Stand-Alone Journalism Archives
|
 |
Apologies for the weekend service outage.
Some of you may have noticed that our soon-to-be-former hosting service, PowWeb, was hacked earlier in the weekend and some nice folks came in and redecorated the front page of the site.
That's all fixed now. But we're moving. So things will be a bit quiet for a day or so while Mr. Technology busies himself with various TCP/IP protocol and other issues related to high-tech pulleys and wires and stuff like that.
This is part of our long-promised expansion, yes. But we're not quite ready to fork over the gory details. Soon, however, soon!
Sun 12:42 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Wanna be an intern for Politics From Left to Right?
If so, see this listing over at Craigslist. Pass it around to your friends.
The internship doesn't pay but you'll get some cool experience and you'll learn a lot about on-line publishing. You need to be enrolled in college or grad school, with a computer and regular on-line access.
You will also become a hero or heroine to our readers who are undoubtedly weary of reading my typo-laden prose. That's why strong spelling and proofreading skills are required.
Sun 12:40 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
In a rare - and to be treasured - moment of harmony, Mr. Trevino and I are in agreement about something: China. Both of us think that letting business folks forge U.S. policy toward the Chinese is a bad idea. You can read what I've said here. But you can read Josh today, here.
Ms. Klosky also celebrates harmony - sort of - with a married woman's view of gay marriage and how premarital hardship might not be such a bad thing.
Also, Christopher Brauchli weighs in on New Orleans and Plan B. No, not the Plan B the administration should have had but didn't. The other one. For girls. That's here.
Also, over at eWeek, brand new today, I'm holding forth on Progressive libertarians and how Katrina is forcing, er, encouraging people working on the web to look at their efforts in a new, broader light. That column pivots off two important posts we've seen in the past two weeks: Jeff Jarvis' "Recovery 2.0: A Call to Convene" and Doc Searls' "War on Error."
If you haven't read them, please do. They are - intentionally or not - companion pieces and read together, no necessarily as 'to-do' lists but as documents underpinning a way of looking at the world - which is what politics embodies - they are timely and compelling. Almost as important: They are written by two men who can get things done.
Enjoy. And, as always, thanks for reading.
Thu 10:23 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Hey, read someone besides me.
Christopher Brauchli has a piece on Ed Meese that will -- really -- make you smile. Wistfully.
Josh Trevino will make you glad you're not in New Orleans and worried for those who are.
And Deborah Klosky is hip deep in birthday season where, for reasons mysterious, Star Wars piñatas are the non plus ultra this year among the pre-school crowd.
Wed 05:53 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
This week's eWeek column is about stem cells and Supreme Court nominee, Judge John Roberts.
I keep thinking that the image of Sen. Arlen Specter -- bald from chemotherapy, determined to cut his own path through the hearing process -- is going to move some votes on stem cells. Certainly it puts the White House in a bind. One more bind, that is.
Also, today, Mr. Brauchli and Ms. Klosky have weighed in on the White House, science and the Supreme Court. Enjoy their work. It's very good and, working independently in their own ways, they have complemented each other nicely this week.
Fri 11:40 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
I'm going to be on my way to San Antonio, Texas where it's something like a billion degrees Celsius (as opposed to San Francisco where it was 62 Fahrenheit today) to be on a panel with Craigslist Craig Newmark, and Bill Grueskin, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Online and David Gyimah, a TV producer and lecturer at the University of Westminster which is in merry old (and cooler, I'll bet) England.
The panel is part of a seminar for journalists and journalism professors "A Wake Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism" and it's the opening act, so to speak, for the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Cool, huh? Here's what moderator Leonard Witt says we're going to talk about.
The really nice thing of about not working alone is that I can point you, dear reader, to some other things around here.
While, I'm sweating in San Antonio, you might want to take a look at Deborah Klosky's report from Blogher. She had a good time although I think she was feeling a little underappreciated. Or you can read Josh Trevino on a recent ChiTrib editorial. He continues to be less than impressed by Liberal's approach to terrorism. On the other side of things, you can have a look at Christopher Brauchli's unhappy take on the energy legislation President Bush signed earlier today.
A reminder: All the writers here on Politics From Left to Right are available via our Feedburner RSS feed.
Don't know what RSS is? Here's a primer.
Mon 08:55 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
It's our birthday week. So we're giving YOU presents.
Our most recent addition, Ms. Deborah Klosky who is based in Southern California, debuts today. And if you're coming to BlogHer – and who isn't? – this weekend, you can meet her and chat her up, too.
Deb – who has many years of reporting experience here and in Western Europe – is going to write about domestic policy. Really domestic. As in household.
Her job is to add some sense – and a lot of humor – to a field of writing that's woefully under-represented in our media culture: The stay-at-home Mom. The ones who don't have household help and really enjoy spending time with their children.
So check out today's post about China and that special place in some homes that Deb has dubbed the "Toy Cave."
Mr. Christopher Brauchli has also weighed in – and he'll do almost every Thursday – with a few thoughts on China and the U.S.
And Trevino: Well, he shellacked me earlier this week. And he did it well, too. Have a look.
Thu 11:00 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Guess what?
This site is two years old today. This very day.
Here's the first post:
Here's the most recent, by Mr. Trevino.
In a few days, we'll be adding another writer, the talented Ms. Deborah Klosky who will be joining us just in time for the sold-out and BlogHer confab this Saturday in Santa Clara. And I hope you're also reading Christopher Brauchli, who appears here on Thursdays.
