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Futhermore: A blog by Gannett News Service Political Editor Chuck Raasch

Flackosphere

You don't have to be a defender of Old Media or Old Politics to be concerned when politicians are hiring voices on the blogosphere to flack for them. According to a report this morning, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards hired Rocketboom's Andrew Baron for advice and to shoot Edward's announcement video. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz writes about Edwards' Internet strategy, and discloses the collaboration with Rocketboom.com.

Edwards's strategy, according to Kurtz, is to "go deep into the blogosphere." The medium is a good part of the message: Edwards has his own Facebook and MySpace pages – and in the past, Edwards has bypassed "traditional" media in favor of bloggers. In an "interview" last week, Edwards tells Rocketboom's Joanne Colan – a former British MTV VJ – that places like Rocketboom.com are "one of the best ways to reach people" as part of his campaign to change America "from the ground up."

But in the "interview," neither Edwards nor Colan disclose that there was a financial relationship between the Edwards campaign and Rocketboom.com, as Kurtz reports.

One of the powers of the political blogosphere is its independence from convention – from the old media, from the consultant crowd, from the traditional way of conducting campaigns and talking about them, but mostly from the politicians themselves. It's fun to watch Old School politicians adapt. Last week, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. – or shall we say a rather flattering avatar of the congress-man – was interviewed about the upcoming Congress on the virtual 3-D video blog, Second Life. Miller said he felt like "the canary in the coal mine" but that he would urge colleagues to engage this "next frontier" on interacting with constituents.

More power to this new medium – as long as everything's up front. Go Rocketboom.com's ar-chives for Colan's "interview" with Edwards on the eve of his presidential announcement last week in New Orleans and you will find no indication of the financial relationship described by Kurtz. So it's no wonder the interview was totally composed of what ink-stained wretches have long called "softball" questions. There is nothing wrong with softballs in politics – if you know who's pitching them. Without transparency, recipients of the information cannot make honest conclusions from the information presented. The information lacks true context.

Judging by the comments, the Edwards-Rocketboom.com collaboration got mixed results. Some posters praised Colan's "scoop," but "Robbie from Long Island" thought Edwards came across like a "southern robot." "Captain Will" congratulated Colan but told her she needed to "sharpen up your incisors. This man is declaring his intentions to run for president. I need some real answers... How do we get out of Iraq?"

The interview ends with Colan exhorting Edwards to make "a good change." What's that? Raising taxes? Cutting taxes? Banning abortions? Getting out of Iraq tomorrow - or sending in more troops?

Here's a more concrete "good change" we all may agree on: A code of ethics for video bloggers that discloses all relationships, up front.

Posted By CHUCK RAASCH, GNS POLITICAL WRITER on January 08. 2007 12:05PM
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Chuck Raasch is political editor for Gannett News Service. His column, Newpolitics, appears here and on USA TODAY.com. A native of South Dakota and a graduate of South Dakota State University, Raasch has covered political campaigns since 1978, including Tom Daschle's first race for Congress and George McGovern's last race for the Senate. He has covered presidential campaigns since 1988.

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