Slugger picks up New Media gong…

The ceremony in central London was clipped, to the point and professional – with the possible single exception of a massive BBC camera plunked right in the middle of the audience. They’d turned up in the vague hope that keynote speaker and Leader of the House of Commons Peter Hain was going to say something embarassing/interesting about the Butler Report. He didn’t; so none of us will be on the Beeb today!

In awarding us with the fine trophy (my colleague Brent Jones has promised a novelty photo to put on Slugger later), they outlined their reasons for giving Slugger the Award:

“It is written in a way that aids the specialist and general reader alike, and it has gained a significant following. The judges agreed that it is an independent, informative voice that enhnaces democratic debate. With humour and a deft touch, Slugger O’Toole demonstrates that difficult issues can be discussed in a “grown-up” way on the net”.

Thanks:

– to Abi for keeping us going in through our inevitable techno crises

– River Path for their invaluable and consistent support, our blogging regulars and irregulars

– Movable Type for getting us over to the new version of their software in what one of their team called a miracle download; it took nearly two days to transfer the site it’s become so huge.

– Our fellow bloggers who keep on reading and linking to us even when NI has apparently slipped beneath the media waves.

– And our many commenters who by largely playing the ball rather than the man have helped make Slugger a compelling read for our readers!

– And many many thanks to our team of bloggers and moderators who have risen to the challenge of writing to a tough and knowledgeable audience and been there (often at unsocial hours of night and day) to keep her lit!

Have I left anyone out?

Anyway, all this niceness is getting too much. I’m off again to the Larmer Tree Festival for weekend and in London on Monday at couple of seminars. I’ll be back on Tuesday. Gonzo is off on a well deserved holiday. Aaron’s around and maybe we’ll have some news from Philip and the Irish cricket scene?

However blogging will be slow. When I get back I hope we’ll be adding to our blogging team, including our first female blogger! And in a deal literally worth pounds, we hope to bring you news of the first ever Slugger teeshirts deal!

In the meantime, thanks for reading Slugger O’Toole!!

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty