Perspective: The blogging cover-up

Web logs have done more to spark opinion-sharing than anything since the creation of the Internet. But is this new vehicle of unconstrained expression fated to come under the thumb of the powers that be?

I'd like to believe that free debate will remain unfettered, but the reality is that the big political interest groups won't ignore a medium that allows them to so powerfully manipulate a party message. Moves are already afoot to shade the blogosphere ever so slightly for partisan advantage.

The Democrats plan to invite a limited number of bloggers to their summer political convention in Boston. A Republican spokesman quoted by the Associated Press says the GOP is still thinking about what it wants to do. My hunch is that they'll do pretty much the same as the Democrats. And why not? This is the best guarantee of "positive" coverage since the spinmeisters in the Pentagon came up with the idea of embedding reporters with the troops fighting in Iraq.

Without questioning the integrity of bloggers lucky enough to receive credentials to attend the conventions, let's also face facts: When it comes to crafting the message, neither party is above suspicion. The last thing the respective handlers want is to invite a wild card. Imagine Michael Moore at the Republican National Convention. How about Rush Limbaugh hanging out while John Kerry delivers his stem-winder? You get the idea: Control the message at all costs.

"You've got to closely watch what they do," a political consultant recently told me, adding that campaigns can't afford to adopt a casual approach to blogs that pop up during races. "Some of them are really crazy."

If not crazy, then agitated. If not agitated, definitely hostile. And if not hostile, then most assuredly independent. Such may be the attributes of blogging democracy, but it sure ain't what political professionals want to unleash into the midst of their media moment of the summer.

Because this is such a hot race, the parties are not going to take unnecessary chances. So after vetting the list to weed out any cantankerous curmudgeons, the candidate pool will consist of mainstream hacks, true believers and morally rancid suck-ups to political authority. In other words, the kind of folks who will blend quite nicely into the big show.

Sounds good on paper, but the plan will inevitably boomerang. Do you really believe that bloggers with legitimate street reps won't scream bloody murder? The reality is that the parties will get skewered--rightfully--for manipulating these oh-so-shiny cyberprops when they'd be better served by inviting folks of an independent bent.

Even if the two parties do show courage and allow for a multiplicity of blogging voices, I'm afraid that the writing's already on the wall. Scrolling through countless "political blogs" on the Internet, how many of them are authored by party operatives? Truth be told, there's no way to really know the answer. Still, in a word that has raised agitprop to an art, I don't take anything at face value anymore.

Now you can go roast wieners over the weekend. Happy Fourth of July.

Biography
Charles Cooper is CNET News.com's executive editor of commentary.

More Perspectives

It's mainly the fault of the media

Blogging would NOT be the problem it is if it weren't for the media interest generated.

Regrettably, it's the constant need for sensationalist stories that drives the media to keep searching for the next piece of destructive gossip and irrelevant, life-destroying trash that anyone with an ounce of integrity knows to be totally false and unworthy of attention.

[jeroethel]

agitprop

"Agitprop" seems to be the new glamor word for 2004. While the broad definition is simply "propaganda", the more subtle connotation is "communist propraganda". While it is always fun to learn new words, I am inclined to suggest that your use of the term was not entirely accurate.

[lodurr]

Commie? No, it's just subtlety of langauge

Your point is well taken, to an extent: A term like "agitprop" can have huge negative value in certain contexts. Say, for example, if Rush Limbaugh referred to something from, say, American Samizdat as "Agitprop", it would be straight shorthand for saying "they're commies." If American Samizdat referred to a WSJ OpEd as "aditprop", they're saying "these guys are as morally bankrupt at the commies were."

Cooper's not a partisan flack, he's a tech journalist, and believe it or not the general standard of literacy is higher in that population than in mainstream journalism. So I suspect his usage is the second, more subtle kind.

Similarly, I've often referred to Libertarians, supply-side theorists, and socially-conservative Republicans as "fellow travellers", to drive home the idea that they were enablers for the more fundamental ultra-pro-business message of the Republican power-core in much the same way that Socialists were fellow-travellers for soviet-style international communism in the 20s-40s.

And hey, while we're on teh subject: Anybody remember that great '80s art-pop/funk/punk band from Poughkeepsie, AgitPop?

[charlie cooper]

agitprop

Dear "Unknown,"

While the term has its origin in the Communist movement, agitprop now more commonly refers to propagandizing and agitating.

[sheilawash]

The Blogging Cover-Up

Because web logs have done so much and have a solid place in our culture, it is now a cottage industry. The fact that the power minders are now looking to capitalize is evidence of that.
To control a take over by the powers, the community of bloggers have to launch their own counter measures. This horse is out of the barn,
so the challenge is how do we manage it.
Can there be some kind of organized offense, such as, "keep the last light of unfettered democracy, blogging, burning today - pick the opening dates of both conventions. Something like honk your horn use in other campaigns. This however, would be formated in the internet.

Thanks for the info.
Sheila

Blogs = Where I get my news from.

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.dailykos.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.dailykos.com/</a> and other blogs listed here is where I get my news from.

Not sure if Steve actually emailed you but just in case he did not, it would do you good to read it Mr. Cooper. <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2004/07/bloggers-in-boston.html" target="_newWindow">http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2004/07/bloggers-in-boston.html</a>