A thousands thanks to Iain Dale for his spectacular plug of my 
blog on Woman’s Hour today.
He was taking part in a discussion on political blogs after Hazel Blears accused political bloggers of undermining democracy.
The ill informed Communities Minister made a speech to the Hansard Society saying:
“Mostly, political blogs are written by people with disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.
“Until political blogging ‘adds value’ to our political culture, by allowing new voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair.”
While I don’t match her description (maybe one day I will scoop a scandal) it’s clear that some bloggers have got under her skin, particularly the gossipy Guido Fawkes. But she should not insult the intelligence of readers. Anyone can make up their own mind up about what they read on a blog. Instead of becoming hysterical, Blears should try engaging in a dialogue with those who criticise her and her government.
Just like a puppy is not just for Christmas, neither should politicians only write blogs in the run up to an election, which Hazel did – very badly – during the Labour Party deputy leadership in 2007. At the time, I described it as thus: “Hazel Blears’ blog was quite dreary and did not allow comments to be posted.”
Why not give it another try Hazel? Try and win people round rather than criticise them.
What Blears has done is highlighted the fear Labour has of right wing blogs and how influential they might be. The Labour Party has no Iain Dale to fight its corner, it has been poorly represented by left wing bloggers.
Bloggers will always hold government and politicians to account. And Blears had better get used to the idea. According to Wikipedia, she has never voted on a transparent Parliament. Need I say more?
Back to my mention on the radio today. Iain was asked to plug a blog and, because he was on Woman’s Hour, he chose mine, describing it as “very engaging” with “tremendously moving” posts about social issues and my personal life. You can listen to the radio discussion here. This all came as a complete surprise to me, so thanks again Iain.
Yah boo sucks to Dreary Bleary!
WW, “Dreary Bleary”, you have it in one!
Well good for Iain Dale as I for one think the plug deserved.
“Hazel Blears’ blog was quite dreary and did not allow comments to be posted.”
Well that just says it all – she doesn’t WANT TO hear the voice of the people, SHE WANTS CONTROL.
Sorry about shouting, Ellee, but I feel so strongly about this – that blogging *is* democracy. You see our current political process allows us to vote for the candidates chosen for us by the parties. That process is not fully democratic, especially when MP’s are thereafter threatened with loosing their income if they don’t toe the party line.
Clearly she wants to tell people what they should think, and then doesn’t allow comments. Nuff said.
It’s damn cheeky when politicians blame bloggers for creating a cynical political climate. I have so many examples of spin where the government promised things that were already happening, or announced news twice (but in different ways). You could also point to things like how Blair pushed the argument for war being about WMDs, and within days of invading, had switched the tone towards regime change.
If politicians are getting wound up by Guido, then I suggest that he’s doing a good job.
Philipa and Tim, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Acleron, nice to hear from you, whether we agree or disagree, you will always be welcome.
Full text published on my blog.
Here:
http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/11/06/hazel-blears-talk-to-the-hansard-society-about-political-engagement-here-is-the-text/
The bits in the papers were the “stir it up” nuggets.
Sigh.
Wow that is brilliant, well done Ellee!
I don’t know about the left/right issue. But bloggers need to know how to write so that people understand their message, make sure their blog is read and also allow feedback and a forum for discussion.
Congratulations Ellee. That is wonderful. You must be delighted and it is well deserved. Too bad this did not come a day or so ago and I would have put it at DTB instead of your Food waste post.
This plug by is well deserved. Ive been popping onto your blog every couple of days now for the last month or so, and have been thoroughly enjoying your posts.
Keep up the good work.
Hi I was just going to give my congratulations as well. I have been writing about politics on mine (but only moaning because Hillary didn’t get in) I think I have offended every American reader I have as noone comments any more…
Hazel Blears. Do you think her accent is for real? Or is she totally hamming it up? I think the latter
;->…
Hello Ellie,
I heard the Woman’s Hour plug too, and cheered! it would be really interesting to hear if you have noticed any increase in your traffic since that program went out–everyone loves good PR, but its results are so rarely quantifiable. But with all the cheap, free web metrics software around (do you use Google Analytics?) it should be fairly easy to find out how many new visitors Ian’s R4 mention has brought you.
David, thank you for making my day with your “cheer”! I honestly don’t follow my hits that closely. I do have Google Analytics, but haven’t checked it. Maybe I should. My StatCounter was down that day too. I guess my hits would have soared following my plug. I do know that there have been days when I have had 1,000 hits, but I’m too busy now to spend time browsing through all these links.
[…] I was one of Iain’s first readers as I followed his blog during the 2005 general election when he was a North Norfolk parliamentary candidate. And when I started blogging at the beginning of 2006, he supported me by recommending me on his website and has highlighted several of my stories over the years in his regular Daley Dozen posts which was guaranteed to drive extra traffic my way, as well as kindly recommending me on Radio 4 Woman’s Hour. […]