But as they say on late-night, TV ads, there's more! Much more.
In a few weeks, we're going to get the website equivalent of a facelift and a tummy tuck (a new name, a new logo, some widgets, gizmos and bells to make it easier to find us and to find new writers) and after that, we should be ready to greet the world again.
So thank you. And keep reading!
Tue 08:43 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Have you noticed that this site is a Karl-Rove-free zone?
Why? The raging summer controversy over Rove's role in identifying Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA agent is of great and massive interest to many, many people I know and respect as journalists. It is of no interest whatsoever to anyone living outside the Washington, D.C. beltway or off the island of Manhattan. It is a high-stakes game of inside baseball gone public. And it is boring.
It is boring because it is predictable. Even I have been having trouble getting interested in this mess. It's that much of an inside game. Of course, Rove was the source. And of course he denied it. And of course the White House is embarrassed. But this whole mess is just another good example of why most folks think that the national press and politicians deserve each other. They see the Rove controversy as a family spat that will be settled in time for everyone to make nice at the family Christmas party. A pox on both their houses, is the thinking.
They're right. The Affair Rove is a perfect example of how Big Media and politicians in elected office – regardless of party – feed off each other. No one individual is at fault here. It's a corrupt system nurtured in part by systemic weaknesses in the media business, weaknesses that can be disguised by reciting supposedly absolute rules about sources, or information or how we do our jobs. The only absolute in this business is that there are no absolutes.
Here's an example of what that's true: In spinning Time writer Matt Cooper, Karl Rove was doing this job, he was dissing a critic of the administration going to a rival publication – Time magazine – to throw a little dirt on the New York Times editorial board. Cooper had to have born this in mind when he sent a memo to his editors saying that Rove had spoken to him on "double secret" background. That's ridiculous -- Cooper was putting Rove's name in the memo for anyone to see and read. But Cooper, too, was doing his job: Telling his boss what the White House thought of former Ambassador Joe Wilson's New York Times op ed piece and "warning" them about that editorial. Was Rove being sleazy? Yes. How about Cooper? Well, he was showing off, that's pretty clear. But both men were doing their jobs, playing their roles; that of powerful insiders, armed with information unavailable to the outside world. To some extent, they're still at it.
Continue reading "Fantasy Island"Thu 11:07 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Kevin Drum, Mr. Political Animal, wonders if he should attend Blogher, the woman-run conference on blogging scheduled for the end of this month. He's a little worried. Given the history here, I can't say I blame him.
This gives me a wonderful chance to state the obvious about this conference: IT IS NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY. Not only are men welcome -- a statement that it seems absurd to have to make - but some are planning to attend. So you will have company, Kevin.
This gives me the chance to make another observation: If you are a man who like code and software and things that plug in, and is perhaps having trouble finding a girl who likes Java (and knows it's not just a coffee) and undersands your inner Geek, this might be the PERFECT place for you to spend a summer afternoon.
The ratio at most tech conferences is hugely biased toward men. That will assuredly not be the case here.
Anyway, here's what I left as a comment over at Drum's site. Chime in down there. Let's see if we can't move the man.
Kevin, this is such a no-brainer, I'm ashamed of you.Blogher has a terrible name, I agree (and I'm on the advisory board) but it's a fabulous chance to hang around with a bunch of smart, tech-savvy women who are going to be spending a lot of time talking about blogging and writing on-line and, well, Kevin, some of them even have cats.
And I think you'll be very surprised to see that this is NOT a convention about "why it's unfair that men run the world." Nor is it a "sisterhood-only" event. It's for EVERYONE.
If I were you, I'd fly up Friday, take a cab from the SJ Airport to the Westin, crash the BlogerHer speakers' dinner (you can come as my date, big guy), kick back and have a good time, realizing that the on-line movement pioneered by guys like you has thrived, spread and is now opening up to a whole new generation of writers who should be encouraged, welcomed and praised.
What's NOT to like about this Kevin? Huh? What?
Registration for the conference -- which is close to being sold out -- ends on July 25. So hurry, boys, hurry.
UPDATE: Mr. Drum - who said his mother told him to come - will, in fact, be joining us at BlogHer. Dan Gilmor won't but says he wishes he could. Uber nerd Craig Newmark has also give BlogHer his endorsment. And the Pope of the Internet Instapundit Glenn Reynolds has sent us thousands of views. Thanks, guys.
Sat 11:05 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Lots of mail in the in-box this week. And a few snarky comments around the web, too.
So, here's the deal on Grokster: Wishing there were no record companies or movie studios with lots of money to sue people doesn’t mean 1)they're corrupt jerks who are out to ruin your personal music or movie enjoyment pleasure or 2)thing are going to stay this way.
That doesn't, of course, mean you have to like the current circumstances. But the point of the Grokster post was to say, essentially, that if Silicon Valley wants change, it's going to have to work for it.
A lot of what was said about that piece on the web and in email was captured by Liza Sabater over at CultureKitchen.
"So, will this make car, liquor and beer makers liable for drunk driving?" Liza asks. No. It won't. This is what I call a good dumb question. To some extent, we already know the answer. Bartenders – the people who serve liquor – have been held liable in drunk driving incidents. So have party hosts. And gun shop owners have legal obligations and responsibilities. The Supreme Court was pretty clear on this point: It's not the technology, per se. It's what you encourage people to do with it.
