Since becoming a blogger about 6 months ago, I have occasionally written about blogs and blogging. But being relatively new to the blogosphere, I am not as deeply steeped in its conventions and history as many others, so I am taking my chances whenever I venture into this area. Unsurprisingly, I have made some errors and significant omissions, (probably more than have been called to my attention).
Time to correct the record.
Awhile back I wrote about the recent rise of progressive religious bloggers. I was immediately notified that I had left out an early and significant progressive religious blog, The Village Gate (formerly known as The Right Christians.)
Sometime later, I noticed a number of recent start-up progressive political blogs, (including Booman Tribune) — all spin-offs of The Daily Kos. But I missed Newsfare — that got started when over 550 blogs took a stand against the nomination of the author of torture, Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. Newsfare features headlines from both blogs and major news outlets.
Then yesterday, I wrote about ePluribus Media, the organization forming to continue the Gannongate investigation — and launch new ones. I wrote that it was the first large-scale example of open source journalism. I was quickly informed that, without taking anything away from the remarkable achievements of Susan Gardner and her team of citizen reporters, it would have been more accurate to describe it as but the latest example of open source, collaborative journalism, of which there have been a number of varieties over the years. Fair enough.
I appreciate the extraordinary role and promise of blogging and the Internet — both for politics and for journalism. I, like many of my colleagues, see all this as a democratizing corrective to the trend towards concentration of wealth and power in the U.S. — and to the antidemocratic movements these concentrations have unleashed. So while carving out my own modest role, I do try to recognize the pioneers and to appreciate what has gone into creating all of this. But I know it is not possible to know, and to be properly respectful of all that I should, and would like to be. So much has gone before. So much is happening even now.
I do try to get the story right. But I can’t promise that I will not stumble again. If I do, I hope people will write to me to set the record straight.
[Adapted from FrederickClarkson.com.]
