Will Fighting Against Lobbyist Regulation Hurt Bloggers' Credibility?

After all the media bashing in the last decade, and the weak press performance before the invasion of Iraq, some saw blogs as a ray of hope, an independent, untainted voice that would give people a voice and stand up to power.

I still have faith that the press will perform its role in society. It's also exciting to see the definition of press expand to include journalistic blogs. But that evolution is threatened by imprecise terminology that puts too many activities in the category of blogging.

It's no wonder lobbyists and marketers are so enthusiastic about blogging. They're taking advantage of the medium's credibility to deliver their message, mooching off the aura of independence that surrounds blogs.

Incidents like the ethics bill make me wonder how long that aura will last.

The unifying effect of the term "blogging" helped build the blog community and gave it power and legitimacy.

But the blogosphere is starting to seem like the British Empire in the middle of the last century, when the empire was unraveling and colonies like India began the messy process of establishing their own identities. The empire's influence and structures remain, but most of its territory is no longer British.

Blogs have to be more upfront about paid political content if they're ever going to have the credibility of the mainstream media. You may laugh and sneer at that last point, but the MSM has developed a pretty good system for handling paid political ads so the public can tell what's an ad. That system also helps the public and watchdogs monitor election spending, to be sure the system is fair and transparent.

Truly independent bloggers trying to influence politics will be marginalized until they accept the reality of public disclosure rules. The rules improve credibility and independence, unless you've got something to hide

tags: blogs  provision 220  lobbying bill  

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