Mr. Simon writes in a bit more cryptically:
Uh. I think you got two things wrong:1. The end of file sharing programs
2. America loves HollywoodThe RIAA and MPAA better get with the program.
More theft = more sales.
Think about how the MPAA railed against Sony video recorders. Claiming it would ruin business. Well thefts were up and business boomed.
What we have here is 30+ years of content industry stupidity repeated at every new technological intersection. In fact it didn't start 30 years ago. It started with Edison's invention of the gramaphone which was supposed to ruin the music industry. Or playing tunes for free on the radio was going to ruin the gramaphone industry. Or the cassette recorder which was going to ruin the music industry or boom boxes which could dupe tapes which was going to ruin the music industry, etc. etc. etc. Why all that bad stuff never happened? Why is it that every advance that made music easier to steal increased the size of the market?
There is some rampant stupidity going on here. However, it is not the tech geeks who are in charge of the stupid brigade.
BTW if suing becomes significant then file sharing will go further underground. Just like the drug war.
Hollywood is like the oil companies. The product is popular; the companies selling it are not.
Can you tell he's an engineer?
Well, I'm not so sure the Geeks are so smart about this stuff. I mean, who won? But I do think filesharing will be forced underground to some extent if lawsuit accelerate. Hollywood and the studios are playing a delay game – politically and in the marketplace – until someone comes to their rescue. The smarter play might be to figure out how to do that.
Continue reading "Oh, Boy Do We Got Mail"Wed 09:47 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
|
|
Well, I’m stuck on the other side of the country so I can't lend my two cents to the Federal Election Commission hearings on regulation of Internet communication. Like the Grokster decision, the FEC's rulemaking is another case of politics colliding with technology.
And, like the Supreme Court decision on Grokster, no one's happy about the FEC, either. Most of the comments on this site have centered around the arrogance that a lot of bloggers have about conflict-of-interest habits that press folks follow. As a result of that post, I got this thoughtful note from PE Byrd. It's edited a bit and I don't agree with Byrd about everything he says. But his comments on the ways in which Big Media have shirked their responsibility is a good one.
Some points/questions re: KOS. I respect what KOS has done - a lot of hard work - and he is committed. He is a hot head - and perhaps for justifiable reasons, but I don't think he has the right end of the stick here.1) He is clearly working to build to new media company - the blog/community is the first thing - he's added advertising, he will probably add video, etc. At some point he does look like a new-style media organization. He does have a point that he is entitled to the same treatment as the traditional media.
Continue reading "FEC Comments"
Tue 08:29 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
You Know What Shakespeare Said...
Posted by Chris Nolan
Ever since this on-line thing web logging began, there's been a lot of talk about the quality of comments and commentary on the web. Generally speaking, reporters and salaried journalists aren't exactly pleased to see their work reviewed, dissected, mulled over, analyzed and generally taken apart by folks working on-line. Their on-line critics haven't held back. Not one bit.
There's plenty of reason for all the slamming, that's for sure. CBS's sloppy work on the memos about President Bush's National Guard service, The New York Times willingness to take the word of the administration and its plants when it came to Saddam Hussain's progress acquiring and developing nuclear and other dangerous weapons are two of the best examples. And yeah, okay, that little scammer Jayson Blair.
But there's something else at work here, too and to my reporter's eye, it's notable. Many of those who are the harshest in their denouncements of the media – many of the Big Boy Bloggers – have one thing in common.
They're lawyers.
Continue reading "You Know What Shakespeare Said..."
Wed 04:22 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
TV Guide
Posted by Chris Nolan
Something interesting is going on with local TV stations and the on-line world. A few weeks ago San Francisco's KRON had a bunch of us virtually ink-stained wenches over for chips and diet coke.
J.D. Lasica shot some footage along with the KRON gang and a few folks have mentioned that they've seen me on the tube talking about this thing I do here at Politics From Left to Right so I thought I'd put the links up so you guys can share in the fun.
KRON is looking for folks to help them better cover the San Francisco Bay Area. They made no bones about that. They're copying some of the work that's been done – under the guidance of consultant Terry Heaton – in Nashville.
It's interesting to see TV folks nosing around this area. On-line video – as J.D. is demonstrating on his own site and at OurMedia.org – has a lot of promise. And the very structure of TV station hiring – it relies on contractors as much as employees, a very different set-up from the way newspapers operate – creates a different sort of environment. For stand-alone journalists working in any medium, this could be very, very good news.
That's a bit off in the future, however.
More immediately, if you want to hear more about stand alone journalism you can tune into "San Francisco/Unscripted" this evening at 7:30 to hear and see me chatting with the show's host Art Bruzzone. It will air again on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on Comcast San Francisco's channel 11.
Wed 04:18 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
PressThink (SF Version)
Posted by Chris Nolan
One of the themes that runs through Lefty debates – particularly in the on-line community - is a steadfast belief that if traditional media were doing it's job better, George Bush wouldn't be president, the U.S. would never have invaded Iraqi and a small group of Republicans wouldn't have taken their party hostage and ruined the country.
This way of looking at the world is common in the tech community whose members believe their job of changing the world now – with blogs and blogging software – has extended to the press. It's a direct descendent of the "blame Big Media" sentiments expressed during the Dean Campaign and it makes normally intelligent people claim that, for instance, the war in Iraqi is an "under-reported" story.
