Bloggers at DNC

I really did try to stop myself from talking any more about bloggers at the Democratic National Convention, but then Dave Winer posted a link to this article by Jack Kapica at the Globe and Mail. He makes a great observation about the role of bloggers in a media environmnet that is owned and dominated by a few media conglomerates.

Bloggers are rushing in to fill a void, one that was once held by local newspapers, who sent reporters as representatives of a constituency back home to report on major events in the way that mattered to their communities. Consolidation of ownership in the media has largely done away with that.

A good observation – bloggers are becoming the eyes and ears of the people. This has been seen with 9/11 (when I found that good old slashdot was the best source of up to the minute news) and the Iraq war (can we hope to have a more authentic description than Where is Raed?). And although the accusation has been made that bloggers are less objective than professional journalists, it is certain that the bloggers voice is a more authentic voice. Objectivity will be the voice of history, which is to say the voice of the winner. I think that an authentic voice may be more important for us to understand and feel what it is like in the shoes of the people who are there.