I'm a Video Blogger, not a journalist

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There are some people who are very confused about the role of bloggers versus journalists. Some think that bloggers like me are supposed to follow some ethic of journalism. That's wrong and its confining. Plus, it's just plain boring!

I'm a blogger, a video blogger, not a journalist. Moreover, I don't want to be a journalist. I have the greatest respect for journalists, but that's not where I live. I blog. Freely and often, I blog. I use videos more than others and that makes me a vlogger. I'm not subordinate to a journalist; I'm media. I have a point of view and I share it. I'm not a journalist.

I have over 2,000 posted videos and 10,000 blog posts. I'm a video-blogger.

Blogging ethics

Ironically, it was Jay Rosen, a noted professor of journalism at New York University, who correctly explained "blogger ethics". He wrote:

If “ethics” are the codification in rules of the practices that lead to trust on the platform where the users actually are—which is how I think of them—then journalists have their ethics and bloggers have theirs.

* Good bloggers observe the ethic of the link.

* They correct themselves early, easily and often.

* They don’t claim neutrality but they do practice transparency.

* They aren’t remote, they habitually converse.

* They give you their site, but also other sites as a proper frame of reference. (As with the blogroll.)

* When they grab on to something they don’t let go; they “track” it.

And Rebecca Blood has a definition of weblog ethics that would curl the hair of a journalist, if they had any. But in her case she hugs and embrases the idea of the free-form blogger. Still she has another set of rules:

1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
6. Note questionable and biased sources.

If I write about a friend, like Oakland City Attorney John Russo, you know it, because I wrote or said so as I did here:



If I was given something, I say so. If I purchased lunch for someone you know it. It's up to you to either watch or go elsewhere. But on that, I've found I get the best interviews when someone talks with a full stomach.

My rule is that I insist on making quick blog update and corrections and I do so where necessary. I track an issue. And I'm biased. I use video because its authentic as I did in this one about the Harry's bouncer and the patron:



In short, I give you the World through my eyes. I give a person a platform on video, but still its through my camcorder. I talk to people I don't agree with and you know it; I talk with people I do agree with and you know it. That's my style. I insist on smart conversation but punish personal attacks. I love a good debate. I hate cyberstalkers. I'm a video-blogger not a journalist. And I'm proud of it.

Stop Twitter Phishing Now!

"Phishing" is the act of sending a "safe" looking email that asks you to give out sensitive information: your username and password. That practice has found it's way to Twitter. Here's what you should do if it happens to you.

Why Are Newspapers Dying? - O'Reilly Broadcast

Why Are Newspapers Dying? - O'Reilly Broadcast: “The emergence of the Internet proved newspapers' most challenging competitor, and the one that ultimately may have managed to do the newspaper industry in altogether. Most newspapers, from the veritable New York times on down, launched their own websites, reasoning that this was simply another medium in which to publish their own writers, but this viewpoint may have been somewhat shortsighted.

In 2003, the term blog first entered into the modern lexicon, an online editorial or journal written not by professional journalists but by eager amateurs who could publish by overcoming a far smaller barrier to entry - setting up a blogging site. With contemporary tools, the blogger could effectively start producing his or her own "news" within a few hours, and if they happened to be reasonably competent, were willing to invest some time into promotion and consistent in publishing content, they had a good chance to gain more "eyeballs" than professional journalists with thirty years of experience.

As of April, 2008, only three newspapers had a subscriber base in excess of 1,000,000 readers - USA Today (2.3 million), The Wall Street Journal (2.1 million) and the New York Times (1.1 million). Most newspapers average approximately 300,000 subscribers. This of course doesn't reflect total readership numbers - many papers sell a significant proportion of their subscriber levels in newsstand and library sales - but it does provide at least a basic metric for understanding the dynamics of newspaper publishing vs. the web.”

Why Are Newspapers Dying? - O'Reilly Broadcast

Why Are Newspapers Dying? - O'Reilly Broadcast: “The emergence of the Internet proved newspapers' most challenging competitor, and the one that ultimately may have managed to do the newspaper industry in altogether. Most newspapers, from the veritable New York times on down, launched their own websites, reasoning that this was simply another medium in which to publish their own writers, but this viewpoint may have been somewhat shortsighted.

In 2003, the term blog first entered into the modern lexicon, an online editorial or journal written not by professional journalists but by eager amateurs who could publish by overcoming a far smaller barrier to entry - setting up a blogging site. With contemporary tools, the blogger could effectively start producing his or her own "news" within a few hours, and if they happened to be reasonably competent, were willing to invest some time into promotion and consistent in publishing content, they had a good chance to gain more "eyeballs" than professional journalists with thirty years of experience.

