I am looking for a writer that wants to do a story about how blogs effect local elections. I keep a blog that covers local issues, Proviso Probe. Last Tuesday, Illinois held its primary elections. Rep. Karen Yarbrough won re-election to the General Assembly and unseated the former Democratic Committeeman Eugene "Gene" Moore by almost 60-40.
I think the article would be attractive and interesting to Campaigns & Elections Magazine and, of course, to bloggers.
I can provide background and contact info for the media and politicians.
I don't know exactly how much my blogging influenced the election, but I heard secondhand accounts that Yarbrough's opponent in the State Rep race, School Board President Chris Welch, considered the Proviso Probe a significant factor influencing what people were thinking and saying about the race.
Proviso Probe inspired Welch's allies to create their own blog which was used to attack Yarbrough and me.
Proviso is a majority African-American township with Latinos as 10-20% of the population too.
I'm proud that I've introduced a number of people to blogging that didn't do it before. I still get a kick out of people that refer to Proviso Probe as "the blog".
I think the story will have a number of practical lessons about going negative with blogs and it should provide clues about how blogs will interact with local media in the future.
|
|
|
Permalink :: 1 Comment :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
