Rusty at Radical Georgia Moderate is hosting this semi-month’s Georgia Blog Carnival, and did quite the job sorting and categorizing a lot of local content. Go kill the rest of your Friday.

I thought I might, then decided not to, submit a video for this round of Carnival, which I whipped up last weekend for a final submission to the MTV Choose or Lose citizen journalism thingamabob. I was so underwhelmed with my own product that I didn’t even post it here, and it really isn’t worth posting to the Carnival because I didn’t say anything in it that Grift didn’t already say much more intelligently. I just needed a “story in my area” to send off to MTV since I’m apparently one of the “three finalists” in my state to get this part-time job.

Yes, finalists. For a job. Well, for a job-like thing. MTV is hiring 51 videoblogger types to cover the ‘08 election in each state (I’m not sure if floater #51 is Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia), and what the hell, I applied. Caveat number one: I don’t think there are two other finalists. I looked at all the Georgia profiles on thinkMTV, where we’re supposed to have uploaded our final video, and not one of the other Georgians has any videos listed. Same goes for former Young Democrats of America Executive Director Jane Fleming-Kleeb in Nebraska (total thinkMTV members: 14), and a real, actual, on-TV newswoman in Alaska (total thinkMTV members: 4), Dani Carlson. I supposed we could have made paper finger-puppets in front of a webcam and still gotten the job, but hey, E for Effort, right?

Caveat number two: I think the thing that threw me most (aside from the weekly pay that is half what I made as a Graduate Research Assistant) was the phone interview question about how I’d make content that’s appealing to MTV’s target demographic of 16-24 year olds. I was probably in trouble when the first thing that came to mind — after references to alcohol and frontal nudity (not mine for chrissakes, I’m a good Catholic boy) — was just to beat it into their no-good Wii-playing skulls until they relented. I hadn’t even given it serious consideration before, figuring that I’m already trying to make politics as amusing as it can be (with extremely mixed success), so take it or leave it. Still, I think I was sufficiently stunned by the interview as to come across somewhat condescending or pedagogic in this puff-piece about Georgia’s current water crisis. So, against my better judgment, here’s my audition. Have a good weekend.

And for God’s sake keep the Hillary cakes out of my face.



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