Defense Bloggers of the Highest Order
The U.S. Defense Department’s Bloggers Roundtable connects new media buffs and online journalists with civilian and military leaders using conference calls on topics that range from military operations to military families. Despite challenges with ever-changing technology and policies, the program continues to gain support for its focus on openness and transparency.
Charles Holt, senior strategist for emerging media, Defense Department, can trace the Bloggers Roundtable back to an op-ed article in The Washington Post by Richard Holbrooke on October 28, 2001. Titled “Get the Message Out,” the article highlighted what Holbrooke saw as Osama bin Laden’s initial success defining the war as an attack on Islam, rather than a war against terrorism. Bin Laden’s ability to spread his message to the Muslim community raised the question: “How can a man in a cave out-communicate the world’s leading communications society?” Holbrooke pointed out.
The problem, Holbrooke ventured, was twofold: the message and the messenger. The same disconnect came to the attention of the department and was included in the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which contained a piece directed at strategic communication and learning to succeed in a 24/7 media environment. The QDR called for the establishment of the Emerging Media Directorate to research and understand new technology, and the department selected Holt to lead the initiative.
In February 2007, footage of the Battle of Haifa Street was released during a press conference and made the evening and morning news cycles in the
Holt had been monitoring a self-professed group of “milbloggers,” who followed the military and the conflict in
Rear Adm. Mark Fox, USN, served as the first speaker for a roundtable discussion on the conflict in
What started as a monthly roundtable quickly became a daily event. Lt. Jennifer Cragg, USN, operations officer, Emerging Media Directorate, Defense Media Activity, and the directorate staff now lead the roundtables, which draw anywhere from two to 23 bloggers. Following the earthquake in
Branching off from the initial focus on
Brian Natwick, director of the Pentagon Channel and acting director of the Emerging Media Directorate, says the directorate pushed for more coordination between the American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel in recent years. When a hot topic arises in either network, the directorate latches onto it for the Bloggers Roundtable, and vice versa, he explains.
Natwick has been pleasantly surprised across the board with the openness the directorate has in their roundtable coverage. The front office has been incredibly responsive, right up to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, shares Natwick, and the posture with the Defense Department and social media has become more transparent and honest.
With more than 500 roundtables under their belt since the program’s inception, the directorate plans to continue the initiative “until social media becomes something like an 8-track tape,” quips Natwick. Awareness of the directorate’s mission is growing throughout the military, and while Holt emphasizes that the goal is not to inundate the blogosphere, he hopes the roundtables provide a missing link between journalists and the news that doesn’t necessarily make headlines.
Interested bloggers can sign up online to receive alerts and conference call information for upcoming roundtable events. The department also provides transcripts and audio files from previous roundtables on its DoDLive blog.