The following was written for an assignment from my communications class. The topic is political blogging in my home state:
Ohio is both suprisingly political and suprisingly tech savvy for those whose image of the American midwest is barns and soybean fields, with a bevy of political blogs representing the range of the political spectrum. While all the major state newspapers run political blogs, the most passionate (and most partisan) blogs are not affiliated with news outlets.
These blogs aren’t just news sources– They actively support candidates and parties. Buckeye State Blog, which bills itself as “one of Ohio’s oldest and largest political blogs”, identifies strongly with the Ohio Democratic Party and that party’s position and goals color every inch of its coverage of Ohio’s political news. Many other Ohio blogs have similar loyalties. Their site contain not only opinion pieces on the news of the data, but also party candidate lists and links to sites such as www.reclaimohio.com which provide specifics on where the Democratic Party can make headway in upcoming elections.
At first, these blogs may seem to be doing a disservice to Ohio’s politics by abandoning objective reporting. But that was never the purpose of political blogs in the first place. Rather, they serve as a source of support for party activists within the state. Through purposefully analysis of political events, they can show what direction the political winds are blowing in while reinforcing party idealogy. Buckeye State Blog’s contributors, with mild egotism, refer to themselves as “Pamphleteers of the Revolution” and serve much the same role as their historical counterparts. Rather than providing news, they provide debate and discussion. Taking advantage of new technology, they’ve changed the political landscape. Today’s bloggers may be no Ben Franklins, but they’re certainly revolutionary in their own right.
