Said Schippert, "Milbloggers banded together over that. The gauntlet was laid down, and we told Jordan to put up or shut up. We asked him to release the tape from this conference and own up to what he said. That got milbloggers a lot of attention, and Jordan left CNN not long afterward."
So what exactly is a milblog? The panelists consider this field to include blogs by active-duty soldiers, as well as their families and friends, and former soldiers -- as long as the cover current military issues.
In contrast to the highly competitive mindset of many mainstream journalists, the panelists indicated that milbloggers operate in a very collaborative fashion, with considerable backchannel communication. Uncle Jimbo explained, "We check each other's facts and information, both before we post and after. That's a big part of our credibility. Because we're all kind of riding in the back of the same truck. We keep each other honest."
Read the entire story here about the BlogWorld expo.
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Read the entire story here.
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(Ask Meta Filter) Are there deployed soldiers blogging about the US elections?
I'm interested in seeing what currently deployed soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan have to say on blogs about the United States elections. While I'm specifically interested in reading about the current state primaries and the upcoming national election, I'd also like to read about previous elections as well, if possible. Are there any military blogs that mention the elections in a post or two? I did a cursory exploration of some popular milblogs and didn't come up with anything.
I'd also like to see if anyone talks about the experience of voting absentee when deployed.
I'm not looking for specific endorsements of candidates -- I know that's probably not out there -- just general thoughts on the electoral process in the United States.
Read the entire story here.
Thanks to Kathi for the interesting tip.
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In the next few weeks, I will be launching the Milbloggies nomination phase for 2007. I’m still working out some updates to make sure this year’s Nomination/Voting goes smoothly. Normally every year I receive dozens of complaints telling me how difficult it is to press a button so I’m trying to make it easier to nominate and vote. However, it never seems to be enough.
I could spend the next 10 years of my life making it so the website could just read your mind when you signed in, but I’d probably still get hate mail.
Plus, if I did add that mind-reading feature, and "I" myself tried signing in, I’m pretty sure the server would start erupting lava, then all of a sudden explode due to overload of genius.
Just thought you'd like to know...
Anyway, checkout the list of the Canadian Blog Award finalists in the Military Blog category:
Best Military Blog
What The F*&#!?!?
Military Mom at Home
The Cannon’s Mouth
The Torch
From a Canadian Cadet to an American Soldier
Keep updated on the finalists and winners here.
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(The New York Times) Michael Yon was not a journalist, and he wasn’t sure what a blogger was. He had been in uniform but not in combat, and he wanted to keep it that way. He went to Iraq thinking he would stay for a month, and maybe find a way to write about the war after he got home.
Instead, he has spent most of the last three years in Iraq, writing prolifically and graphically, and racking up more time embedded with combat units than any other journalist, according to the United States military. He has been shot at, buffeted by explosions and seen more people maimed — fighters and civilians, adults and children — than he can count.
“The easiest thing in the world to write about is combat, because all the drama is there,” said Mr. Yon, a fit, ruddy-faced 43-year-old who was a Special Forces soldier more than two decades ago. He insists that he still does not really know the rules of journalism, but says he has recently, grudgingly, accepted that he has become a journalist.
Mr. Yon, however, does not work for any organization; no news outlet pays him for the hundreds of dispatches and photos he has produced. He publishes his work on his own Web site, michaelyon-online.com (some will appear again in a book set for release in April), and he also posts submissions from military people serving in Iraq. He says contributions from his readers have paid most of his costs, though he declines to say how much they have given.
Read the entire story here.
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This week I’d like to introduce you to Tony Perry, a reporter with the L.A. Times, who is also blogging from Iraq. I know when a lot of people think of military bloggers they think of troops, but it’s always important to remember there are all types of military bloggers – spouses, parents, veterans, and many more. This is Tony’s sixth trip to Iraq with the Marines from Camp Pendleton. And from talking to him by email, it’s obvious, he’s a blogger at heart.
I asked Tony about his thoughts on blogging and here’s what he had to say which I thought captured one of the many benefits of milblogging:
“Blogging is a great opportunity to provide a look "at conditions on the ground" that can sometimes be overlooked in larger-scale stories. A good blogging item is like gold, it's where you find it. When you least expect it, something interesting pops up, like the troops' devotion to Chuck Norris or the unofficial rules for gunfighting that I saw posted on a wall. I can't imagine how we covered the troops without blogging as one of our approaches.”
Someday I might give reporting a shot, to see how the other half lives (so to speak). Yeah, that’s right. Reporting. Sure, I might not have any formal training in the field and I’m not even vaguely familiar with what it takes to become a reporter. I can’t write. I freeze on camera. I even have a lazy eye. But I am strong. I could just hold a microphone with one arm, and flex my biceps on camera with the other. And at the end of each segment, I could wink to my adoring audience. Maybe even blow them a kiss. It’s a pretty novel idea I have to say. You just don’t see reporters connecting with their audience like this. I’m pretty sure, I’d be one of the greats.
