Tag: blogging
sunderkatwala Sun Sep 21, 2008 at 04:39:18 PM GMT 
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As I post, Mark Hanson of LabourHome is debating with Sunny Hundal, Derek Draper and Jim Pickard on the fringe. It has got a little bit heated and a bit sweary.
Free Radical Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 02:29:09 PM GMT
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Alastair Campbell's appearance on Newsnight last night (BBC2 September 4 2008) raised some interesting issues.
LabourOutlook Sun Jul 20, 2008 at 10:26:23 PM GMT
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Iain Dale's yearly blog rankings are being drawn up.
Make sure that the left blogosphere is well represented by emailing your top ten blogs. Details at over at Iain Dale's diary
The rules are as follow:
1. Please only vote once
2. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics are eligible
3. Votes must be cast before Friday 15 August
4. Blogs chosen must be listed in the Total Politics Blog Directory.
5. You must send a list of TEN blogs, ranked. Any entry containing fewer than ten blogs will not count.
6. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
NOTE: To be eligable, each blog you vote for needs to be on the Total Politics blogroll - if one of the ones you want to vote for isn't on there, you can submit it on the left hand side here
Free Radical Mon Jul 14, 2008 at 11:05:45 AM GMT
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I'm being provocative I know - but I am interested in the function of blogs like this, how they differ from what the media do and whether they add anything to the quality of political debate...
Tom Harris MP Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 02:48:12 PM GMT
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Received wisdom dictates that the House of Commons chamber is an anachronism; that its procedures and traditions serve only to exacerbate the gulf between the realities faced by citizens and the privileged, rarified environment in which their representatives operate.
MPs cannot refer to any other member using their name (unless quoting from an article) and instead must refer to them by their constituencies. An MP may refer to members who sit on the same side of the chamber as “honourable friends”, but to a member opposite as “the honourable gentleman”, “the honourable lady” or simply “the honourable member for… (insert name of constituency)”.
And, of course, you must never EVER accuse another member of deliberately lying.
It all appears very quaint. But those who make the effort to listen to debates (and not just the bearpit that is Prime Minister’s Questions) will, I hope, be impressed by the general standard of debate in the chamber. However esoteric or obscure the subject, the Commons will almost always produce some thoughtful consideration of it, on both sides of the House. And the debate will (almost) always be polite and courteous.
This last quality is of particular interest to me as a blogger. The constant criticism of PMQs (as the only Commons event with which most viewers are familiar) is that it’s too “Punch and Judy”, that MPs on all sides are far too rowdy and badly behaved. So the general populace would prefer political debate to be more courteous and polite, yes? Well, maybe.
Many of the comments left on this blog in the last few days have been thoughtful and polite. Many of them have not been. It’s the same with comments left on some of the better known blogs like Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale. What is it about the blogosphere that makes people believe they can address any other person in aggressive and offensive terms that they simply wouldn’t consider appropriate in almost any other circumstance (certainly not face to face)? I can understand how anonymity might offer someone a chance to express views he or she might not want associated with themselves ordinarily. But does the fact that so many of those who leave comments choose to do so offensively mean that anonymity allows the real persona of the person writing to emerge? Or does it simply allow someone to adopt an invented, false personality to be discarded after temporary use? (And if you don’t think I have a point here, check out any thread on just about any Scottish political story carried by The Herald.)
In the blogosphere, opposition has given way to hatred, argument to invective.
The age of deference is long gone, and good riddance. But have we thrown the baby out with the bath water? In abandoning deference (decades after we should have), have we also abandoned qualities like respect and politeness?
So thank goodness for the Commons. If continuing to treat with respect those with whom we disagree is seen by those watching as being out of touch, then thank goodness there’s still one place in the land that is proudly out of touch.
Visit Tom's blog.
Evidently Chickentown Sun May 25, 2008 at 10:06:39 AM GMT
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With both US National Conventions on the horizon, 'Evidently Chickentown' looks at how the Democrats and GOP are throwing open their doors to bloggers.
Mike Ion Sat Feb 02, 2008 at 11:13:51 AM GMT
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It appears that Guido Fawkes (aka Paul Staines) is
threatening legal action against a fellow blogger, an action that he has
threatened before when aspects of his time as a member of the FCS at Humberside FE College were called into question.
Why does LabouHome still persist in having a link to the Guido gossip blog?
If you still link to the blog of Mr Staines can I ask that you think again?
Mike Ion Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 04:33:40 PM GMT
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Who would you nominate?
Who has made you think? Who has produced a major scoop? Who has entertained you?
