Bloggers to report at political convention

By Anick Jesdanun
Associated Press

The Democrats are granting media credentials to some bloggers at their convention, and Colette D. Marine hopes to be one of them. Republicans are considering whether to issue credentials to bloggers, too. Associated Press

They'll be blogging.

The Democrats are holding true to their "party of inclusion" billing vis-a-vis the online chroniclers, whose Web logs have leapt in popularity this year as political junkies increasingly get their fix with mouse clicks.

Democrats say they'll offer media credentials to a handful of bloggers. The Republicans say they've yet to decide what to do about them — credentialing deadlines passed with no announcement on whether bloggers could even apply.

GOP spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said details are being worked out, but some analysts believe the party is wary of bloggers, who tend to be less predictable than mainstream journalists.

Michele Catalano of The Command Post, a mostly news-as-it-happens blog, said she'll cover the Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 convention at Madison Square Garden from outside if necessary.

"To compete with the regular media, it's important to be where the media is," the 31-year-old East Meadow, N.Y., blogger said.

Scott Schmidt, 28, a GOP activist who blogs from Los Angeles, said Republicans were "late to the game" but appear serious about granting some access.

He has traded e-mails informally with convention officials about getting inside. But Schmidt is not waiting. As a backup, he sought credentials as a guest of the California delegation.

More than 50 bloggers met last Tuesday's deadline to apply for the Democratic National Convention credentials, of which an undetermined number will be selected based on originality, readership level and professionalism, said convention spokeswoman Lina Garcia.

She said the Democrats consider blogs important for engaging younger voters and expanding journalism to the citizenry. But that won't make the credentialing easy.

Colette D. Marine, a 35-year-old Chicago blogger trying to get credentialed for the July 26 to 29 gathering in Boston, fortified her application with a brief essay and samples of previous postings after the Democrats asked for more material.

"I get a sense they are making it up as they go along," Marine said. "It's a new phenomenon. I'm sure they are just as confused as everybody is."

For traditional media, both big parties generally rely on rules established by committees of journalists for getting passes to cover Congress. But no such procedure exists for blogs.

Bloggers with Democratic credentials will get the same access as any other media to most of the FleetCenter in Boston. If they need assigned spaces, they'll be asked to pay for phone, furniture rental and other expenses just like mainstream journalists.

But bloggers will share proportionally fewer passes to get on the convention floor where speeches are delivered.

Some of the bloggers seeking credentials say their coverage plans involve little more than going where the mood takes them. Their personal accounts are unfettered by editors — and most don't pretend to be objective.

"We don't have those constraints, which provides for more colorful coverage," said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, whose Daily Kos is among the most visited political blogs. "If I want to use profanity in a post, I'll use profanity."