Washington Post Vid Clip from Kos

I got interviewed by the Washington Post when I was at Kos.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton
Originally uploaded by biverson.

Sen. Clinton talking to YearlyKos break-out group. I'm at the session live blogging, but I can't pay attention to Hillary and live blog too well. Right now, she is calling for the reinstatement of habeas corpus and she said to close Guantanemo (for you, Norm.)

YearlyKos Update

I've got pictures I will upload but I have to find a power plug and charge up to do that. The lunch talk by Andrew Stern was strange. Here is the head of one of the biggest labor unions channeling Buckminster Fuller. Recall Fuller's contention that the age of the nation-state was over and that corporations were the new rulers? He said this in the 60s and I used to dispute it, but if a union guy is saying it for attribution, who can argue.

These were the factoids that stuck out in my mind: 25% of our work force will not have a permanent employer. A college-age kid nowadays will have between 6 and 8 jobs in their worklife. He then went on to note that large corporations have more influence on global matters than governments do.

YearlyKos my first report

Chicago has been a hotbed of blogging this summer. First blogher, now YearlyKos.

What is YearlyKos? First you need to know what DailyKos is. DailyKos is a community. There is Kos himself who recently told Abdon Pallasch that he thinks he is a better community builder than he is a blogger.

Daily Kos has diarists who are basically like bloggers, though they write on Kos. The Diarists gain reputation in the community and move to the "front page."

First, the DailyKos is political. It is a community of progressives and Democrats. That said, their exploration of the process of blogging and development of ideas about "netroots" (an updating of grassroots, referring to real people doing poltical action in real communities, to include organizing online with the aim of moving from virtual action to real action.) There are some very interesting discussions of the relationship of blogs and blogging to journalism and of whether blog is a noun or a verb. There are what I guess I would call hybrid discussions because these bloggers are reporting sometimes, advocating other times.

They get lots of hits and many are making their living off blogging, so there are fascinating discussions about editorial independence when your blog is supported by ads. I think that the direct connection between these writers/content creators and the details of business is very important in today's media environment. This is what is missing from the mindset of lots of traditional journalists. They don't bother or deign to think about their work in terms of how marketable it is. When your model has been to work for hire, you are not connected the way the Kossaks are with what sells, or how to sell your work.

When writers who have developed their own monetary and economic support compete with writers who expect to "insulated" from the business side, what happens? That is one of the unarticulated issues that lies behind the journalism vs. blogging.

That is one of my reasons for being at YearlyKos.