [newspapers] would die for," said Eric Schnure, the official blogger for the Democratic National Convention Committee who also helped organize the party's effort to invite bloggers.

Republicans will invite 10 to 20 bloggers to cover the party convention in New York City, said Alyssa McClenning, deputy press secretary for the convention.

Newspapers and wire services are joining the trend. The Associated Press, Miami Herald and Chicago Tribune will have reporters writing blogs during the Democratic convention.

Ana Marie Cox, a blogger based in the District who runs Wonkette.com, is posting blogs on her Web site when she isn't covering the convention for MTV.

Nearly all the bloggers with press credentials for the convention in Boston are Democrats. Only two bloggers invited -- Oxblog.com and Command-post.org -- commonly post conservative messages or are sympathetic to the Bush administration's position on the war in Iraq.

The Democratic National Convention Committee should have invited more conservative voices, said Bill Ardolino, a conservative blogger based in the District who keeps his online journal at INDCJournal.com.

Mr. Ardolino said he is out $250 for a nonrefundable airline ticket he bought after the Democrats invited him this month, then revoked the offer a day later.

"They said it was an administrative error. The whole thing was very unprofessional," said Mr. Ardolino, who started his blog in January and gets about 1,500 visits a day on the site.

Mr. Schnure said the convention committee mistakenly invited 20 more bloggers than they could accommodate, but said they didn't target conservatives for exclusion. Most bloggers who requested credentials run liberal blogs, so most who had credentials revoked are Democrats, he said.

Mr. Ardolino said he suspects political ideology might have been involved in the decision to revoke his credentials, "but I don't think it's the big reason. I think they just messed up."

Many bloggers make no effort to be objective, so people read their posts carefully, said Alex S. Jones, former New York Times media reporter and director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

"If anybody is expecting objectivity from bloggers, they are out of their mind," Mr. Jones said.

That subjectivity also makes blogs popular, Mr. Schnure said.