Dear Jay Rosen,

I find your ideas fascinating, but since I haven't gotten an email back from you I'm going to apply your arguments to the Bobby Jindal campaign:

Jay Rosen, a writer for the MediaShift Idea Lab has been writing about the shifting presence of the media for years. The excerpt below is from an essay written in 2003, but I think it's particularly relevant for our discussion on the changing face of The Atlantic:

"We need to keep the press from being absorbed into The Media. This means keeping the word press, which is antiquated. But included under its modern umbrella should be all who do the serious work in journalism, regardless of what technology they use. The people who will invent the next press in America--and who are doing it now online--continue an experiment at least 250 years old. It has a powerful social history and political legend attached."

In other words, bloggers and internet journalists (citizen and professional alike) aren't reinventing the wheel; they're continuing the hallowed tradition of the free press. In general, blogs are representations of "public opinion." Normal people who otherwise wouldn't have their voices heard can communicate with millions via the internet. So, how does this change campaigning, especially for Bobby Jindal and The Atlantic? Exploring political blogs can give insight into the stories and people that the public wants to see covered. Are a lot of bloggers talking about Olympia Snow? Mike Huckabee? Bobby Jindal? Well, then The Atlantic should cover those people, or a particular story associated with them. The beginnings of a grassroots campaign for Sarah Palin 2012 are already solidifying. The Atlantic has to keep its ear to the ground as other potential players come to the fore.

Within the next year, I imagine that bloggers will start to seriously vie for their chosen candidates, much like what happened during '06 and '07. The Atlantic must keep these grassroots bloggers abreast, perhaps doing an interview with some of the larger names in the near future. The 2012 election is too far away to start naming potential candidates without the guise of interviewing a blogger, rather than a candidate. No one wants to see a candidate look too eager too early. The tricky part of the next year and a half is getting people interested without over exposing anyone. A segment every other month on a different blogger who endorses a different candidate would be a good way to give the public a heads up and a taste of things to come.