When A Blogger Meets Public Relations 193
fermion writes "The New York Times is running a story on the evolving relationship between PR departments and bloggers, specifically between the Wal*Mart PR people and sympathetic bloggers. The interesting thing in this story is not so much the astroturfing, which is old news, but the transformation of blogging from a personal statement to a corporate bullhorn. The bloggers mentioned in the story, who presumably are able to articulate their own opinions, received Wal*Mart email and began to simply copy the PR text into the blogs. What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?"
Nothing new (Score:5, Informative)
Wait, I don't understand. This is news? I thought it was common knowledge that a large portion of bloggers (the majority?) simply copy text from elsewhere as their "blog". Take Digg [digg.com] as an example. Digg integrates with many blogging services, allowing users to write commentary on the story, and link back to the Digg page from their blog. The feature is quite popular as most of the front page stories have a "blog" attached to them.
Now with such a feature, you would expect each blogger to provide insightful commentary on the issue at hand, right? Wrong. The majority of the blogs do nothing more than replicate the exact text from the Digg story. Not only are these blogs redundant, but they add another level of indirection to anyone who might happen upon them. ("Oh, so I go from blog, to Digg, to Link, right?") Ok, so the better blogs have a direct link AND a Digg link. But this is really nothing more than sydication of rather fluffy content.
Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:
http://nik-hil.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://www.r00tware.com/ [r00tware.com]
http://hackerslife.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://www.petesblog.com/ [petesblog.com]
These are examples of "real" blogs with sydicated Digg content mixed in:
http://jacobsonster.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
http://howgoodisthis.wordpress.com/ [wordpress.com]
Now these blogs aren't entirely without value. In many cases, it's a way of aligning your tastes with those of a particular blogger. i.e. That blogger only links to articles you want to know about. It's also good for the site that's being Dugg, as they have more links to their site.
But no, there's nothing magically articulate about bloggers. Plenty of them are happy to syndicate.
Re:Nothing new (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Nothing new (Score:3, Insightful)
The only time that I copy/paste stuff into the posts on my site is when I'm directly quoting a source or posting a copy of an e-mail from staff members or inviduals that opted to e-mail me directly instead of posting a comment.
Take for example the comments from the Copper Bleu Training Manager [lazylightning.org] regarding my disappointment in their Guinness Pours or the comments from a comic in t [lazylightning.org]
Sometimes serves a purpose (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Nothing new (Score:3, Insightful)
In the old days ...like six months ago ... there was a percerption that blogs were expressions of the blogger's personal observations. WalMartBlog has revealed what you may have always suspected: it can be hard to tell whoring from true love.
the collage effect (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like a collage. The material within a collage comes from elsewhere and is "simply" pasted in, yet the overall effect is something greater than the mechanically reproduced parts. The problem here seems to be that Walmart are choosing the texts more than
Re:the collage effect (Score:2)
What should be 100% definitive, though, is that even lazy, disingenuous fanboyism is *not* "astroturfing".
Re:the collage effect (Score:2)
I don't know what blogs you've been reading, but there are hundreds of original content blogs out there. I publish a weekly column at my blog about ADHD, Depression, etc. [blogspot.com] and how to deal with it - all original content. I scan dozens of original content blogs via
Re:Nothing new (Score:2)
That is true; however, there's a difference between legit syndication and what the Slashdot story had to say with this:
What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?"
For too many so-called bloggers, it's not at all about content, or even being heard, it's simply about being recognized. Almost everyone wants their 15 minutes, and m
"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:2, Insightful)
KFG
Re:"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:2)
Re:"What is the use of a blog. . .?" (Score:2, Informative)
Arnold Kling published an article long ago which elaborates on the theme:
http://www.corante.com/bottomline/articles/200206
What is the use? (Score:5, Insightful)
What is the use of a newspaper that just reports government press releases almost verbatim?
What is the use of a television channel if it copies its programming from somewhere else?
What is the use of a boy band just like every other boy band?
The mainstream media and blogs are beginning to watch over each other reciprocally. This is a good thing. It means that if either lies or fucks up, the other pounces down its throat.
Three (tentative) cheers for a free press?
Re:What is the use? (Score:3, Interesting)
The difference, in case
Re:What is the use? (Score:2)
what is the use of newspaper movie reviewers that cut and paste complimentary statements fed to them by the movie makers?
i've always wondered how any newspaper that considers itself serious would employ someone like that
Re:What is the use? (Score:2)
Three (tentative) cheers for a free press?
Hoo...ray?
Just don't believe everything you read! (Score:4, Insightful)
Only those who are already skeptical will do that... the rest of us are simply too lazy.
Re:Just don't believe everything you read! (Score:3, Interesting)
To me the whole article reads: "Media discovers that blogged stories may not be impartial." Not that mainstream media has ever reprinted a press release as news...
Another question is who reads these pro-Wal-Mart blogs? If it's only people who are already pro-Wal-Mart there is no impact on reprinting a Wal-Mart statement. If I stumble across a random pro-Wal-mart b
Re:Just don't believe everything you read! (Score:2)
The Christian Science Monitor [csmonitor.com] is one of my favorite newspapers. They're one of the very, very few newspapers that does real reporting: they don't just say what others say is going on, they say what people are saying and what the reporter's investigation and experience turns up.
Unfortunately their archive is not available online (well, for free anyways), but here is a good article from them [csmonitor.com] on the different postions within Islamic culture.
The CS Monitor is the most popular newspaper inside the CIA. The
Wait a damn minute... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sympathetic to wounded puppies, starving people, oppressed subcultures, the sick, the dying, abused children, and so on.. but multinational corporations are just not something I can rouse the neccessary emotional response to sympathise with.
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
I'm not a Wal-Mart fan, haven't shopped there in 15 years. I don't like what they do to the small businesses in the areas they move into.
Setill I have to admire them as the ultimate example of a capitalist success story, I also like their ability to stand up to the unions.
So I guess you could say that in some ways I am "sympathetic" to Wal-Mart, I certinaly don't think they should be destroyed, as many people do.
Not that I'm about the start posting their press releases on my web site, grant you.
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Wal-mart is famous for not allowing their employees to join unions. Wether or not you agree with how unionization affects the consumer, I'd think you could get along with the idea of people forming organizations to collectively bargain with their employer.
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
My wife is a teacher and believe me her union controls the school board because almost all the mebers of the board are nad picked by the union. The union presiddent has been known to pass noted to board members during meetings telling them what to say or how to vote. Wha's worse is the union refuses to push for things that would make life better for the teachers (and improve education), like reduction in class size, and instead obsesses on ridiculous points like 100% free health care.
Remeber what the te
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Remeber what the teamsters did with the UPS strike? They inflicted significant damage on the entire U.S. economy just so they could keep control of their slush^H^H^H^H^H pension fund.
No, I don't recall.
I'm glad they did damage the economy. It isn't anyone's responsibility in this country to do anything for the overall greater good of society. You seem to be for forcing people to work at dictated wages because it might harm the economy if they don't. I hope I'm not reading
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Yes you are reading me incorrectly
The UPS strike was in 1996 or 1997, UPS wanted to take over manegement of the pension program for their employees. UPS didn't like that they were paying a lot more into the fund than their employees/retiress were using (UPS was subsidizing the entire fund for all teamsters). The Teamsters weren't about to give up their ginormous pool of money in the fund (at the time UPS was the single largest contributor to the Teamsters fund) and they struck.
I worked for a VAR at th
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Smaller class size isn't just about improving education (though that can dfinitely be a benefit). It also has a major impact on workload and working conditions for teachers, my wife has 5 classes of ~40 kids each, that means 200 students wirth of papers/tests to grade and she ends up working several hours almost every night to get everytging graded & recorded.
More students means more work for teachers at the same pay, I've seen it first hand.
As for the unions health care demands, obviously the teac
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
If they are a shining example of capitalist success, we could do with a hell of a lot more capitalist failure.
As for unions: exploitive companies like Wal*Mart are the reasons unions exist-- to protect the citizens employed by these evil companies.
