Will the Real Citizen Kotecki Please Stand Up?
Was James Kotecki a journalist prior to joining politico.com?
No.
Reasons Why?
1. Comparing James Kotecki to Chris Matthews is like comparing the chimp that bangs on square peg in a round hole till he realizes there is square whole, with a gorilla that smashes both the peg and the holes . . . and then poops on the debri (In this analogy, the part of the gorilla is played by Chris Matthews). I write this to say that there is a subtle nuance to Kotecki’s observations that may come from the niche market of youtube politics, or it might come from the fact that he is not obligated mostly by ego to have the loudest voice as it seems Matthews, Olberman, and Papa Bear O’Reilly are. Having the loudest voice however isn’t a prerequisite for being a journalist either so that alone won’t disqualify him from the fourth estate.
2. Going back to the Last Campaign but particularly the Boys on the Bus another big difference is Kotecki straying from the typical news story that has the life of your average cold bug. This was particularly evident during the Democratic Primary where gave shout outs to Congressman Ron Paul Senator Mike Gravel for their interesting approaches and willingness to come to his dorm room. I his post on Dodd on Emergency Cheese was also an example of how while many talking heads were rattling on about what Obama or Hillary said or didn’t say, Kotecki was looking for the candidate that most exemplified his particular ‘field’ of politics and youtube. I guess it could be argued that he, like Matthews et al, is choosing the candidates that epitomize some noble standard, but I think that puts into question more what the standards of the pundit class is. The Dodd youtube clip was a perfect example of how Kotecki personally favored Dodd’s clip because it fufilled specific series of citizen journalism meets voter activism meets youtube. I seems that journalists and pundits can not specifically state what their criteria are for praising or critiquing candidates. The may say its the search for truth or something but I how can you both be a herald of fact and be so partisan as an O’Reilly or Olberman? Kotecki makes his rationalizations clear.
3. EmergencyCheese is Kotecki’s own creation and though he is using the youtube platform, based off the Washingtonian article, he was posting before youtube. Though we often equate the O’Reilly Factor as ‘owned’ by Papa Bear, it is owned by News Corp. If Kotecki is considered a journalist than by logically so would Rupert Murdoch. Kotecki is more like Charles Foster Kane of the first two-fifths of Citizen Kane before he gets all creepy (You have been warned, Mr. Kotecki). Kane was the publisher not a journalist himself, though he influenced what was and wasn’t in his papers. The idea of a citizen journalist is certainly a new one, and I think it applies to Kotecki’s early work on Emergency Cheese, but this I think is unfettered approach to relaying a point of view, combines publisher/editor/journalist which is not the same as a just a journalist.
Little Green Footballs v. Open Left
I choose Little Green Footballs and Open Left primarily because the each had initial posts that caught my attention Tuesday. Open Left relates a recent Washington Post article regarding what this small donor army of the Obama campaign might mean. LGF writes about vulnerabilities in on Obama’s blog. Both were coming from different sides of the Obama as ‘Internet President’ argument.
Assessment of the sites:
Little Green Footballs and its main writer, Charles Johnson comes out of what I would like to believe is a burgeoning political philosophy that is largely conservative in mindset but without the ‘loyalty’ to the Republican Party. I guess Libertarian would fit but I really think that many in this group, don’t really identify with any kind of political labeling. The content of LGF seem almost entirely driven by what I call the Miller/Hitchens Effect: Named after Dennis Miller and Christopher Hitchens, two razor sharps wits that were arguably more left leaning pre-September 11, and who have knowingly or unknowingly follow the the path of the Darwinian Conservatives. Both have spent the last seven and half years spotting a pro-war/anti-Islam agenda. The Wikipedia describes him the blog as transformed from of his ‘ of bicycle racing, programming, web design, and the occasional humorous news item into a very active discussion of the War on Terror, Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict.’
I don’t know if its fair to compare the two as Open Left has more overtly partisan anti-Republican bent while LGF really is more centered on the issue of the middle east conflict. Johnson’s style is more abrupt, letting links speak for themselves. It really feels like he is breaking news in the vein of The Drudge Report. Open Left is not written to be so much of a news source but an analysis and activist journal. Throughout the week the closest it comes to disagreeing with Obama is in their prediction on legislation that would pass if the Democrats gain the ‘Hat Trick’ in the branches of government. I make this point because though you will likely find me agreeing with Open Left on the issues, I think I am a more LGF in my demeanor, at least when it comes to my news. I probably have too much of an political organizer mentality where its more about finding ethical ways to win, rather than pat myself on the back for having noble ideas. Noble ideas only get you the votes of people who already agree with you. If what I saw in on both web sites is on par with what is normally posted, LGF did more to make me want to put my defenses up particularly when it comes to the candidate I support.
I may have more on this tomorrow, but for now, before school, I did a lot of work in the youth vote movement. Here is an link to Project Vote relating how the surge in youth voting is happening not across the youth demographic so much as the youth demographic with some college experience. What immediately comes to mind is the accessibility to internet issue. I would be interested in anyone’s thoughts on if they think there is population of young people who are not engaged in this Presidential Cycle which is more than ever being engaged on the not entirely accessible medium of the internet.
