Election blog gives Guardian readers a voice

Guardian Unlimited has rolled out a new blog to cover the UK's general election, announced today for 5 May.

Four key writers will be producing the blog with contributions from specialist correspondents throughout the campaign.

News and politics editor Tom Happold said that the blog will be an important part of the Guardian's coverage, encouraging readers to contribute to the site and discuss political issues.

"During the general election, some of the country will stop what they are doing and talk about politics," he told dotJournalism.

"The spirit behind this blog is that we want to be part of that conversation."

The 'Blogwatch' feature will display the latest headlines from a range of political blogs. Readers will also be encouraged to report back on 'doorstep challenges' - putting tricky questions to canvassers on the campaign trail. The Folksonomic Zeitgeist features alongside all Guardian and Observer blog entries, using keywords to give a visual representation of popular topics.

The blog will complement the Guardian's main news coverage, analysis and policy guides. The site has also published a detailed survey of MPs' voting habits and opinions on key issues including the invasion of Iraq, identity cards and detention of subjects without trial.

Political parties spend millions of pounds on postal campaigns said Mr Happold, but could appeal more directly to the electorate by ditching propaganda and providing user-friendly, comprehensive information on their own websites. Blogs would be just one way of making political issues more accessible, he said.

"If Alastair Campbell did a weblog you could guarantee huge numbers of people would read it - he's a great writer with lots of interesting things to say," said Mr Happold.

"It would be one of the few bits of Labour publicity that people would read."

The Guardian's web readership has grown to more than 9.8 million unique users per month, while monthly print circulation has dropped to around 366,000. The site saw significant growth in traffic after the 2001 terrorist attacks and the invasion of Iraq; statistics for January 2004 showed that 39 per cent of traffic to the Guardian site was from the US.

'Flatter' coverage by US papers may be part of the reason why blogs have become so successful in the States, said Mr Happold.

"US newspapers are quite flat and dull, so blogs moved in to fill that vacuum," he said.

"The UK doesn't necessarily need that many vicious, right-wing bloggers because some of the columnists on the Daily Mail and the Sun already fulfil that role."

More news from dotJournalism:
FactCheck site to sniff out political spin
Today site recruiting election bloggers
Politics ezine blossoms
Reuters rolls out US election strategy

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