Diversity and the Blogosphere: Practical Difficulties
by Chris Bowers, Mon May 07, 2007 at 01:38:24 PM EDT
Given the discussions here over the last twenty-four hours, I would like to keep discussing diversity in the progressive, political blogosphere. This is good stuff, and it is a rich vein that I would like to keep tapping--Chris
Many blogs, including MyDD, are often chastised for not focusing on a wider range of issues. However, I firmly believe that one of the key aspects to the success of any blog is focusing on a narrow topic range, and developing original, expert, insightful content on that topic range. If MyDD was a broadly based, all policy areas, all current events blog, I do not believe we would be viable. My specific fear is that if we dropped our content focus, I believe that about 90% of our audience would quickly move to larger group blogs like Dailykos, which boasts a larger writing team that can more effectively cover a wider range of issues than we can. Thus, in order to maintain viability, we at MyDD have to focus our content on topics almost no one else covers, even though we are often criticized for not covering certain topics as a result of this. In fact, without question, the most frequent form of criticism I receive is: "why aren't you blogging about x?"
This struggle over diversity of content is actually one of the main points of tension in discussions of demographic and cultural diversity in the blogosphere. Among progressives, discussions of content diversity can quickly translate into discussions of cultural diversity regarding the people producing the content. That is to say, progressives often consider the demographic and cultural groups of which a given person is a member to be a prime cause of the content that person produces. For example, the much of the progressive, political blogosphere is often criticized for not writing on labor issues because participants in the blogosphere are reasonably wealthy. In either a general or specific sense, this argument is not necessarily wrong or right--it is just difficult to quantify. To what extent does an individual's position within a broadly defined cultural and demographic group impact the specific content s/he produces on a daily basis? Undeniably, there is some impact, but in any given case it is difficult to say how much.
Put this altogether, and it produces a very difficult tension: how can individual blogs maintain the content focus which is necessary to their viability, while also achieving cultural diversity that is an undeniable progressive, and useful, goal? The answer, I believe, is that when large group blogs, many of which have attained at least a modicum of institutional power within their area of focused content, are looking for new writers, diversity should be a priority among said searches. However, this search for diversity should mean a more diverse set of voices that also focus on the given blog's topic area, not culturally diverse voices that would introduce new topics outside of that area.
Much more in the extended entry, including the details of a practical case study on why this isn't so easy.
Many blogs, including MyDD, are often chastised for not focusing on a wider range of issues. However, I firmly believe that one of the key aspects to the success of any blog is focusing on a narrow topic range, and developing original, expert, insightful content on that topic range. If MyDD was a broadly based, all policy areas, all current events blog, I do not believe we would be viable. My specific fear is that if we dropped our content focus, I believe that about 90% of our audience would quickly move to larger group blogs like Dailykos, which boasts a larger writing team that can more effectively cover a wider range of issues than we can. Thus, in order to maintain viability, we at MyDD have to focus our content on topics almost no one else covers, even though we are often criticized for not covering certain topics as a result of this. In fact, without question, the most frequent form of criticism I receive is: "why aren't you blogging about x?"
This struggle over diversity of content is actually one of the main points of tension in discussions of demographic and cultural diversity in the blogosphere. Among progressives, discussions of content diversity can quickly translate into discussions of cultural diversity regarding the people producing the content. That is to say, progressives often consider the demographic and cultural groups of which a given person is a member to be a prime cause of the content that person produces. For example, the much of the progressive, political blogosphere is often criticized for not writing on labor issues because participants in the blogosphere are reasonably wealthy. In either a general or specific sense, this argument is not necessarily wrong or right--it is just difficult to quantify. To what extent does an individual's position within a broadly defined cultural and demographic group impact the specific content s/he produces on a daily basis? Undeniably, there is some impact, but in any given case it is difficult to say how much.
Put this altogether, and it produces a very difficult tension: how can individual blogs maintain the content focus which is necessary to their viability, while also achieving cultural diversity that is an undeniable progressive, and useful, goal? The answer, I believe, is that when large group blogs, many of which have attained at least a modicum of institutional power within their area of focused content, are looking for new writers, diversity should be a priority among said searches. However, this search for diversity should mean a more diverse set of voices that also focus on the given blog's topic area, not culturally diverse voices that would introduce new topics outside of that area.
Much more in the extended entry, including the details of a practical case study on why this isn't so easy.
