Citizen blogger

Weblogs - the diaries of the internet - could play a key role in mediating between politicians, journalists and the public, according to speakers at a lively event held at the House of Commons in London this week.

Bloggers, journalists and web experts joined several British MPs to discuss the phenomenon of weblogs, attempting to define the benefits and drawbacks of the format and how the technology can be used by both journalists and politicians.

There was much talk of 'social software' - the blog as a tool for encouraging participation in the political debate by building 'online citizenship'.

Blogging journalist Stephen Pollard, who has written for The Telegraph and The Guardian among others, said his blog was originally intended as an archive of his work but also became a platform for ideas that did not make it to print.

"I'd be watching TV, listening to the radio or reading the paper and something would make me angry. I'd contact editors and ask if I could do a piece on it, and nine times our of 10 they'd say no.

"So I started writing the blog just for myself - and got hooked."

Mr Pollard said the phenomenon of 'fisking' - intense, word-by-word analysis of a published piece - had introduced an interesting momentum to the process of journalism.

"There was an article of mine published in the Times today on the military tribunals in Guatanamo Bay. Within two hours, I'd been linked to by two sites who had fisked my piece with a very learned, very knowledgeable argument - not a rant - against my piece. There were 26 comments added to those, and I continued adding to them myself.

"I think it's very interesting that the piece is not just dead in black and white - the debate moves on."

Mr Pollard also referred to 'dowdification' - deliberately omitting words or phrases to change the meaning of a quote. The term was coined by US bloggers to describe New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd; she is alleged to have heavily altered a speech by President Bush to create a misleading impression of what was said.

"This is an example of how terminology can move from the blogosphere into the real world. It's a phenomenon that's going to have a huge impact over here," said Mr Pollard.

"Hacks like me in the past have been used to getting away with writing whatever we want."

The traditional response from journalists, he said, is to ignore the bulging post bags of comment in reponse to articles. "But when you get an email, it is very difficult not to respond immediately."

Speaker Stephen Clift, who established the world's first e-democracy website in 1994, said the cult of blogging is changing international citizenship - particularly in countries where free speech is limited.

"In places like China, Iran and the UAE, people are publishing on the web and authorities are beginning to realise.

"People will die because of weblogs," he claimed.

The 'tool' of the weblog is still in its infancy as far as UK politics is concerned. Only two British MPs currently have weblogs, and the format remains a mystery to most UK politicians.

Given that several MPs have recently been pushing a campaign to establish a direct email address for the Prime Minister, it will doubtless be some time before the format of blogging is fully exploited by the government.

Tom Watson, MP for West Bromwich, was the first UK MP to establish a weblog. He was particularly excited to learn about 'mo-blogging' - contributing to a weblog via mobile phone - as it means he could add to his own blog in real time while sitting in the House of Commons.

Mr Watson told the room how he has to leave the chamber and 'pop to the library' if he needs to add to his blog in parliament. On the way, he occasionally bumps into Richard Allan - the second UK MP to start a blog - if something particularly interesting happens in the house.

Mr Watson said that he has not yet started to receive instructions from Labour party spin doctors dictating the content for his site, although he did concede that it was only a matter of time.

"At the moment whips have no comprehension of what weblogs are, let alone how to use them. Blogs are totally below the radar screen," he said.

Richard Allan, Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam, said that his blog has developed two different types of audience - his geographical constituency and his virtual constituency. "Blogs get MPs beyond the terminology. Hopefully they will replace the traditional MP website so that the public can see the real person," he said.

That observation was echoed by James Crabtree, director of e-democracy think-tank VoxPolitics - the organiser of the event.

In an introduction to the event, he wrote: "In 1994 the first British politician got a website. By 2003 most politicians have one.

"In 2003 the first British politician got a blog. By 2010, we think most politicians will have one.

"We believe that blogs can help to introduce a more open and relaxed tone of voice to politics, which encourages debate. If blogs help to do only this, their contribution to a renewed political conversation will have been immense."

See also:
http://www.voxpolitics.com/
http://www.stephenpollard.net/
http://www.tom-watson.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/comment/story/0,12449,998682,00.html

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).