Dear Mr Finkel I read with interest your article about Maryscott OConnor and the "Angry Left". As a regular blogger on DailyKos (under the name "Jerome a Paris" - see http://www.dailykos.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris), I'd like to point out an other side of what we do on the blogs of the left, besides venting, and would be really grateful if you accepted to do a follow up story on this theme. I write mostly about energy issues (as well as about international economic stuff and European news - I am French) and I don't think it's too big a claim to say that I am recognised as the leading "resident expert" on energy on DailyKos - as a matter of fact, I will be running the energy session of YearlyKos, the convention organised in June in Las Vegas for the DailyKos community. The reason this may be interesting to you, beyond my personal vanity, is that I have been leading an effort to draft a comprehensive energy policy for the United States, an effort to which dozens, if not hundreds, of DailyKos members have contributed to, helping to improve the content, shape the message and discussing the practical, economic and political consequences of every proposal. That has been made possible by the interactive nature of DailyKos, with the ability to rate comments and to respond to individual comments in a simple way, and by its size, which makes it possible to have experts on every topic under the sun around and willing to contribute their expertise. That energy proposal has gone through several drafts, which were extensively critiqued and commented upon, and we now expect to have a final version to unveil at the YearlyKos convention - which the DailyKos community will then ask Democrat politicians to endorse. This "open source policy forming" is something totally new, made possible by the unique position of DailyKos (the fact that it now brings together a huge number of people), and its software which allows for smart/useful comments to be easily identified thanks to the ratings provided by the community, and I hope that it will draw your interest. It was briefly mentioned in the New York Review of Books's recent article on Markos Moulitsas's book, Crashing the Gates, but it is certainly worth further investigation. It took me, its instigator, completely by surprise, and I am frankly amazed by the result so far (if you want to look at the latest version, it's here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/13/84849/522 (Energize America - A Blueprint for U.S. Energy Security (Fourth Draft)). I look forward to hearing from you. With kind regards, Jérôme Guillet Editor, European Tribune Paris, France
I read with interest your article about Maryscott OConnor and the "Angry Left". As a regular blogger on DailyKos (under the name "Jerome a Paris" - see http://www.dailykos.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris), I'd like to point out an other side of what we do on the blogs of the left, besides venting, and would be really grateful if you accepted to do a follow up story on this theme.
I write mostly about energy issues (as well as about international economic stuff and European news - I am French) and I don't think it's too big a claim to say that I am recognised as the leading "resident expert" on energy on DailyKos - as a matter of fact, I will be running the energy session of YearlyKos, the convention organised in June in Las Vegas for the DailyKos community.
The reason this may be interesting to you, beyond my personal vanity, is that I have been leading an effort to draft a comprehensive energy policy for the United States, an effort to which dozens, if not hundreds, of DailyKos members have contributed to, helping to improve the content, shape the message and discussing the practical, economic and political consequences of every proposal. That has been made possible by the interactive nature of DailyKos, with the ability to rate comments and to respond to individual comments in a simple way, and by its size, which makes it possible to have experts on every topic under the sun around and willing to contribute their expertise.
That energy proposal has gone through several drafts, which were extensively critiqued and commented upon, and we now expect to have a final version to unveil at the YearlyKos convention - which the DailyKos community will then ask Democrat politicians to endorse.
This "open source policy forming" is something totally new, made possible by the unique position of DailyKos (the fact that it now brings together a huge number of people), and its software which allows for smart/useful comments to be easily identified thanks to the ratings provided by the community, and I hope that it will draw your interest. It was briefly mentioned in the New York Review of Books's recent article on Markos Moulitsas's book, Crashing the Gates, but it is certainly worth further investigation. It took me, its instigator, completely by surprise, and I am frankly amazed by the result so far (if you want to look at the latest version, it's here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/13/84849/522 (Energize America - A Blueprint for U.S. Energy Security (Fourth Draft)).
I look forward to hearing from you.
With kind regards,
Jérôme Guillet Editor, European Tribune Paris, France
The underlying message seems pretty clear to me. I hope it's not too subtle for our friend from the WP.
Dear Mr. Guillet, Thank you for your note. I had read some of your posts and was already aware of your thoughtful approach to issues. I will pass your suggestion on to my assigning editor to see if there's more to be done on the effects of blogs; perhaps what you have described would make a good case study of what is and isn't being accomplished. If I can do more on the subject, I will be in touch. Again, thank you for taking the time to read the story I wrote about Ms. O'Connor and for taking the additional time to write to me. My best regards, David Finkel The Washington Post
Thank you for your note. I had read some of your posts and was already aware of your thoughtful approach to issues. I will pass your suggestion on to my assigning editor to see if there's more to be done on the effects of blogs; perhaps what you have described would make a good case study of what is and isn't being accomplished. If I can do more on the subject, I will be in touch. Again, thank you for taking the time to read the story I wrote about Ms. O'Connor and for taking the additional time to write to me.
My best regards, David Finkel The Washington Post
Let's see where this goes.
(I am making this correspondence public because, beyond the fact that there is nothing sensitive or confidential in there, I really feel that this "open source wonkery" is a collective thing and, while I'm clearly in the thick of it, it's not something I am doing on my own). In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