As of April, 2008, only three newspapers had a subscriber base in excess of 1,000,000 readers - USA Today (2.3 million), The Wall Street Journal (2.1 million) and the New York Times (1.1 million). Most newspapers average approximately 300,000 subscribers. This of course doesn't reflect total readership numbers - many papers sell a significant proportion of their subscriber levels in newsstand and library sales - but it does provide at least a basic metric for understanding the dynamics of newspaper publishing vs. the web.”

Ms. Huffington Shills a Book She Didn't Write / Jossip

Ms. Huffington Shills a Book She Didn't Write / Jossip Jossip slams Arinna Huffington's new book on blogging.

Zennie Abraham's Visit To CNN Atlanta HQ and iReport Team

This is a video of my visit to the CNN Atlanta Headquarters and to meet the iReport and CNN International people who've been so good to me. I took my Mom as I thought it would be a treat for her as well, especially since she keeps her TV on CNN.  


The iReport staff is pretty much like one would see at any Bay Area Internet startup and so I fell right in with their culture. Fun people. Jessica Ellis of CNN International who "discovered me" for the iReport coverage at the Democratic Convention, gave us a great tour of CNN from a behind the scenes view -- not the standard tourist tour.


Thanks to Jessica, Errol Barnett, David Washington, and the iReport and CNN International staff for being so great.

JOHN EDWARDS CONFIRMS RUMORS OF RIELLE HUNTER AFFAIR TO ABC - EDWARDS STATEMENT

Finally, former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards has just admitted to ABC News that he did indeed have an affair with Rielle Hunter -- a story covered here since last fall. This was reported on CNN. You can read the whole rest of the story here at Zennie's Zeitgeist.

Edwards says that the affair started after his wife's revalation of Cancer in 2006, but that he did not get her pregnant. He's not taken a test to confirm this.

EDWARDS STATEMENT:

In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.

It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work
with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.

I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.

My take on this news:



The back story of the affair:

Gopalan Nair Blogging Truth About Singapore Judge; Stands Trial

Gopalan Nair, a lawyer who was a citizen of Singapore and is now a U.S. National, is standing trial for blogging the truth about two Singapore judges...

Nair faces two charges of insulting judges on his blog. Each charge carries a jail term of up to one year, a 5,000 Singapore dollar fine (3,676 US) or both.

In the first charge, he is accused of insulting Justice Belinda Ang, who presided over a defamation case where Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong testified against the leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

Nair, 58, alleged that Ang was "prostituting herself during the entire proceedings by being nothing more than an employee of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders," a court document said.

In the second charge, Nair is alleged to have sent an e-mail to Supreme Court Justice Lai Siu Chiu in 2006 saying he has "no shame" and that judges "are selling their souls and their conscience for money," according to a court document.

Nair should have done it in the U.S., but I think we need to force Singapore to relax their laws just by blogging about whatever's going on over there. Nair should be left alone. Seems the judges were acting in a way not consistent with best practices anyway.

Zennie62 On Vloggerheads.com WIth Kenrg And Renetto

Zennie62 On Vloggerheads.com WIth Kenrg And Renetto

Today -- well, Saturday -- I received an email invitation from YouTuber Ken Goldstein, who you may (or may not) know as Kenrg on YouTube. He was inviting me to join what he and other call a "vlogging experiment" and is called "Vloggerheads."

That would be me.

The site is only eight days -- yes eight days -- old and already there are as of this writing 46 members. Folks like Esther, Beth, and star YouTubers like Renetto, Kenrg, and Gimmeabreakman who made this great video:

Where he tries to answer the question "What is a vlog" from the comfort of a pool he's in somewhere. He even goes underwater for a bit. That means he takes the camera under water -- watch -- how he does that I don't know because if I did that with my Sony camcorder, that would be the end of that machine.

Anyway, I love to share my ideas on video, but I want to get paid for it too. YouTube allows that; I just have to see his improvement. his viewpoint. I'm not giving up on YouTube at all. I think this can enhance the total experience of videoblogging and increase the visility of YouTubers at the same time.

Robert Scoble Talks About PodTech Demise At TechCrunch Party

I present my long form video documentary of the TechCrunch | August Capital Party held Friday, July 25th 2008 at
August Capital and hosed by TechCrunch Co-Founder / Editor Michael Arrington. First, let me thank Michael for the opportunity to do this at his event, as well as the time he gave me. Second, let me thank all of you who gave me your time at the party, which was the vast majority of you.

