I will be discussing blogging technology on the Bray Cary "Decision Makers" show. It airs at 9 a.m. Saturday (repeated 8 a.m. Sunday and 12:30 a.m. Monday) on WBOY-TV, WTRF-TV, WOWK-TV and WVNS-TV.
The other West Virginia panelists are Don Surber from Charleston WV ( Charleston daily Mail ) Don is probably the most popular CONSERVATIVE blogger in the state and he has high rankings at Blogspot where his blog is located. Also on the show was Professor Steve Cooper from the communications department at Marshall University in Huntington WV. We taped the show Friday afternoon.
Bray Cary conducted the interview panel. He is the CEO of West Virginia Media that owns and manages numerous television stations and radio stations in the state of West Virginia. Chris Stirewalt was in the studio but I am not certain of his role. I believe he is the producer director of the decision makers show as he was giving instructions to the camera crew. The staff of West Virgina media are quite conservative and I am quite liberal. They were quite professional in the manner that I was treated.
To be completely honest have never heard of Professor Steve Cooper until yesterday. Professor Steve Cooper wrote an academic book about bloggers. However none of the local bloggers have any idea who he is, or what he stands for. To the best of my knowledge none of the local bloggers in this state were interviewed prior to publication. Academic analysis is sometimes more heavily based on projected academic theory, than facts gleaned from empirical experience. If professor Steve cooper actually owned and operated a popular blog, he would have some basic insight into the blogger community. I suggest that a group of West Virginia bloggers should get together and write a book about professors who claim expertise in areas that they have no empirical experience in. Quite a few of the state of West Virginia's bloggers are professional people with graduate degrees just like Professor Steve Cooper. There is no shortage of Lawyers and professionals in the West Virginia Blogger community. In light of the fact that Professor Steve Cooper's book about bloggers is 40.00 for the paperback version and 60.00 for the hardback version. I suggest that one learn about bloggers from actually reading numerous blogs for free and form your own opinion.
Paper Books about blogs are a very obsolete concept in an modern era when many technology savvy professors use blogging software to promulgate notes to their students about lecture topics. Many online university courses use blogging software to promulgate instructions to students. If blogging software was embraced as an educational tool by professional educators it could improve the quality of education in this state. I am certain that the Governor would agree with this in light of the fact that the state has spent millions to put computers in the public schools. We spend millions to put students online in the public schools and blogging software could be used to put TEACHERS online. It would be so much easier for parents to help their children with homework if they had access to the teachers blog that had notes on the child's curriculum.
Some in the media do not see blogging beyond its impact on journalism and politics and that is very short sighted in light of the broader picture that shows the successful use of blogging software to augment education at the university and public school level.
It is my understanding that Chris Stirewalt will be launching a blog to jump into the blogosphere. Good luck to him.
I wish Governor Manchin had a blog, he could use it to promulgate and propagate orders to state employees in the event of a disaster by integrating the blog with the states website. The state would save a million dollars worth of postage annually by giving state department heads a blog to promulgate instructions to subordinates as a memo distribution tool. I have some ideas to use technology to enhance the efficiency of government and education but I need to present them to state officials.
Stephanie Heck
Huntington West Virginia Blog
