Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Slugger Awards 2008: Political bloggers
Today we announce the category of political blogger of the year. Anyone who blogs consistently on Northern Irish poltiics - Slugger will not be included in the running. One of the great advantages of the blogosphere is it’s capacity to generate the kind of high level (and sometimes low level) discourse that virtually impossible to to generate by older more traditional media.
It constitutes, as Jeff Jarvis points out in his blog today, a new creative class of citizen writer/citizen reporter/citizen photographer that has the capacity to shake up old assumptions, turn them over and offer new and diverse views of old problems.
It’s still the case that far beyond the shores/borders of Northern Ireland, no nation’s political class has yet found a convincing way to meet the challenges of that new, disaggregated and difficult to control class of political commenters (how do you control a photographer whom you don’t even know is a photographer.
In the last year, there has been a slow flowering of new bloggers from right across the political spectrum. And some older ones who are clearly beginning to find the measure of their own stride. People like Mairtin O’Muilleoir, Jenny from South Belfast, Three Thousands Versts of Lonliness, Burke’s Corner, Will Crawley, A Tangled Web, El BLogador, O’Conall Street or Belfast Stoop.
The key to this award will be to make sure that we cast out net widely and bring any new bloggers who are quietly plying their trade out there. If you have your own blog, pass on the word. Ask your readers to tell us why they think your blog should win it. All the nomination threads will be kept open until judging concludes around mid September.
Usual Slugger Award rules here – negativity gets deleted on sight.
Mick Fealty @ 12:41 PM
Ciaran at Draw Breath deserves a mention also. His analysis is always well thought out and remains studiously calm.
Posted by on Aug 08, 2008 @ 11:10 AMSecond all that Malcolm (Where have you been btw - America?)
Posted by on Aug 08, 2008 @ 12:31 PMDewi @ 02:31 PM:
Thanks for the concurrence: much as I appreciate and applaud most of the other nominations, my admiration for Nevin is that he has been ground-breaking, especially over the last year, creatively campaigning without being factional. There, that’s two bites at the cherry.
As for the appended personal question: three weeks around NYC and Boston, then a week between Nice (for a wedding) and Piedmont (in part to look at railway trains). Hence the neglect of my own site, and failure to troll the likes of Iain Dale. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible, or when spleen is restored to operating temperature and pressure: gripes likely to include airports, airlines, Blasted Boris and the all-pervading bloody Olympics.
Posted by on Aug 08, 2008 @ 01:40 PMIs docha nach mbeidh rannóg ann do bhlaganna Gaeilge an iarraidh seo ach ba mhór an trua mura mbeadh leitheidí <a>An Druma Mór</a> nó<a>iGaeilge</a> [mo bhlag féin] san áireamh.
Basically. presumably Irish language blogs are not going to be included in this competition but if they were, I would recommend An Druma Mór - see above link - and iGaeilge, my own blog.
Posted by on Aug 08, 2008 @ 02:05 PMAs seen as we are nominating our own blogs I nominate mine: http://www.darrenjprior.com.
Posted by on Aug 08, 2008 @ 08:27 PMI hope the blogs below don’t mind being categorised and nominated for a political blogger award, but I reckon they shouldn’t be overlooked.
http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs.asp?bid=25
http://www.impalapublications.com/blog
http://modoherty.wordpress.com
http://nalil.blogspot.com
http://disillusionedliberal.wordpress.comI’ve noticed that blogs which are termed as ‘political blogs ‘are a very small percentage of the blogs now being posted regularly from and about Northern Ireland. It’s good to see the Northern Irish blogosphere growing though now that I’ve over 100 on my Google Reader list I might have to miss commenting on some of them soon.There are also new blogs being added regularly to http://www.ringsurf.com/ring/Cybez which if your a blogger and fit the criteria you are welcome to join.
Posted by on Aug 09, 2008 @ 10:29 AMMany thanks for the plaudits, folks. NALIL blog is the public face of a group that is mainly interested in family history. I discovered about a year ago that it was very easy to put a blog together and was invited to take charge.
The current affairs dimension arose at the time of the Ian ‘I know of him’ Paisley jnr affair and in no time at all I became part of the story as well as one of its researchers.
The Rathlin Island ferry saga could well be part of a much more significant story as it involves two Stormont ministries and, apparently, Ministers and officials from Edinburgh and Dublin too. I’m intrigued by the studied disinterest of most of the main stream media :)
Posted by on Aug 10, 2008 @ 07:45 AMNevin I have seen you latest add to the blog.Are you perhaps suggesting that Moyle District Council pushed Mr O Driscolls lease through, without the normal procedures?
It does seem odd though that Calmca would tender for something if they were not going to be “allowed to”.
Were they aware of the extra funding available? as per Conor Murphy’s written answers of 24th June?
All seems rather bizarre!Posted by on Aug 10, 2008 @ 08:55 PMCN, I suspect that Moyle Councillors were not properly briefed about the lease.
There’s something very iffy about the whole tendering process. I’m heard that two of the tenderers weren’t even asked to take part in the second tender. I understand the second tender was advertised in the widely read (not) local newspapers :)
The tenders asserted that there would be no capital spending so the £7.5m mentioned in the MIP document would have been a massive unexpected bonus. Perhaps Minister Murphy will make a statement about this and other contradictions.
Posted by on Aug 10, 2008 @ 11:10 PMI look forward to when you add a N.I.B.L.E. (Norn Irish Blogger Living Elsewhere) category for those of us who occasionally blog about politics back in the homeland.
Posted by on Aug 11, 2008 @ 09:22 AMwhat about Mark Davenport’s diaries? or are corporate blogs ruled out? if so, O’Conall Street’s link to PR giant Weber Shanwick excludes it
Posted by on Sep 27, 2008 @ 11:25 AMEoghan Ó Néill over at andrumamor.nireblog.com
Concubhar Ó Liatháin at igaeilge.wordpress.com
Posted by on Oct 02, 2008 @ 02:45 PMI’ve just come across a blog belonging to Daithi McKay. I don’t agree with his politics one bit and am not nominating him but are there any other folks on the hill who have set up a blog?
http://www.daithimckay.blogspot.com/
Posted by on Oct 02, 2008 @ 03:42 PMEoghan Ó Néill Uí 1.
andrumamor.nireblog.com
Caighdeán an-ard.
Posted by on Oct 02, 2008 @ 03:54 PMthe up & coming politician award?? really, is this a piss take?
Posted by on Jan 05, 2009 @ 03:47 PMPolitical bloggers are coming more and more relevant as the media control prevents many “real” stories from coming out.
Posted by on Jan 08, 2009 @ 02:44 AMCitizen journalism and political blogging a revolution for people who got it in them but do not get the platform.
Posted by on Feb 11, 2009 @ 06:53 AM