(Evil == "willing to fuck over people for their own gain.")
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:4, Insightful)
I hate Walmart, or, rather, I hate Walmart management. They're terrible community citizens -- in fact, if Walmart was a person, it'd have been in and out of jail for most of its life due to a habitual tendancy for vandalizm and assault.
Also, I agree with you -- corporations are *not* living entities. I sympathize with my television more than I sympathize with any corporation.
That said, I think that most people who feel sympathy with the company are really feeling sympathy with:
The main problem with the humanist sympathizers is that they're entirely ignorant about, or they choose to ignore, how shitty Walmart treats the people who work for it. It is similar to justifying sweat-shops by saying that the people are better off being raped than they are starving. The fact that often gets ignored is that these aren't non-profit organizations. There are plenty of fat (figuratively) fucks at the top who are getting rich while they figure out new ways of screwing their employees out of benefits.
Despite the rant, I do think that there are people who are simply ignorant, and do believe that Walmart is a good thing for the jobs it brings into communities.
--- SER
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll agree with you in general, though there have been a couple of recent incidences recently where Wal-Mart has wanted to open a store in a severely depressed area that already has super high unemployment and most businesses wouldn't consider going into (because of high crime rates - we got your vicious cycle right here).
Sure the Wal-Mart jobs would be shitty McJobs but personally I'd rather have a shitty McJob than be on welfare.
In any case the times it's happened around here the unions (which pretty mu
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Where was this? Usually walmart avoids severely depressed high crime areas. They like suburbia and small towns best. I would be very interested in knowing which severely depressed high crime area walmart wanted to go into. That seems to go against the walmart business plan.
There was an instace a year or so ago in Inglewood, California, which is very near Los Angeles. There is another smallish city in SoCal where Wal-Mart didn't try quite as hard as they did in Inglewood, I forget the name.
What's stra
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Yes. I don't disagree with you; I'd, personally, rather submit to mild torture than be killed. I'd rather be forced to eat dog shit than have my fingernails pulled out. And I'd rather work at Walmart than watch my family starve.
This doesn't justify the fact that Walmart abuses its employees; it doesn't justify the fact that, when they go into a market, they regularly ignore local environme
Re:Wait a damn minute... (Score:2)
Of course Wal-Mart as people know it could not exist if it were unionized, it's not like there are fat margins that can be eroded to come up with increased pay and benefits. Wal-Mart is an extremely low margin operation that is successful because of excellent efficiency and incredible volume.
Were Wal-Mart to unionize prices would raise an immediate 10-15%, efficiency would also take a hit as the employee culture shifted from performance based to seniority based. Volume would plummet (who would really sh
Blogs are SEO tools (Score:2, Funny)
Blogs are used to clutter search engines. Where have you been the last few years? Most blogs are keyphrase link-fests. Another innovation from the world of online adult marketing. Porn coders could solve cancer if the money was there.
Been there, Done that (Score:4, Insightful)
Why shouldn't bloggers do this as well?
Journalists and Reporters (Score:2)
A cliche from an old movie:
- The difference between a Journalist and a Reporter is that a journalist writes a story, a reporter simply reports what he sees.
Re:Been there, Done that (Score:2)
I'm not. One, it's a tech site, and a lot of tech people don't have a lot of in-depth knowledge outside of their area of expertise (which is true of any group of experts). Two, the readership here skews very young, and ignorance is one of youth's curses. (And I fully expect -1 moderation from all the young people who presume they're experts).
More generally, I think a lo
Just one question: (Score:2, Funny)
Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=Brian+ Pickrell,+a+blogger,+recently+posted+a+note+on+his &ie=UTF-8&filter=0 [google.com]
10 Stories with the exact same first sentance
7 of them with The exact same title (Public Relations = PR)
Syndication is usually a good thing, but on the internet, it's irrelevant. I'd much rather read two or three articles with different facts, insight and/or spin.
