Bloggers Offer Unique Perspective at Mackinac Policy Conference
Julie Bitely
| 3 min read
During the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, part of the Grand Hotel dining room is transformed into the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Media Row. Broadcasters go live, interviews with attendees take place and journalists scramble for scoops and file their reports for the day. For the fourth year, Media Row also features the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Blogger Zone. Bloggers representing six online publications are attending the conference with full media access to all conference sessions and other scheduled events.
"Blogs provide unique perspectives that reflect the interests of their readers,” said Andy Hetzel, vice president of Corporate Communications, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “Bringing bloggers to the Mackinac Policy Conference opens the event to a broader, more diverse spectrum of people and allows for deeper insights on the issues here to be reported and discussed." Karen Dybis is a reporter for Detroit Unspun, TheHUB Detroit, Corp! Magazine and other Detroit-centric publications. She said having non-traditional media cover the conference aligns with the way people are consuming news – on social media sites and blogs that they believe have a more direct impact on their lives. Dybis feels bloggers often ask different questions and are able to tell longer stories that may be more personal or give a new perspective. “Traditional media does a good job of addressing the needs of their general audiences with a wide array of stories,” she said. “Blogs and bloggers add to that conversation with questions that focus on more specific segments of the population and give deeper dives into issues such as transportation, family life, arts and culture. Both have their place in an individual’s news gathering.” Blogs represented at this year’s conference include:
- B4B Connect, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s blog focused on news impacting small businesses around the Detroit region.
- Detroit Unspun, dedicated to the stories of metro Detroit, whether it’s a personal story, a tale of businesses doing new things or reaching new markets or anyone making a difference in the region.
- Daily Detroit, which is focused on all aspects of the city including arts, history, lifestyle and politics.
- Positive Detroit, which focuses on positive, important and newsworthy happenings in and around “The D.”
- Autoblog, a top-tier destination for industry news, car reviews and vehicle shopping tools, owned and operated by AOL Inc.
You’ll also find coverage right here on MI Blues Perspectives and over on our sister site, A Healthier Michigan. Follow the conversation on Twitter using #MPC17. If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
