Weblogs Lead other Media In Election Reporting

Roozonline:

Friday night while government and official state sponsored sites were inaccessible due to high demand, bloggers once again performed their function of providing current and accessible news to readers.

A few hours after mid-night while preliminary election results were being announced, weblogs were posting opinions and user comments. Many bloggers stayed up all night. READ MORE

Journalist bloggers, with inside connections to the Elections Committee, posted the latest vote tallies before other media. The weblog, "Cherknevis" hosted by Neda Dehghani, was especially effective in this regard.

Dr. Moin's website was interesting as those who enthusiastically supported him reacted to election results in disbelief. Most bloggers expressed their concern and dismay with the military's presence within the government power structure. Others lamented the gulf between the upper and middle classes (webloggers and readers included) and the majority of Iranians, citing this gulf as the reason why internet polls had predicted an overwhelming victory by Moin. Alper, a staunch supporter of Moin's candidacy and reportedly his web designer, observed: "I believe we will now appreciate Mr. Khatami much more. He was able to speak to the needs of all layers of society and rally the support of twenty million voters while today's candidates struggle to garner four or five million votes."

Many bloggers also discussed their internal debates over whether to vote or boycott the elections, the most poignant being those who overcame their many reservations and voted.

Weblogs posted interesting photos of the elections as well. Yahoo featured a particularly interesting photo from a French news agency showing a young voter clad in a white chador who stood out among the black chadors of other voters.