Monday, July 10, 2006

Globe hops on the blog wagon, Volpe stays off

This is what we in the journalism biz call "a matcher." A competing publication has a story that you don't, so you assign a reporter to write the same story for a quick turnaround. Usually it's a news story, but in this case the Globe has a (Web-only) matcher of the Star's Liberal leadership blogging story. And they didn't talk to Kinsella either…

Much of the story is the same as Delacourt's, although they do mention my humble little blog, so thanks for that Campbell. But seriously though, I think Campbell actually offers some interesting meat in his article by getting the Volpe campaign's thoughts on blogging:


Mr. Volpe's campaign is wary of blogging. MP Jim Karygiannis, Mr. Volpe's national campaign co-ordinator, said one stupid comment posted on the Internet can set a campaign on the defensive for days, so he has a standing admonition for campaign workers: "Don't blog."


You may remember Jimmy K, he's the guy that "hassled" a Liberal riding association president on his way out of a B.C. Federal Liberal Council meeting last month for daring to question Volpe's kiddie donation fiasco. Classy.


I can see why you're shying away from blogs Jim; it's hard to defend the indefensible.

Update: Cherniak says the Globe called him before the Star piece ran, so it appears this isn't so much a matcher as a case of great minds thinking alike and what not.

Contenders for Liberal leadership go to the blogs
Campaigns trying to harness influence of burgeoning Internet community
CAMPBELL CLARK

OTTAWA -- Should dissident Liberals start a new party if Joe Volpe wins the leadership? Should Ottawa impose a carbon tax? Are Scott Brison and Homer Simpson's neighbour, Ned Flanders, twins separated at birth? These are some of the questions floating through the Liberal blogosphere.

But many of the 11 Liberal leadership campaigns have their own question about the legion of Internet blogs dealing with party matters: Can they win delegates there?
(more)

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8 comments:

Bailey said...

I fail to see the big deal in not having Kinsella in the article. If anything, I think the idea of these blog articles was to talk about how 'everyday' Liberals, the grass-roots if you want to use the term, are the ones who are writing blogs and getting noticed, not necessarily the more familiar names of strategists.

Besides, the article was about blogs and their effect on the leadership race, of which, Kinsella has done very few posts about given he is working with McGuinty and his re-election campaign.

Bailey said...

Erm....

A few seconds after writing that, I see you wrote somewhat the same thing in a response over at Cherniak's blog.

Jeff said...

I agree with you completly Bailey, it was a slightly sarcastic observation on my part. :)

calgarygrit said...

I talked to Campbell on Friday before the Star story ran so, yeah, it's "great minds think alike" in this case.

S.K. said...

This article is actually from the print edition, but for some reason did not make it into print. Perhaps it will be in tomorrow's or was bumped at the last minute. It is however listed as a print edition article. Check tomorrow.

Also, the people interviewed were contacted before the Star article was printed so its not a reaction to that story.

Cheers. Shoshana

carmilevy said...

How cool is that! Congrats on getting the blog mentioned in the Globe...that is just the neatest thing, and more than anything validates the impact blogging is having on our Canadian political landscape.

Who knows, it may yet herald the return of true democracy.

Nah!

Jeff said...

Davenport,

Take it down a notch there. That quote in the Globe was taken from a post a few days back where I made short, snarky comments on different news stories. Seriously, I know nothing of plans for separtism should Volpe become Liberal leader. What I do know is I wouldn't be sticking around, and I suspect many may well leave or sit on their hands for quite a while. A slightly higher level of dialogue followed in the comments section of the July 6th post.

Jeff said...

Thanks Carmi, they didn't bite on any of my bitches while I was freelancing, so I guess this is the next best thing. lol