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Spokesman-Review.com harnesses readers for election blog project

Looks like Washington State might have the market cornered on innovative election blogging projects.

First The Seattle Times unveiled its Backyard Blog project; now Spokesman-Review.com has rolled out "Searching for Democracy," a set of eight bloggers seeking "meaningful conversations about politics and government in our community" who represent "the breadth of opinion, values and experience in our constituency."

Perhaps what's most innovative about the Spokesman-Review's project is how it found the guest bloggers -- by tapping into all those readers who are always e-mailing complaints and suggestions to the paper.

"I know other papers have election 'guest bloggers,'" Ken Sands, The Spokesman-Review's mangaging editor for online, tells CyberJournalist.net. "Here's how I found ours: I looked in my email records for people who had sent me links they'd found on the Web questioning why we didn't run those stories. Our typical response to people is lame: 'We're trying our best with limited space and resources,' or defending our neutrality by saying we're biased neither in favor of the right nor the left.

"I thought we ought to find a way to harness the energy, time and creativity of the people who are searching the web anyway. Rather than lose them entirely as they find other sources of news, we can add them to our stable of news gatherers. Granted, their individual approaches are definitely biased. And sometimes I wonder whether they're either simply preaching to the choir or trying to pick a fight with the opposition. But it's a valuable experiment. I believe they're grateful for the opportunity to have their voices heard. We're opening up the process to be more inclusive. This has to help enhance our credibility with readers."

Great idea. Here are the bloggers:

• In "Your America," staff writer Dan Webster is searching out ordinary people: "In the weeks leading up the Nov. 2 election we want to seek out average Inland Northwest residents, asking them to explain what matters most in their lives. In particular we want to know whether - and if so, how - government and politics can be more meaningful to them. Our goal is simple: to put a face on that vast unknown called Middle America."

• In "New to America," summer intern and graduate student Andrew Morozov talks about immigrants like himself: "The purpose of New To America to give a voice to first-time American immigrant voters in Washington and Idaho, and to share these individuals' unique insights and perspectives on voting, the elections, and democracy in general.... By sharing the perceptions of first-time immigrant voters on this page, we hope to illuminate some less obvious, yet important, issues surrounding this truly American activity."

• In "Young America," recent college graduate Chris Rodkey talks to people ages 18-25: "Much-maligned and typically used as a scapegoat, young voters between ages 18 and 25 represent a large percentage of the population, but have a low voter turnout.... Why do young adults feel such a rift between the government and democracy of which they're citizens? We'll let young people explain."

• In "Tomorrow's America," high school junior Anna Zeimantz talks to teens: "Often forgotten in the nation's political dialog is the next generation of voters -- the children of Baby Boomers. We want to hear from them in their authentic voices. Are they idealistic? Apathetic? What are their issues? What concerns them most about the future?"

The site also asked four readers -- two who seem to lean left, and two who seem to lean right -- to search the web for things the "mainstream media" either miss or don't emphasize:
• Ron Reed
• Scott Schmidtman
• Lynn O'Connor
• Roger Benedict

Sep 10, 2004 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(1)

Discussion

1 comments about 'Spokesman-Review.com harnesses readers for election blog project'

My Kerry Edwards sign is still in the yard. I can't bear to take it down without replacing it with something that will make a statement of my displeasure. But then I saw that someone had replaced their's with a black ribbon on their mailbox, and had one on their car antenna too. A sign of mourning for our beloved country. I will be following suit and I encourage other citizens of Earth who feel similarly to do the same.

Posted by Citizen in Mourning at November 4, 2004 3:56 PM

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