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CNN Live Today

Blogs For President?

Aired February 06, 2004 - 11:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the candidates truly entered the Internet Age this cycle with the campaign blog. Say you don't know what a blog is? Well, why you should get one or who has one or how do you log onto a blog? That's why we have our technical correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, here for the nitty gritty on blogging.
First of all, for the uninitiated what is a blog? What does it mean to blog?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: It's become a verb. It's become a part of the vernacular, at least for some techies out there. It does sound a little mysterious.

You can think of a blog as a contraction of the words "web" and "log." And they shortened it to "blog." It's like a Web site on steroids. It's like you're personalizing a Web site that might otherwise not be that interesting. And it's like an online diary in a sense. It's a way of communicating with people in a personal way. A bit like a diary.

KAGAN: People with all different types of interest have logged -- we saw it during the war was the first time I became aware of blogs.

SIEBERG: There are blogs for everything and everybody. We're seeing some of the political ones right now. They've become really a big part of the political campaign for the first time. They've been out there for a long time, the idea of blog. Some people see them as kind of grassroots journalism. Other people worry they don't adhere to those types of standards. So there's kid of two ways of looking at them.

KAGAN: One who blogs would be considered a blogger. Just turns out we have one with us. We have -- it's Michael Liddell. Mike, you have been a blogger for Joe Lieberman.

MICHAEL LIDDELL, LIEBERMAN BLOGGER: Yes.

SIEBERG: Let's talk about what you did as a blogger. We'll talk about the verb, to blog. What was a typical day for you like? You were running the Web site for Joe Lieberman, the blog site. What was your day like as the blogger?

LIDDELL: Basically, what we try to do is incorporate different aspects of the campaign into the blog and talk about some of the various different departments, whether it be someone out in New Hampshire talking about their experiences, or talking with, say, the senator, and getting him to put some video up on the blog, something along those lines.

SIEBERG: Did you accomplish what you set out to do? It seems like you're going out after the younger demographic, some of the hardcore people, not necessarily gathering new supporters, but maybe energizing people. Did you accomplish what you set out to do with the blog?

LIDDELL: Absolutely. The goal is similar to a political rally. Try to energize supporters and get them excited about the campaign, bring everyone together and develop a dialogue that gets everyone excited about what is going on with the campaign. I think we did a good job.

KAGAN: While we were looking that the site, I can see it said the official blog for Joseph Lieberman. Did you start as a blogger and went and got the endorsement or they were looking for a blogger and you fulfilled that role?

LIDDELL: Actually, I came on to the campaign to run the entire online communications effort. The blog is just kind of part of an extension of that.

So -- but there are several other blogs that are out there that talk about obviously the campaigns, the elections, things like that. It is important to distinguish the blogs and make sure that you know that the people who are come to the blog know that it's the official blog.

KAGAN: Let me bring Daniel back into the conversation here. Therein lie the nature of blogs, anybody can be a blogger. Anyone can say, here's the Joe Lieberman blog.

SIEBERG: Anybody can be blogger. That is sort of the beauty of it. It is in a sense the beauty of the Internet, how you can create your own Web site and if you want to create your own blog, part of what makes it attractive to people is you need to update it continually.

Every day, they try to have something new in it. I think we have actually have a list of some of the political blogs out there for the candidates. Just about every single one had one out there. Some will go away, like the Joe Lieberman one will, sadly, go away. And Mike look for something else to do maybe sleep for a while.

KAGAN: That's my next question. Not the best week to be a blogger for Joe Lieberman because he's wrapped up the effort. Where does one go after here?

LIDDELL: Like you said, I am planning to take about two week and just sleep straight through. After that, we'll just have to see where things go.

KAGAN: We'll look for your own personal blog to find, Mike. The find Mike blog. Thank you so much, Mike Liddell. Daniel, always a pleasure to have you along to talk us through this new technology stuff. I appreciate that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 6, 2004 - 11:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the candidates truly entered the Internet Age this cycle with the campaign blog. Say you don't know what a blog is? Well, why you should get one or who has one or how do you log onto a blog? That's why we have our technical correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, here for the nitty gritty on blogging.
First of all, for the uninitiated what is a blog? What does it mean to blog?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: It's become a verb. It's become a part of the vernacular, at least for some techies out there. It does sound a little mysterious.

You can think of a blog as a contraction of the words "web" and "log." And they shortened it to "blog." It's like a Web site on steroids. It's like you're personalizing a Web site that might otherwise not be that interesting. And it's like an online diary in a sense. It's a way of communicating with people in a personal way. A bit like a diary.

KAGAN: People with all different types of interest have logged -- we saw it during the war was the first time I became aware of blogs.

SIEBERG: There are blogs for everything and everybody. We're seeing some of the political ones right now. They've become really a big part of the political campaign for the first time. They've been out there for a long time, the idea of blog. Some people see them as kind of grassroots journalism. Other people worry they don't adhere to those types of standards. So there's kid of two ways of looking at them.

KAGAN: One who blogs would be considered a blogger. Just turns out we have one with us. We have -- it's Michael Liddell. Mike, you have been a blogger for Joe Lieberman.

MICHAEL LIDDELL, LIEBERMAN BLOGGER: Yes.

SIEBERG: Let's talk about what you did as a blogger. We'll talk about the verb, to blog. What was a typical day for you like? You were running the Web site for Joe Lieberman, the blog site. What was your day like as the blogger?

LIDDELL: Basically, what we try to do is incorporate different aspects of the campaign into the blog and talk about some of the various different departments, whether it be someone out in New Hampshire talking about their experiences, or talking with, say, the senator, and getting him to put some video up on the blog, something along those lines.

SIEBERG: Did you accomplish what you set out to do? It seems like you're going out after the younger demographic, some of the hardcore people, not necessarily gathering new supporters, but maybe energizing people. Did you accomplish what you set out to do with the blog?

LIDDELL: Absolutely. The goal is similar to a political rally. Try to energize supporters and get them excited about the campaign, bring everyone together and develop a dialogue that gets everyone excited about what is going on with the campaign. I think we did a good job.

KAGAN: While we were looking that the site, I can see it said the official blog for Joseph Lieberman. Did you start as a blogger and went and got the endorsement or they were looking for a blogger and you fulfilled that role?

LIDDELL: Actually, I came on to the campaign to run the entire online communications effort. The blog is just kind of part of an extension of that.

So -- but there are several other blogs that are out there that talk about obviously the campaigns, the elections, things like that. It is important to distinguish the blogs and make sure that you know that the people who are come to the blog know that it's the official blog.

KAGAN: Let me bring Daniel back into the conversation here. Therein lie the nature of blogs, anybody can be a blogger. Anyone can say, here's the Joe Lieberman blog.

SIEBERG: Anybody can be blogger. That is sort of the beauty of it. It is in a sense the beauty of the Internet, how you can create your own Web site and if you want to create your own blog, part of what makes it attractive to people is you need to update it continually.

Every day, they try to have something new in it. I think we have actually have a list of some of the political blogs out there for the candidates. Just about every single one had one out there. Some will go away, like the Joe Lieberman one will, sadly, go away. And Mike look for something else to do maybe sleep for a while.

KAGAN: That's my next question. Not the best week to be a blogger for Joe Lieberman because he's wrapped up the effort. Where does one go after here?

LIDDELL: Like you said, I am planning to take about two week and just sleep straight through. After that, we'll just have to see where things go.

KAGAN: We'll look for your own personal blog to find, Mike. The find Mike blog. Thank you so much, Mike Liddell. Daniel, always a pleasure to have you along to talk us through this new technology stuff. I appreciate that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com