Obama Signs Up Operative For Big Blog Outreach Gig
A lot of folks had been wondering when the Obama White House would fill the White House blog outreach job, a key post in terms of marshaling the power of the blogosphere to drive the White House message during big fights like the current one over the stim package.
Now they have. The Obama team has hired the well-known blog online operative Jesse Lee as the new White House Online Programs Director, a White House source confirms.
Lee is well respected in the blogosphere, having run the house blog for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and, more recently, done blog outreach for the DNC during last year’s presidential campaign. Lee’s gig will be to integrate the Online Programs department with other departments and agencies, as well as to handle most blog outreach. He’ll report to Macon Phillips, the head of New Media, the source confirms.
I asked Markos Moulitsas what he thinks of the new hire. He said that the key questions are how closely linked the new department will be to the White House’s communications shop and whether the blog outreach director will have real access to key White House decision-makers.
“We are media, and should be treated as communications outlets,” Moulitsas said.
During the campaign the Obama team, for all its innovations in online organizing, often seemed to have a stand-offish relationship with the blogs. The creation of this new post to be run out of the White House — combined with the news that Americablog has been credentialed to cover tonight’s White House presser — suggests that the new White House sees a real role for the blogosphere in terms of driving the White House agenda and beating back its foes.
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Between this phrase and Kos’ comment, I’m confused about what Lee’s job is. Is he Gibbs at the kids’ table? Or is he in charge of recruiting bloggers that will stick to the talking points?
well, blog outreach is similar to press work, but obviously it’s a bit different in that the liberal blogs are presumed to be sympathetic to the O admin’s position on at least some issues…
so the blog outreach post is sometimes thought of as a communications gig, and sometimes a tech gig. most bloggers want them to see it as a comm gig…unclear right now whether the new guy will get access to the same kind of info gibbs can get. lot to iron out, obviously.
During the campaign the Obama team, for all its innovations in online organizing, often seemed to have a stand-offish relationship with the blogs.
Yeah, well, I have found that a lot of the people I talk to day in and day out are not too sure of blogs, themselves. I think that’s why politicians are wary. We all know there are blogs and then there are blogs. Seriously – they aren’t all communications outlets, as Kos likes to think they are.
it’s true, tena, that treating the blogs as a monolith is a non-starter.
Yeah, I could potentially see someone who works as a liaison between the WH and blogs spending all their time doing nothing but fighting with wingers, since things tend to run in that channel online.
I don’t see the internet as the kind of place where politicians can step in without having wide-open eyes about what goes on here. It’s cleaner than it used to be – in terms of language (*sigh*) and the reliability of content. But hell, Greg – half the MSM relies on Drudge and Drudge is one of the single least reliable sources evah. So who does the WH go to? Cause you know there are 5 million blogs and someone is always going to be bitching over being left out.
So who does the WH go to? Cause you know there are 5 million blogs and someone is always going to be bitching over being left out.
I think one advantage the Obama WH has is that they’ll actually be trying to get honest information out, in contrast to the Republican practice of circulating talking points with no fingerprints to get the Wurlitzer going. So for a lot of this stuff, they can let a lot of those 5 million sign up to get it.
For more targeted outreach, it will likely be based on audience size and who they think will give them a sympathetic hearing, just as with news outlets. The 5 million can ***** all they want about that, but they’ll be arguing against common sense.
The 5 million can ***** all they want about that, but they’ll be arguing against common sense.
By necessity it will be that way. I agree with you basically and I was happy when they said as soon as he took office that they were going to have an outreach to the online community. At least they really are aware that without the online community he couldn’t have run the campaign he ran and he wouldn’t have raised the money he raised. And they are aware that the online community in fact does have an affect on public opinion.
I’m not sure how valuable this outreach is to blogs themselves. A good part of our task is to provide voices critical of establishment decisions. It’s no boon at all to be part of the establishment propaganda machine.
If outreach merely means that influential blogs will be included in the distribution of establishment information I would respond that the establishment, in the end, has no other choice. Influential blogs not only have significant readership; they also have the added value of radiating the information way beyond the blog itself.
Subject: Financial Conservation – Relying on the Integrity of Individual Common Sense
John Muir’s long walks through the Sierra Nevada mountain range was an individual, seminal event that began a grassroots groundswell that evolved into the American conservation movement.
Similarly, the long term solution to the current financial crisis that has enveloped the world will not come from the top down, but rather must begin with a change in perspective at the individual level.
Fortunately, the individual has a big head start. The basic principles and benefits of conserving our natural resources for current and future generations have, for the most part, entered the collective consciousness. Financial Conservation is a slight broadening in the application of these very same insights to our individual financial resources. Relying on the integrity of individual common sense and bringing awareness to the necessity of “Core Asset Preservation” for the individual to stay in step with the normal life cycles, I believe, is the way forward.
Additionally, many of the frontline casualties in the massive triage and cost-cutting we see the government and business world applying to this situation are the conservation and humanitarian organizations whose survival depends on financial responsibility. The perspective of Financial Conservation will help to ensure the ongoing funding sources for these vitally important human endeavors.
Best regards,
Michael E. Douroux
Hollywood, Florida
medouroux@yahoo.com
Who is Jesse Lee? I searched the web and can’t find him/her. If they are such a well respected blogger, why are they not coming up in searches? Links, more than just SEO, links too please
Thanks, Kathy
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