Blog Party! Links galore!

In this bold new digital age there are more people blogging, tweeting, facebooking and tumbling than ever before. That holds true at the state capitol where journalists, legislators, lobbyists, and everyone in between are reporting the day-to-day happenings in near real time and online.

In addition to the The Lowdown (where, dear readers, you already know to turn for the latest and greatest news and insight from under the dome and beyond) there is a growing list of great online resources for tracking the 62nd Montana Legislature.

As a service to loyal Lowdown followers, I’ve compiled many of those online resources in one convenient location, namely, this blog post. I’ll continue to update this list as I discover new blogs and websites and Twitter feeds. By no means is this list complete. These are simply the blogs and feeds I’m currently aware of. If you have others that didn’t make the list, please e-mail me and I’ll add them. Remember, these are folks who are writing from the capitol.

Montana Journalists tweeting from the Capitol

Emilie Ritter at Montana Public Radio is posting her audio feeds on her Tumblr account. You can listen to streams or subscribe via RSS. You can follow Emilie on Twitter @emilieritter, or on Facebook. You can also listen to MTPR live, or download podcasts of the news programs  here.

Marneé Banks at Montana’s News Station has a blog called The Banks Account. You can follow Marneé on Twitter @MarneeBanks, or on Facebook.

Mike Dennison of the Lee Newspaper Capitol Bureau is tweeting @mikedennison.

Matt Gouras of the Associated Press is Tweeting @mattgouras.

Jackie Yamanaka of Yellowstone Public Radio is tweeting @jackieyamanaka. You can also listen to live or archived audio at ypradio.org.

Cody Bloomsburg is covering the Legislature for the Community News Service, a project sponsored by the Montana Newspaper Association and the University of Montana School of Journalism. Cody’s blog and news reporters can be found at Session11.org. You can follow him on Twitter @CodyatSession11.

Brittany Wooley is covering the Legislature for the University of Montana’s Legislative News Bureau. You can find her legislative blog here, or follow here on Facebook.

Phil Drake and Michael Noyes are reporting for the online publication Montana Watchdog. You can follow them on Twitter @MTWatchdog.

Party Blogs

Legislative Republicans and Democrats have also  launched their own respective blogs.

The Republican blog, called The Rotunda Report, can be found here. The Montana GOP twitter feed is @MontanaGOP.

The Democratic blog is called Montana Capitol Report and can be found here. The Montana Democratic Party Twitter feed is @MtDems.

Twitter feeds

More and more folks are tweeting from the capitol and using the hashtag #mtleg. Search for #mtleg in your Twitter application for tweets specific to the 62nd Legislature. 

Here are just some of the feeds from folks I know are tweeting from the capitol:

@OHMTleg

@JameeGreer

@aaronflint

@MTPoliticker

@Mike_Wessler

Legislators who Tweet

Democrats

Rep. Bryce Bennett @montdem

Rep. Ellie Hill @EllieHill

Republicans

Rep. Tom McGillvray @repmcgillvray

Rep. Mike Miller @MikeMillerHD84

For a list of other legislators and statewide elected officials who have Twitter accounts, visit Tweet Montana. Many legislators have Twitter accounts but don’t tweet. The Legislators listed above seem to actually Tweet from time. I’ll update the list as I find more.

Other Statewide Elected Officials’ Twitter Feeds

Gov. Brian Schweitzer	@brianschweitzer
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch	@SOSMcCulloch
Attorney General Steve Bullock	@AGSteveBullock
U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg	@dennyrehberg
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester	@jontester

Remember, e-mail at mtlowdown(at)gmail.com if I left anybody out.

IR's Martin Kidston hired by Montana Democrats

According to a mostly-blank e-mail I received today, Helena Independent Record outdoors editor Martin J. Kidston is leaving the newspaper to take a job as communications director for the Montana Democratic Party.

According to the Helena rumor mill, Attorney General Steve Bullock has also hired a prominent Montana journalist in his communications office. Stay tuned for that announcement in the coming days or week.

It's not uncommon for journalists to go to work for politicians, political parties, or government agencies. For instance, longtime Associated Press statehouse reporter Bob Anez left the AP in 2005 to take a job as communications director for the Department of Corrections. Terri Knapp, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch's spokeswoman, quit her job at Montana's News Station in 2008 to go to work for then-Superintended of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch. She now heads McCulloch's press office in the Secretary of State's office.

Newspapers across the state continue to struggle financially and journalists are constantly faced with uncertain futures. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see more reporters leave the newsroom for communications jobs in the public and private sector.

UPDATE: Here's the full press release from the Montana Democratic Party:

HELENA--Gearing up for the November elections and setting its sights on 2012, the Montana Democratic Party has hired reporter and Marine Corps veteran Martin Kidston to lead its communications team. Kidston will work from Helena and begins next week.

A graduate of the University of Montana in Missoula, Kidston has spent the last 11 years at the Helena Independent Record. His most recent beats included the Montana military and the northern U.S. border.

“I’m excited to be a part of the Democratic Party,” Kidston said Tuesday. “I look forward to sharing the Party's message and working hard to improve the lives of everyday Montanans. I’ve seen the Party’s accomplishments first-hand and I’m eager to help build on its successes across the state.”

Born in Colorado, Kidston served six years in the Marine Corps, including a tour in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He moved to Missoula in 1994 to attend college and graduated in 1997 with a degree in English and a minor in philosophy.

During his tenure as a reporter, Kidston traveled widely covering Montana’s military training and the state’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan. He toured both the northern and southern U.S. borders, and he recently travelled to Guatemala with the Helena Diocese to report on the Catholic mission in Santo Tomas.

Kidston is also the author of three books, including “Cromwell Dixon: A Boy and His Plane,” and “From Poplar to Papua: Montana’s 163rd Infantry Regiment in World War II.”