I fired off a post last night after, frankly, being jaw-droppingly shocked by the cozy interactions between the well-respected and popular vlog-team at Rocketboom and the John Edwards campaign.
But, then I got to thinking about where my surprise came from. It's pretty simple. I write a blog, but deep down I'm old-school when it comes to my thoughts about journalism is and, most especially, when it's journalism that touches public policy and politics. (Not many kids want to be a press secretary when they grow up, but I did -- in 1976).
So maybe my gut-instinct response was unfair.
Maybe Everything Has Changed like we're told over and over again.
But, if the old, long-established rules don't work, what are the new rules? Are there any?
And, if not, how does a vlog viewer appropriately filter for bias (if any)? Or, should the viewers of vlogs have such a personal affinity and connection to their video purveyors of choice that they should just know and understand where their daily dose of information is coming from without any added context?
This is serious stuff. Similar conversations generations ago eventually led to the creation of the Fairness Doctrine, personal attack and political editorial rules (all since done away with).
Anyway, it should be allowed that this is genuinely new ground and debate (and even mistakes) should be encouraged to help in finding our way in the next generation of political communications.
To this end, I posted an open-letter of sorts to Rocketboom's founder and producer Andrew Baron on a vlogger list-serv to drive the conversation. It's after the jump.
To his great credit, Baron took time from what has to be a very busy day to respond. His response follows my note.
Feel free to tell me that I'm wrong or barking up the wrong tree. I think we all want to learn at this interesting moment in time....
-S. Garrett





