The blogosphere loves a good blogger-journalist fight. It may be the closest thing political junkies have to celebrity gossip. Most people perk up when Paris and Nicole squabble, but we get pumped when Joe Klein fires back at Atrios. And since liberal bloggers keep expanding their influence in media and politics, there should be plenty of fights around the corner. But at this week's YearlyKos netroots convention, I'm hoping to lead one blogger-journalist discussion that transcends the usual battles.
I'm moderating a panel that will pair bloggers Glenn Greenwald and Jill Filipovic with The Politico's Mike Allen and Time magazine's Jay Carney, to discuss whether media-blog relations can evolve towards more constructive interactions. We're calling it "Blogs and the MSM: From Clash to Civilization." (H/T to my brother for the title, actually.) Not the end of fiery debate, of course, but thinking through questions like:
Which conventional criticisms of blogs and the MSM are valid and why? Who should set the media's agenda? How can bloggers and reporters make public discourse more relevant, factual, enlightening, inclusive and participatory? Can they work together on those goals? Should they?
Convention attendees will add plenty more ideas, of course, and I'm also taking questions from people who can't be in Chicago, so feel free to post yours in the comments section. (Or private questions can also be emailed to amelber(at)hotmail.com.) We'll see on Friday if anyone wants to move beyond the clash.