People would write books about me.
Name: Tony Perry
Website URL: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/marines_in_iraq/index.html
Milblogging Listing: Babylon and Beyond
Email: Tony.Perry@latimes.com
Blogging from: Iraq
Branch: U.S. Reporter
From one of Tony’s recent entries:
One of the tribal sheiks in Anbar province whom Marines are depending on to fight the insurgency is Hatim Gaoud of the Albu Nimr tribe.
Although younger than many sheiks, he has assumed a place of prominence. At a gathering with Marine brass, other sheiks let him sit next to the top Marine, Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin. The sheik is not reluctant to speak his mind.
On the impact of the insurgency: "There is not one house in Anbar that has not had a tragedy."
On the Baghdad government, particularly the Ministry of the Interior, which controls the police: "The problem is that they are not with us."
On a promise to screen police applicants to eliminate insurgents: "We will not send you anybody with the stain of life on his hands."
Gaskin promised help. "You must understand we are all in this together," he told Hatim and the others.
--Tony Perry at Camp Fallouja, Iraq
Read more at Babylon and Beyond.
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For those of you who remember my first deployment to Afghanistan, this image might bring back some memories. This time, a Blue Boohbah has arrived complements of my sister. While blogging from Afghanistan, Ragdoll the company that invented this doll even contacted me. I hate to dismiss items sent to me in Care Packages, really, I do. I’d try and pretend to like this item (the same way I pretend to enjoy Beef Jerky or a kick to the groin), but this is Boohbah we’re talking about people. Seriously, my sister should just be glad we’re still talking after this stunt. But since it is from my sister, I figured I’d start taking Blue Boohbah out on mission with me in Iraq. It’s amazing what a morale booster this doll is. Really.
It’s like I’ve forgotten I’m deployed.
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In the first instance, understanding morale, combat cohesion, and the battlefield experience of Afghanistan and Iraq should be much easier than previous wars. No need to go searching through the archives or getting hold of family letters that have been locked away in an attic for 50 odd years. Instead, you can log on to the Internet and track down some blogs. You'll also have access to photos and video.
Read the entire story here.
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The Daily Record is actively seeking military personnel to join our growing community of bloggers. If you are active duty military deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan and are interested in blogging about your military experiences on our website, then please fill out the following form…Read the entire story here.
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Lawrence, KS - infoZine- Blogs from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan have allowed readers at home to connect with soldiers, contractors and civilians who are serving their countries, and they have forced the Pentagon to rush headlong into this 21st century medium.
Milblogs began to appear shortly after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. They saw a dramatic increase in usage following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. According to Joshua Patterson, a KU graduate student studying journalism, Milblogging.com had indexed more than 1,800 military blogs in more than 30 countries as of Dec. 1, 2007.
"Milblogs and soldier blogs are often gripping and graphic firsthand accounts of the author's life and experiences," said Jonathan Earle, interim director of the Dole Institute. "This program will give our audience a window onto a new and fast-changing part of the so-called 'new media.' I can't recall a similar program anywhere else in the country."
The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the Dole Institute. It is free and open to the public.
Like last year's "Blog to the Chief" program at the Dole Institute, this discussion will be moderated by David Perlmutter, associate dean of KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and author of the books "Visions of War" and "Blogwars." The panel will feature Charles J. "Jack" Holt, chief of New Media Operations for the Department of Defense, and leading military bloggers Ward Carroll, editor of Military.com and Milblog.com; and John Donovan, lead blogger of Argghhh! The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys.
Read the entire story here.
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The event is hosted by the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas and is set for the evening of January 29th.
Experts will discuss the Internet postings from soldiers, contractors and civilians who have been deployed to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003. The proliferation of blogs has forced the Pentagon to address these forums.
According to one researcher at Kansas, there are more than 1,800 blogs from 30 countries indexed on milblogging.com as of December 1st, 2007.
The forum is free and open to the public and is the second discussion the institute has hosted on blogging.
Read the entire story here.
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It all started out with my fotopage way back in the dark ages of 2003, I was taking pictures of my Marines going through training and hit a lazy spurt and got tired of making hundreds of copies of the pictures I took every week so I began posting them online for them to get when they wanted to. Lately, I haven’t posted there as much considering I’ve killed 5 cameras over since 2003, one of the cameras was a 1000 dollar model (I could get a laptop that’s 3 times as fast as my current one for that!) I’ll get back in the photo groove once I get a new (good) camera and maybe clear the 9000 picture mark.
