Constraints on Webloggers
As more and more webloggers get involved with politicians, campaigns, and advocacy groups there will be more conflicts between the weblogger’s view and the mission of the organization they’re working for. The only thing that really surprises me about the Matthew Yglesias incident with the Center for American Progress Action Fund is CAPAF’s Jennifer Palmieri made the unwise move of calling out Yglesias on his own weblog.
From what I’ve seen institutions on the Right are more tentative (call it “conservative) with weblogs. They air on the side of caution. On Fred Thompson’s Presidential campaign I had a few ideas for some biting posts. I sent the copy up the leadership chain where it got stalled long enough to make the post no longer relevant.
The Left institutions are less risk averse. But in those situations they’ll end up having to deal with smoothing things over with allied groups. This will be especially important with Democrats controlling the White House and Congress and trying to get their agenda passed. The balance will be on team players more than independent opinion.
If you think even outside, independent views are removed from constraints that let the weblogger be free to write whatever you’re wrong. You’d think magazines like National Review and The American Spectator would have carte blanche to rip on conservatives and Republicans any which way. While both likely don’t make profits they’re still dependent on advertisers. More importantly they rely on their subscribers. They can’t be too out of sync from their readers or donors. Kathleen Parker’s shots at Gov. Sarah Palin and religious conservatives ended her relationship with NRO.
Any weblogger deals with constraints on what they write. Some want to be respected in whatever sphere they’re writing in, they’re concerned about growing traffic and ad revenues, or they’re concerned about future employment (especially if they’re writing under their real name). To think the blogosphere magically changed human nature and interpersonal dynamics is naive.
Yglesias may have avoided this action by being a little less childish and a little less foul-mouthed in his original post.
When you talk like a big boy, you tend to be treated as one. When you act like a bratty kid, your boss-mom usually yanks you by the collar and drags you to the car.