Rarely does any one article collect all the f
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
When the NYT starts attaking bloggers for copy and pasting idea from other sources, I find it very important to note that the NYT gets a good chunck of their stories by copying and pasting from the AP. I'm not saying it's a good idea to have 1,000,000 reporters covering everything across the nation. I'm merely saying the NYT needs to come up with a better argument for attacking blogs than this copy and paste nonsense that they do themselves.
Personally, I don't think it's a bad idea for a newspaper t
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?
just as applicable to traditional media? When the Katrina tapes came out, it took several stories before anyone picked up on the fact that the contents of the tapes directly contradicted Bush's claims made right after the storm that "nobody could have anticipated the levee failure". What's the point of a news outlet that manages to miss such
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
Or even worse, gets that story wrong [usatoday.com], because they're repeating the claims of partisans rather than actually bother to listen to the words?
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
Make a deal with you. I'll hold the Mayor accountable once Bush gets held accountable for any one of the completely incompetent decisions he's made since in office. This is really a freebie for you here, get Bush held accountable for say, lying about WMDs, I'll hold Nagin accountable. Hold Bush accountable for completely screwing up the nuclear proliferation in
Re:Pot, kettle, etc. (Score:2)
Anytime that you read a glowing review of the latest electronic gadget, you are most likely reading a cut/paste of the manufacturer's press kit.
You should suspect blogs focused on consumer electronic products of having an unhealthly relationship with the product makers. Some sites/blogs are squeeky clean. Some sites/blogs always have their hand out for free samples (in return for good reviews).
Blogs have mass commu
Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:4, Insightful)
Illegal? Maybe. Unethical?
Now that you know how they dodge their health costs, you can enjoy an article about the richest Americans. Five of the Richest Americans [forbes.com] are Wal-Mart's owners and relatives of owners.
Maybe we should ask the Waltons how they feel about exploiting US Taxpayers?
Blogs that just repeat Wal-Mart PR, are not blogs, they are PR for Wal-Mart. This is done order to help continue their ways of exploiting their workers and the system.
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:3, Interesting)
From what I've heard the Waltons are very humble, and even though they are each worth 20 billion they mostly live off the types of products sold in their stores. Of course they do so by choice, and the average Walmart employee does not.
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:2)
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:2, Informative)
And, for those praising Wal-Mart's economic "efficiency", please explain the advantage to the economy of forcing into leases the provision that no competitor can use the building
Re:Always low prices...thanks to your tax dollars (Score:2)
Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:4, Informative)
Wal-Mart has a lot of employees (1.7 Million). It is a BIG company. Everything else follows from there.
The full-timers do have insurance. But there many are part-timers who do not, just like many other businesses. Seems to me, giving instructions for finding free clinics is more of a public service for those employees who need it than an exploitive scheme. Do other companies tell their non-covered employees about free clinics?
You might as well say Poor people exploit the taxpayer by using government services .
Exploiting the US Taxpayer Did you know that Wal-Mart has 1500 International stores (3600 US)? Does Wal-Mart exploite the taxpayes of these other countries too?
How does Wal-Mart compare to any large employer? How much health care does McDonalds provide for part-time employees? How about Starbucks - they have lots of part-timers.
I don't know what all this hatred of WMT is, of late. What's the difference between a valid business model and an evil scheme? I guess it has to do with how big you are. At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to the fact that WMT has money and other people want to get at it because it is there.
Let's check that last one... Is Wal-Mart making "obscene" amounts of money? WMT [yahoo.com]
Profit margin: 3.6% - Doesn't look obscene to me, Sure it is billions of dollars. MCD makes 12.7% and so does PEP. TGT (Target) makes 4.58% - maybe they exploit their workers even more to squeeze that extra 1% profit out of them.
Re:Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:2)
Re:Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:2)
For a great example, read http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.ht
Re:Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:2)
Walmart minimizes the number of full time employees. They make many employees work just below the full time rate (whatever that is in the state) so that they don't have to provide health care. For example they may dictate that all employees in a particular store only work 39 hours per week so they can classify them as part time.
Did you know that a typical walmart store costs the states millions o
Re:Lies, damn lies, and statistics... (Score:2)
They are doing their best not to. This is another reason why they are so violently anti-union. To walmart their biggest nightmare is a work force capabable of collective bargaining.
