Election Blogging

New media has changed the way politics is reported in this country and opened once sealed, closed happenings and impressions up to the collective knowledge of everyone. For all the back and forth in the media wars between the bloggosphere and the established traditional organizations, this is one moment where, quantifiably, bloggers can tell the story of the 08 Presidential election in ways that the mainstream media simply cannot. We can testify to the minutiae and the anecdotes that fill in the messy human story of an election; we can bear witness to the polling process itself with a camera. I believe that this election will be the most thoroughly documented in American history, in large part because both the bloggosphere and the traditionals are opening up the nets of information to the wider world. Many major news companies (including the NY Times) are accepting photos from across the country to post on their site; important bloggers like Andrew Sullivan are welcoming emails from across the spectrum so he can post them on his blog. Election day is the moment in American life that most firmly embodies our Democratic ideals, where every proud individual becomes, if only for a moment, an anonymous Citizen. Please join me on the blog to document this historic event.