Read the entire story here.
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Here’s the (not-so) scoop:
“Teflon Don,” the milblogger who regaled us with his impressive prose and chronicles of his deployment to Iraq on his blog Acute Politics, is going back to Iraq — this time out of uniform.
From his blog:
“I am not going back with the Army, this time, though that may still occur at some point in the future. I am going back of my own free will- I am becoming a participant in this great experiment of independent, citizen journalism. I am going back to Iraq as a photojournalist, accredited by the recently developed Public Multimedia, Inc.
If you would like to donate towards the purchase of equipment for my trip and receive some return on your investment (besides quality journalism, of course!), there is a new photo album up. Viewing is free- the photos are also available for purchase as high-quality prints. All proceeds will go directly to benefit citizen journalism.”
This is great news, in my humble opinion. TD is an incredible writer. The community of milbloggers thinks so too — he handily won the Milbloggies last year for best U.S. Army Milblog.
Read the entire story here.
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Save the Royal Navy, NavyLookout, United Kingdom, Save the Royal Navy is a website dedicated to figh..., 11 Jan 2008
The Satarist at War, AH Bonenberger, United States, A true first hand account of my life & experiences..., 10 Jan 2008
WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier, Pte Harry Lamin, Great Britain, This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin..., 09 Jan 2008
Third Time's A Charm..., MSgt. Ken Mahoy, Afghanistan , MSgt. Mahoy's daily journal of life in Kabul Afgha..., 07 Jan 2008
China cool military, Jonathan Weng, China, A military enthusiast's blog to share Latest China..., 06 Jan 2008
The Generals' Blog, General Lee, United States, hello to all my name is robb lee (in case you were..., 03 Jan 2008
Cheese's Milblog, Cheese, United States , I'm a student and infantry soldier from the Bingha..., 03 Jan 2008
Support My Troops, LTR, United States , As we get ready for my year-long deployment in Jan..., 03 Jan 2008
Two Lovers and a Cat, LH, United States , Welcome to Army Wife Life..., 03 Jan 2008
Sand Sailor, Aaron Webb, Iraq , The incessant ramblings of a US Navy Sailor stuck ..., 02 Jan 2008
Manatee's Military Moms, Tiffany Tompkins-Condie, United States, A blog written by the mother of an active-duty Mar..., 01 Jan 2008
The Official Website For USS Richard B. Russell (SSN687), Doc MacDonald, United States, A web history of one of the finest cold war submar..., 31 Dec 2007
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Capt. Thomas Casey Children’s fund
P.O. Box 1306
Chester, CA 96020
Thanks so much.
Also, below the fold I am going to try to compile a list of the blogs that linked to Andy's final post, so that his friends and family can see some of them without having to go to the trouble of tracking them all down. I'm going to do this gradually -- it will take a while. I've been bookmarking them since Friday, and I think there are nearly 500. However, if anyone notices a blog post that I haven't found by, say, noon tomorrow, just leave it in comments, or email the kitty or me.
Read the entire story here.
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My Platoon Sergeant Toby Nunn, is actually one of the regularly featured milbloggers on The Sandbox website. So, if you want to learn more about the deployment of Bad Voodoo Platoon, make sure to go check out Toby’s milblog ‘Northern Disclosure’. Because that’s the best way to learn about what I’m personally doing over here right now. Unless of course, you go watch The Terminator. Or any Chuck Norris flick. Or, uh, Superman Returns.
Those movies are pretty much based on my life.
(Mediating Conflict) Various mil(itary)bloggers discussed their writing on KUOW radio yesterday morning including Gordon Alanko, Doug Traversa, Benjamin Tupper and Army Girl. David Sandford was also on the show. He's the editor of Doonesbury.com and started the Sandbox website in October 2006 to provide a forum for milbloggers.
You can listen to the whole show here.
Read the entire story here.
As always, thanks to Kathi, for the tip.
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I think it’d be interesting if my postings from Afghanistan and Iraq were posted 100 years from now. Well, it’s highly possible. I mean, seriously, my postings have been compared to Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. Take for example, my Golden Rules of Care Packages. These rules might be the single most important piece of literature to come out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Ever.
Some might say, more important than the Ten Commandments.
“What’s my favorite Golden Rule?” you might ask:
“The meanest thing you can do to a soldier is to send generic, not name brand goods. Hey, I like to save money too, but you should at least have the decency "to not" send care packages. Sending generic brand goods is worse than taking a dump in a cardboard box and shipping it over.”
(The Associated Press) In many ways he's a typical war blogger: William Henry "Harry" Bonser Lamin's descriptions of grueling battles compete with complaints about cramped quarters and apologies for his irregular updates.
But the postings from the twentysomething English laceworker are from the trenches of World War I — nine decades ago.
