Obama Wants to Build an Alliance with Brown Bloggers; Or Does He?

Sunday night, I climbed into my bed after a wonderfully exhausting weekend in Washington, DC. I ventured to our nation’s capital to attend the 2010 Blogging While Brown (BWB) conference, a national conference for minority bloggers. It was my first time visiting DC and everything was perfect! I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, eat a number of exquisitely prepared meals, drank good wine, met many of my favorite bloggers, and oh yeah… did I mention that little meeting that I had with White House?

Yes! I and about 45 of the 200+ BWB conference goers received a special invitation to attend a White House meeting! We were absolutely clueless about the nature of the meeting. Would we meet the President? Get a tour? Have a luncheon? What about Bo?

Well, we found out soon enough that the answer to each of those questions was ‘no’. Once we made it inside the Eisenhower Building, Corey Ealons, the Director of African American Media Relations and Jessie Lee (who was all but responsible for President Obama’s social media campaign) spent about an hour and a half appealing to us on behalf of the President to “help ensure a more active engagement” with the public. Corey Ealons said that the administration not only wants to project out, but to bring in. He said the White House has “embraced bloggers” because we have “great relevancy to their audiences.” Well, I know that, but based on our welcome, I’m not sure the White House does.

The BWB group didn’t get a tour; a sandwich; not even a glass of water. Now, if the White House recognizes the the impact of bloggers, (which is growing even beyond that of traditional journalists), then why weren't we treated just a little better? I’m just asking…

If I recall correctly, VP Joe Biden had a number of traditional journalists and their families out to his mansion  for a pool party. Mind you now, journalists aren’t supposed to be biased. They were taught in J-School to never give their personal opinions; to never show any semblance of favoritism; and to never put themselves in a predicament where their impartiality could be questioned. I know this, because I graduated from USC’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications. But, if that's the case, then why were they there?

It is completely acceptable for bloggers to have an opinion. That’s the beauty of it all; we don’t have to pretend to be unmoved by our emotions and personal feelings. Perhaps that’s why blogging is on the rise and journalism isn’t really growing. The thing about blogging is that when we print something, you know it’s our opinion. When Wolf Blitzer and Ed Hardy of CNN (who were in attendance at the pool part) report on something, it is supposed to be based on facts only. Do you really think they can be critical of VP Biden after playing Marco Polo with his grandchildren? Let’s be real... How unbiased can they be after splishing and a splashing with HNIC #2 (Opps, I meant HMIC!)

I admit that I can be swayed. I’m a blogger; I’m supposed to be. Many of our readers relate to us because we live the same lives they do. Many live vicariously through us; they trust us. Furthermore, bloggers are the closest thing to investigative reporting now… that’s one reason why the respect for us is growing. No longer do bloggers throw an unfounded opinion and hide their hand. We say who we are, how we feel, give reasons why, and encourage others to think like us.

The Republican Party has long recognized the value of bloggers and utilized them to get their message out. As a matter of fact, Rush Limbaugh, the leader of the Republican Party, awarded Ed Morrissey with the Blogger of the Year Award at the Conservative Political Action Conference. But the Director of African-American Media Relations couldn’t even give us a glass of water? Please.

Corey, Jesse (Lee, not Jackson), President Obama: If ya’ll want me to promote your message, you’ve got to win me over. As excited as I was to be at the White House, I really wasn’t very impressed. You need to step up  your game for the next group of bloggers, that is if you are serious about having us on your team.

Corey: I heard you loud and clear when you said that you have all of our blog and email addresses. I guess you were giving me a fair warning that Big Brother is watching. But also, let me remind you that you said while you appreciate the pats on the back, you also want the other conversations. Consider this the ‘other conversation’.

PS. If something happens to me, Corey did it! Edit