I set out to form a pattern of opinions on what the Democratic Party and Senator Obama should address on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. I also tried to give a view of what people were working on in the tech / web community. There's a lot here. But I also tried to make something fun to watch, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The video is 41 minutes long and some of the highlights: TechCrunch's Michael Arrington explaining that he hope Barack Obama sicks to his concern for "net neutrality" as well as his hope that issues regarding H1 Visas, the FCC, and the avoidance of Internet Taxes are addressed. Technorat Founder and Chairman David Sifty introducing his new venture OffBeatGuides.com. The great EtchStar.com service for devices like iPhones. An iPhone App from VSmax.com. Sara Lacy telling the Democratic Party to "get some balls." Andrew Mager talking about the party and introducing Cathy Brooks of Seesmic, who in turn introduced the Legendary Robert Scoble, and Brooks echoing (unknowingly) Lacy when she says the party should "grow a pair." And Robert talking -- at considerable length -- about what happened to PodTech and what it says, if anything, about the economics of Podcasting.

In all the message to the Democratic Party and Senator Obama was to work to achieve unity, don't fashion policies that tax the Internet or harm Net Neutrality, be courageous, and for Senator Obama to stay the course.

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John McCain "I Hate The Bloggers" - Statement Made On 12/29/07

Boy, for a guy who claims he doesn't understand or use the Internet, Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain sure knows who bloggers are. He says he hates them. At this town hall meeting, Senator McCain goes off on bloggers. Watch this video:

Charles Krauthammer's Obama Envy

I read Charles Krauthammer's column on Senator Barack Obama visting Germany and hit the ceiling. This is what I wrote to him, or whomever answers his mail:

Charles,

I'm very disappointed in you that you would pen a column which
demonstrates an inability to think outside the mental bounds this
society has formed for you because of your skin color. It does not
take a genus to determine the significance of Obama's appearance at
the Brandenburg Gate. Do I have to spell it out for you?

Ok.

Name one -- just one -- other African American elected official who
has appeared at the the Brandenburg Gate? Then name one -- just one -
African American elected official who has come this close to being
President of the United States. Shall I go on?

You miss what leadership is about. Your column demonstrates that your
don't get it. And it shows that you don't know or intellectually
understand what kind of role the President of the United States
serves. That person is considered this: LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.

Do you understand? Ok. I'll repeat it.

LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.

That means to most people, the SYMBOL of freedom. That is what
Senator Obama represents to many. To ho-hum or sigh or cringe at the
presentation of this mear fact is to show a true ignorance of the
intense desire many people in the World have to rid ourselves of the
true mentail illness that is racism.

Charles. The bell's ringing. Time to get with the program.

--
Zennie Abraham, Jr.

Political Bloggers Cutting Back On Profanity?

I just read this blog post which explains that NY Times reporter Katherine Q Seelye has it that Netroots Nation bloggers are reporting an attempt to cut back of profanity. So, I went to the article itself and have to really disagree.

If you take the comments over at DailyKos as an indicator, cussing is alive and well and all over the place.

See "Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up" over at Kos:

on Afghanistan, no doubt to once again give McCain cover to steal Obama's position.

Why the fuck is no one in the media calling their colleagues out? Keith, it's your goddamn channel. Saying "Bushed" doesn't make up for your cocktail pals' complicit

See what I mean? It only took me about 45 seconds to find that little gem.

Brandon Keating Show - How Do you feel about where HipHop is going?

I keep hearing people saying "HipHop is dead" or "HipHop is dying".  With so many artists these days coming out with what is known as "ringtone" raps, a lot of people who grew up in the 80's and 90's have finally had enough and are complaining about the way HipHop is now. I must admit, for a minute, I was one of those people. But if you look at all music genres, you will begin to realize that they all change over time.  You can not have it one way for the rest of eternity. 

I have received several hundred emails asking me what my stance on HipHop is and where I think it is going.  Without typing an entire essay, I will share my video of my thoughts.

Please feel free to comment on what your stance is.

"Yes We Can" - Tribute to Obama By Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt

"Yes We Can" is the new musical and video tribute to Senator Barack Obama for President by Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt. I was asked to co-produce and distribute the video on behalf of Maria Muldaur and Joel Jaffe of Studio D Recording in Sausalito , CA. It's not to be confused with the first great "Yes We Can" video and song by Will-I-Am, which is a terrific and pioneering work of its own. Also see www.yeswecanthevideo.com

"Yes We Can" - Tribute to Obama By Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt

Press Release: Singing Legends Team Up For Obama Tribute Song and Video

Here's the video:



> On Metacafe.

