Today there was a first in Israeli politics – the first time an Israeli politician has invited bloggers to cover a press conference.
The politician in question was Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, and the bloggers attending were Rafi G, Carl in Jerusalem, Lurker, RivkA, and Mother in Israel.
You can read about the press conference on their blogs. My main point in mentioning this is to say it is great to see an Israeli politician see the potential in blogs, albeit for a political campaign.
A preferable approach would be to recognize the great value of blogs to Israel’s public relations. One question I asked Bibi at the recent bloggers’ conference was whether he monitors the blogs and comments for “the talking points that hit home.” Implicit in my question was my belief that the Israeli government could learn a lot by paying close attention to the conversations in the blogosphere regarding the Middle East conflict, and learn from them, rather than suggest to the bloggers what they should be writing (the current approach).
I hope today’s press conference leads to a greater recognition of blogs by the Israeli government.
And in case you were wondering, yes I was invited to cover the press conference, but I decided to decline, given it was held in the middle of the morning. Hey, I still have a day job, you know.