Continue reading "PressThink (SF Version)"
Mon 12:57 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Press Club
Posted by Chris Nolan
There's lots to say about the sudden unveiling of "the guy they used to call 'Deep Throat'" and by the time the Sunday morning political talk shows are over, everything will have been said and everyone will have tried to say it. Sitting out here on the web, it's been interesting to read the stories and comments not just as the end of a great mystery but as documents of the way in which the media business has changed since that hot summer in 1974 when Richard Nixon was forced from office.
First a bit of background. I lived in and around Washington most of my life and during Watergate, I was enrolled at the same high school as one of NIxon Attorney General Elliott Richardson's daughters. The school counts Katherine Graham (and her daughter) as alumnae in addition to Stockard Channing (Dr. Abby Bartlet to you West Wing fans). One of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee's kids attended briefly. It was a place where people, even young people, knew their politics and their place in the political world. And journalists were not see as powerful, not as powerful as politicians, anyway. And certanly not as rich.
Continue reading "Press Club"
Wed 08:15 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Enough About You.....
Posted by Chris Nolan
Hey, wanna know some of what's going on behind the magic curtain here? Take a gander at this interview I did with Paul Bass, contributor to a bunch of on-line political journalism projects on the East Coast.
Cool, huh?
Also, take a look at Peter Daou's Last Best Chance site plugging the docudrama. Daou's a friend of all on-line writers but he's also a serious international peace-nik who does a great job of urging us to look outside our borders.
Also, here in San Francisco, I'll be talking about some of what I'm doing and what other folks are doing in two different – really different venues. The first, is a breakfast (!) on "blogs" and "blogging" sponsored by BusinessWire at the Santa Clara TechMart on June 9. On June 14th, I'll be part of a panel discussion on that very same topic (imagine….) hosted by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at the London Wine Bar on Sansone Street.
Your choices again: Talking about blogging with eggs and coffee or talking about blogging with wine and cheese. It's a new feature of interactive media: We talk, you decide where you want to hear us.
Sun 06:41 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Talk Really Is Cheap
Posted by Chris Nolan
Once again, things are going to slow down here. My apologies in advance.
I have a busy week planned in New York City. On Monday, I'm going to be hosting a panel for the Personal Democracy Forum at the CUNY Grad Center. It should be a raucous good time. Participants include Mr. Markos "Daily Kos" Moultisas, Josh "TalkingPointsMemo" Marshall, Hugh "Blog"
Hewitt, Carol Darr from George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet and Chris "Afro-Netizen" Rabb.
Believe it or not, we're going to talk about blogging. The panel is called "Using the 'net to Move Your Issues."
You really devoted fans can listen to me and Moulitsas talking about the same and related topics on Brian Lehrer's WNYC show at 10 a.m. Eastern. Looks like Lehrer's got podcasts available, too, for those of you who are more devoted to sleep than chat.
UPDATE: Here's a link to the audio.
Sat 01:53 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
A Rare Opportunity
Posted by Chris Nolan
Many tech-oriented types read this site. So I'm soliciting your help on behalf of Instapundit Glenn Reynolds.
Reynolds is trying to come up with a "generic blog reporting kit." He's got some suggestions on what works best to create the video he shot at BlogNashville but he's looking for other ideas.
Netboys, I know you're out there. Help the man.
Fri 01:40 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Nashville, Noted Again
Posted by Chris Nolan
It's not every day that I get to say I read Jon Stewart's mind but yesterday I did! I did!
Sort of. The folks at The Daily Show took a look at Big Media's "coverage" of blogs and – with biting humor and their usual welcome sarcasm – pointed out the lameness of having bloggers cover blogging.
Jon Stewart: Great American.
FOOTNOTE: The blogger who got featured in Stewart's segment, the thoughtful, BBQ-loving Ed Cone defends himself. Sort of.
Wed 02:50 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Nashville Noted
Posted by Chris Nolan
One of the themes running quietly through BlogNashville, the conference held over the weekend in Music City, was an interesting one that's been bubbling on various on-line sites for a few weeks now. You could call it The Quest for Civility or How Big Media Gets In The Way.
It started, really, with Dave Weinberger's post about quitting MSNBC after they asked him to talk about some silliness that he didn't think was worth his – or his readers' – time. Big Media has been using – and yeah, the full meaning of that phrase – Big Boy Bloggers to do roundups and other daily takes on what we're all writing about. It's nice that folks – mostly folks on the East Coast, within a stone's throw of the studios – get this exposure. And don’t get me wrong, I've done a fair amount of self-promotional TV and I'll do it again. But there's a line here. And it's one worth looking at pretty closely right now.
Continue reading "Nashville Noted"
Mon 02:36 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Paging Rick Kaplan...
Posted by Chris Nolan
Also, from Nashville, check out Instapundit Glenn Reynolds' video coverage of the conference. Reynolds doesn't need me to send traffic his way but have a look at the work he's done here. It's very interesting and I'm not saying that because he's got me in there talking about money.
This is a very important little short. Why? Because it's both a comment and a demonstration on where Reynolds – a confessed HeadlineNews junkie – thinks the technology is going and how it will used in the future. If I were a TV producer, this little short, done in a day or so of interviews, edited in less time than that and expertly throw up on the web, I'd be afraid. Very, very afraid.
Mon 02:33 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
One Last Time
Posted by Chris Nolan
Our month-long survey is just about over. From now on, hopefully, there will be real ads up and down the site.
We need to have statistically verifiable numbers, however. So if you haven't taken the time to answer the few questions posed here, please click on through and do so right now.