They also outsource a ton of work and put a lot of pressure on the vendors to deliver services at below minimum wage rates. This way then can claim ignorance when the vendor uses illegal immigrants to do the work.
Re:Payment for work done is not exploitation., (Score:2, Informative)
Unfortunately, the reality of the exploitation does not match your rhetoric. They were purposely leading them to public assistance, rather than providing them basic benefits.
For the World's biggest retailer, [forbes.com] how can you not think that this is wrong?
Re:Payment for work done is not exploitation., (Score:2)
Were these programs supposed to be a secret or something? What is the purpose of those programs, if not to help the very people Wal*Mart was directing there? I just don't understand the mentality that says, "Let's set up a program for low-income people!" and then complains when the employer directs its low-income employees to the program. in fact, by creating the tax-funded assistance, you've created an inc
Re:Payment for work done is not exploitation., (Score:2)
Wow, too lazy to earn more. Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that WalMart does have a group health plan, and because of that they refuse to work employees over a certain number of hours because they are contractually required to enroll employees meeting that hourly limit on their plan. Not that Wal-mart is alone on this, they're just the most visible case since they're one of the largest employers in the count
Re:Payment for work done is not exploitation., (Score:2)
Welcome to the new economy. Medical or law degree? No? Then you are low-value. No insurance. No promotions. No home. No family. No car. No savings. No retirement. Those things are only for the "high-value" people.
Taxpayers subsidize Wal*Mart with $0 money.
BZZZT. I'm sorry. We have some lovely parting gifts.
Traditional media do the same thing... (Score:3, Interesting)
Traditional media, including newspapers, magazines and especially the local TV news do the same thing every day.
Re:Traditional media do the same thing... (Score:2)
Your Representative in the Congress and Senate.
A lot of the facts they get is pre-chewed food prepped by some lobbyist for Big Business.
The lobbyists even give 'em 'model' legislation for consideration.
Everybody does this, from highschool newspapers all the way to the Senate. It happens because it's easy.
They are called shills. This isn't new. (Score:2, Insightful)
I've read more than a few things and knew I was reading a corporate blow hole, and not a genuine
Sympathetic bloggers? (Score:2)
You Herd It First (Score:2)
Ditto (Score:4, Funny)
I couldn't agree more.
Corporate Fad (Score:2, Interesting)
Key blogger's response (Score:5, Informative)
There's a more important issue than that. (Score:3, Funny)
Walmart, Astroturf, and Plan B (Score:2, Informative)
nothing is sacred (Score:2)
The use of a blog is the same as it ever was: if an individual has something valuable to say, we listen; if not, not.
PR departments have invaded every form of communication that has been developed. They will continue to do so. All we can do is be selective about who we listen to.
Or rather... (Score:2, Insightful)
Start the spin cycle. (Score:3, Interesting)
If a blogger was posting emails sent to them by Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, Whole Foods, Ben and Jerry's, or Greenpeace would it get any attention? Would they have any less credibility?
I rarely shop at Walmart not because they are EVIL but because I don't like a lot of what they carry and the lines and parking are just not worth it. Yes there are other stores that provide better service, products, and or selections for not much more money. Those stores seem to be doing fine in my city.
This is a great piece of spin and it looks as if many have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
Re:Start the spin cycle. (Score:2)
> press don't like blogs. So they write about bloggers that
> post positive material about Walmart. Walmart which is one
> of the current targets of dislike by many in the online
> community. And what are these evil bloggers doing?
Indeed. The NYT and even moreso the Washington Post are horrified by the free exchange of political information and fact checking that blogs represent. The "NYT blogger ethics" kerfluffel has become a complete
What's the use of a blog... (Score:2)
And you're asking this on slashdot?
All the News That's Fit to Invoice (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, the corporate media's entire business model is taking corporate money and publishing their PR, even if carefully cooked to provide harmless (or occasionally stress-releasing) corporate PR.
Boilerplate (Score:2)
What indeed? But you might ask the same question about many online comments. Half the stuff I see on Slashdot is just somebody parroting their favorite Talk Radio host or columnist.
