JUST A BLOGGER

So, You Want To Blog?• Anyone can do it. You don’t need a degree in journalism, or

work at ABC News, to do this.• You have to have a passion for it.• READ … a lot. • Network like crazy (CPAC, SXSW, BlogCon (am I allowed to

say that), Franklin Center, and, of course, Right Online)• Establish social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,

LinkedIn• Have a blogging platform (Wordpress, Squarespace, Tumblr)• Start blogging and attending conference if you can–it helps

with networking • Be prepared to work long hours• Have fun!

Read ALL The Things!• “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others;

read a lot and write a lot” – Stephen King, On Writing• King suggests reading four to six hours a day.• It doesn’t have to be all about politics. You’ll get fried if that’s all

you read.• Feel free to read about gaming, music, movies, science fiction, and

other aspects of popular culture.• Entertainment Weekly• Game Informer• Rolling Stone (music and movie reviews only)• Look for style:• George Will (Washington Post)• Charles Cooke (National Review)• Conor Freidersdorf (The Atlantic)

Network!• It helps generate some buzz around your blog.• Make new friends; you’re never alone in this world.• Builds the foundation for a future job search.• Could lead to new sources of information.• Email communications directors and press secretaries of

campaigns, think tanks, and politicians; ask them to add you to their media lists

• Build relations with PR firms (Javelin, CRC Public Relations). Meet up for coffee, lunch, or talk over the phone.

• Putting a name to the face is incredibly important in a business that mostly virtual.

• Don’t forget your business cards when you come to conference, meetings, and interviews.

Information: SO Many Sources For News• Washington Post• Drudge Report• Ace of Spades• New York Times• Washington Post Politics• NYT Politics• Gawker• The Hill• CNS News• Newsbusters• National Review• The Washington Examiner• Fox News• Wall Street Journal• Weekly Standard• The American Interest• Pew Research Center• Choice Media (School Choice news)• Washington Free Beacon• Associated Press• AP Politics• AFP (French News Agency)• BBC• NBC News• CBS News• Ricochet• Roll Call• The New Republic• The Economist• USA Today• SCOTUSBlog• Defense One• ProPublica• Real Clear Politics• National Journal

Information (cont.)• Newsweek• Times• Weasel Zippers• Gallup• Pew Research Center• Reporters/Bloggers • Lachlan Markay (WFB)• Ashe Schow (Washington Examiner)• Insapundit (Glenn Reynolds)• Mark Steyn• Kimberley Strassel (WSJ)• Larry O’Connor (IJ Review)• Markos Moulistas (Daily Kos)• Byron York (Washington Examiner)• Jonathan Karl (ABC News)• F. Bill McMorris (WFB)• Richard Engel (NBC News)• Sean Davis (The Federalist)• Mark Knoller (CBS News)• James Pethokoukis (AEI)• David Freddoso (Conservative Intel. Briefing)• Salena Zito (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)• Jake Tapper (CNN)• Dana Loesch (The Blaze)• Michelle Malkin• Ramesh Ponnuru (National Review)• Avik Roy (Forbes)• Ben Howe (Mister Smith Media)• James Rosen(Fox News)• Greg Gutfeld (Fox News)• James O’Keefe (Project Veritas)

Yeah, More Information• Think Tanks• American Enterprise Institute • The Heritage Foundation• Cato Institute• Hoover Institute • Manhattan Institute• ALEC• National Taxpayers Union• Citizens Against Government Waste• Americans For Tax Reform• Civitas Institute • Institute For The Study Of War• Elections/Polling• Public Policy Polling• Gallup• Pew Research• FiveThirtyEight• Harper Poling• Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher)• Nate Cohn (NYT)• Stuart Rothenberg/Rothenberg Political Report• Elon Poll• Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research• Sean Trende (RCP)• Rasmussen• Daily Kos Elections• Marist• Charlie Cook (Cook Political Report)• Ace Of Spades Decision Desk

OH MY GOD! THAT’S A LOT• Yes, it’s a lot of sources, and there are many, many more• Good news: they’re all on Twitter. You don’t need to open

50 tabs to view every single website on your browser. • You can organize these various accounts through lists on

Twitter.• TweetDeck and Hootsuite are the main dashboard apps

for Twitter. Very easy to use.• You can see updates in real time through your lists on

either Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, especially from the reporters/bloggers listed here.

