HW 3: Summary of Chapter One

When reading the first chapter of the book Blog!, there were some main points that stuck out. The title of this chapter was, Toward a More Participatory Democracy, written by David Kline. In this chapter the author discusses the importance of blogging and the ideas expressed in some of these blogs. The main idea in this chapter though is the influence that bloggers are having in the political scene. When this book was published the election for the 2004 presidency was just ending. According to Kline these bloggers had a helping hand in the outcome of the election. The reason for this ever growing influence in the political world is that Americans have lost trust in main stream media. They do not desire to watch the news or read newspapers because they have been told lies. Another reason for the ever increasing popularity in blogging is that bloggers are able to say what they want. Bloggers are not censored or forced to say things that they do not desire to say. Kline claims that in media these day’s they are not allowed to express all of their ideals. Also bloggers give audiences stories that other media sources will not because the story may be controversial and not appropriate for television. It is often said that main stream media avoids controversy. When reflecting on this chapter I find myself torn. I feel that I agree with some of Kline’s ideas but I also disagree with some of his claims. I agreed with him that the election was affected by online blogging. I disagree with the fact though that he discredits almost any television source. I believe that there are some things on television that I can believe more than blogging.