Political blog
Encyclopedia
A political blog is a common type of blog
that comments on politics
. In liberal democracies
the right to criticize the government
without interference is considered an important element of free speech. In other jurisdictions bloggers use the uncensored
nature of the Internet
to bypass state
controlled news media
but as a result may find themselves persecuted
.
. Although professional journalists
covering mainstream media
news
are often pursuing objectivity, political bloggers openly state their personal opinions. But according to a book published by Oxford University Press
, research by Brigham Young University
political scientist Professor Richard Davis found that most people who closely follow both political blogs and traditional news media tend to believe that the content on blogs is more accurate. The study also found that blog readers still get most of their news from regular news sources, but they suspect habitual bias
. Data from this study is supported by the propaganda model
. Stating political bias at the outset is therefore seen as being more honest
. People also have a tendency to follow political blogs that agree with their personal opinions.
Whereas some political blogs offer new insight and accurate reporting, others openly commit libel and slander. Overall, political blogs encourage readers to evaluate their media
. Above all, political blogs have unquestionably shaped the political arena including the voters and the political leaders, especially in the United States.
There are differing views as to whether political blogs constitute political participation. One view is that political blogs are used as a public forum for discussing the community, candidates, policy and voting. Another view is that political blogs are not about political participation but are merely online ‘soapboxes’ for people’s political expression. However there is correlation between readers of political blogs with voting, support of a political candidate and attempts to persuade others to vote a particular way. The readers of political blogs are also able to interact with the author through the comment section. A reader can contribute new information relevant to the blog post thus allowing readers to help shape and build the story.
as well. Some political blogs heavily feature original commentary, with occasional hyperlinks to back up the blogger's talking point
s. Many of these blogs comment on whatever interests the author, as befits the blogger's political leanings, personal knowledge base, and momentary interests. Arizona political blogger, Gayle Plato-Besley, credits the blogging medium as jumpstarting grassroots activism: "My column reaches local activists and concerned citizens. The readers and the writers become active participants in the political process."
One notable subspecies of political blog is the watch blog, a blog which sets out to criticize what the author considers systematic errors or bias in an online newspaper or news site — or perhaps even by a more popular blogger. These blogs occupy a niche market, although a scandal involving their chosen subject may elevate them to momentary importance.
for "breaking stories" or potentially ruining the reputations of politicians or journalists. They have also not generally attracted the same mainstream media attention which comes along with those activities, although in July 2007 the Murdoch owned The Australian
used an editorial to attack the credibility of a number of blogs which had called into question the interpretations of opinion poll results by one of the paper's columnists. A directory of Australian political blogs can be found here.
are Jussi Halla-aho
, who has become famous for his texts that criticize immigration
and multiculturalism
, Green League
politicians Osmo Soininvaara
and Jyrki Kasvi
, J. P. Roos, professor at the University of Helsinki
, and Erkki Tuomioja
(Social Democratic Party
). In May 2008 Finnish political blogger and extreme right activist Seppo Lehto
was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison on several accounts of libel, slander of ethnic groups and violating peace of religion in his blogs. Among the plaintiffs were court officials of his previous trials, left wing politicians as well as a prominent African resident of Lehto's home town Tampere
.
's was among the first national governments to set up an official blog. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs started the country's video blog as well as its political blog. The Foreign Ministry also held a microblogging
press conference via Twitter
about its war with Hamas
, with Consul
David Saranga
answering questions live from the worldwide public in common text-messaging abbreviations. The questions and answers were later posted on IsraelPolitik
, the country's official political blog.
and Sedition Act
imposed by the Malaysian government, the Internet is often used as a form of media to circumvent the restrictions. On January 11, 2007, 2 Malaysian bloggers, Jeff Ooi
and Ahirudin Attan
, were sued by the New Straits Times Press
(NSTP), a government controlled newspaper. The Malaysian court ordered Ooi to remove more than 10 postings on his blog that the NSTP claimed were libellous by January 17. Ooi is prohibited from republishing those postings in his blog or on the Internet until the disposal of the defamation suit filed by New Straits Times Press (NSTP). The lawsuits are the first of their kind in Malaysia.
