Political blogs in North Carolina

An increasing number of North Carolina voters are turning to blogs for political news. The influence of blogs, including news and political opinion blogs, continues to grow as their readership rises. This week my Citizens and Media class is exploring two North Carolina blogs on opposite ends of the political spectrum – Blue NC and Civitasreview. I was curious to find out more about the credibility of each blog. Does their bias distort the information on their site or are the blogs trustworthy sources of news?

One of the first things I noticed about Blue NC – the left-leaning blog – were the entries posted by government officials and candidates for office. Phillip Gilfus announced that he is running for a seat on the Cumberland County Board of Commission. Elaine Marshall, the North Carolina Secretary of State and candidate for U.S. Senate, posted an argument for financial reform. While Gilfus talked in a more conversational tone than Marshall (he even went as far as to say “ladies and gents”), both made their posts personal, as if they were speaking directly to readers. This makes them more relatable, like they genuinely care about the concerns of voters And as seen through recently-elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's campaign ads, such as his "Hey Dad" campaign ad, relatability is a valuable quality in an election.

Kenneth Lewis, a candidate for U.S. Senate, posted a statement about a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding campaign contributions. By posting the press release, he eliminated the middleman of the press. Readers can use their own judgment to interpret his statement in its entirety – a statement that has great emotional impact with its use of heated phrases like “dangerous ruling” and "arrogant display of judicial activism.”

In these three cases, the blog provides political leaders with the opportunity to connect with voters. This transparency establishes a sense of trust between candidates and supporters. The blog may help them mobilize more politically active citizens to support their campaign. While this is beneficial for the candidates, this makes the site a form of propaganda, and readers should keep that in mind when they use it to find out information.

There were also several posts critiquing government action and soliciting support for legislation. While they were opinionated, the posts were informative, often containing quotes from credible sources and links to sites with more data and background. Economic envelopment was almost entirely composed of links, giving readers access to a large pool of information.

Two additional posts called for collective action by readers:

Facing the barrage asked readers to become more astute observers of campaign ads in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

NC Congressional Delegation: Missing in action? requested that readers contact their legislators to support the SOS Bill. (On a side note: It's ironic that the blogger jokingly offers to buy a beer for readers who successfully solicit support from legislators. In class last Thursday, we discussed how politicians would reward voters with rum punch on election day during the early years of American government. This blogger may not be an esteemed gentleman in the House of Burgesses, but he is suggesting the same type of compensation for political activity. I guess history really does repeat itself.)

Civitasreview – the right-leaning blog – included several posts that exposed government corruption. Many of these posts, including one that was titled Peeling Away the Left's Lies (not exactly subtle), used inflammatory language. Although the language was emotional, the posts were still informative because, like Blue NC, they frequently contained links to primary sources and objective news articles. The posts themselves are accusatory at times, but they still serve an important function once solely fulfilled by traditional media sources: they hold leaders accountable for their actions. The blog empowers everyday citizens to call out officials for wrongdoing.

In UN Having to Admit More (and more) Mistakes, the blogger discusses the ClimateGate scandal. The use of the phrase “anti-human, climate-change advocates” in the first sentence seems extreme, but it did catch my eye. Once the post grabbed my attention with this opening sentence, I read further, learning from the Times Online excerpt that a 2007 report on Himalayan glaciers was misrepresented. Animated language like the phrase above may be over the top. Yet, it attracts people who, ideally, will then read on for more information.

The accusations made in the post about the corruption of the ABC boards in Wilmington and Charlotte were less provocative. The post relied heavily on monetary values to prove that board members are acting in self-interest. It also included a link to a report documenting the need for changes. The data makes the post extremely informative even with its cynical tone.

In Citizens and Media class last week, I proposed that traditional forms of journalism were necessary to report local politics. Beat reporters who follow specific politicians and attend town meetings are essential to communicating information about local political activity – or so I thought.

A post on Civitasreview, Early Childhood Education and Care Consolidation, shattered this point of view. It included the three essential things covered during a meeting of the joint legislative task force – a spreadsheet documenting 2009-2010 investments, a key speaker’s presentation and an organizational chart explaining the sources and flow of funding. The blog post was actually more useful than a print newspaper article about the meeting because it included links to these three items.

Both blogs provide their audiences with information and access to several reliable sources. The conversational and controversial writing style of the posts makes them more entertaining than traditional objective news articles. However, the main purpose of the blogs is the same as traditional sources of political news – to inform readers so that they can make rational decisions and influence government.

