6th district afterblog discussion thread

My wonderful blogging partner Betsy wisely suggested that live-blogs should be limited to questions and discussion with candidates, and that follow-on conversations should be picked up on a new thread. That's what this is ... another experiment in transparency.

For example, one topic that came up in the recent live session with Dr. Bratton (thank you again for joining us) was the issue of whether opposing candidates should be asking questions of the guest. Jay O., popped into say "hi" but kindly didn't get involved in the discussion. My take? That was the right way to go since we've never developed a policy or practice for that sort of thing. I'd love to hear other opinions on the issue.

In my view, I think Betsy's right. It seems more appropriate to be moving over to another thread (like this one) to carry on the party after the bar closes, so to speak.

I'm asking all this because we have a number of live blog sessions on the horizon. Assuming I can lock down all the details, we'll have Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue on in a couple of weeks for an innovative side-by-side live blogging session. We'll also host Kay Hagan for her first official visit to BlueNC.

Let's talk about it.

James

PS In writing this, I was reminded of how grateful I am to all the candidates and other community leaders who have taken the chance to put themselves on the firing line here at BlueNC. The one-hour sessions fly by like crazy ... and for folks not accustomed to operating in the blogosphere, it must be a pretty wild ride. Teresa, I'd love to hear your thoughts about all this (plus what Betsy has asked about on another thread).

Comments

My thoughts on this

Because I was away from home, and reading Robin Anderson's live-blog way after it happened, I posted on the thread that I was disappointed that a particular question wasn't answered. It seems like it would have been awkward to have copied and pasted the question to a different thread or have asked the question over again.

I'm not sure that we can expect candidates to continue to come back to multiple threads. I'm sure that most regulars understand that questions and comments posted after the time of the live blog may not be answered. If the candidate is concerned about that aspect - close the thread.

As for opponents showing up, I think it's fair to show up and say hi, but once they start asking questions, that turns it into a debate, and that's not what was advertised, so it isn't fair to the candidate who is being featured. It's not, as someone pointed out, a matter of ethics on the part of the two candidates, but it might be on the part of BlueNC. We don't want to set someone up to be blind-sided.

I do think we need to be careful to keep extraneous "chatter" off of live-blog threads (yes, I think deleting or moving posts would be appropriate if they are not germane to the actual topic). That might mean that we have to have at least 2 front pagers committed to being on hand for high profile live blogs, but that's actually a good problem to have.

Having spent many years in community moderation and moderating live chat, I've run into just about every situation that can come up. I'd say we're reaching the limits of what this platform can accomplish, and need to recognize that.

Just my .05 (increased for inflation.)

Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi

Yes, but your comment on the Robin Anderson thread was germane

to the thread. Robert also posted comments on the Bratton thread at a later time that were very appropriate. This is why we won't close the comments, but will continue to monitor them for appropriateness.

What we have seen happen on some live-blogs, but not all, are spontaneous discussions that deserve a place of their own. A "spin zone" type thread would allow for those discussions to happen without detracting from the candidate's live-blog. The candidate isn't expected to tend to this thread, but is welcome to join in the discussion or have someone monitor it for them.

I don't think we've reached the limit of what this platform can accomplish. I think we are breaking new ground and the sky is the limit. We simply have to be creative enough to attempt new things and look ahead to what the pitfalls might be.

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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.

Spin zone?

Can we call it something other than the "spin zone"?

...just on the principle of setting higher expectations and standards. Or would it be an ironic usage, like O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone"? :)

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relocating from Indianapolis, IN to RTP, NC soon; got any advice for me?

I wouldn't recommend drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. -- Hunter S. Thompson

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Garner, NC

I wouldn't recommend drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. -- Hunter S. Thompson

I think I can speak for James when I say

We would LOVE to have a creative name for the thread that suits BlueNC and our community. We are very open to suggestions.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.