Let me move from the abstract and the generalizing to the specific and concrete. To give an example with which I am intimately familiar, I have long believed that MyDD should look for women and writers of color who focus on election analysis and political infrastructure, not just women and writers of color in general. I discovered the dangers of the latter the hard way back in August 2004 when I was looking for someone to guest post for me during a two-week stint when I was working as a street canvasser to raise money for the DNC (a job which I sucked at). I wanted a women who was a popular diarist at Dailykos, so I offered it to Maryscott O'Connor. However, it became clear pretty quickly that the topics on which she wrote simply did not mesh with the topics the established MyDD audience had come to expect. (Honestly, it had nothing to do with the tone of her writing or anything related to the recent meta discussions in which she has been involved--it was simply a matter of content focus). The lesson I learned was that increasing front-page diversity on MyDD did not help the site if it took the site off-topic.
Diversity must be achieved within a given blog's area of focus in order for it to be a valuable addition to that blog. Some may think that this point is obvious, and that I am belittling the discussion of diversity in the progressive, political blogosphere by making it. However, considering the constant struggles over what topics deserves to be front-page topics on major blogs, it is not a small point at all. Calls for more diversity in content and more diversity among writers often go hand in hand. This does not necessarily have to be the case, as I think commenters plukasiak, aiko, and kid oakland described in my previous thread. For example, plukasiak wrote the following with which I absolutely agree:
However, looking with more detail into the process of finding new bloggers who can effectively cover your niche reveals many problems beyond simply adhering to a principle of diversity when it comes time to make new hires. First, it needs to be remembered that independent, progressive, political blogs are not viable means of full-time employment for all but a dozen or so people nationwide. As someone was has long struggled to make a living from independent blogging, it is always in the back of my head that if I hire a new writer, then my income will drop unless that new writer can increase the blog's revenue by at least 40% in the case of a full-time writer like Matt, or 20%.in the case of a half-time writer like Jonathan. Finding someone who can do that is extremely difficult, especially when one considers the limited pool of bloggers who focus on MyDD's topic areas. Further, considering time constraints and immediate financial pressures, I don't have the luxury of training someone who can fill that role at some point a few months from now. Whoever I hire needs to be able to hit the ground running with between ten and twenty insightful posts a week on our topic area, which requires between twenty and sixty hours of work every week, or else it simply is not viable for me to hire that person. There just are not many people who fit the bill.
Let me put all of this in practical terms. Back in November of 2005, which was the last time I engaged in a hiring process at MyDD, Jonathan Singer was the only applicant. After I waited a couple of days, when no one else applied, I just gave him the weekend job without even so much as an interview. Fortunately, I was familiar with his writing, which intersected with both MyDD and my personal interests to such a degree that I once nominated Jonathan's earlier project, Basie! for a "Best New Blog" Koufax award. (In fact, when it comes to understanding just how narrow MyDD's focus is, it is worth noting that no one seconded that nomination, and so Basie! did not even move into the semifinals of that competition). As far as the full-time job went, when absolutely no one applied, I just offered it to Matt, with whom I had already worked on several infrastructure projects, and who had a lot of past blogging experience (including MyDD experience). When they both accepted, and hit the ground running, MyDD was greatly improved. With virtually no one applying, with the economic pressures I faced, with the content pressures I still face, and with the extremely limited talent pool, rather than viewing that hiring process as a disappointment, I still think of finding and hiring Matt and Jonathan as a remarkable stroke of good luck. They might have been the only two people in the country who were able to bit the bill, and I am thrilled to work with them.
Considering the profile MyDD requires--a minimum of ten posts a week on election analysis and / or political infrastructure from a progressive slant--even today I still don't know who I could find as a new part-time or full-time writer for MyDD apart from Jonathan and Matt. That is actually one of the main reasons Scott Shields was never replaced: I simply have no suggestions for a replacement, or anyone even asking to replace him. Further, when I can't even think of a single person who can fit the bill, I don't really know how to add diversity to the process. However, if you think you can do it, if you don't need any training, if you have past professional political experience, if you are willing to write under your real name, and if you don't expect a huge amount of money for what you write, then by all means, email me at chirs@mydd.com. I am absolutely serious about this. Please provide links to your past writing, along with an explanation of how you will find the time to produce the amount of content we seek (a minimum of ten original posts every week, and preferably more, the vast majority of which should be focused on election analysis and / or political infrastructure). Women, minorities and regular participants in the MyDD community are encouraged to apply. An overtly progressive slant is also required.