If a person only reads one of these blogs, he or she will have a one-sided perspective on current events. Still, a one-sided perspective is better than nothing. These citizens are halfway there to becoming the ideal “rational, informed citizen.” And as enthusiasm for political engagement declines in the United States, it’s a good start. Perhaps blogs, with their casual, approachable format, are the best response to political apathy among Americans, especially the younger age group.

News in the Queen City

Hey! I'm a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill double majoring in journalism and political science. I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even though I spent a large amount of my time growing up in suburbia, I'm definitely a "city kid." I absolutely love the action and excitement of places with numerous people and events packed into a single location. Something about the atmosphere of uptown Charlotte at its peak hours (while it doesn't exactly compare to New York City) gives me a rush of adrenaline.

I was also born and raised in a family of die-hard Tarheel fans so my decision to attend Carolina was met with great enthusiasm by my relatives. In fact, I think I would have been disowned by my family if I hadn't chosen UNC (my uncle hummed the alma mater every moment he was around me for months, no joke). However, when it came down to final decision time, I was truly drawn to Carolina by the journalism program and the great college atmosphere.

I have enjoyed writing my entire life -- creative writing was my first passion, but throughout high school, my interest in journalistic writing as well as my fascination by politics increased. I became an avid reader of Newsweek and Time and began frequently watching the news. In the evenings, while I was working out at the Y, I watched two adjacent televisions showing FOX and CNN respectively. With the reputations of the networks as biased news sources, I was intrigued to see how they covered the same stories. I never discovered any drastic differences (except perhaps between the talk shows), but it was still quite the experiment. My final news source was somewhat of an accident. Although I wasn't thrilled about it at first, I spent many car rides with my parents listening to NPR. As a kid, I begged to listen to music instead -- especially when my incredibly unreliable cassette player failed -- but it eventually grew on me. I did learn quickly though that discussions with my parents could not be held until AFTER the show was over.

I attended Myers Park High School, a huge public school with a diverse population of around 2800 students. While most of my peers weren't consistently up-to-date on current events, I was surprised to find that many paid at least some attention to the news, especially during the presidential campaign last year. Many students watched the Colbert Report or the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (watching it every night is a favorite pastime of my brother and I).

Another news source of my peers was our school newspaper, The Hoofprint. It was actually fairly popular among the student body (and I'm not just saying that because I was on the staff). We strived to produce a paper that was controversial and acted as a voice for the overlooked members of our school's population -- even in the face of opposition from the school administration. We included stories on homosexuality, underage drinking, overcrowding, students' rights, and the achievement gap. We balanced those with human interest pieces and funny columns to create a well-rounded paper. Features about unusual individuals, such as a teacher's brother who was biking around the world and two teachers who compete in the Highland games, drew students in with their originality. The paper may not have reached everyone at Myers Park, but on distribution day, it was exciting to see how many students spent class time flipping through the newspaper (although some teachers weren't particularly pleased with the distraction).

The Charlotte region's main newspaper is The Charlotte Observer. The paper's once stocky appearance has become increasingly slim, and the decrease in the number of stories written by local reporters is equally alarming. I believe more and more Charlotte residents are turning to the Internet as their primary source of news. Much of Charlotte's economy revolves around the banking industry -- an industry that depends heavily on nationwide events and companies -- and, as a result, people with careers in this field turn to national news sources online such as The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times. With the state of Charlotte so closely tied to the national financial industry, local news often takes a backseat. In addition, the local news network provides a brief rundown of noteworthy events -- a quicker and more convenient alternative to reading the newspaper. Other publications, such as Charlotte Weekly and Charlotte Parent, target specific groups of the population and are read by a limited group of people.

Gossip is a source of news for almost everyone in Charlotte (whether it is intentional or not). Some residents are experts at spreading news through carpool lines, phone trees, PTA meetings, clubs, and social events. I have witnessed this firsthand with my mom's book club -- their discussion of novels often morphs into a discussion of the personal lives of themselves and others. But don't get me wrong. In my opinion, this is not necessarily a horrible thing. I think gossip has gotten a bad rep; pop culture frequently associates it with catty girls and harmful rumors. Honestly, though it may not be the most reliable source of news, it is still an effective way to spread information. It provides basic information to people that they can then further investigate themselves. Individuals who might otherwise never learn about an event may hear about it from a friend and look it up. In the end, this exchange of news is unavoidable. We should embrace it and make more accessible tools for people to check the validity of gossip, enhancing the positive news-sharing aspect of it while negating the potential for spreading rumors.