Live from G20 Voice in London

I’m here in London as part of G20Voice, a gathering of fifty bloggers from around the world, who will be given media credentials for the G20 summit tomorrow. This is the first global summit to credential bloggers along with mainstream media outlets - a sign of the growing power of grassroots bloggers and citizen journalists.

G20Voice was inspired by the Big Tent – where hundreds of bloggers from across America gathered to connect with one another, meet with key political leaders, and blog directly from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Cheryl Contee of Jack and Jill Politics, who is here at G20Voice representing the American blogosphere, reflected on the Big Tent and how bloggers’ voices are increasingly being heard:

“The Big Tent was something that had never been done before. G20Voice is a smaller group, but the goal is the same: bring bloggers who might otherwise have trouble getting to a venue and getting access, and to provide a bridge with the government (or other entity) to facilitate that.”

Many of the bloggers I’ve spoken to here say that media access for bloggers is unheard of in their countries. “It’s unprecedented and important that we are being treated like traditional media,” says Jessica Uribe, who writes for one of Mexico’s top blogs, VivirMexico. Jessica says that she is not an expert on global financial issues, but she views this as a plus: she is here to ask questions, learn, and report her findings back to her readers “in a language that they can understand.”

Other bloggers I spoke to not only don’t get access to important officials and events – but are actively discouraged (and even intimidated) by their governments from blogging freely.

Needless to say, tomorrow’s event – where G20 voice participants will have the ability to observe and ask questions to top officials around the world – will be a significant event, not only for the participating bloggers, but for the millions of other bloggers and would-be bloggers across the globe.

Blue State Digital is a sponsor of G20 Voice