But this post is really an excuse for a triva lesson: everybody's seen Press Releases, which are phony news articles that people put out in the hopes that lazy newspaper editors will print them unchanged. Back w
This is only new to bloggers. (Score:2)
People are lazy, bloggers are just more so (Score:2)
Doesn't matter (Score:2)
This just in.... (Score:3, Funny)
Film at 11.
Well.... (Score:2)
Of course we don't consider ourselves a "blog" so whatever, more like a space news thing. Sometimes cut and paste is good, especially when one doesn't want to place personal opinions on the piece.
By the way we have a great article up right now at http://www.foxcheck.org/ [foxcheck.org] with a legal and free mp3 f
So blogs are unreliable (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole point of unregulated speech is that people are free to abuse it. Some will be trolls, some will be corporate shills, some will be flat-out wackos, and almost all of them will be biased as hell. For all the crap some Slashdotters like to talk about bloggers being 'journalists', there's no set of standards or ethics that bloggers are required -- or even expected -- to obey.
When people decide to turn off their critical thinking skills and just accept whatever they read on some blog they've never seen before, they're stupid. End of story. Making a big deal out of the fact that bloggers don't self-organize into an ethical and reliable news system is equally stupid. Both these principles fall on the 'obvious' scale somewhere near, "hey look: air."
Can I be the first.. (Score:2)
Atrios [blogspot.com] rightly points out [blogspot.com] that many many newspapers often pick up press releases and run them almost un-edited as content, and that it's been going on for a long time. The difference is that on the web such practices are much more easily exposed. "Much ado about nothing" indeed.
Use of the Bulls**t Filter (Score:2)
If that's "good PR", Wal-Mart needs to hire better PR folks to write material that is actually believable.
Of course, the guy who put up the Wal-Mart PR also likes to threaten lawsuits for anyone using 'his material'. [iowaunderground.com] Evidently, those corporate PR posts are copyrighted, dammit!
File this one under... who cares (Score:2)
Furthermore... (Score:2)
Furthermore, what is the difference between bloggers and major news outlets?
Astroturfing (Score:2)
I for one, think that Wal*Mart is evil, as is Microsoft, people who are paid for a living, commercial software development, and software patents. Google is evil for raising the average salary of software engineers, and for stealing all of the good ones. How will my dogfood website ever get off the ground now?
Anyway, you can read all about it in my blog,
Re:Astroturfing (Score:2)
Comments from the blogger (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A better question would be (Score:2)
Most blogs are written by people who want to feel contact with the world, it's a search for being understood. Whenever you get a response, you feel like someone understands you.
Or maybe it's just a hobby. But who cares, if you're not harming anyone and it makes you feel better...
Well... (Score:3, Funny)
I gather there's a guy by the name of CmdrTaco whose blog has a pretty impressive readership. Always some interesting reader commentary following every article, too... I'd link to it, but I forget the url.
Re:It's Like Campain Donations (Score:2)
Re:It's Like Campain Donations (Score:2)
Wha? Run that by me again.
How would removing all campaign donations "put things on an even footing"? Money is required for the advertising necessary to win a political office in the U.S. It has been proven over and over that name recognition, of either the candidate or her associated political party, is the key to winning an election. Campaign donations are supposed to b
Automated blog-copy detector? (Score:2)
This conflicts with all the recent trumpeting of blogs as a great independent media watchdog and personal voice, much of which has been done by traditional media outlets perhaps uncomfortable with their mouthpiece position. Kinda blow
Re:Just like the moveon paper-spammers (Score:2)
Re:Just like the moveon paper-spammers (Score:2)
What's wrong with people organizing others on political campaigns? Really?
What do you think grassroots campaigning is?
How do you think individuals can overcome the power of the almighty dollar in politics without organizing themselves?
Sure, special interest groups do this. Why not, if it gets their message out?
Or maybe we should just allow corporate media to tell us how to think, since they are the ones with the ready resources to do so?
You sure are missing the point :) (Score:2)