Political blog

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A political blog is a common type of blog that comments on politics. In liberal democracies the right to criticise the government without interference is considered an important element of free speech. In other jurisdictions bloggers use the uncensored nature of the internet to bypass state controlled news media but as a result may find themselves persecuted.^[1]^[2]

Political blogs often have a clearly stated political bias. Although mainstream media news is often presented as impartial, bloggers believe that it does in many cases have a hidden political agenda. This assertion is supported by the propaganda model. Stating political bias at the outset is therefore seen as being more honest. On the other hand, blogs are often seen as being too anonymous and lacking in factual reliability to be trustworthy. However, they can serve as a soapbox for opinions not represented in mainstream media.^[3]

The increasing popularity of political blogs by independent commentators has led to their adoption by media companies, politicians and other organisations^[4] hoping to be seen to be more accountable to their audiences, but these are often not considered "proper" blogs by the blogging community.

Types of political blog

Most political blogs are news driven, and as such political bloggers will link to articles from news web sites, often adding their own comments as well. Some political blogs heavily feature original commentary, with occasional hyperlinks to back up the blogger's talking points. Many of these blogs comment on whatever interests the author, as befits the blogger's political leanings, personal knowledge base, and momentary interests.

One notable subspecies of political blog is the watch blog, a blog which sets out to criticize what the author considers systematic errors or bias in an online newspaper or news site — or perhaps even by a more popular blogger. These blogs occupy a niche market, although a scandal involving their chosen subject may elevate them to momentary importance.

Australia

These do not have the same notoriety as blogs in the United States for "breaking stories" or potentially ruining the reputations of politicians or journalists. They have also not attracted the same mainstream media attention which comes along with those activities.

There are five Australian political blogs which are predominantly psephological in focus; ABC Elections, Mumble, Oz Politics, Poll Bludger and Psephos. Most of the other blogs are single writers efforts which focus on political commentary from a consistent political view point.

Canada

Pakistan

These blogs are a combination of news-based and issue-oriented blogs. The only difference is that they focus on many different issues and present both news and analysis.

In Pakistan, a major obstacle to this type of blogging is the threat from different political organization to whosoever writes against them. This threat acts as self-censorship to many bloggers. But there are people who are not afraid. The Glass House is a purely political blog which has been presenting an insight into the political situation in Pakistan since April 2005.

New Zealand

United Kingdom

Many political blogs in the United Kingdom frequently publish articles, rumours and news from various angles, often with a general anti-establishment bias. Among the many influential UK bloggers are Iain Dale, Tim Worstall, Harry of Harry's Place and Guido Fawkes.

Although the influence of political blogs on the government is growing^[5] this has been accompanied by criticism of their content. A former leading adviser to the government has criticised their anti-establishment nature for fuelling a "crisis" in politics stating that there should be more emphasis on working together to solve problems rather than making hostile and conflicting demands on politicians. Bloggers are blamed for encouraging citizens to remain in a "perpetual state of self-righteous rage", behaving like "teenagers" who are "increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government."^[6] The director of the Press Complaints Commission has called for a voluntary code of conduct similar to that governing newspapers and magazines due to the current lack of redress for those angered by their content.^[7]

United States

Impact on US politics

While many countries have political blogs, the impact of such blogs on political discourse is most prominent in US politics. Political blogs in the US often have an open and well-defined liberal or conservative bias.

The first major scandal that blogs participated in involved remarks made by then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, when the senator remarked that U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate Strom Thurmond, who ran on a segregationist platform in 1948, would have made a good president. The continued attention of bloggers, such as Josh Marshall, kept the story alive and drew media attention not only to the event itself, but Lott's previous comments along the same lines and association with groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Political blogs attracted further attention as a result of their use by two political candidates in 2003: Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. Both gained political buzz on the Internet, and particularly among bloggers, before they were taken seriously as candidates by traditional media outlets. Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, made the Internet a particular focus of the campaign. Both candidates stumbled in the end, but were, at one time or another, thought of as front runners for the Democratic nomination. Senator John Kerry, the eventual Democratic nominee in 2004, maintained a blog on his own campaign site, as did his opponent, President George W. Bush.

Conservative bloggers assisted in President Bush's 2004 re-election by criticizing a CBS 60 Minutes story in the final weeks of the general election campaign, which purported to have new evidence of favoritism toward Bush during his National Guard in the 1970's. Blogs such as Little Green Footballs and Powerline raised questions about the authenticity of CBS's documents, which were followed up by traditional media, until CBS admitted the documents could not be verified and retracted the accusations. This incident not only fed into conservative claims of "liberal media bias," it also helped to defuse questions about Bush's Guard service as a campaign issue.

Political blogs have many positive and negative ramifications. Whereas some political blogs offer new insight and accurate reporting, others openly commit libel and slander. Overall, political blogs encourage readers to evaluate their mediums.

Beyond the readers, political blogs also have drastic implications on political leaders themselves. Some political leaders have greatly benefited from broad audience base the internet provides. One such example is Howard Dean of Vermont. Dean raised unpreceeded campaign funds via the internet thorough the use of grassroots blogs and his own website. On the contrary, some politicians have greatly suffered due to the increased exposure political blogs provide. United States President George Bush is frequently followed by blog sites online. His follies and everyday mishaps are recorded without restraint. In most cases, they serve as comic relief and are seemingly harmless to the Bush administration.

Above all, political blogs have unquestionably shaped the political arena including the voters and the political leaders

Notable American political blogs and bloggers

Below are the top 20 political blogs from The TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem [1] ranked by the highest amount of traffic.

Below are the top 10 political blogs from The TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem ranked by the most incoming links.

Footnotes

^ Connor, A. (2005), Not just critics, BBC News, 20th June 2005. Retrieved on 29th November 2006.
^ Egypt arrests another blog critic, BBC News, 20th November 2006. Retrieved on 29th November 2006.
^ Reynolds, P. (2006), Blogs: To trust or not to trust?, BBC News, 3rd May 2006. Retrieved 29th November 2006.
^ See, for example, the BBC political blog or the blog of David Cameron, a political leader in the United Kingdom.
^ Wheeler, B. (2006), Battle of the conference blogs, BBC News, 15th September 2006. Retrieved on 29th November 2006.
^ Wheeler, B. (2006), Web 'fuelling crisis in politics', BBC News, 17th November 2006. Retrieved on 29th November 2006.
^ Voluntary code for blogs 'needed', BBC News, 28th November 2006. Retrieved on 29th November 2006.