> On Google

> On My Space

> On Crackle

> On Sclipo

> On Viddler


> Dailymotion

> On AOL






"Yes We Can" by
Zennie Abraham is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at
www.yeswecanthevideo.com.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at
www.yeswecanthevideo.com.
> On Yahoo

DNC Convention - DNCC Releases List of Credentialed Blogs

Which blogs are the "credentialed blogs" for the DNC Convention? Here's a list below. This blog also has a blog roll of them if you look to the right and scroll down. But here's the list:

2008 Democratic Convention Watch http://demconwatch.blogspot.com

43rdStateBlues.com http://43rdstateblues.com

AFL-CIO NOW Blog http://blog.aflcio.org

African American Political Pundit http://aapoliticalpundit.blogspot.com

AMERICAblog.com http://americablog.com

Asian American Action Fund Blog http://aaa-fund.com

Badlands Blue http://badlandsblue.com

Bagnews Notes http://bagnewsnotes.com

Beliefnet http://beliefnet.com

Bitch Ph.D. http://bitchphd.blogspot.com

Blogger News Network http://bloggernews.net

Blogging For Michigan http://bloggingformichigan.com

BlogHer http://blogher.com

Blue Hampshire http://bluehampshire.com

Blue Indiana http://blueindiana.net

Blue Jersey http://bluejersey.com

Blue Mass. Group http://bluemassgroup.com

BlueGrassRoots http://bluegrassroots.org

BlueNC.com http://bluenc.com

BlueOregon http://blueoregon.com

Buckeye State Blog http://buckeyestateblog.com

Burnt Orange Report http://BurntOrangeReport.com

Calitics http://Calitics.com

Campus Progress http://campusprogress.org

Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com

Change to Win http://changetowin.org

Colorado Confidential http://coloradoconfidential.com

Cotton Mouth Blog http://cottonmouthblog.blogspot.com

CracktheBell.com http://crackthebell.com

Crooks and Liars http://crooksandliars.com

culturekitchen http://culturekitchen.com

Daily Kingfish http://dailykingfish.com

Daily Kos http://dailykos.com

Dallas South Blog http://dallassouthblog.com

DCist.com http://dcist.com

Democracy Arsenal http://democracyarsenal.org

Democracy for New Mexico http://DemocracyForNewMexico.com

Democratic Party of the U.S. Virgin Islands http://groups.yahoo.com/...

Democratic Underground http://democraticunderground.com

Democrats Abroad Argentina http://yanquimike.com.ar

DemoOkie http://DemoOkie.com

Digby's Hullabaloo http://digbysblog.blogspot.com

Disaboom.com http://disaboom.com

Doc's Political Parlor http://politicalparlor.net

DoubleSpeak http://doublespeakshow.com

Eschaton http://atrios.blogspot.com

EverydayCitizen.com http://everydaycitizen.com

Fired Up! http://firedupmissouri.com

Firedoglake http://firedoglake.com

Florida Progressive Coalition http://flaprogressives.org

Future Majority http://futuremajority.com

Georgia Politics Unfiltered http://georgiaunfiltered.blogspot.com

Green Mountain Daily http://greenmountaindaily.com

Grist Magazine http://grist.org/

Group News Blog http://groupnewsblog.net

HispanicTips.com http://hispanictips.com

HorsesAss.org http://horsesass.org

HummingbirdMinds Blog http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com