The purpose of this post is to introduce a real world example demonstrating the difficulties involved with increasing diversity in the progressive, political blogosphere. So far, I think our discussions have been rather general and based more on principles than on practical matters. However, when I am told that MyDD needs writers who represent a more diverse set of cultural backgrounds, these are the very specific and practical problems I face in achieving that goal. It is virtually impossible to find anyone who fits the bill as a writer on MyDD, even before I get to the issue of making sure that the writers I find are sufficiently diverse. I am certain that the difficulties I face at MyDD--finding someone to fit a very narrow profile to do a very difficult job with very low compensation--is replicated in many other places. That needs to be taken into consideration regarding discussions of diversity and the progressive, political blogosphere in general.
Achieving diversity is much more difficult in a new industry with virtually no resources at its disposal. We don't have the resources for search committees. We don't have the resources for training sessions. We don't have a large talent pool we can count on. We don't even have the resources to pay the people we hire much money. We are nowhere near the equivalent of an established university, news outlet, government agency, corporation, or non-profit organization in our ability to achieve these goals (even though, as a whole, the progressive political blogosphere is still probably more diverse than most of the organizations that fit any of the descriptions I just listed). In many ways, finding means to make the progressive, political blogosphere sustainable over the long term and finding ways to make the progressive, political blogosphere more diverse are intractably connected with one another. As such, solving this problem has been one of my three main goals in politics over the past three years, and has occupied an enormous amount of my time and energy.
It is not an easy problem to solve. Until the problem is solved, it will result in our demographics skewing toward groups who have the time, access, and relative resource safety to participate in it without reliable compensation. That means people without children or other dependents to care for, people with more free time to spend online, people with regular broadband access, people who can more easily move between jobs, and people with an already established high level of digital literacy. Given all of this, is it any wonder that the progressive, political blogosphere skews toward the wealthy, the highly educated, and the white male? Generally speaking, in America today, those are the demographic groups who can more safely participate in the progressive, political blogosphere despite the low resources the general lack of compensation it has to offer its most dedicated participants. It isn't simply matter of the "leaders" of the community having a more open mind and effective outreach program. The progressive, political blogosphere faces serious, structural resources problems on multiple fronts, and the diversity problem will not be solved until those structural resource problems are also solved. Suggestions on how to do so are extremely welcome.
Diversity must be achieved within a given blog's area of focus in order for it to be a valuable addition to that blog. Some may think that this point is obvious, and that I am belittling the discussion of diversity in the progressive, political blogosphere by making it. However, considering the constant struggles over what topics deserves to be front-page topics on major blogs, it is not a small point at all. Calls for more diversity in content and more diversity among writers often go hand in hand. This does not necessarily have to be the case, as I think commenters plukasiak, aiko, and kid oakland described in my previous thread. For example, plukasiak wrote the following with which I absolutely agree:
I think this boils down to a single question....For large group blogs that have attained a certain institutional power within their niche, that is certainly an important question. We should work to make certain we are encouraging diversity within our niches.
what are the criteria/processes for adding new "front pagers" to an existing blog, and do those criteria/processes encourage diversity within the existing blog's niche.
However, looking with more detail into the process of finding new bloggers who can effectively cover your niche reveals many problems beyond simply adhering to a principle of diversity when it comes time to make new hires. First, it needs to be remembered that independent, progressive, political blogs are not viable means of full-time employment for all but a dozen or so people nationwide. As someone was has long struggled to make a living from independent blogging, it is always in the back of my head that if I hire a new writer, then my income will drop unless that new writer can increase the blog's revenue by at least 40% in the case of a full-time writer like Matt, or 20%.in the case of a half-time writer like Jonathan. Finding someone who can do that is extremely difficult, especially when one considers the limited pool of bloggers who focus on MyDD's topic areas. Further, considering time constraints and immediate financial pressures, I don't have the luxury of training someone who can fill that role at some point a few months from now. Whoever I hire needs to be able to hit the ground running with between ten and twenty insightful posts a week on our topic area, which requires between twenty and sixty hours of work every week, or else it simply is not viable for me to hire that person. There just are not many people who fit the bill.
