Maintaining this site has become too demanding for one person to do, and I always intended to make AirCongress a group blog. I’m taking the first step toward that goal now by inviting people who would like to write the regular features I have created over the past several months. Here are descriptions of and links to those features:
– AdWatch: Summarizes online/television advertisements released by the 2008 presidential campaigns. The feature will be expanded to include ads for key 2008 Senate, House and gubernatorial races in the future.
– Monster Media Mash-Up: Links to and summarizes political and policy podcasts and online videos produced by both traditional media companies (C-SPAN, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc.) and bloggers, particularly political bloggers who have shows on BlogTalkRadio.
– President’s weekly radio address: Summarizes not only the radio address President Bush gives every Saturday but also the weekly radio address by the Democratic Party. Although neither is directly a response to the other, the two addresses sometimes touch on the same topics (the Iraq war is a popular subject), and I think it’s useful for listeners to have both addresses in the same post.
– Thinkers Pod: Links to and summarizes podcasts and online videos produced by think tanks like the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation.
– White House press briefings: This was one of the first features I created at AirCongress, but it has been neglected as I’ve added other content. The entries offer point-by-point descriptions of the topics covered in the daily press briefings.
I’m also interested in adding another feature tentatively titled “Executive Order.” It would link to and summarize podcasts and online videos by federal departments and agencies. The State Department in particular has been producing regular online content, as have select agencies. As with the Monster Media Mash-Up and Thinkers Pod, the goal is to make it easy for listeners to find the best executive branch audio and video content in one post.
Keep in mind that AirCongress is a nonpartisan publication, so the content for the features must be written with journalistic objectivity. Fact-based analysis is acceptable for certain features like AdWatch — in other words, entries about candidate ads can include relevant background information like votes or statements to put the ads in context — but personal political opinions are not.
If you are interested in writing any of these features or if you have other ideas for AirCongress, please send a cover letter, resume and writing samples to Danny Glover at danny@aircongress.com.
I’m particularly eager to work with college students looking for online writing experience focused on Congress, federal politics and policy. I’m not in a position to pay for this work right now because AirCongress isn’t yet profitable, but I can offer budding journalists, political scientists and the like the chance to get some good clips and a reference from a journalist with more than 15 years of experience in Washington.
Spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested.
Categories: AirCongress, Weekly Radio Address, Press Briefing, AdWatch, Monster Media Mash-Up, Executive Branch, Thinkers Pod, Features
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