The most popular political blogs now function as instant agenda setters. Journalists turn to elite blogs in search of fast interpretations of events.
That’s one of the points Daniel Drezner emphasized when I met him for an interview at a coffee shop close to the University of Chicago campus last October. The piece has meanwhile been published in German (Netzeitung) and Swedish (Axess, not online).
University of Chicago political scientist Daniel W. Drezner is one of those names that quickly turn up if you’re looking for informative American blogs on politics and economy. Drezner’s blog seems to be on many people’s blogrolls and reading lists. Blogging has simply made Drezner known among people who wouldn’t otherwise have come across a young assistant professor. “If you want to reach expert status in your field and are a good blogger, chances are much better that you will make a name for yourself,” Drezner says in this interview about blogging, the media and opinion formation.
The crucial word here is “good”. Bad writing or misunderstanding the genre won’t make any blogger famous, even if yu’re a respected professor. “You need a good internal editor,” as Drezner says. In fact, he has “employed” one himself. In Drezner’s blog posts his own internal editor keeps interrupting with comments and criticism – a smart and entertaining twist on the much praised “conversation” of blogs.
Q: A lot has been said about the importance of blogs for politics and the media in the US. What is your view?
A: “The discussion about the role of bloggers in various political scandals is well known. One example is former republican Senate majority leader Trent Lott’s remarks at a party for veteran Strom Thurmond in December 2002, where he praised Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist presidential bid. The media didn’t view this as a big story, but then many bloggers kept criticizing Lott and the media until the major media picked it up. Lott resigned later as majority leader. Other examples are the CBS 60 Minutes memo about George W. Bush’s military service that lead to the resignation of TV news veteran Dan Rather after heavy criticism from bloggers, and CNN executive Eason Jordan, who stepped down after he was criticized by bloggers for remarks about the US military’s role in shootings of journalists in Iraq.
But more interesting recently has been bloggers’ reactions to acts by the Bush administration. After Katrina the administration spent more money without reducing spending in other areas, which provoked republican bloggers. Then there was the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Bloggers were clearly disillusioned, something that surprised the media. A lot of the discussions concerned whether she was qualified. The focus was also on cronyism tendencies in the Bush administration, which also was an issue post-Katrina.
The bloggers’ competitive advantage is speed. Because they can react so quickly, they can act as a frame for journalists to interpret events.
Bloggers are important because they now are read by media and politicians. It’s an elite-driven phenomenon. One could see it when a woman didn’t manage to get through to the Senate to complain against John Bolton, during the period when his nomination to UN ambassador was discussed. Instead she contacted the blogger Daily Kos, and two hours after he had mentioned her case came the phone call from the Senate.
To the media, blogs are good barometers. And because the top blogs have such a big share of the traffic, it’s quite effective for the media to follow them.
In areas of particular expertise, you can see the same pattern. “The Irish Trojan’s Blog” by law student and amateur weatherman Brendan Loy quickly became widely read when he predicted an “unprecedented cataclysm” in New Orleans, three days before Katrina hit the city.”
Q: In other words, blogs have changed the way opinion is shaped?
A: “The difference and interaction between blogs and the op-ed pages of newspapers can illustrate this. Blogs are of course much more accessible. Bloggers tend to form personal networks with other bloggers, send each other tips and suggestions. Blogs can function as a kind of minor league farm system. If you want to reach expert status in your field and are a good blogger, chances are much better that you will make a name for yourself. That makes it easier to get published on the newspapers’ op-ed pages.
Is this an elite phenomenon? I am a professor, so you could say that for my part, but there are others who have acquired the same status without a formal elite position. Kevin Drum had no background from journalism or political experience, but made an impression as blogger and was hired by the magazine Washington Monthly to write for them.
Blogging is not a purely democratic phenomenon. It is easier to get noticed if you have elite credentials. But that’s not enough by itself. You must be able to write, and to write in a blog style. Some professors have tried to blog, but clearly not understood that posting a journal article doesn’t work. You need a good internal editor. And you have to be willing to admit mistakes, and correct them.”
Q: But all in all, you think that blogging has a democratizing effect?
A: “Blogs do make things much more democratic. They have lowered the barriers for entry. There will always be inequalities, but blogs reduce them and contribute to a more egalitarian democracy. Related to this is a very interesting debate about blogs and the public sphere – if blogs actually help to improve the public sphere in the habermasian sense.”
Q: The relationship between bloggers and the media in the US often seems very confrontational?
A: “Both the left and the right complain about the media. The left see the media as big multinational corporations. The right see the media as leftwing biased.
In the US there is a lot of distrust towards elite institutions. That also holds true even for people who have elite credentials themselves. Distrust towards the government has been great for a long time in the US.
Distrust against the media is also a class question. Journalism used to be a blue collar profession, now it is an elite activity.
There is a real possibility that bloggers can be co-opted by the media system. Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) writes for Fox, for example. Big media launch their own blogs or acquire independent ones. In this way bloggers are getting close to the political elite.
That might have consequences. It’s easier to be critical towards someone when you don’t know them. As bloggers are considered more important, it will be tougher for them to maintain their outsider status.”
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