How do African-American bloggers make themselves heard in the current environment?
This is mostly discussing *progressive* AA bloggers, of course.
By Moe Lane Posted in African-Americans | Blogging | Blogosphere — Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Via Instapundit:
Black bloggers fight to make voices heard
With its power-to-the-individual approach, the new media world promises anyone with a laptop the possibility of a publishing empire. But, as some black bloggers are finding out, the new media world is a lot like the old one: racially segregated, with many prominent black voices still fighting to be heard.
Some bloggers felt insulted this month when the Democratic National Committee selected 55 state-oriented blogs to cover its convention in Denver; critics said few featured African American voices. The DNC said race wasn't considered in its selection from 400 applicants. Officials were more interested in the sites' audience size and how much chatter about local issues appeared on them. The DNC answered critics Thursday by adding several sites led by African Americans to its general blogger pool.
The answer is: they can't, of course. It's not particularly because of racism, though. It's because most African-American bloggers are progressives, and the only way any progressive blogger can truly advance is to find some way to ingratiate him- or herself to one of the big progressive blogs. The left side of the 'sphere is dominated by four or five early adopters, and they have no intention of going anywhere. Right below them are about twenty or so second-tier sites, which mostly subsist on what links get thrown their way by the big blogs. And below them is everybody else, who are starved for traffic to the extent that trying to provoke right-wing sites starts to look attractive. And the Democratic Party's leadership pretty much prefers it this way: top-down infrastructures are easier to influence and/or derive revenue from.
And that's pretty much that.
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How do African-American bloggers make themselves heard in the current environment? 10 Comments (0 topical, 10 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
That there's no way to discern someones skin color online
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
The early blog environment was as free market as it gets. Everyone was competing for viewers but there were no regulations and little barrier to entry. Over time a few blogs innovated and evolved (allowing multiple contributors, site design, etc.) and eventually these came to dominate. It wasn't enough to just be an early adopter, you had to also differentiate yourself from the pack.
Fast forward to now and there are a few well established players that dominate the market and will continue to do so due to the quality of the service they offer. The awesome thing about blogs is the negligible barrier to entry (just your thoughts and your time); the competition between blogs comes closer to realizing free market ideals than any other industry.
Of course, this could change. Redstate joined up with some liberal blogs a while back to fight against an attempt to regulate political blogs, and internet providers are fighting against net neutrality so that they can control the speed of content delivery, which could significantly increase the barrier to entry.
Sorry for threadjack, this comment had nothing to do with race. I suppose that was intentional.
I'm not aware of any new regulations, personally, or even barriers to entry. In fact today it's probably easier than ever, so we're even closer to the economic model of perfect competition.
And hopefully it stays that way.
How do you defend the notion that there are a few gatekeeper blogs when anyone can start writing and gather readers? It seems that the ones who must rely on established players in the market are those who don't have a quality product to offer on their own; this isn't a fault, it's a feature. I suppose you could say it's a problem that it's difficult to compete with more established players with multiple contributors and sources of revenue.
Also, it seems false to categorize the lefties as a top-down infrastructure, given their outrage expressed at Reid's support of FISA and the losses of Al Wynn and Lieberman. Wasn't there some sort of bill specifically to criticize moveon.org, endorsed by both parties?
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What say you, Moe? It feels like you're trying to shove a square peg through a round hole with this one.
There are no gatekeepers preventing me from reaching the public.
Now, sure, there are sites that accumulate readership, granted, but that's what HAPPENS in a free market. A free market of websites does not mean a uniform distribution of readers among all different sites, any more than a free market economy means a uniform distribution of money among all citizens.
There are winners and losers in life. But that doesn't mean anyone is unfree, so you bet I defend the notion that success is possible online.
And that's Moe's point. The left online gravitates to success, and shuns those who haven't got it, except when the successful people link to it. Where's he wrong?
...that there's a cartel. It doesn't precisely fit the narrative of people-powered politics to note the rather obvious point that the Democratic Party pours advertising revenue into a few blogs, and gets campaign contributions poured out.
Don't get me wrong: speaking as a writer on one of the top conservative blogs, it's a sweet gig. Unfortunately, the Right 'sphere is a distributed network, so we can't really replicate it.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I talked about why that inevitably happens in any new market. I also pointed out why it seems unlikely that the Dem leadership is somehow exerting control over the left blogs, given how often they buck the leadership.
Moreover, the idea that the Democratic party has been hijacked by these same fringe groups is regularly expressed in conservative spheres. That idea is contradictory to this one, unless you're going to make the case that the online left presence has built themselves into the new establishment.
Besides, most blogs are open; anyone can hop on Redstate or Kos and post links to their own material. The community will vote it up or down as they see fit. This contrasts with littlegreenfootballs or hotair who don't allow new commenters, having secured their echo chamber. It's democracy in action, not some form of institutional control.
This site and some conservative sites continue to promote free speech, but the idea that the right is distributed while the left is controlled by the party is absurd on its face and contradicts other ideas routinely tossed around here. Neither you nor Moe addressed the points I made, instead preferring to repeat your talking points because the argument I made didn't fit into your worldview, the exact thing you accuse me of.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Maybe not exactly conforming to the article...
Race Relations!
Mercy, I have come from totally unbiased position - people are what they do and how they behave (Moma raised me that way) to total resentment of the black race. Let me explain...
In the 60's (military), I bunked with a black (silly to say that since I knew no difference then) and we were good friends. He even took me to an all black night club (which scared me to death at the time (He and his friend promised to protect me though). I took him to my hangouts and would have protected him likewise (only now, I did not know he needed to worry then). I felt so out of place and was actually astonished that such places existed (I always though that everybody went to any club they wanted). That was my first experience that blacks felt different about the world. Later, I invited some Hispanic golfers to my club (middle 70's) and was again shocked by the response that I received. They laughed and said that there was no way that they would be allowed on the course! As shocked as I was (and I was - about 50% of San Antonio was Hispanic at the time), I stated that that was silly and there would be no problem. Well, to my satisfaction, there was no problem and we had an enjoyable round of golf (but again, an awakening). These events have became a part of who I grew up to be...
Now, I look at the Obama episodes, the Trinity church, his wife, his Chicago and lawless friends, and I see not only the initial worries of fitting in, I see absolute racist attitudes (worse than I could have ever imagined from the whites) from the black community. Not only that, but the absolute ignorance that is spread from these "churches" is the worst corruption possible.
I see no progress for racial conciliation for decades to come. The idea that anybody white or black could vote for a man that spent 20 years within this environment is too scary.
Formally known as Deagle... "Golf is a way of life..."
Assuming this is a blogger per state, what 3 states from Barrack Obama's America are being left out?