CYBER SOAPBOXES LOCAL BLOGGERS THROW IN THEIR TWO CENTS.Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - It's high season for political gristle-chewing with big bucks and trash-rummaging private investigators clouding a city council race, and a legacy city councilman making a break for state office - and a busy time for local bloggers dispensing a personal brand of news and views into the fray. The Web log - a Web site featuring often highly personalized news and observations - has become a mainstay in the national media landscape, and Santa Clarita is no exception. Whether it's red or blue partisans or just a mother at home given a voice, local do-it-yourself pundits are publishing online their take on politics close to home and beyond. ``I make news, I report, I pass news on,'' said Kevin Korenthal, 34, of Canyon Country, whose conservative SoCalPundit.com has been online for more than a year. ``The democracy of the Internet is incredible. There's never been anything so free for the American mind - the world's mind.'' Others have logged on to chat and connect with the like-minded, or sought to engender discussion of community issues oft brushed aside (albeit from a specific point of view). Take Melanine Maki, a mother of three who described herself as ``a liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Noun a member or supporter of the Liberal Democrats, a British centrist political party that advocates proportional representation Liberal Democrat n (BRIT) → , suburban housewife ... a 'blue' individual trapped in a 'red' town, and terribly unhappy with the last six years of our country's leadership'' at her blog ``Liberal Kudos Corner.'' ``I'm sure my family and friends are tired of hearing me complain about it,'' said Maki, 34, of Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. , who started her site in February. ``Not everyone talks politics, and not everyone's interested in politics. ``There just seems to be a high number of ``W '04'' stickers out there. You're afraid to open your mouth, but also you don't want to make enemies with your neighbors over something you have no control over other than voting.'' ``It's pretty much a soapbox facing the wind,'' said Matt Waggner,24, of Blue Santa Clarita, a progressive view of local news created in December. ``People that are involved in liberal politics in this town - they really are more interested in the national stuff than the local stuff. That's what I'm trying to change. You get more people for an anti-war rally than for a local candidate forum.'' Readership varies - Korenthal's more established site receives about 200 visits per day; relative newcomers Waggner and Maki tally about two dozen daily visits. Visitors hail from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to Washington and points around the globe. Yet they all seem to have the same pedigree - an extension of time spent in Internet chat rooms. For example, Korenthal frequented political bulletin boards and even started a mailing list An automated e-mail system on the Internet, which is maintained by subject matter. There are thousands of such lists that reach millions of individuals and businesses. New users generally subscribe by sending an e-mail with the word "subscribe" in it and subsequently receive all new among the members. In late 2004, while homebound home·bound adj. Restricted or confined to home, as of an invalid. and recovering from surgery, he hatched SoCal Pundit An expert or knowledgeable person. From "pandit" in Hindi. See guru. . ``I always had these ideas and I was just wasting them in the chat rooms, where 25 or 30 people would see them, max,'' he said. ``It just became the next logical thing to do.'' That includes championing Republicans in California and criticizing what he sees as bias in established news media, along with coverage of local GOP events and the occasional photo of his newborn nephew. ``I notice people in the chat rooms would get lost from what I'm saying,'' said Korenthal, also a local GOP volunteer. ``They don't believe how close we are to overcoming the blue gap. They think California is dead blue and could never go conservative when it could be a decade away - maybe less. ``I (also) wanted to smash the bad habit bad habit Unhealthy habit Clinical medicine A patterned behavior regarded as detrimental to physical or mental health, which is often linked to a lack of self-control. Cf Good habit. that the mainstream media's gotten in - mixing too much opinion of what is taken as straight news. I don't think the mainstream media is doing readers justice.'' Korenthal cited The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times' report on the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic eavesdropping Secretly gaining unauthorized access to confidential communications. Examples include listening to radio transmissions or using laser interferometers to reconstitute conversations by reflecting laser beams off windows that are vibrating in synchrony to the sound in the room. . The White House has argued the controversial program, which circumvented existing laws requiring court approval, falls within presidential authority. ``The New York Times opinion that the spying program is illegal - that's why they reported it, even though that has not been determined,'' he said. ``The best opinion ... is that the jury's still out.'' Korenthal said he reads about 27 different blogs every day and browses the day's headlines at mainstream news sites - including The New York Times. He doesn't keep a staple of liberal blogs, though he'll come across one now and then. ``I read about how conservatives