By SIERRA JIMINEZ
The UNITY News

You don’t have to dig deep to find out all you need to know about a presidential candidate.

Look to almost any political blogging site and you’re bound to find the news or information you’re looking for. You may also come across some Web sites that try to influence your political decisions one way or another.

Call it a sign of the times, if you will.

Political blogging sites such as the Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and others have become increasingly influential in U.S. politics, according to some political experts.

In fall 2006, political scientists from about 30 universities conducted a nationwide study of 16,000 Americans regarding politics and blogging, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Cooperative Congressional Election Study, or CCES, asked participants if they read blogs, and if so, which blogs they frequented.

The results suggested that blogging may affect the political decisions people make, from local to presidential elections. According to responses, about 34 percent of participants read blogs, and 14 percent of those read at least one political blog.

Of the 14 percent of participants who read politically-based blogs, most readers visit blogs that share viewpoints similar to the reader, the study reported.

Some experts said that while political blogs may not affect the opinion or party affiliation of consumers, they could encourage consumers to become more actively involved in politics beyond voting. These blogs become commonplace especially during election years, experts added.

A UNITY convention panel will explore the relationship between blogging and politics. The discussion, “Politics Nonstop: Blogging, Covering, Investigating the Government,” was organized by Sharon Chan, a city hall reporter for The Seattle Times, and will be 3 p.m. Saturday in McCormick Place West, Room W181.

Chan said blogging and other social media sites lead more people to watch and pay attention to politics. Chan, who is also running for president of the Asian American Journalists Association, will be joined in the panel discussion by Sewell Chan, a reporter for The New York Times, and James Grimaldi, investigative reporter for The Washington Post.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have also become tools for voters and a potential source of influence.

Facebook users can elect to receive up-to-date information and the latest blog entry from a presidential candidate or mark a political candidate as a virtual ‘friend.’

“It’s in its nascent stage, and we’re just beginning to see the impact of it,” said Antoinette Pole, professor of political science at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Pole said social networks Web sites are part of the reason that more people may be paying attention to this year’s presidential election than in previous years.

Kim Pearson, an associate professor of English at the College of New Jersey, said Web sites and blogs may bring more young people to the polls, but added that they may also raise credibility issues that voters should keep in mind.

“I think it reflects the power of social media,” said Pearson. “You have people making decisions based on what they hear from their virtual friends … whereas 10 years ago the friends would be people in their physical network.”

By Dioni L. Wise
The UNITY News Online

It’s official. Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama will speak to the UNITY membership on Sunday – the last day of the convention.

“It’s better that he comes Sunday than not at all,” said Derrick Henry, UNITY BToard of Directors member.

Obama’s Republican counterpart Sen. John McCain has yet to accept or decline his invitation to attend the convention.

According to a UNITY news release, Obama will speak at the Presidential Candidates Forum on Sunday for about an hour.

UNITY coordinators plan to have Obama speak by 11 a.m., according to UNITY Executive Director Onica Makwakwa.

Coordinators received confirmation for Obama last week, but didn’t release the information then due to security concerns, Makwakwa said.

She said CNN still plans to broadcast the event.

Planners initially invited Obama and McCain each to speak one hour at the forum on Thursday, in which journalists from the four alliances would moderate the forum.

McCain is committed to speak at the LIVESTRONG Presidential Town Hall on Cancer at The Ohio State University in Columbus on Thursday. Obama is scheduled to speak with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.

“(UNITY) is his first stop after his historic trip,” Henry said, of Obama’s European tour. “He might say something new. Wouldn’t it be great to hear him saying it here?”

Henry, senior producer for New York Times Digital, said scheduling conflicts with presidential nominees also occurred in the 2004 UNITY Convention in Washington, D.C.

That year Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry ran against the incumbent and eventual winner, President George W. Bush. Both men made it to the convention.

UNITY invited the two presumptive presidential nominees and former candidate Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton shortly after the Iowa primary in January.

According to the latest convention schedule posted on www.2008unity.org, the Media Diversity Roundtable from 9 a.m. to noon is the only other event slated for Sunday.

“Yes, we are concerned that it’s a different schedule than what we had intended initially,” Makwakwa said. “But, this whole decision was really one that we had to look at all of the options that we had. And the option was no candidates at all or one candidate available for Sunday.”

By Dioni L. Wise
UNITY News Online

*Update: UNITY has issued a press release announcing that Sen. Obama will appear at the convention on Sunday, July 24, after his return from a trip abroad. No word yet about Sen. McCain.*

If the UNITY workshops were supposed to be the appetizers and media receptions were supposed to be dessert, the presidential forum was touted as the main course. But for right now, it looks like convention-goers will have to leave the table hungry for more.

Maynard Institute’s Richard Prince reports that Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain are scheduled at other events on Thursday, July 24, the same day as the presidential candidate forum.

Senator John McCain will speak at LIVESTRONG Presidential Town Hall on Cancer at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France champion, will moderate the forum.

On the other side of the world, Obama will be well into his much-publicized European tour. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is slated to visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

A UNITY press release said the presidential forum would be broadcast live by CNN from 8-10 p.m. ET. The statement reads: “Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) are each expected to take part in separate 60-minute conversations with representatives of the UNITY alliance partners to discuss their candidacy, current issues and concerns pertinent to communities of color.”

In Richard Prince’s Journal-isms, UNITY Executive Director Onica Makwakwa said: “We’re still working on it. We’re still working on both campaigns. We know there are some changes with the schedules for both of them. We should be able to make an announcement in a few days of what adjustments, if any, we will make.”

The first three UNITY gatherings occurred every five years, in 1994, 1999 and 2004. In the fall of 2003, the alliance’s Board of Directors decided to have the convention every four years to coincide with the presidential elections. In 2004, President George W. Bush and his democratic opponent John Kerry spoke at the event in Washington, D.C.