Press Release
Posted by David Keelan on Tuesday, August 8, 2006
For Immediate Release
(August 8, 2006 – Howard County, Maryland). An association of Howard County bloggers announced today that they will be conducting an on-line forum consisting of candidates for local and State office.
The association consists of the four major blogs covering political news and events in Howard County. They will be issuing to each of the general election candidates identical lists of questions in which they will be asked to supply answers to by October 1st.
“Each of our blogs are different.” said Ian Kennedy, author of Hocohayduke. “I think we all agree that they reflect a broad spectrum of county opinions. Even those with similar political leanings don’t always agree, but sometimes we all agree.”
Once questions are formulated, distributed, and the candidates have responded the authors will then offer the answers to the public on their web log sites with four unique commentaries accompanying each and open to the public for additional comments.
“We will all develop and agree upon the questions and length of response, and then we will all share the answers. We will probably not share the same opinion or analysis of the candidate’s responses.” said David Keelan, author of HoCoMD Blog. Evan Coren author of Howard County Blog added, “We will provide a forum where anyone can engage the candidates, read candidate’s answers to important questions, and ask follow up questions on our blogs. Readers will also be able to discuss the candidate’s answers and have a civic discourse with the candidates and each other.”
David Keelan agreed, “I like the idea of having three sets of eyes looking over my shoulder and ready to tell me if they disagree. It helps keep the partisan tone down and keeps the analysis and opinions more level”. David Wissing, author of the longest running local blog, the Hedgehog Report added, “I think people will respond to this because we think they are interested in this type of perspective.”
About the Association of Howard County Blogs
The association consists of four Howard County based blogs.
What is a blog?
Blog is short for weblog. It is a type of website where entries are made similar to a journal or diary and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Many blogs, including all of the blogs in the Association of Howard County Blogs allow their readers to post comments and discuss the issues posted on the blog.
Howard County Maryland Blog 
Mary Smith said
Have all the candidates been notified about the upcoming forum?
Fight with Bubba? I love Bubba. And the muddy pig.