My Response to “Been there, done that…”

In response to Melanie’s post about last night’s CBS Atlanta Blogger’s Forum.

Like Catherine, I can also be snarky and critical with the best – hint: my blog posts on political stupidity. But that wasn’t my agenda last night. Plus, I thought it was rude of others to act so high and mighty when they were invited to a meeting. There was no need for that because Steve Schwaid seemed genuinely interested in trying to find a way to connect with Atlanta bloggers.

I wasn’t there to assess the fate of broadcast news. Not my interest. Or to be critical of his business plan. I was there to listen and to learn.

I’m not na√Øve to think that Mr. Schwaid is doing this for the total greater good of blending new media with old media. Yes, he might be doing this to gain brownie points, increase his audience size, and even, oh my god, I must say it, to someday increase his profit line.

Catherine nor I were not “flattered by the attention”. This snide schoolgirl remark did not convey the fact we were impressed by a mainstream media person standing in front of us saying he did not know how to engage bloggers but was willing or how the project would exactly work. Including, the fact that Steve Schwaid made a lot of concessions to the bloggers throughout the meeting. It was refreshing to hear someone say “hey I don’t have all the ideas but I’m willing to learn and become engaged”.

I think it’s disingenuous to insinuate that “Nita can be bribed with small electronic gadgetry.” That’s bullshit! When you get invited to the table, it doesn’t mean that you have to eat the craps off the table. As I explained that very evening, I think it can only help BfD if there were a greater audience reading our posts. The CBS’ aggregator may just do that – allow more of the general public to view our opinions on why Georgia should be a Blue State. I don’t blog for profit so I make zero skins off this deal. Hell, I only blog when there is a gap in my schedule and I have some downtime.

As I also mentioned last night, the aforementioned Flipcam that was in my purse was purchased by my nonprofit client. I don’t record political events with their purchased equipment. Call me crazy but I try not to blurry the lines between a paying nonprofit client and political work.

Let’s think about all the community activities that we attend, both within and outside our Democratic circles, that are never covered or even mentioned by the network news.

How many times have you seen the network news attend a Stonewall Democrats’ event? How many times have you seen the network news cover a Planned Parenthood phonebanking session? How cool would it have been to tape Howard Dean when he had his informal session with only bloggers? Do you think the network news are going to interview candidates in a special election?

So don’t give me any shit about how CBS’ idea is fatally flawed or that I have somehow sold out until 1. You can think outside of the box and see how to use it for our advantage and 2. Until it’s been tested and proven a failure. The problem with so many “new media” folks is that they automatically place on their “new media” tinfoil hat and look for conspiracies at every angle.

Do I know if this project will work? Nope. Am I willing to give it some time? Yup. Am I giving up my day job(s) for this? Nope. But I’m willing to engage CBS and see where this project goes.