Offering “the latest news from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the state Capitol” House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, unveiled his new blog last week, saying he hoped it would provide Oklahomans with candid commentary on state government and regular updates on reforms brought by conservative state lawmakers.
“My goal with this project is to give Oklahomans a fresh viewpoint on what’s going on at their state Capitol,” said Cargill. “A good blog can provide people with alternative viewpoints on topics they’re interested in, and that’s what I hope to do here.”
A blog, also known as a “web log,” is essentially a personal online journal that an individual can use to share commentary on unlimited topics without restriction or editing. As online journalism continues to grow, blogs are sometimes used as sources for traditional news when their author has direct observations of breaking events or specific credible insight on significant issues.
Cargill focuses on his opinions of legislation such as House Bill 2101, Transformational Justice Act. Cargill writes, “This new law is designed to make it easier for faith-based groups to help prisoners turn their lives around. Unfortunately, some Liberals are opposing this common-sense reform.”
On his recent European trip, Cagrill writes, “I met with officials at the European American Chamber of Commerce, and as a result, they’re now looking at setting up a regional office in Oklahoma City to promote trade and investment by European companies in our state.”
Cargill told his fellow blogers he plans to post entries at least two or three times a week, and invited Oklahomans to subscribe to the blog as a way to stay in touch with new developments from the Capitol. RSS is available on the blog.
Cargill links at the top of the page to his profile and bio, both state produced pages, and includes a link to the State of Oklahoma site and maps of his district. At the time of this posting Cargill had gathered a total of 55 profile views.
For perspective: Tulsa Today, an online news service established in 1996, serves between 135,000 to 172,000 page views per month depending on local, state, national and international attention to local events and breaking news.