Independent, Tech-Savvy Trailblazers Demonstrate That Minorities Have Officially Crossed the “Digital Divide”
Seven African-American bloggers representing varying views of the “Afrosphere” are gearing up for what promises to be an experience of a lifetime. But they’re not traveling to Colorado with an entourage of producers or company vehicles filled with expensive equipment.
Dubbed “The Denver 7”, these pioneers, armed only with their laptops, Blackberrys and other electronic gadgets that can fit inside a single carry-on, are preparing to become the first group of black independent “credentialed journalist” bloggers to cover a major political party’s national convention.
While Black writers and reporters from Newsweek, CNN, or even minority media powerhouses such as Ebony or Black Entertainment Television will be present, what makes Pamela Spaulding, Baratunde Thurston, Oliver Willis, Gina McCauley, L.N. Rock, Liza Sabater and Shawn P. Williams different is they represent a new breed of “black media” that will be attending the 2008 Democratic National Convention August 25-28.
Last year, as reported by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), newsrooms suffered through the biggest loss of jobs in three decades, while doing little to increase their percentage of minorities. Daily newsrooms shrank by 2,400 journalists in the past year, and there were nearly 300 fewer journalists of color working in those newsrooms. Blacks made up only 5.3 percent of the workforce, according to the National Association of Black Journalists.
And that’s why blogs such as Oliver Willis and Jack and Jill Politics, recently featured in the New York Times Magazine article “Is Barack Obama the End of Black Politics” by Matt Bai, are thriving. As Bai correctly pointed out in the piece, “after lagging for a time, college-educated African-Americans are now organizing online in the same way as their mostly white counterparts at Daily Kos and MoveOn.org started doing several years ago.”
“I’m a black lesbian living in the South, blogging since 2004, about political and social issues who now gets to represent the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender community at my party’s convention. It’s pretty heady stuff,” said Pam Spaulding, an I.T. manager whose blog Pam’s House Blend is one of the most successful Black sites on the Internet. Currently, Spaulding’s site ranks 2129 out of the millions of blogs all over the world, according to tracking website Technorati.
Competing with some 400 applicants, each of these bloggers were required to submit daily audience information and provide examples of posts that made their blogs stand out as an effective online organizing tool or agent of change.
One of only a handful of black bloggers who actually ventured down to Jena, Louisiana for the Jena 6 controversy, Shawn P. Williams of Dallas South Blog remembers the process well. “We had to demonstrate both the reach and impact our blog has had and continues to have on the 2008 election. It’s incredible that I’ve gone from being a local pharmaceutical sales representative posting my personal musings on a blog, to becoming a credentialed media journalist covering this incredible moment.”
Another Texas native, Gina McCauley of the popular blogs What About Our Daughters and Michelle Obama Watch, has seen her talent recognized by being named as one of Essence Magazine’s “25 Most Influential African Americans of 2007” The civil attorney turned woman’s advocate was also instrumental in organizing a successful Blogging While Brown Conference recently held in Atlanta.
“None of us started doing this for fortune or fame,” said Liza Sabater of Culture Kitchen, a married mother of two who is part Latina. “We just wanted to have our voices heard. And now, look where we are.”
The DNCC previously announced an expansion of the credentialed blogger pool from past Conventions and the addition of a state blogger credentialing program. As part of the new DemConvention State Blogger Corps, designed for bloggers covering state and local politics, bloggers will receive unparalleled access to state delegations and the floor of the Convention hall.
"The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office. The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean.
This election year, both the Democratic and Republican parties have come to recognize the exponential growth of blogs and the permanent role the Internet now plays in American politics.
Like the others, Baratunde Thurston – “Jack” of Jack and Jill Politics - is not averse to sponsors and contributors providing financial and in-kind assistance. "Having resources available just makes it easier for all of us to do what we do.”
L.N. Rock of African American Political Pundit agrees. “I think it might take a few years before folks truly understand that we were at the forefront of what a fellow black blogger has coined the Digital Renaissance Movement. I’m just glad to be living in this moment and time doing what it is I do.”
Highlights from these blogs will be featured on the party’s website in the lead up to and during the Convention. For a complete list of selected bloggers, go to DemConvention.com.