Having devoured Eric Boehlert's previous book, "Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for George W. Bush," I wasted no time in buying and reading "Bloggers on the Bus." This seminal book confirms my belief that Boehlert is one of the most incisive and accurate media critics writing today. He is perhaps uniquely well-positioned to document how election coverage has adapted (or not) to a 24/7 news cycle, and to detail what a substantial role bloggers have played in this seismic shift.
Like millions of other news junkies, my reading habits now include a wide variety of political weblogs along with MSM articles and broadcasts. In this book, Boehlert demonstrates that during the 2008 Presidential primary season, the candidates' innovative use of all forms of cybercommunication transformed electoral politics forever. Even before 2008, bloggers who posted video and audio links influenced campaign results, as George Allen learned when his use of a racial epithet at a Virginia campaign stop--recorded and posted online--probably cost him that state's Senate seat in 2006.
Bloggers have made an enormous improvement in the amount and accuracy of information available to the electorate. The ranks of bloggers comprise many of today's savviest and most eloquent writers on electoral politics. It's impossible to think of elections now without, say, pre-YouTube Internet video pioneer John Amato of Crooks & Liars, pollster Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com, the communities posting at firedoglake, DailyKos, TalkingPointsMemo, ThinkProgress, and Boehlert's own base at the media watchdog site, Media Matters, to name only a few.
The sheer luxury of space that bloggers enjoy allows their postings to include much more information than in traditional print journalism. Though both media allow embedding links, and to some extent allow readers to comment, bloggers are freer of the space restrictions of newspaper and television coverage, allowing them to include a seemingly limitless amount of detail for anyone to access.
For example, before late August 2008, to non-Alaskans Governor Sarah Palin was known primarily to policy wonks (like me) who were following "Troopergate" and her other ethical irregularities. Once Palin was named John McCain's running mate, readers who wanted to know more--much more--about her encountered bloggers who bore unfamiliar names, such as Shannyn Moore and Andrew Halcro, and sites including The Mudflats, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, The Immoral Minority, and PalinDeception, just to name a few. Worth the price of this book alone is "Saradise Lost," Boehlert's chapter on the tireless Alaskan bloggers who detailed the unlacquered history of McCain's surprise choice of running mate.
Boehlert may be among the first to document the enormous impact of the Internet on political reporting, but he certainly won't be the last. This book deserves a wide readership, no matter where your political loyalties lie.