His letters are being posted now — 90 years to the day — to the Internet by Lamin's grandson, Bill. And like Harry's family at the time, readers don't know if his most recent update will be his last.
Read the entire story here.
Thanks to Milblogging fanatic Kathi for the tip.
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Before he left for this tour, Olmsted knew he might not make it home. As an avid blogger for the "Rocky Mountain News" paper, he prepared for his own possible death by writing a final entry to be posthumously posted on his own Web site should he be killed.
He wrote, "This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published…"
The 3,000-word blog thanks his friends and family, quotes Plato and the sci-fi show "Babylon 5," and urged his readers not to politicize his death.
"If you think the U.S. should stay in Iraq, don't drag me into it by claiming that somehow my death demands us staying in Iraq. If you think the U.S. ought to get out tomorrow, don't cite my name as an example of someone's life who was wasted by our mission in Iraq," he wrote.
‘Obsidian Wings’
Hilary Bok, a philosophy professor at Johns Hopkins University met Olmsted online through the website "Obsidian Wings" in July 2006 where they quickly became friends.
Bok agreed to answer NBC's questions about her role in Olmsted’s final blog, but asked if she could reply over e-mail.
"I still seem to be given to bursting into tears," she wrote, "and e-mail makes that easier to deal with."
In March 2007, Olmsted approached Bok and asked her if she would post a final blog for him should he be killed in Iraq. He was heading back for another tour in three months.
"I was honored that he would ask me," Bok said, "and agreed immediately. He sent me the first draft of the post early in June 2007, and kept working on it until mid-July."
Read the entire story here.
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While digging through some boxes in her basement, my Mom found an old college application that she claims I had written nearly 15 years ago. She sent me an email last night. This has nothing to do with milblogs at all, but if you’re one of my five readers who actually read this section of the website (Hi Mom), then this is all further evidence to support my theory that I’m truly a modest individual. Always have been.
There are limitations to what grades, scores, and recommendations can tell us about any candidate, Please use the following two essays to help us learn more about you, We hope that in writing these essays you will reflect on your attitudes, your values, and your perception of yourself, You may wish to look again at the letter from the Director In the front of the application.
Please write an essay about an activity or interest that has been particularly meaningful to you.
We ask that you limit your response to the space below
In the locker room I could feel the vibrations in the stadium as the crowd roared my name, "JP, JP, JP!" I took my time as any fine virtuoso must. The game would never begin without me, it never had and it never will. Of course after having my beauty sleep I would finally decide to go up on field to stand ominously before the crowd. The doors I would pass through would automatically open, not electrically but out of sheer intimidation. As I walked onto the field with a nonchalant gait, the crowd "ooooohhhhhed" and "aaaaaahhhhed" after each of my heavy steps.
The shoes I had on were specifically designed to fit my feet, and of course they had the logo "JP" on the soles. Every step left a deep impression in the soil with my name on it; so someday people could return to this stadium and erect a shrine honoring where I had once walked the earth. I would turn to one of my thousands of loyal young fans and say in a deep cool voice, "Here’s looking at you kid." After those few incredible words, the young women in the stands would faint. Upon reaching the bench where my teammates were bowing before me, I would raise my mighty hand and silence the enormous crowd. The opposing team either had scurried off or gone home to mommy once discovering I was here. You would not be able to hear a sound except my breathing echoing through the stadium. I was ready to unleash an incredible magnificent power which had been bestowed upon me by God. I was going to play Lacrosse; but before anything I would sing the National Anthem and receive ten times as much publicity as Whitney Houston did.
If I remember correctly, this application was for Yale. Or was it Harvard? It kind of makes me wonder, why I stopped at those schools? I should’ve applied to NASA. Or the White House.
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The new Bad Voodoo website is online. For new readers, my name is JP and I’m webmaster of Milblogging.com and I’m also a member of Bad Voodoo Platoon. We’re an Infantry Platoon who performs Convoy Security missions throughout Iraq. Our new website was designed by the kickass folks over at GX The Guard Experience and they did an amazing job.
Don’t forget to stop by the website to keep updated on our mission. Well, kinda updated. Right now the content is like 8 months old. Most of the profiles are missing, and the Care Packages page is all wrong. I mean, who in their right mind actually requests Beef Jerky? And you can’t tell, but the Team Members page doesn’t even have all the correct soldiers. Oh, and if you look at the pictures at the top, they’re all from Camp Shelby, not Iraq.
So, uh, if you want to learn about what Bad Voodoo is up to now, don’t visit the site until we update the content. You might be better off reading up on the latest Brad Pitt news. Some say, him and I have a lot in common. So it’s pretty much like you’re reading about me.
We’re basically twins.
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