What have we learned so far? Well, most of you are over 35. Many of you make more than $100,000 a year (or you'd cleverly like the ad guys to think you do). You're mostly Democrats but there are a good number of Independents and even a healthy number – 10 percent – of Republicans. And almost 40 percent of you are women. And almost all of you have given to a political party.
The good news about this is that it's in keeping with what we learned when we surveyed you folks this time last year. Not to be too self-congratulatory but that means we've succeed at something that's often very hard to do: Finding and keeping an audience.
So, thanks. Stick around. There's more to come.
Wed 06:23 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Other Places, Same Faces
Posted by Chris Nolan
A change may be as good as a rest although, I must confess, it doesn't really feel that way.
Over at eWeek, the column is about John Markoff's new, cool book, "What The Dormouse Said: How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry" Markoff, one of the few people on the New York Times editorial staff who is loved by the people he covers and those he competes against, does a great job in this book which I think might be his best one yet.
It publishes today which means you can buy it now and if you're reading this from anywhere in Silicon Valley, and you're not in this book, there is someone you know in this book. Don't get left out!
I have a nice long well-edited (thank you, Professor Rosen) post about this thing I call stand alone journalism over at Jay Rosen's PressThink.
Why there, not here? Rosen teaches at New York University's Journalism School and is well read by media folks. Some of you regular readers are interested in what we do on this side of the curtain but not all of you are so it seemed more appropriate for the detailed discussion about this aspect of the news business – the how and where it fits, the what we've done and where we're going – to take place on a site dedicated to that purpose.
It's also a demo of sorts. The idea that one reader can get all their information from one place on the web – a hold-over from newspapers – is slowly but surely fading away. As RSS replaces book-marking, it will go for good. Posting for Rosen is a good a example of that shift.
Thu 09:34 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Blatant Self-Promotion
Posted by Chris Nolan
There are a few housekeeping details – mostly having to do with self- and site-promotion – that have been waiting to get swept up so here they are, in order of most exciting.
Well, okay, maybe the most exciting and the most necessary. Please take a few minutes to fill out our reader survey. As expected, this site leads all other political websites in attracting women – a whopping 38 percent of you, so far, pretty much double the Big Boys again this year. To make sure the ad guys knows who's reading, however, we need a better, more statistically viable sample. So please take the time – regardless of your gender – to lend a hand and answer some questions. As always, information is confidential. It's not sold or bartered with third-parties for any reason.
Speaking of women on line: Blogher, the conference is real, live and going to happen.
Continue reading "Blatant Self-Promotion"
Wed 03:05 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
The Setting Sun
Posted by Chris Nolan
Book publisher Judith Regan has decided to move to Los Angeles.
This story made the front page of the New York Times. That's how shocking New Yorkers find the idea that people in L.A. actually read. Of course, The Atlantic Monthly's Ben Schwarz has been in L.A. for years but he works for a magazine that's based in Boston which most New Yorkers think of as a college "town," so it doesn't count. Even they have to admit L.A. is a city.
Continue reading "The Setting Sun"
Tue 03:56 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Survey Says....
Posted by Chris Nolan
Preliminary results for our survey are in and while it looks great -- you're well-off, established career folks, you'll be pleased to know -- we need a few more responses to make the ad guys happy.
Be kind enough to click the survey ad when you see it. Or click here and take a very few minnutes to answer some questions that will help us sell ads.
Thanks.
Fri 04:02 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Pete and Repeat
Posted by Chris Nolan
Today's eWeek column is an exercise in something that could represent the future of on-line publishing: Syndication. I write it here, it comes out over there.
If you've read it once, you don't need to read it again. But if you're interested in how this medium might evolve, with stand alone journalist working with larger on- and off-line entities, you might want to have a look.
There is some over-lap between my eWeek audience and readers of this site but I'm betting it's not huge. I think might be typical of others writing on-line. There are an enormous number of voices – and readers – on the web with more coming from both directions every day. Exclusivity, more and more, can be in the eye of the beholder. That's one reason why I think the future of syndicating writers – sending voices to their readers, instead of asking readers to come to voices – has such potential. This is today's illustration. Hopefully there will be others.
Thu 12:03 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Take Me To Your Leaders
Posted by Chris Nolan
This morning, a bunch of lawyers and no shortage of reporters, spin doctors, Congressional staffers and lobbyists are gathered in the Supreme Court's ornate hearing room to listen to an argument about the merits and legal liability inherent in file sharing.
The case, MGM v. Grokster, brought by the record companies, is a turning point in the long and ultimately silly war between record companies and new technology that allows their customers (and, it's worth adding, the artists) to share music easily, simply and cheaply.
The Grokster case can be boiled down to one big question: Who's in Charge? Who's going to make sure the record industry runs with the smoothness (and immense profitability) that it's demonstrated since its creative geniuses began pressing vinyl? But they're not the only ones asking.
Continue reading "Take Me To Your Leaders"
Tue 10:01 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Alive and Ranting
Posted by Chris Nolan
Hey, I did a podcast!
You can hear my feminist rants from the past few weeks live and almost in person over at The Vision Thing. Generally, I try not to sqweak when I'm interviewed but this time I couldn't help myself.
I also spent an enjoyable couple of hours late last week with Demo Godess Chris Shipley. We were chatting about future of this on-line stuff. You can read Chris' generous take on what I'm doing.
Tue 10:00 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Hippity-Hoppity
Posted by Chris Nolan
It's a holiday weekend – and it's sunny out here in San Francisco, after a week of rain – so things are going to slow down here for a bit. Besides, my slugging arm hurts.
