Google announced that it is sponsoring an 8,000-sq.ft. “Big Tent” for bloggers attending next week’s Democratic convention in Denver, and will be duplicating the effort at the Republican convention in September. While the tent caters to new media types by providing a host of nice services–including workspaces, couches for napping, food and beverages, Google-sponsored massages, smoothies and a candy buffet–Google’s efforts aren’t just to give bloggers and new media journalists a hand in covering the convention. They’re also aimed at coloring that coverage in a Google-friendly light, Google Watch’s Clint Boulton notes.
Google will be facing a slew of legal and legislative hurdles with Congress over the next few years concerning, among other things, its data privacy policies and even its recent push to advocate the use of unlicensed white space spectrum for wireless Internet access. The Big Tent is simply an attempt to get journalists–and politicians–on its side. A rested, well-fed blogger is a nicer blogger, right?
Boulton interviewed Google critic Jeff Chester, who characterized Google’s Big Tent magnanimity this way:
I see the things they are doing for both Republicans and Democrats are about lobbying. It’s about extending their influence over the political process particularly as the next Congress and the next White House will be enacting a major privacy bill on online advertising. Instead of just being self-congratulatory, it would be better if they just admitted they are doing this for the reason they are doing it. They’re like any other big business; they’re engaged in lobbying.
What’s the fuss? The fact that Google is using the Big Tent as a lobbying tool is actually pretty obvious, though, and not all that surprising. What would be more surprising is if it announced that the Big Tent was the lobbying tool it is. That’s not good PR. Nobody’s being fooled; it’s just politics as usual. Google shouldn’t have to play it any cleaner than any other big company looking to influence the process.