To nominate simple leave a comment or click
here and leave a comment or email me at
mike-ion@hotmail.co.ukNominations to be received no later than 5pm on Friday December 7th 2007
Mike Ion Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 01:33:07 PM GMT
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This is truly shocking and disturbing turn of events. Amnesty International are calling for his immediate release.
To find out more click here.
LeftrightLeftright Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 01:56:22 PM GMT
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Guido = The Sun
Iain Dale = The Daily Mail
Bloggerheads = New Society/London Review of Books
Guido 2.0 = Private Eye
Pickled Politics = Tribune
(Other "combatants" such as Hamer, Chicken Yoghurt etc are the Keith Fletts of this world.)
Other suggestions welcome: if any offence has been casued by any of the analogies drawn above, I apologise* the only serious side of this post is to illustrate why I think calls for blogging to be free of regulation are understandable, but probably misguided.
*Except if you're Guido (hypocritical scoundrel) or Iain (probably a liar, disingenuous at very best).
Mike Ion Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 08:35:36 AM GMT
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The so called 'blog wars' - more like a playground scuffle - of recent weeks has, if honest, passed me by. It appears that tabloid gossip blogs like Guido and Prague Tory have been on the receiving end of a huge amount of cyber-vitriol.
Why? Do you take the Daily Star seriously? Is it the first newspaper you pick up for erudite, thoughtful and reflective political comment? Probably not.
If you don't like what they stand for then don't have a link to their site and don't subscribe to advertising space that promotes them.
Mike Ion Mon Jan 29, 2007 at 09:26:43 AM GMT
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A very thoughtful piece by
Jackie Ashley in today's Guardian. Her main premise is that the Internet has not really 'engaged' a new part of the electorate in politics, that blogs are dominated by middle-class, white males who tend to be right wing and angry!
Is she right? Based on my short experience of blogging, yes, she is absolutely spot on.
Mike Ion Mon Jan 15, 2007 at 09:22:25 PM GMT
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Hat tip to
Tom Watson for drawing this to our collective attention.
According to Bloggerhead Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines) is a plonker. Bloggerhead says that Guido...
Is a dishonest blogger
Often makes anonymous posts on his own blog
Is a danger to political blogging
Is a turd magnet and opportunist
Is a blog stat manipulator
Bloggerhead is asking people to consider removing Guido from their blogroll.
LeftrightLeftright Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 05:43:12 PM GMT
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... may well be Guido himself. Hardly breaking news for many people, but has Gossipy Guido caught himself out now?
Last Thursday, he posted a story headlined
Classic Media Management,
claiming that No 10 had scheduled the police i/v with Blair to co-incide with the release of the Stevens report into the (yawn) claims that some shiny headed geezer of Greek extraction had masterminded MI5/6 in their murder of Diana Windsor. So far so Guido. The story is still up, and it looks like this:
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1288/553/1600/818578/news_management.jpg
The key is in the first line: "Ipswich story will run in background all day". This is not how it originally appeared. When first posted, the top line of the "No 10 grid" ran "Ipswich rape story will run in background all day." A couple of commenters picked this up - anonymous at 3.03pm and graybo at 3.20pm, pointing out that it was a murder inquiry, not a rape inquiry. So why has the word been removed? If it was a No 10 mistake, rather than a photoshop effort from Signor Fawkes (as one commenter suggested) why did it need changing? If Guido changed it to correct his mistake, why was he so sloppy as to leave the comments up?
At least most people presenting spoof leaflets on blogs make it clear they are a spoof...
tygerland Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 12:40:01 PM GMT
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I had to laugh at
this article by Iain Dale over on CiF.
Mike Ion Sat Sep 23, 2006 at 05:11:48 PM GMT
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Why is it that the most popular and the most influential political blogs tend to be of the right?
amcmenamin Mon Aug 28, 2006 at 07:22:10 PM GMT
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I have written a long note on my blog about building online networks for Labour members and supporters.
alexhilton Tue Aug 08, 2006 at 07:58:08 PM GMT
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The Labour Party has launched a competition to be the
official Labour Party Blogger at conference in Manchester this year.
Mike Ion Thu Jul 20, 2006 at 01:13:42 AM GMT
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What does Tory blogger Iain Dale think of IDS, Portillo and David Mellor?
Hack McNally Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:08:11 PM GMT
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Aspiring Prime Minister John McDonnell has threatened to take legal action against a blogging Labour researcher and to report his boss to the Chief Whip under the new "Yellow Card" rules.
Click Here for details.