A few notes before we go. This has been a banner week, in terms of traffic and pages served. That 75,000 readers I cited on Tuesday? We're going to blow through that like a knife through butter.
But this isn't just your go-to site for feminist rants (although if you want to about women and on-line writing, it's there for the browsing). We do other stuff.
For instance, yesterday I noted the political benefits accruing to Gov. Jeb Bush from the Terri Schiavo case. Today's New York Times chimes in on the same theme. This is what my Silicon Valley friends call "value add." I call it a reason to keep reading.
Even if we do have the ocassional glitch. We're working on the technical problems with IE and AOL browsers. Promise.
As I said, it's been a banner week. Thanks are in order to Mr. Glenn Reynolds – if your writing on line, Instapundit is as good a pointer as the finger of God -- and, I think, to Newsweek's Steven Levy who graciously put this site on the magazine's weekly web update.
See you Monday!
Fri 11:12 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Technical Difficulties. Please Stand-by
Posted by Chris Nolan
Those of you looking at this site using Microsoft's Internet Explorer or AOL may be getting a funny display with out-of-sync headlines. Our apologies.
As they used to say on broadcast TV, our engineers are working to fix the problem. Really, they are.
In the meantime, if you'd take our brief reader survey over there on the right -- click on the clock thingy -- it'll help. Pay for the engineering, that is.
For those of you using Firefox or Safari this isn't a problem. But you, too, can take the survey. I mean, look, we all want to look good, no?
Thanks for your patience. We hope to resume normal looking programming shortly.
Thu 08:36 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
HouseKeeping
Posted by Chris Nolan
Hey, take our new readers' survey!
Click on the little clock thingy over there on the right and answer the questions. Our advertisers will thank you and so, indirectly, will I. And since I know the site's demographics – that's you sister - it would be more than helpful if you girlie readers respond in force.
BUG REPORT: There are some reports of trouble with the survey. Let me if this happens to you and be sure to include the kind of web browser you're using. Thanks!
Also, yeah, I need to update my "worth a click" list of things to read on the web since there are now many not-so-reciprocal links to this site. It's on the list.
And profound apologies to any of you who tried to use the email address listed on the site last week. Melva, the proof-reading intern was away. She caught the error but only after a helpful and determined reader wrote in and pointed out her mistake. So we fired her. Today's address works.
Oh, and what's with the emails asking if I want to be listed as a "female conservative" writer? The female part is correct but uh, conservative? Me? Only in San Francisco.
Mon 09:57 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Survey Please
Posted by Chris Nolan
See that cute little survey box over there on the right? The little clock in the box?
That's right, kids, time to tell me – or, more accurately, my advertisers – about you. It's pretty painless (I did it myself just this morning) so if you'd take the few minutes, I'd appreciate it.
I know – I can tell from the mail – this site is read by more woman than almost any political site on the web. So taking this survey isn't just an exercise in indulging our consumerist society.
It's also a way to tell advertisers – who are the folks who are calling the economic shots around here – just how valuable it is to support women writers. Because, believe me, they are dying to find way to reach you girls on-line.
Fri 03:40 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Red. But Not All Over.
Posted by Chris Nolan
Here's an interesting statistic. A disturbing one, if you're in the newspaper business.
Yesterday, when I was quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle, the paper's website, SFGate.com, was kind enough to provide a link to this site and sent me about 70 visitors. That's from a front-page story, one featured on the real "paper" paper's front page.
That ranks below a long-time referrer, a site known to one and all: Craig Newmark's personal blog
Newmark has sent me 87 visitors in the past 24 hours.
Compare that to getting hit by Glenn Reynolds. Depending on when he links to you, Reynolds is good for between 500 and 700 visitors a day.
Wed 02:40 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Basta!
Posted by Chris Nolan
For the last time: Is "blogging" journalism?
I have two answers to that and whaddya know, they're the same.
First, over at Personal Democracy Forum, I took a look at a silly story that appeared in The America Prospect's on-line edition. Any story published on-line that begins "the Internet took three scalps" deserves what it gets once it has the temerity to appear in public.
While I was typing away, Dan Fost, The San Francisco Chronicle's media writer called up to chat about Apple's suits against three on-line sites that had the nerve to break a little news ahead of MacWorld. Apple says they're not journalists. Apple's wrong.
So here's your answer: Blogging is a technology; it's a software that makes it easy to publish in HTML on the World Wide Web. Reporting and writing – the basics of journalism – are things you do with that technology. See the difference? Thought so.
Okay. That's enough on this. Like Jeff Jarvis, I am sick of the entire topic. It's silly and it's beside the point. The technology exists. People are using it. For better or worse.
We'll let the Big Media folks mull this one over for now. They ought to have it worked out by the end of the year.
Tue 08:53 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Gannon Shot
Posted by Chris Nolan
The frenzy over James Gannon or Jeff Guckert's getting into the White House press room has left me cold for a number of reasons and now The Nation's Dave Corn has come along to explain why: 'cause it's not a story, that's why. Not yet, anyway.
Gannon is a bozo. That's pretty obvious after five minutes of watching him on TV. He's also a whore. But neither of these things make him a national security threat. He's just a bozo who got a day pass to White House press briefings and in a society that claims it wants a free press – although these days I sometimes wonder about that – giving reporters access to the White House is a good idea.
Continue reading "Gannon Shot"
Sat 12:03 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Food For Thought.
