Submitted by John Stauber on
The New York Times examines Organizing for America, the latest incarnation of President Barack Obama's unprecedented and many millions-strong netroots "army of supporters talking, sending e-mail and texting to friends and neighbors as they try to mold public opinion. The organization will be housed in the Democratic National Committee, rather than at the White House. ... Like George W. Bush before him, Mr. Obama is trying to bypass the mainstream news media and take messages straight to the public. ... And there will be clear coordination between this independent operation at the Democratic National Committee and a communications arm being set up at the White House, under Macon Phillips, the 'new media' director for Mr. Obama's administration. ... 'They're beginning to create their own journalism, their own description of events of the day, but it's not an independent voice making that description,' said Bill Kovach, the chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists. 'It's troublesome until we know how it's going to be used and the degree to which it can be used on behalf of the people, and not on behalf of only one point of view.'"
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