The Political Whore

This week, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas will introduce H.R. 5699, which has been hailed as the “Blogger Protection Act of 2008” (CL blogophiles can breathe a sigh of relief).

Right now, “uncompensated Internet activity” is protected by a Federal Election Commission regulation that allows linking to campaign websites and writing about the views of federal candidates—which, without the regulation, could potentially be considered a campaign contribution or expenditure on the candidate’s behalf. Basically, blogs currently share the same protection from campaign finance restrictions as other media outlets.

The problem is that since this protection is regulatory, it can be changed without congressional action. Rep. Hensarling will introduce legislation that will create statutory blogger protections in the hopes of creating a more permanent solution for our online “pajama journalists.” Forge on, brave bloggers!

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I’ve got some exciting Creative Loafing blog news for you all. Sometime this week, we are going to flip the switch and move our blog, Blurbex, over to a new server inside our CL website. (This is not exactly the exciting part.) You can find the new Blurbex here, with RSS feeds here.

As part of this move, we’re creating three new blogs.

First, we’re spinning out our political coverage to its own blog, Political Whore. The blog will be here, and you can get your RSS feeds from here. I’m going to move Morning Roundup over to Political Whore but will crosspost it to Blurbex for those used to getting their fill of AM snark.

Second, we’re starting a new music blog, focusing on the best shows coming to Tampa Bay and our area’s great local acts. Wade Tatangelo will helm this blog, likely with some help along the way. Tampa Calling will be found here, and RSS feed here.

And third, our killer food writer and restaurant critic Brian Ries is getting his own blog, Eat My Florida. You’ll get the inside scoop on where he’s been eating — and what he’s been eating. The new blog is here, and the RSS here. Once Brian recovers from eating all that pizza he will be up and running on Eat My Florida.

I’ll let you know when the switchover occurs, but in the meantime, adjust your browsers and newsreaders accordingly. And let us know what you think about the new blogs. Just click "post comment" below.

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