The newsmedia are stiff with wonderment at this new blogging thang, personified by a few dozen of the pesky varmints really being there (what a concept) at the Democratic National Convention. Technorati (disclosure: I’m on the Advisory Board) is trying to do the bigger picture, and every time I go to that page it’s interesting; also Br’er Dave Sifry is going to be CNN’s Ambassador from Blogistan. We could do way worse. The meta-story is more interesting than the story, almost by definition; the Democratic party wants to have an extended tightly-controlled five-day infomercial; the last thing they want is actual news. The news media will play along to some extent but also be furiously looking for some real surprise or conflict or subterfuge in the spirit of if-it-bleeds-it-leads. Two obvious ways the Blogistanis could make a difference would be by uncovering (unexpectedly) real news, or by finding some way to make this largely formal and content-free event a little more human, a little more meaningful, a little funnier. Best of luck, boys and girls. (PS: While on the subject of the political process and the Web as a medium, the Electoral Vote Predictor strikes me as elegant, seamless, and new.)
