Video bloggers ready to incite 'media revolution'

As Jordan Nealy blows out four candles on her birthday cake in South Carolina, Irina Slutsky interviews a technology executive in Texas, and Helene Cardona recites a poem from a train platform in Los Angeles.

What's the common thread between these seemingly unrelated acts? They're all early April entries on three different video blogs, and together they illustrate the diversity emerging from the flourishing world of video blogging, which will take center stage this weekend in San Francisco at the Vloggercon conference.

Jordan, 4, is one of the stars of Erin Nealy's "Mom's Brag Vlog." Slutsky is the anchor for "Geek Entertainment TV," a somewhat snarky video news blog about Web 2.0. And Cardona is one of many featured subjects filmed by Gena Haskett on her socially conscious "Out on the Stoop" video blog.

Despite their varying demographics, technical skills, artistic styles and purpose, these video bloggers, or "vloggers"--along with more than 300 other participants at the sold out conference--share an enthusiasm for the format they use to tell their stories.

Some of the participants and video blogging pioneers feel they're a part of a "media revolution"--one that could finally give people "a viable alternative to commercial TV," says video blogger Josh Wolf. "People don't have to sit back and listen to whatever the media is feeding them."

Vloggercon organizer Schlomo Rabinowitz adds, "I can seek out work that's meaningful to me."

The vlog difference
The conference is also about the exchange of ideas and information: Discussion topics range from how the popular and quirky Rocketboom launched to its current viewership of 50,000 per day, to how to "pimp out" a video blog.

Video: Video bloggers of all stripes
Tom Green is a vlogger?

Some participants also see the weekend as a sort of family reunion and an opportunity to network and share resources.

"It's about connecting with old friends I met a year ago online," says Markus Sandy, a longtime software developer who runs workshops about video blogging.

Nealy, a stay-at-home mom who happened on video blogging while looking for a place to host video of her kids, adds that she's most looking forward to meeting people she's gotten to know online. "I've yet to meet a video blogger in person," she says.

Video blogs, "vlogs," are just like regular blogs in almost every way. They're interactive online diaries, archived in chronological order with the most recent entry on top. The difference is that in place of text, or in addition to it, video blogs consistently offer original video clips, which can range from short feature films to news reports to raw footage of everyday life.

[canubelieveit]

Too Bad for Vloggers...

It's too bad that the move against Net Neutrality in Washington
could put an end to vlogging's potential life--just as it's
beginning...

I doubt that Vorizon, AT&T, and the others will want to help
vlogging along, since it could seriously hinder their cable/TV
business.

Get ready for the slow lane on vlogger data...

[Christopher King]

You got that right.

Oh, they are a heinous bunch; I posted on that a while back:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/04/save-internet-from-congress-and-major.html

Also, dig the NSA/Verizon and NAACP connection:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/05/verizon-nsa-and-naacp-ceo-bruce-gordon.html

We'll see w'happens next.

Peace.

[Christopher King]

As a legal video podcaster I am appalled.

The government oppression of Mr. Wolf must stop, just as surely as it must stop against me or any other citizen who in any way exposes government corruption. More on this shortly.

I have a background as a former editor and photojournalist for an Ohio weekly (Call & Post) and reporter at a daily (IndyStar) prior to law school, where I extensively studied Civil Rights.

Last week I issued a comment on Crime and Federalism on Mr. Wolf's arrest as being violative of all the principles of Journalism that pertain to the public's right to receive derivative information as protected by the reporter's right not to divulge protected sources. In fact I even pointed out that reporters who do divulge those sources are being sued under Promissory Estoppel, so they are now in fact whipsawed.

http://federalism.typepad.com/crime_federalism/2006/08/no_privilege_at.html

As you can see, I made my points by and through the example of one Judith Miller, of whom I am no great fan, which is wholly irrelevant when it comes to the privilege that must be afforded to the Fourth Estate in order for it to effectively serve its mission.

I applaud Mr. Wolf's pioneerism as one of the world's first video bloggers -- because I am, too:

I am the first and only lawyer to post actual court documents and courtroom footage of a First Amendment case involving a bad cop, and to host a video podcast site detailing such a case, at KingCast.net no less. We've had video up since spring of 1995.

KingCast.net is now joined by a sister site that also uses video to expose corruption, aptly named Justiceforkids.net. That's why Dvorak Uncensored links to me regarding Michael Gannon's arrest for video/audio taping a police officer in his own home!

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=5963

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/08/kingcast-sees-nashua-pd-finally-drop_04.html

In fact, I mention the Revolution specifically in one of my KingCast short films, specifically "Live Revolution."

And in a couple of blawg entries, such as this one:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/04/revolution-will-be-televised.html

Yesterday I discussed the Ohio Supreme Court, eminent domain and property rights:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/08/kingcast-applauds-ohio-supreme-court.html

Peace.

[Christopher King]

Ooopsy.

Forgot this:

They have not managed to lock me up, as I noted in my "prisonblog" segments as I note at the bottom of this post:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/03/rollin-or-sold-down-river.html

Wherein I say exactly what Mr. Wolf must be thinking:

"They wanna' lock me up? I'll start "prisonblawg" since all you need is a damn phone to blawg anymore, and like Attica, we'll foment a damn bloody insurrection up in that [facility]; document abuses in real time, too. That's what I'm serving up; watch my movies, coming soon to a new website and... ahem..... server near you. Near everywhere."

And you can hear some of the phonecasts right here:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/01/what-people-are-saying-about.html

But they have tried to shut me down 7 times:

http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/04/naacp-trial-7-attempts-to-chill-first.html

http://kingcast.net and http://justiceforkids.net: You can have our videos when you pry our cold, dead hands....