This blog was founded by Texas Forums, an initiative of the LBJ Library as a place for citizens to reflect and comment on the 2008 Presidential Campaign. It was inspired by the work that we have been doing with Media Bloggers Association (MBA) and PBS Tavis Smiley’s All-American Presidential Forums.
Last June, citizens gathered at the LBJ Library and the Carver Library blogged (many for the first time) about the Democratic All-American Presidential Forum on the Texas Forums blog. These postings were picked up by MBA, which had been commissioned by PBS to credential on-site bloggers writing about the forum as it was happening. The official PBS blog included comments we made remotely alongside those of the credentialed on-site bloggers.
As we prepare for the Republican All-American Presidential Forum, it occurs to me that citizens across the country will have comments to contribute throughout the coming 14 months of this campaign. This site is for those voices.
Texas Forums will seek out novice bloggers who want to be part of this experiment in citizens journalism. We may partner with organizations that are reaching deep into communities to engage “unlikely” bloggers, like e-democracy.
Where this experiement will lead us is not clear, yet. But I know that when an idea hits me at 5 a.m., I’d better act on it or lose it. What I don’t yet know, yet, is the quality of my 5 a.m. ideas or the complete execution plan, but I don’t want to go back to sleep and lose something unformulated that could turn out to be an interesting project.
So here I am acting!
