blogs will not be regulated by FEC

Tuesday, September 4, 2007, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) made a ruling pertaining to blogging based on a complaint made on behalf of former Representative Mary Bono.

The complaint alleged that when blogs engage in partisan political activity they should be required to report in-kind contributions to the campaigns that benefit from these activities.

The FEC ruled that blogs are more like media outlets and should not be required to report partisan activity as in-kind political contributions. Newspapers don't report endorsements as in-kind contributions. And blogs shouldn't have to report their endorsements as in-kind contributions. See FEC press release. Adam B, the lawyer defending the bloggers, engaged in a little gloating. See Adam B (Daily Kos).

BLOG, blogger trying to cash in on Commissioner Bill Beavers' wit

Want Todd Stroger's mug on your skivvies, panties, drawers, undies?

I don't, but Rogers Park Bench (Tom Mannis) thinks there's a market.

h/t Phil Kadner (Daily Southtown)

BLOG, how blogs can be better than traditional media

Saturday, Proviso Probe had an entry about the collision between an ambulance and a motorist.

I didn't expect the entry to be noteworthy. It was just something that happened in the community.

"Public Safety" informed me of the OptiCom system for traffic signal preemption. The system switches the lights so emergency vehicles can get the green lights/right of way.

"Firefighter for a long time" made some useful observations too.

Opticoms are great, they make traveling lights and sirens safer for everyone. The problem lies when an approaching motorist sees the light changes green and if they don’t look up in time to see it went back to red. No one expects the light to change to red 10 seconds after it goes green. Traffic light cycles like normal (yellow-red) but nobody expects it as quick as it comes.

S/he went on to write:

Anyone operating an emergency vehicle should have to go through mandatory training. Even if you have a green light you should be slowing and covering the brake. Green light does not mean the intersection is clear. Some departments mandate even if you have the green light to come almost to a complete stop at intersections before proceeding. I am not going to try and guess what happened or why without an investigation or report.

S/he also drew attention to the website FireFighterCloseCalls.com.

This story illustrates the power of blogging. The most informed people reading a blog almost always know more about at least part of the story than the people writing the blog. This is also true in newspapers, radio and television. However, blogs allow for the audience to make contributions. So, if a blog has a knowledgeable audience it can be a much more powerful source of information than a traditional media outlet.

BLOG, how do blogs interact with local politics?

Forest Park Review (Dave McCarthy) wrote about blogs in local elections focusing on village races in Forest Park.

McCarthy's points:

1. Blogs provide forums for candidates and voters to interact.
2. Blogs often fill a niche under served by other media outlets.
3. Mayor Calderone engages in criticizing of the Forest Park Review.
4. The popularity of the website formerly known as ForestPark.com was discussed.
5. Calderone and Doolin criticized th discourse on the website formerly known as....
6. The expert said that bloggers are often partisan and there is mudslinging.

The web statistics are off slightly b/c McCarthy use the counter on the profile pages. Many people visit blogs without going to the profile page. And in cases where someone writes multiple blogs the profile page predates the more recent blogs.

John Plepel made a good point about the mudslinging. Blogs didn't invent it. Blogs are merely a new medium for it.

In the 1998 primaries three Democrats were vying for Secretary of State: Tim McCarthy, State Senator Penny Severns and then Recorder of Deeds Jesse White. Through what was probably a mishap I was invited into a closed-door meeting with a powerful ward boss who was backing Severns.

The ward boss sought to disparage McCarthy getting shot while protecting President Ronald Reagan. He concocted a story that Secret Service agent McCarthy had skipped out on protecting Reagan and was getting a hot dog when the shooting occurred. To cover for his dereliction of duty McCarthy shot himself.

So, count me as agreeing with Plepel. Politics was nasty before blogs were conceived.

What are your thoughts about the role of blogs in local politics?