Oh Wait; I Forgot About The Left• Yep, there are liberals on Twitter• FOLLOW THEM!• Or add them to your lists• You should read the other side. It’s critical.• Indiana RFRA fiasco shows that we have lost the ability to have

conversations with each other.• BUT I’ll let Guy Benson and Mary Katherine Ham discuss that

when their new book End Of Discussion is released this June.• Sometimes they get things right.• Mother Jones (Wendy Davis wheelchair ad, mental health laws

and mass shootings)• Gawker’s John Cook on Hillary’s “Nixonian” Private Email System• ProPublica writing about Hillary’s history of secrecy

Liberals/Left-Leaning News Organizations To Follow• Mother Jones• Gawker• Daily Kos• The Guardian • The Huffington Post• Salon • Slate• Sam Stein (Reporter HuffPo)• Bryce Covert (Think Progress)• Think Progress• Talking Points Memo• Vox• Jezebel• American Bridge• Cosmopolitan• Jill Filipovic (Cosmopolitan)• Erin Gloria Ryan (Jezebel)• Netroots Nation• Emily’s List• Mic News • American Bidge

Blogging Full-Time• It’s harder to find jobs that allow you to do this.• For most bloggers, it’s a side job.• If you want to try and find full-time blogging/writing jobs, apply for them when there are

openings, or see if there are internships. (MRC, Daily Caller, National Journalism Center)• Some news organizations will announce hiring• For those of you not good with web design (like me), maybe ask to contribute to sites

that you frequent often and enjoy reading. It doesn’t hurt to ask if you can send them a submission. Networking will help with this move.

• If this inquiry is successful and you’re able to blog for a site, look for more to expand your audience.

• This works better if you’re able to get a paid internship that involves blogging. You can blog for your internship’s site during the day and the other sites you’ve managed to get a contributing gig at night.

• It can be hard work with long hours.• Be patient. • At the same time, there are some bloggers who do set up their own sites, produce great

content, and get hired to do it full-time.• Again, hard work, networking, passion, and perseverance are keys in this journey .

Final Notes• Content is king. • Being the first to break a story shouldn’t be your first thought; you be focused on accuracy.• Don’t go nuts if you’ve missed something. We can’t always be monitoring the news.• If you do miss something, there’s a good chance that other bloggers you’ve met along the way have picked it up.

We’re a movement. We’re in this together. Feel free to write another angle on a certain development.• This usually happens more often during elections or reading polls. Just don’t forget to add hat tips/give credit.• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s going to happen. Add a correction as soon as humanely possible, own your

error, and carry on with your blogging. Don’t let it diminish your passion.• In some scenarios, you’ll get a legal notice about someone’s displeasure with a particular post. Contact a lawyer. If

you work for a publication, let the legal department handle it. You might have to issue a retraction. Hopefully, it’s not a Rolling Stone situation.

• Get libel insurance - it covers your a good chunk of your legal fees and a lawyer comes to represent you.• Avoid the discovery stage of a legal dispute. At the minimum, it could cost you $50,000 or more.

• Never blog angry. You’re bound to write something that you’ll regret if your temperature was a few degrees cooler. Plus, anger turns people off.

• Even though you might not work for ABC News, have that mindset. Just because you're a private citizen doesn't give you the right to be a loose cannon.

• Make sure your headlines are catchy, but not Upworthy-esque• Don’t forget about adding media to your posts (embedding tweets, videos (YouTube), or infographics.)• Don’t feel obligated to write several posts a day. Sometimes a couple really good posts is all that’s needed

especially if Drudge or Instapundit link to it -- quality over quantity.• TAKE A BREAK. Go on vacations. Power down.• Have fun!