E. W. Everson, my great grandfather, A Better Man Than I.

Whoo hoo! It’s Election 2008: Battle of the Blog Talkers, A
co-production of FOX NEWS Radio and BlogTalkRadio. And I’ve been invited to
participate!

Here’s the scoop:

Since its popularization in the
early-1990s, the Internet has had an increasingly significant impact on U.S.
presidential elections. By the 2004 race, it was clear that no candidate could
be without a website on which to disseminate news, chat with voters, raise
campaign funds and so on.

Going into the 2004 race, however, blogging was
in its infancy. According to Technorati, a mere 100,000 blogs existed. Since
then, that number has grown to more than 120 million! Which means the blogosphere is the new cyber-force to
be reckoned with during Election 2008.

Add to that the recent explosion
of bloggers hosting live, interactive radio shows on BlogTalkRadio –
whose monthly listening
audience now exceeds 3.6 million – and you
have a scenario that demands that any self-respecting election coverage meld
traditional media with social media.

Going forward, BlogTalkRadio is
joining forces with FOX NEWS Radio to seek out the best blog talkers from each
side of the political spectrum – and give them a voice via the FOX News
family.

Battle of the Blog Talkers

One month prior to Election
Day, “FOX Across America” host Spencer Hughes, whose show airs weekdays from 2-3
p.m. ET on FOX NEWS Radio and on Sirius XM, will moderate a debate between four
BlogTalkRadio Heading Left Station (liberal) and four Heading Right Station
(conservative) hosts, culminating in the selection of one host from each to
serve as Hughes’ co-host two weeks later.

How it works:

Day 1,
Oct. 6, Hughes will introduce a topic and Heading Left Host A will have five
minutes of uninterrupted time to respond, after which Heading Left host B will
have five minutes to respond. Later in the show, the topic will be opened to
further discussion with Hughes and listeners/callers. Post-show, listeners will
vote via mobile text message and online poll for a winner in Round 1.

On
Day 2, Oct. 7, two Heading Right hosts will similarly square off on the show,
with listeners again voting for a winner.

At the end of the week-long
battle, the one Heading Left host and one Heading Right host left standing will
be declared “winners” of their respective parties. Two weeks later, those
winners will join Hughes as co-hosts, from 8-9 a.m. ET, during an entire week of
live shows.

Schedule

WEEK OF OCTOBER 6

Battle of the Blog
Talkers on “Fox Across America” (airing on Sirius XM and FOXNewsTalk.com, with
simulcasts on BlogTalkRadio) unfolds as follows:

BLOG TALK RADIO HOSTS WHO’LL BE COMPETING:
Monday Oct. 6:
Lynne Lupien vs. Julie Pippert
Tuesday, Oct. 7: Kevin Ross vs. Chad
Everson
Wednesday, October 8: David McLaughlin vs. Tom D’Antoni
Thursday,
October 9: Andrea Shea King vs. Elizabeth
“Media Lizzy” Blackney

WEEK OF OCTOBER 13

Battle of the Blog
Talkers is repeated in the 8-9am ET slot on FOXNewsTalk.com, while being
available on-demand on BlogTalkRadio.

WEEK OF OCTOBER 20

The two
winners co-host a FOX NEWS Radio special with Spencer Hughes, live from 8-9 a.m.
ET.

I’ll keep you updated. Wish me luck!