iLind.net http://ilind.net

Indianz.com http://indianz.com

Jack and Jill Politics http://jackandjillpolitics.com

Jusiper http://jusiper.blogspot.com

Keystone Politics http://keystonepolitics.com

KnoxViews http://knoxviews.com

Las Vegas Gleaner http://lasvegasgleaner.com

Left In Alabama http://leftinalabama.com

Left in the West http://leftinthewest.com

Michigan Liberal http://michiganliberal.com

Minnesota Monitor http://minnesotamonitor.com

MOMocrats http://momocrats.typepad.com

My Left Nutmeg http://myleftnutmeg.com

MyDD http://mydd.com

New Nebraska Network http://NewNebraska.net

NewsOne.com http://newsone.com

No Rest for the Awake http://minagahet.blogspot.com

NorthDecoder.com http://northdecoder.com

Obsidian Wings http://obsidianwings.blogs.com

Ohio Daily Blog http://ohiodailyblog.com

OliverWillis.com http://oliverwillis.com

Open Left http://openleft.com

Pam's House Blend http://pamshouseblend.com

Political Base http://politicalbase.com

Political Wire http://politicalwire.com

PoliticalLunch.com http://PoliticalLunch.com

PolitickerNJ.com http://politickernj.com

PoliticsOnline http://politicsonline.com

Pop and Politics http://popandpolitics.com

Prairie State Blue http://PrairieStateBlue.com

RaceWire http://racewire.org

Raising Kaine http://raisingkaine.com

Raw Story http://rawstory.com

Rhode Island's Future http://rifuture.org

Room 8 http://r8ny.com

Rum, Romanism and Rebellion http://rumromanismrebellion.net

RuralVotes http://ruralvotes.com/...

Scholars & Rogues http://scholarsandrogues.com

Seeing the Forest http://seeingtheforest.com

Sepia Mutiny http://sepiamutiny.com

SquareState.net http://squarestate.net

Talking Points Memo http://talkingpointsmemo.com

TalkLeft http://talkleft.com

Taylor Marsh http://taylormarsh.com

The Albany Project http://thealbanyproject.com

The Center for Emerging Media http://centerforemergingmedia.com

The Iowa Independent http://iowaindependent.com

The Natchez Blog http://natchezms.blogspot.com

The Seminal http://theseminal.com

The UpTake http://theuptake.org

The Utah Amicus http://utahamicus.com

The Washington Independent http://washingtonindependent.com

Think Youth http://thinkyouth.org

Thought Theater http://thoughttheater.com

TommyWonk http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/

Tondee's Tavern http://tondeestavern.com

Towleroad http://towleroad.com

Turn Maine Blue http://turnmaineblue.com

Under The Dome.com http://underthedome.com

Uppity Wisconsin http://uppitywis.org

USAmerica Vota '08 http://usamericavota08.blogspot.com

VivirLatino.com http://vivirlatino.com

West Virginia Blue http://wvablue.com

What About Our Daughters? Blog http://whataboutourdaughters.com

Working Life http://workinglife.org

Zennie's Zeitgeist http://zennie2005.blogspot.com

President Bush Heckled At July 4th Speech; GOP Fears Senate Losses

It is not looking good for the Republican Party and that's good news for the Democrats. Consider that on July 4th, President Bush was heckled repeatedly as the video shows here:



While GOP Senator John Ensign (R) Nebraska talks about the possible loss of Senate seats in the fall. The one question is how bad will the losses be?

On Rush Limbaugh, His $400 Million Contract & Bo Snerdley

Today, it was announced that Rush Limbaugh signed a %400 million contract with Clear Channel. In this video, I explain that Rush's success came at a price. Michelle Sixta is a friend of mine and at one point lived on Madison, across Lake Merritt from me in Oakland, Ca.

Michelle was a lot of fun. She and I would go on something called the "Back Yard Bird Watch" and generally had a good time, then lost touch after a few years.

She was also -- prior to our meeting -- married to Rush as his second wife. She didn't talk about him much at all, but when she did, she explained that at first their marriage was fine, but as the years went on, Rush was more into himself than into her. He'd rather read a book than have sex.

I hope she's going to get part of that $400 Million.

Meanwhile, Rush has taken aim at Senator Barack Obama's run for president by employing his call screener James Gould as "Bo Snerdley" the official Obama criticizer.

In my view, picking someone who looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy and Austin Powers' "Fat Bastard" to supposedly criticize Obama just helps the Obama for America campaign.

Thanks Rush.

Finally, Rush should never be allowed to have himself photographed smoking a cigar as he was in my video. He looks like he's giving some dude a BJ, and that's from a straight guy.

On The 17 Year Old's Death And Six Flags Over Georgia

In this vlog,I take issue with the idea that the 17 year old kid who passed away after being decapitated by a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia was stupid. The folks at fault were Six Flags Over Georgia and the governments that approved the design of the roller coaster. It's not reasonable to expect a teenager to understand what it means to be accountable; that's when accountability is learned.

Six Flag Over Georgia should have anticipated all possible outcomes and designed the roller coaster on that basis.

On Bill Clinton and Barack Obama

This is my video blog on the need for Bill Clinton to be part of the Obama for America campaign effort. I feel that Obama can't win without President Clinton's support. But then the Clinton's have some image repair work to do and helping Barack's the best way to do it.