Bloggers to get protection - if we support it!
GraniteGrok is obviously a political blog - we write a lot about a lot of things - but a lot of what we do relates to politics. Much of what we do is is opinion; some of it is original investigative reporting, but a lot of politics.
Why? Politics is how society decides how government will interact with its citizens. The laws or regulations that are passed have major impacts on how we and our families live our lives. So, we end up spending a lot of time dealing with issues and writing about politicians.
Which means that sometimes, certain people may not take too kindly to what we write. Fortunately for us, nothing of a real serious nature like our friend Earl reported over at The Kansas Meadowlark:
Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission Hassles
Internet News Source to Register as PAC
The well-known Overland Park blog/Internet news source, the NeighhborhoodNet, documents on their web site recent troubles with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Office:
* Feb 20 NeighborhoodNet Asked To Register As PAC Kansas Refuses To Disclose Complainant
* Feb 20 Boots The Cat Weighs In On PAC Issue Also Endorses Sader
* Feb 25 It's Official: NeighborhoodNet Not A PAC Kansas Commission Agrees
* Feb 27 Sader's Mayoral Campaign Source of Hate Mail: Also Wanted NeighborhoodNet Labeled A PAC
Did the Kansas Governmental Ethics Office hassle all newspapers in Kansas to register as PACs if they print endorsements in elections?
Tick off politicians or bureaucrats, and one may have to pay a price for it.
Fortunately, one US Representative is standing up for bloggers! Over at MTPolitics, Representative Denny Rehberg is standing up for us (snippets and emphasis mine):
A 2007 report (pdf) found that, in 2006, almost one out of three Americans – more than 60 million people – used the Internet to get political news and information and to discuss campaign races. Over half of Internet users say that they use it because of the amount of information and perspectives that are available – something not easily or cheaply available through more traditional forms of media.
One of the primary sources of participation in 2006 was ‘blogs’. It seems there is a blog for just about everything, and not surprisingly, many of them discuss politics. For that reason, young voters are participating in the process more than ever before.
...it’s always important to remember that these blogs are written by everyday Montanans. They are the Voice of the People. It’s important we protect that freedom.
One way I’m doing this is by supporting H.R. 5699, the Blogger Protection Act of 2008, a bill which would protect Montana’s bloggers from the unnecessary intrusion of Washington, DC bureaucrats.
And it goes on to discuss that only by current FEC regulations that we bloggers are free of regulation. However, given the discussion of the Fairness Doctrine and the threat of Democrat politicians wanting to bring it back to radio (thus, getting us via Meet The New Press too!), this is important for us. Let your Reps know about this and that they should support it.
Maggie from Thurber's Thoughts had a reminder for me from Paul Jacobs:
Good news for political bloggers and other practitioners of non-mainstream media.
The Freedom of Information Act has been expanded. Apparently, it means that uncredentialed folks will have an easier time learning what the dadblasted government has been up to.
The expansion gives agencies just 20 days to comply with information requests. If there’s foot-dragging, we’ll be able to point to this law and say, “Hey, it’s been 20 days! Where’s that info I requested, Mr. Stonewalling Bureaucrat?”
Investigative and opinion shielding? Classification such that we bloggers are recognized?
About the only other thing we could ask for is a staff so we could do more "stuff"...heh...
