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.
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