Posted by Chris Nolan
Remember the subscriber prizes offered earlier this year? Well we have winners. And they're two good friends.
Doc Searls wins dinner at Incanto with the fabulous and wonderful Mark Pastore (who says really nice things about me in the current issue of his newsletter).
And Ben Mangan, who runs SFEarn, a non-profit that helps low-income folks buy houses, gets the poster.
Thanks to both of them. And you all of you for your help and support. We'll have some announcements soon about where we're going and what we're doing.
And if you missed your chance to subscribe and still want to help out here are details.
Wed 05:23 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Posted by Chris Nolan
This man writes for The Washington Post. He can't spell. He really can't spell. And spellcheck doesn’t help. At all.
I am not alone. I have every problem Steve Hendrix has including the inability to remember the proper order of letters once I've looked them up. When I write things by hand, I frequently substitute "p" for "b." You want to talk frustration? Man. And his editors and my editors – for years – have reacted exactly the same way. And they get meaner, too, as time goes on and your spelling doesn't improve.
But there's something else worth noting about this piece. It's a great way to talk about innate differences without being condescending or silly. Dyslexia, for whatever reasons, occurs more frequently in men than in women but Hendrix never makes that point. Instead he talks about his brain functions, how he's working to overcome his problem without generalizing.
Unlike some people we have already mentioned.
Oh and if you think this is a plea for help with the spelling. You're right. Bring 'em on.
Tue 12:37 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Horticulture
Posted by Chris Nolan
For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, I have been invited to attend the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual convention in Washington, D.C.
I believe it's diabolical a test of some sort. They're going to stick pins in me and see if Hillary Clinton screams.
Coverage will begin on Thursday.
Mon 07:44 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Last Chance
Posted by Chris Nolan
The contest continues. So does the pledge drive.
This is the last time – the very last time – Politics From Left to Right will ask for your help. The design changes we're planning on making should support our expanded site which will keep us (modestly) in business for a bit longer.
So, if you've forgotten to renew your subscription, this would be a great time to hit the PayPal button, throw us a few bucks via Amazon or just mail in a check. Here are details, technical and otherwise.
And don't forget: There are prizes: Dinner ($75) at Mark Pastore's tasty and wonderful Incanto as well as a special, signed edition of Derek Powazek's cool "Justly Married" poster commemorating last year – it's been a year! – marriage madness here in San Francisco. I'm gonna try and Mayor Gavin Newsom to sign it, too!
We'll stop begging
on Mondayin just a few short hours and announce contest winnersTuesdaytomorrow.As always, thanks for your help, your ideas and your support.
Sun 10:30 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
A Message From On High
Posted by Chris Nolan
Markos Moulitsas, DailyKos himself, writes in to tell me about his choice of credentials at the DNC's Western Caucus Saturday.
You didn't get a response because this address only works for a handful of people. It is spam blocked for everyone else. If you need to talk to me, you can use the form on my site.
As for "press" badge, I am media. Jon Stewart would wear the same badge, even though he's not a journalist. Same with Dave Barry. Or a style columnist for Bazaar.
In today's media environment, "press" and "journalism" are no longer synonymous. Not everything published is "journalism". "Press" is actually more akin to "media".
Seriously, are you finding this that confusing? It's not that complicated.
Well, you know I think it's safe to say that there's a lot less confusion here than meets the eye. It's arrogance that got Big Media. And it's contagious.
Wed 09:19 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Journalist? Activist? Troublemaker?
Posted by Chris Nolan
A great deal of virtual ink was spilt last week in long discussions about Markos Moulitsas – known to most folks as DailyKos – and his insistence that he's not a journalist, he's an activist.
Since he's a partisan Left-wing blogger – not a journalist or, God forbid, a mainstream media representative – Kos argues that he's doesn’t have to worry about some of the conflict-of-interest restraints that tie down others who style themselves as reporters and writers. So he can accept payment from candidates. Or have clients who are advertisers and advertiser who are clients who benefit from his fundraising. It's a convincing argument – up to a point. A brief and unstable point.
Seeing Kos – he introduces himself with the simple "I'm Markos" -- Saturday at the Western Caucus of the Democratic National Committee brought the back the questions raised last week with full force. Kos, the partisan blogger, was wearing a green card, a press credential. Sitting with a group of Simon Rosenberg supporters, Kos wasn't wearing the yellow cards hanging around staffers' necks or the necks of those calling themselves "observers" – folks attending for some particular purpose or cause. Nah. He was wearing a press card.
Kos hasn't responded to an email asking about his choice of identification. And, make no mistake, it was a choice. The Western Caucus was keeping track of who attended and the organizations represented. And he's certainly justified in claiming that his audience makes him a kind of reporter so people who talk to him know they have a reduced expectation of privacy. That's why the press gets tagged.
But this sort of behavior undermines all the arguments Kos made last week. And it leads us right back to the path of full and open disclosure, now doesn't it? And that's a path Kos is refusing to take. That's not good for anyone who's calling themselves a "blogger."
Mon 09:35 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Pledge Drive: The Feel Guilty Version
Posted by Chris Nolan
Okay. Keep it up. Sit on your wallet. Ignore the fact that this increasingly popular website is having a pledge drive.
I know, I know, you think, hey, those other guys will give – they're richer than me – she'll get by, Politics From Left to Right will survive.
Guess again.
