I will be otherwise disposed for the next few days, so you won’t hear a lot from me for the next few days. However, I hope the rest of the team will keep you up to date with the latest from Northern Ireland. Mick FealtyMick 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. …
A quick catchup on other sites that have been kind enough to mention Slugger recently. If we don’t mention your site let us know! We get a mention on: Anita Roddick‘s modest blogroll (scroll down); Chris Hitchens ; Bloggerheads and the Sorryday campaign for the Vacuum.Not forgetting Ed Hillan (from Randalstown!); Sheila O’Malley; Harry’s Place; Malachi O’Doherty; Strange Attractor; Ganching; Young Fogey; Robert Corr (and a prize description of Slugger); Andrew Muir; Ciaran O’Kelly. And many thanks to Scots Gaelic …
Last Tuesday night the Grand Committee Room in Westminster played host to an impressive range of speakers, each reflecting on the role of the Internet in the recent US Presidential campaign. Slugger was there to cover it… Who uses the net for politics? Professor Stephen Coleman of the Oxford Internet Institute, drew from research he’d commissioned from YouGov. Days before the US poll, a sample of 3,500 Internet users, was asked to rank the importance of various sources using a …
A timely intervention by Malachi O’Doherty in The Guardian argues that a facile row about photographs, however heavily promoted by the media, was not the real issue – “The DUP and Sinn Fein are arch political pragmatists, who would never let pride or self-respect get in their way.“A quick glance through the press round-up in the same paper however, reveals that he should, perhaps, have taken into account more local journalists too, most of whom were also ready to accept …
YOU’VE less than an hour and a half if you want to bid for the friendship of this broke or desperate Belfast woman. So far, the top bid is £31. The price of friendship isn’t much these days(!) Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
THE Tallrite Blog is back after a break. Belfast Gonzosluggerotoole.com
There are fears amongst BBC NI employees that the decentralising reforms announced by the new Director General Mark Thompson will not leave BBC NI unaffected. Figures are not yet clear on NI, but Scotland stands to lose “…£24 million – 15 per cent – from its annual budget of £160 million, to be phased in over three years”. The Guardian has an shortened version of Thompson’s New Statesman lecture given last night. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He …
I’ve only met Ian Paisley face to face the once. That occasion was memorable partly for the moment I turned my back to walk away, when gave his distinctly unwhispered advice to a colleague, that he should never trust the press because however pleasant they are to your face, there’s always a sting in the tail.A noteable change in the last year has been the press’s attitude towards him and his party. Last night Chris Thornton talked about a born …
NORTHERN Ireland has one of the most competitive markets for the morning newspapers in these islands, if not the world, with between 15 and 20 titles daily. The Guardian takes a look at the current state of play, and how it is likely to change with the introduction of a new morning tabloid edition of the Belfast Telegraph (although you can buy the current broadsheet before noon) and Daily Ireland.The threat of Daily Ireland from the Andersonstown News Group has …
Interesting piece on the blogger who’s ahead of the field in terms of making it pay. And the secret of his success: “I wanted to publish news and gossip that’s analogous to the conversation two journalists would have in the pub,” says Denton, who was a foreign correspondent for the FT for eight years. “It used to offend me that the best stories you heard were over a drink. The juicy stories that no one dared put into print, or …
Malachi O’Doherty, in today’s Belfast Telegraph, admits that he risks sounding like the only journalist who hasn’t got the inside story, but by ignoring the hype, and actually attempting some analysis of the situation, he produces a very plausible interpretation of the latest, and continuing, round of spin and humbug. Pete Baker
That’s the view of Liam Collins in the Sunday Independent of the claims by Lá’s editor that political pressure forced Foras na Gaeilge to block funding for the Irish language daily. It certainly ruffled a few feathers of the posters here. But… not so, says Foras na Gaeilge. Their PRO, Brendan Mac Craith, is saying that Lá actually applied under the wrong scheme and a special committee has been set up to devise a more suitable application. (try to look …
This week’s issue of The Village carries a piece from me on Slugger and the relationship between blogging, journalism and politics. Unfortunately the magazine doesn’t put it’s content up on the web, but it does have a (slow loading) list of outlets were it can be bought. I’ve only seen the first issue published on 2nd October this year, but it was an excellent read for anyone plugged into politics, north or south. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. …
And you may well have heard it here first! In the US it’s even bigger. News too that Microsoft belatedly is catching the bug. BTW, Northern Ireland has its first (albeit unelected) politician blogger, Allan Leonard, the Alliance candidate for Laganside. Mick FealtyMick 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
Mentioned in comments on a thread yesterday, the ‘Make Love Not Spam’ anti-spam screensaver is proving very, very popular, or, as the BBC puts it, “getting out of control”. OK, so “Two of the [spam] sites being bombarded by data have been completely knocked offline”… and the problem is? Pete Baker
One story doing the rounds at the moment is that some sections of the IRA are happy with the package as laid out by the two governments, whilst others are not. We have no idea of the veracity of the claim, but will keep you posted if it proves to be more than speculation. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a …
The Guardian carries an account of the career of Dan Rather, anchorman on CBS Evening News for the last 23 years, after his declaration of intent to stand aside on the 24th anniversary of taking on that role in March next year. The role of bloggers in that decision merits only a few lines in the report, but it was their criticism of his report on Bush’s National Guard service record that led directly to Rather being pushed.Perhaps the Guardian …
John Fay is asking for voluntary subscribers to his excellent resource, Newshound. I imagine most of our readers are regular users of Newshound as John does an excellent job bringing to the public internet domain articles that would otherwise go unread or unnoticed. It’s an argument that resonates with us.He’s been getting up at about six every morning, seven days a week to put together a resource that were it produced privately and distributed only amongst MPs, politicians, PRs, business …
The Internet’s been with us for over ten years, and still it seems to inspire awe and fear in those least familiar with it. My colleague David Steven’s been having some problems giving money to his favourite charity via PayPal. Mick FealtyMick 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
Like most readers of Slugger I’ve developed something of a love/hate relationship with TypeKey, our chosen solution to torrents of comment spam sent out by a multitude of unscrupulous companies. I hope that our ongoing upgrade will finally bring in those people whose firewalls currently will not let them post freely on Slugger.I notice that most people have chosen not to input details on their typekey homepages. That’s a shame, because it could be a means of finding out a …
