Bloggers take the RNC by storm, figuratively speaking

As Tropical Storm Isaac works its way into the Gulf of Mexico, a number of bloggers have worked their way to Tampa to report on the Republican National Convention that begins tonight. In a time when tweets count as political endorsements, blogging counts as a type of personalized, casual form of news that a lot of people find more relatable and less stiff than the kind of stuff you’d read in The New York Times.

Photo from The Iowa Republican, found here.

Organizations like the Boston Herald, Dearborn Patch, and Tumblr have all dispatched bloggers to cover the RNC this week, sometimes as a supplement to standard reporting. They’re hoping to increase readership with these informal stories about personal experiences at the convention, as on-the-ground content with a human touch.

Tumblr is using it as a way to expand their role online – moving away from existing as just a micro-blogging platform, transforming  into an informal news source that their users might be interested in. They’ve even made a Tumblr page just for their convention reporting called Tumbling the Conventions.

Blogging is more than just an online diary now – it’s an opportunity for personal journalism that’s actually being taken seriously. Can you believe it?