I am very hopeful this will be the last time I'm going to have to turn to readers and ask directly for your support. The tools needed to keep a business like this one – more sophisticated advertising and investor support – are falling into place. What started as a cutting-edge experiment is gaining strength and power – hell, they're even having a Harvard conference about blogging and credibility. You're right if you think the money can't be far behind.
We are close. But we're not there yet. And that's why I need your help.
Expansion and growth cost money. Bandwidth isn't free. Neither is site maintenance. So pony up. Hit the PayPal button or click the Amazon link. Your brain will thank you.
How much? That's entirely up to you. But if you're a regular reader, I'm saying $25. That's less than I pay each month for my lame-ass daily newspaper, The San Francisco Chronicle.
And don’t forget: Prizes. Dinner at Incanto ($75) or a cool poster commemorating San Francisco's gay marriage fest for some lucky subscribers.
Thanks. Support details are here, also, for those of you who like more traditional means of payment.
Thu 11:40 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
More Combustion and Some Ashes
Posted by Chris Nolan
There have been a number of notes and letters about the earlier post about the "blogola" scandal.
Let me take a minute to respond and to make one important correction.
Matt Stoller, the commentator and on-line activist was not a Deaniac nor did he support Howard Dean's campaign for president. "I never supported Dean," Stoller writes. My apologies for the mistake.
Many of you have written to point out that DailyKos and MyDD have, in fact, endorsed Dean for the DNC chairmanship. They are. That's why I said that they were endorsing "Rosenberg as an alternative to Dean." Dean has only been in the race for the chairmanship – officially – for about a week. The two on-lines sites were – as good activists do – hedging their bets. They are now saying their first choice is Dean, their second is Simon. That's two, not one, endorsement and it could serve to weaken Dean's support.
Continue reading "More Combustion and Some Ashes"
Mon 09:12 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Pledge Drive: It's Not Over Yet
Posted by Chris Nolan
Given the nice long post that follows about ethics and how web sites make money, I'd be remiss in failing to call your attention to the fund drive we're having. It's a necessary evil, I'm afraid.
There are prize, though. Good ons, too. A tasty dinner at Incanto and a cool one-of-a-kind poster.
Let me be as clear about this as I can. This site depends on readers for its support. There is little else. Its commentary and thinking – hey, we say nice things about Republicans around here -- does not fit into any conventional agenda so even if I was inclined to take full-fledged political party support, such an application would be rejected. It's too broad in scope for foundation underwriting and since it's riding the very edge of a wave that's just gathering force it's not exactly a slam-dunk business (or advertising) proposition. (You don't want to hear about the guy who suggested that The Atlantic Monthly, started 1857 was a "vanity" publication).
Now, there are more than 40,000 of you stopping by here every month. Many of you are return visitors. That's a lot of people. There's only one of me. And while I am optimistic that this will be the very, very last time such a fund-drive is necessary, right now it is vital to the site's survival. I am, sorry to say, not exaggerating.
So please open your wallet and slap a few bucks down on PayPal or Amazon. Your brain will thank you. So will lots of others working to keep this site up and running.
Here some details about what you can do to help.
Thank you.
Sat 09:03 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Not-So-Spontaneous Human Combustion
Posted by Chris Nolan
It's a holiday weekend, things are slow, the perfect time to review the little "blogging ethics" contretemps going out there. This isn't all about paying "bloggers" for influence. Some, to my jaundice and cynical eye, is very much connected to the race for the DNC Chairmanship.
Last week, Zephyr Teachout former Howard Dean campaign director of Internet organizing put a post up on what she – and she has got to be joking – calls a private website saying that Dean paid a bunch of bloggers who supported his candidacy.
Now, let's get something straight from the start. There are no angels here. The two bloggers who accepted payments from the Dean campaign, Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong aren't the innocents they'd like you and the rest of their partisan readers and supporters to think they are. They have no qualms about having their readers think they're some new kind of journalists but they are, really, political activists and organizers. Teachout is no babe in the woods, either. Her comments revealed nothing new. The fact that she made them, however, was newsworthy. And that she, well-known from the Dean campaign, made them against two equally well-known bloggers, made the story national news. She can protest all she wants – and she is – but she knew the impact that post would have when she clicked on the "publish" tab.
Continue reading "Not-So-Spontaneous Human Combustion"
Sat 08:50 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Give A Little. Give A Lot
Posted by Chris Nolan
We're still having a fund-drive here. It's going to last for a full week. 'Cause you really can't do enough to support stand alone journalism. Besides, if things go well, this will be the very last time a drive like this is necessary. So hit the PayPal or Amazon button as hard as you can.
Good works and dollops of guilt aren't enough, I know. So there are prizes: You can win dinner for two (a $75 value) at San Francisco's marvelous Incanto or a cool "Justly Married" poster commemorating San Francisco's gay marriage love fest printed out just for you.
Details about subscribing are here. Thanks for you help.
Thu 03:01 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
Getting More Than You Pay For
Posted by Chris Nolan
It is time, once again, to remind you reader types that good journalism doesn't come cheap. It doesn't come free, either.
As a stand alone journalist – outside the traditional media structure that would collect advertising and subscription revenue and turn it into a salary -- I have to turn directly to you folks and ask for your support. There are more almost three times as many of you as there were when Politics From Left to Right first solicited subscriptions, twice as many as there were in July during our last fund drive. Dear reader, you are not alone.
Continue reading "Getting More Than You Pay For"
Tue 05:55 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
You Talking to Me?
Posted by Chris Nolan