All of the hyper-heated political blogging about the behaviors of Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley, who admitted he is gay and thereby changed the whole public dialogue about the scandal he has caused, means one thing for sure: Few are going to notice that meanwhile, in another part of the blogosphere, there is some significant business blogging going on at NBC Universal about Battlestar Galactica, which airs on Sci-Fi.

Certainly, this business blogging will not attract the same level of attention of a Washington, DC scandal. But, all who blog should become aware of it. Here’s why: A major media corporation has chosen to use blogging in a pioneering way–to market one of its own television series. This opens up many exciting possibilities for the near future of blogging.

Much of the credit for this blogging which includes both audio and video podcasting must go to Ronald D. Moore, whom this writer considers as the next Roddenberry. Moore genuinely deserves that label–which he probably would find embarrassing–because of he has a strong connection to Star Trek that is both deep and significant.

Moore was only 2 years old when Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy first beamed onto the popular culture scene on NBC in the original Star Trek in 1966. But, when he grew up, he proved to be a talented writer who wrote nearly 30 episodes of Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 1980s. Moore went on to be supervising producer for Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in 1993, and then co-executive producer in 1995 for Star Trek: Voyager. Moore co-wrote Star Trek: Generations, released in 1994 as the seventh major motion picture in the lucrative Paramount Pictures franchise, and also Star Trek: First Contact, released in 1996 as the eighth.

Mainstream media outlets recently started to notice Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica even though this science fiction series first appeared in late 2003 as a completely reworked version of the 1978 television series on ABC. People today may be put off by the very name Battlestar Galactica because they probably remember the 1978 version, which lasted only 21 episodes. That version of Battlestar Galactica was playful and fun in ways very similar to Saturday morning cartoons.

In stunning contrast, Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica is decidedly and deliberately sophisticated and mature, most notably in how its storytelling embeds political and religious themes together with intelligent and witty character development. This Battlestar Galactica outdistances the 1978 version and NBC Universal is banking on its continued popularity as season three begins this very week on Sci-Fi. Check your local television listings for day, time, and channel number.

If you pay even cursory attention to Ron Moore’s blogging and podcasting about Battlestar Galactica, you will quickly forget that there ever was a 1978 version. Somebody sure knows what they’re doing here! This may technically be “merely” business blogging and business podcasting, but it sure is very exciting for what it portends for the near future of marketing. NBC Universal must realize how the target audience for Battlestar Galactica is predisposed to be early adapters of emerging technology anyway. But, this digital media marketing is noteworthy.

The New York Times published an op-ed written by Ronald D. Moore on September 18, 2006 in which he addressed the subject of politics in science fiction space adventures:

September 18, 2006

Op-Ed Contributor

Mr. Universe
By RONALD D. MOORE

Altadena, Calif.

Four decades ago, when the starship Enterprise first settled into orbit around Planet M-113 on Sept. 8, 1966, I was 2 years old. I could not have known it at the time, but “Star Trek” would literally change my life.

To say that any television show has changed one’s life is to invite both mockery and pity for a poor, shuttered geek who must surely have been denied direct sunlight and the attention of women for the better part of his days. But in lieu of offering documentary proof that I do not, in fact, still reside in my parents’ basement, let me simply tell you how “Star Trek” informed the way I look at the world.

“Star Trek” is often reduced to kitsch: Kirk’s paunch, Spock’s pointy ears, green-skinned alien girls. But it was more than escapism and rubber-suited aliens. It was a morality play, with Capt. James T. Kirk as a futuristic John F. Kennedy piloting a warp-driven PT-109 through the far reaches of the galaxy.

Kirk, for me, embodied an American idea: His mission was to explore the final frontier, not to conquer it. He was moral without moralizing. Week after week, he confronted the specters of intolerance and injustice, and week after week found a way to defeat them without ever becoming them. Jim Kirk may have beat up his share of bad guys, but you could never imagine him torturing them.

A favorite quote: “We’re human beings, with the blood of a million savage years on our hands. But we can stop it. We can admit that we’re killers, but we won’t kill today.” Kirk clearly understood humanity’s many flaws, yet never lost faith in our ability to rise above the muck and reach for the stars.

“Star Trek” painted a noble, heroic vision of the future, and that vision became my lodestar.

As I grew into adolescence, the show provided a handy reference against which to judge the questions that my young mind began to ask: What is the obligation of a free society toward the less fortunate? Does an “advanced” culture have the right to spread its ideas among more “primitive” ones? What does it mean to be human, and at what point do we lose our humanity to our technology?

And as I grew into an adult, and my political views took shape, I treasured “Star Trek” as a dream of what my country could one day become — a liberal and tolerant society, unafraid to live by its ideals in a dangerous universe, and secure in the knowledge that its greatness derived from the strength of its ideas rather than the power of its phasers.

In my 20’s, through a combination of luck and determination, I fulfilled my childhood dream — I became a writer for “Star Trek.”

For 10 years, I helped propel the latter-day incarnations of “Trek” into new territory while keeping alive the set of moral principles I’d taken to heart. As I plotted the adventures of the Enterprise-D and the travails of the space station Deep Space 9, I gradually became interested in pushing the boundaries of “Star Trek,” and began to let Captains Picard and Sisko find the shades of gray in a universe Kirk sometimes saw only in black and white.

Science fiction on film and television has, over the past four decades, moved decisively away from the optimism of “Star Trek.” “Blade Runner,” “Alien” and “The Matrix” posit much darker, dystopian futures; even the “Star Wars” movies posit the rise of a galactic empire founded on “the dark side.” Social and commercial explanations abound for this shift, but my theory is that “Star Trek” set the gold standard for the idealistic vision of tomorrow and no one has successfully challenged it.

Nowadays, it may appear that I’ve turned a blind eye to my lodestar as the crew of the battlestar Galactica behave in ways that would’ve been unthinkable in the “Star Trek” universe that Gene Roddenberry created. But “Battlestar Galactica” remains very much informed by the lessons I learned from that slightly paunchy man in the gold pajama top on the good ship Enterprise.

My characters may not have all the answers (sometimes they’re not even aware of the questions) but they contain kernels of both good and evil in their hearts and continue to struggle for salvation and redemption against the darker angels of their natures. Their defeats are many, their victories few, but somehow, some way, they never give up the dream of finding a better tomorrow.

And, thanks to a 40-year-old television show, neither do I.

Ronald D. Moore is the writer of “Battlestar Galactica.”

[Source URL = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/opinion/18moore.html] 

I was especially impressed what Ronald D. Moore wrote about politics and Battlestar Galactica is his 02/02/06 blog post: What he wrote about is something that I also experienced, personally, as a kid on visits to Disneyland in the 1950s and 1960s: