Queries from Charlie Sykes

Charlie Sykes posted these two queries to the Wisconsin Blogosphere:

Query One: Why no interest in Doyle's handling of school choice in the blogosphere?

I think there are a couple reasons, both of which have more to do with the nature of blogging than with the merits of the school choice issue. It boils down to time and focus.

Speaking for myself, blogging time is pretty limited; I usually can only write a couple of posts a day, so I have to pick and choose. Focusing on one issue necessarily means letting some other good ones slide. Even Glenn Reynolds can't blog about everything!

Secondly, the heat of a presidential election caused a lot of bloggers to focus on politics. Now, we Wisconsin bloggers want to keep voter fraud on the front burner, so we focus on election reform -- perhaps to the exclusion of other issues that come up (such as school choice).

Eventually, I think all bloggers will find a niche based on their own interests. At some point we might find that we have a variety of bloggers who -- if you don't mind the MSM expression -- have a self-selected "beat" (i.e., for education, you might have homeschooling blogs, school choice blogs, and public school blogs). It may just take awhile to get to that point. Jib's formation of the Badger Blog Alliance may turn out to be a step in that direction, but it's too early to tell.

Query Two: What's the next step in promoting the new -- very active -- WI Blogosphere? I'm open to suggestion. The MSM will ignore this development as long as they can, but that shouldn't deter us.

I noticed that Jib suggested an occasional panel of bloggers on your radio show; perhaps your Sunday TV show would also be an idea. (You said you're open to suggestions!) This would be one indicator that the thoughts and observations of "citizen bloggers" are just as worthy of discussion, criticism, and consideration as those of MSM representatives or other luminaries who make appearances on talk shows.

The fact that CPAC will credential bloggers as members of the press is a good sign. (Hat tip to Sean, who is one of those bloggers.) That happened at the political party conventions this summer, too, but it was treated more as a sideshow than as a significant change in the media landscape.

On an individual level, there are still lots of people who have no idea what blogs are (hard to believe, but trust me, it's true). We bloggers need to shoulder some of the responsibility for promoting the blogosphere as a valuable additional source of information. How about introducing ourselves, either in person or via email, to our legislators, local officials, community leaders, and so on? How about writing letters or op-ed pieces for newspapers, identifying ourselves as bloggers? What about giving a free mini-seminar at a local library, to educate the general public about the blogosphere? Just some thoughts.

In the end, it's probably just a matter of time before we've proven ourselves and earned our credibility. As Chrenkoff said, the "Year of the Blog" should really be considered "The Year of the Beginning of the Long March of Blog" (or as I called it, "The Blog Slog").

So it's just a matter of time, and a lot more blogging. I'm willing to stick around to see what happens.

UPDATE: (Wed. evening) Mike comments below and asks if I'm volunteering to appear on Charlie's show. No, and if he asked (highly unlikely since there are far bigger and better bloggers out there), I would say no. I barely have time to blog, much less take on extra "gigs".

By the way, Mike has a definite point of view about the BBA and Charlie Sykes, posted at his blog. I believe his worries are unfounded, however. I will try to post more about this later, including some thoughts on how I see the role of bloggers and their relationship to MSM. If, of course, I have time.