Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Milblogs and Media Innovation
Well, the MilBlog Conference 2006 is history now but it also made history. It was a fascinating educational event for me; the 100-150 attendees were highly enthusiastic and engaged. I hear that a great many more were participating via internet, as one would expect since many military bloggers and blog readers are deployed around the globe.
There are a number of good summaries and opinion posts available now, including this Live-Blogging post by non-military blogger La Shawn Barber. I cite her post because she was there and working all day and represents the new media innovation of a joint civilian and military blogosphere.
Bruce Kesler in Democracy Project notes: "The impact of the Internet, and how it serves our warriors, is the focus of two important posts today. Put these against the rants of OBL and friends, often absurd but always featured by the major media, and see another reason why they’re no match for our guys." He quotes from two posts by Beltway Blog and Strategy Page and follows up with a thoughtful article that asks Is the Press Covering the Iraq War On the Cheap?: "Journalists are reviled by many for alleged negativism and over-focus on bad news in Iraq. Or perhaps the problem is: Their employers are just trying to do it on the cheap. Ironically, the same media that criticizes the U.S. for sending too few troops to stabilize Iraq send too few reporters to cover much more than the dramatic bombings around Baghdad. "
That's a good question and discussed well in the article by Kesler and Joe Galloway. They have nailed the problem - reporters don't leave the security of the Green Zone in Baghdad; they hire Iraqi stringers to give them news. They suggest that improving insurance and training for reporters will make them more willing and able to risk combat reporting. Perhaps, but the existence of so many good milbloggers suggests another option - use them as stringers to report the news from the front. They are articulate and honest; to the extent they have a bias it will be openly pro-American rather than the hidden anti-American bias of many of the Iraqi stringers currently feeding "news" to reporters.
That's a novel way for the military and the media to cooperate in getting sound fair reportage. It would take some setting of reasonable ground rules so that soldiers could do their job first and report (blog) with Opsec in mind. But that's exactly what is happening now and the Milbloggers are getting read and their reports getting spread by other blogs. Like all innovations, this will take some experimentation; and it's already beginning. I mentioned the Milblog Wire before. At the conference, Military.com announced their intention to start a new service to aggregate and publish milblogger posts as news or op-eds, depending on content. Both work on the principle that they can select a good timely feed from many bloggers, making a product that draws readers and advertisers. Bloggers can get paid to the extent their efforts produce reader interest and revenue.
It will be interesting to see how these and other business models work out. But the key thing is that they are happening; the business innovators are joining the blog innovators to create a new media dynamic.
There are a number of good summaries and opinion posts available now, including this Live-Blogging post by non-military blogger La Shawn Barber. I cite her post because she was there and working all day and represents the new media innovation of a joint civilian and military blogosphere.
Bruce Kesler in Democracy Project notes: "The impact of the Internet, and how it serves our warriors, is the focus of two important posts today. Put these against the rants of OBL and friends, often absurd but always featured by the major media, and see another reason why they’re no match for our guys." He quotes from two posts by Beltway Blog and Strategy Page and follows up with a thoughtful article that asks Is the Press Covering the Iraq War On the Cheap?: "Journalists are reviled by many for alleged negativism and over-focus on bad news in Iraq. Or perhaps the problem is: Their employers are just trying to do it on the cheap. Ironically, the same media that criticizes the U.S. for sending too few troops to stabilize Iraq send too few reporters to cover much more than the dramatic bombings around Baghdad. "
That's a good question and discussed well in the article by Kesler and Joe Galloway. They have nailed the problem - reporters don't leave the security of the Green Zone in Baghdad; they hire Iraqi stringers to give them news. They suggest that improving insurance and training for reporters will make them more willing and able to risk combat reporting. Perhaps, but the existence of so many good milbloggers suggests another option - use them as stringers to report the news from the front. They are articulate and honest; to the extent they have a bias it will be openly pro-American rather than the hidden anti-American bias of many of the Iraqi stringers currently feeding "news" to reporters.
That's a novel way for the military and the media to cooperate in getting sound fair reportage. It would take some setting of reasonable ground rules so that soldiers could do their job first and report (blog) with Opsec in mind. But that's exactly what is happening now and the Milbloggers are getting read and their reports getting spread by other blogs. Like all innovations, this will take some experimentation; and it's already beginning. I mentioned the Milblog Wire before. At the conference, Military.com announced their intention to start a new service to aggregate and publish milblogger posts as news or op-eds, depending on content. Both work on the principle that they can select a good timely feed from many bloggers, making a product that draws readers and advertisers. Bloggers can get paid to the extent their efforts produce reader interest and revenue.
It will be interesting to see how these and other business models work out. But the key thing is that they are happening; the business innovators are joining the blog innovators to create a new media dynamic.