Let me put all of this in practical terms. Back in November of 2005, which was the last time I engaged in a hiring process at MyDD, Jonathan Singer was the only applicant. After I waited a couple of days, when no one else applied, I just gave him the weekend job without even so much as an interview. Fortunately, I was familiar with his writing, which intersected with both MyDD and my personal interests to such a degree that I once nominated Jonathan's earlier project, Basie! for a "Best New Blog" Koufax award. (In fact, when it comes to understanding just how narrow MyDD's focus is, it is worth noting that no one seconded that nomination, and so Basie! did not even move into the semifinals of that competition). As far as the full-time job went, when absolutely no one applied, I just offered it to Matt, with whom I had already worked on several infrastructure projects, and who had a lot of past blogging experience (including MyDD experience). When they both accepted, and hit the ground running, MyDD was greatly improved. With virtually no one applying, with the economic pressures I faced, with the content pressures I still face, and with the extremely limited talent pool, rather than viewing that hiring process as a disappointment, I still think of finding and hiring Matt and Jonathan as a remarkable stroke of good luck. They might have been the only two people in the country who were able to bit the bill, and I am thrilled to work with them.
Considering the profile MyDD requires--a minimum of ten posts a week on election analysis and / or political infrastructure from a progressive slant--even today I still don't know who I could find as a new part-time or full-time writer for MyDD apart from Jonathan and Matt. That is actually one of the main reasons Scott Shields was never replaced: I simply have no suggestions for a replacement, or anyone even asking to replace him. Further, when I can't even think of a single person who can fit the bill, I don't really know how to add diversity to the process. However, if you think you can do it, if you don't need any training, if you have past professional political experience, if you are willing to write under your real name, and if you don't expect a huge amount of money for what you write, then by all means, email me at chirs@mydd.com. I am absolutely serious about this. Please provide links to your past writing, along with an explanation of how you will find the time to produce the amount of content we seek (a minimum of ten original posts every week, and preferably more, the vast majority of which should be focused on election analysis and / or political infrastructure). Women, minorities and regular participants in the MyDD community are encouraged to apply. An overtly progressive slant is also required.
The purpose of this post is to introduce a real world example demonstrating the difficulties involved with increasing diversity in the progressive, political blogosphere. So far, I think our discussions have been rather general and based more on principles than on practical matters. However, when I am told that MyDD needs writers who represent a more diverse set of cultural backgrounds, these are the very specific and practical problems I face in achieving that goal. It is virtually impossible to find anyone who fits the bill as a writer on MyDD, even before I get to the issue of making sure that the writers I find are sufficiently diverse. I am certain that the difficulties I face at MyDD--finding someone to fit a very narrow profile to do a very difficult job with very low compensation--is replicated in many other places. That needs to be taken into consideration regarding discussions of diversity and the progressive, political blogosphere in general.
Achieving diversity is much more difficult in a new industry with virtually no resources at its disposal. We don't have the resources for search committees. We don't have the resources for training sessions. We don't have a large talent pool we can count on. We don't even have the resources to pay the people we hire much money. We are nowhere near the equivalent of an established university, news outlet, government agency, corporation, or non-profit organization in our ability to achieve these goals (even though, as a whole, the progressive political blogosphere is still probably more diverse than most of the organizations that fit any of the descriptions I just listed). In many ways, finding means to make the progressive, political blogosphere sustainable over the long term and finding ways to make the progressive, political blogosphere more diverse are intractably connected with one another. As such, solving this problem has been one of my three main goals in politics over the past three years, and has occupied an enormous amount of my time and energy.
It is not an easy problem to solve. Until the problem is solved, it will result in our demographics skewing toward groups who have the time, access, and relative resource safety to participate in it without reliable compensation. That means people without children or other dependents to care for, people with more free time to spend online, people with regular broadband access, people who can more easily move between jobs, and people with an already established high level of digital literacy. Given all of this, is it any wonder that the progressive, political blogosphere skews toward the wealthy, the highly educated, and the white male? Generally speaking, in America today, those are the demographic groups who can more safely participate in the progressive, political blogosphere despite the low resources the general lack of compensation it has to offer its most dedicated participants. It isn't simply matter of the "leaders" of the community having a more open mind and effective outreach program. The progressive, political blogosphere faces serious, structural resources problems on multiple fronts, and the diversity problem will not be solved until those structural resource problems are also solved. Suggestions on how to do so are extremely welcome.
Tags: Blogosphere, Culture, Diversity, meta (all tags)
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