are going to bring down America,'' he said. ``The mainstream media is still very capable of journalism. I hope they would move their stuff off from killing trees and be fair.'' Maki is similarly driven, but from a different perspective. She said her interest in politics began with the 2000 presidential election, which has now evolved to skewering the right - primarily Republican Washington and President George W. Bush. ``I thought, What in the heck is going on in this country?'' she said. ``I torture myself by watching Fox News. It's where I get much of my material - my inspiration.'' Maki credited her mother, who raised her alone in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , for her liberal views. ``She was pretty liberal and open-minded, and encouraged independence and free thought,'' she said. ``I love to debate. That's why I put it out there. I don't back down from an argument. ``(My husband's) even more liberal than I am. We're a good fit, but it's hard to debate each other.'' Waggner, a graphic artist who arrived here several years ago from New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. by way of upstate New York Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area. It has a population of 7,121,911 out of New York State's total 18,976,457. Were it an independent state, it would be ranked 13th by population. , started his blog - primarily ``blue'' taking on city council politics and county government moves - to encourage like-minded progressives to think about local issues. ``People are more concerned who's going to be the Democratic nominee for 2008 than they are about the local issues, which is something where they can make a vast difference,'' he said. ``It's an attractive shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. . If we elect a president, all the problems are solved. ``That's what liberals should be doing. The conservatives defend their power structure - they defend the top of their hierarchy. I think liberals aren't really about the top leader. They're about local stuff and local leaders.'' In fact, Waggner believes thinking locally could help bridge the ideological divide - he links to Korenthal's site and other pages of Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. residents, regardless of political affiliation. ``I think conservative and liberals have a lot of baggage,'' he said. ``(From back East,) I'm used to an environment where even in a conservative community ... there is a deeper level of trust that crosses ideological lines. ``Conservatives aren't so bad when you're talking about a pothole pothole, in geology, cylindrical pit formed in the rocky channel of a turbulent stream. It is formed and enlarged by the abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddies, or circular water currents that move against the main current of a stream. . But when you're talking about Roe v. Wade Roe v. Wade, case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. , then you see the poles.'' How much can these homegrown bloggers accomplish? That depends on the author's focus and reach, said Robert Niles editor of the Online Journalism Review, based at the Annenberg School of Communication at University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission . ``It's tough for a blogger in the Santa Clarita area commenting on events in Washington and Afghanistan to have influence in those areas,'' he said. ``People inside the beltway "Inside the Beltway" is a phrase used to characterize parts of the real or imagined American political system. It refers to the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), a beltway that encircles Washington, D.C. aren't reading every local blogger out across the country. ``Where local bloggers can have a big deal of influence is reporting on or discussing events within their own community. ... How many are there writing about Santa Clarita? You'd rather be one voice out of a handful than one voice out of a million if you want to be influential.'' In an election year, that's felt at the polls, Niles said. ``That's the real test,'' he said. ``If you're just getting people riled rile tr.v. riled, ril·ing, riles 1. To stir to anger. See Synonyms at annoy. 2. To stir up (liquid); roil. [Variant of roil.] Adj. 1. up and nobody's doing anything about it, that's not the influence people are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. .'' Though Korenthal mostly cast a conservative eye on national issues, he does plan to endorse a candidate for the Santa Clarita City Council. Waggner has mentioned or linked his site to those of local Democrats in city, state and federal races, but stopped short of actual endorsement. ``I'm probably good for a couple hundred votes,'' Korenthal said, half-joking. In a city race, that margin could make a difference. ``As we get close to the primary, I would be digging deeper into (state) races.'' Count him among the converted - he still marvels at the Web and those who dwell in it. ``It's a voracious world of news-gatherers - it's incredible,'' Korenthal said. People have a voracious appetite for information. ... Everybody has their little segment of voice. If you're there chattering it up, people will come.'' Eugene Tong, (661) 257-5253 eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Kevin Korenthal publishes a conservative Web log about local politics, SoCalPundit.com, out of Canyon Country. (2) ``The democracy of the Internet is incredible,'' said SoCalPundit.com Kevin Korenthal. ``There's never been anything so free.'' David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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