In recent years it has gain traction as the leading form of alternative media available for the public to voice out dissent and criticism against the Malaysian government. One example of the use of political blogs is the successful organisation of a pro-democracy rally, 2007 Bersih Rally
which managed to gather over 40,000 participants although it was declared illegal by the ruling government.
to many bloggers.
political critics blog. The blog first appeared on the Internet in February 2011. Tunç Siper's location is İstanbul
.
has been recognised as a potential political force since the spring of 2008, when protests
against a proposed new surveillance and intelligence law (the so-called FRA law
) within the blogosphere contributed to putting the issue on the top of the news agenda in Sweden and forced the Government to make concessions in order to win support for its proposal in the Swedish Parliament. Debates surrounding issues such as data privacy, copyright, file-sharing and the surveillance society have continued to be influenced by the blogosphere to a high degree. Political blogs operated on a professional basis include Politikerbloggen which is syndicated by TV company TV4 and which includes gossip, news, analysis and opinion pieces. A site focusing only on the presentation of opinion pieces is Newsmill.
has a long tradition. Direct democracy can be defined as a form or system of democracy giving citizens an extraodinary amount of participation in the legislation process and granting them a maximum of political self-determination. The origins of Switzerland's modern system of Direct Democracy with formalized opinion polls and frequent referendums lie in the experimental phase of democracy in the 19th century when Switzerland was surrounded by monarchies on the European continent that showed little to none enthusiasm for democracy. Political blogging in Switzerland shows a wide variety of political opinions. A well known political blog in Switzerland is Daily Talk.
and ConservativeHome
on the right with Liberal Conspiracy
, LabourList
and Left Foot Forward
on the left. Although the right-wing bloggers were previously seen to predominate - both in terms of traffic and influence - the left has been credited with a resurgence with the success of newer blogs such as LabourList
and Left Foot Forward
.
Although the influence of political blogs on the government is growing this has been accompanied by criticism of their content. A former leading adviser to the government has criticised their anti-establishment nature for fuelling a "crisis" in politics stating that there should be more emphasis on working together to solve problems rather than making hostile and conflicting demands on politicians. Some bloggers are blamed for encouraging citizens to remain in a "perpetual state of self-righteous rage", behaving like "teenagers" who are "increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government." The director of the Press Complaints Commission
has called for a voluntary code of conduct similar to that governing newspaper
s and magazine
s due to the current lack of redress for those angered by their content.
, the top ten political blogs in the UK are:
. Political blogs in the US, either published in the bloggers' own domains or interest-specific blogging platforms such as Blogster
, often have an open and well-defined liberal or conservative bias.
The first major scandal that blogs participated in involved remarks made by then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
, when the senator remarked that U.S. Senator
and former presidential candidate Strom Thurmond
, who ran on a segregationist platform in 1948, would have made a good president. The continued attention of bloggers, such as Josh Marshall
, kept the story alive and drew media attention not only to the event itself, but Lott's previous comments along the same lines and association with groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens
. Research by a Brigham Young University political scientist, Richard Davis, found supportive data that also suggests political blogs have become an echo chamber
that extends the shelf life of news stories.
Political blogs attracted further attention as a result of their use by two political candidates in 2003: Howard Dean
and Wesley Clark
. Both gained political buzz on the Internet, and particularly among bloggers, before they were taken seriously as candidates by traditional media outlets. Joe Trippi
, Dean's campaign manager, made the Internet a particular focus of the campaign. Both candidates stumbled in the end, but were, at one time or another, thought of as front runners for the Democratic nomination. Senator John Kerry
, the eventual Democratic nominee in 2004, maintained a blog on his own campaign site, as did his opponent, President George W. Bush
.
Conservative bloggers assisted in President Bush's 2004 re-election by criticizing a CBS 60 Minutes
story in the final weeks of the general election campaign, which purported to have new evidence of favoritism toward Bush during his National Guard in the 1970s. Blogs such as Little Green Footballs
and Powerline
raised questions about the authenticity of CBS's documents, which were followed up by traditional media, until CBS admitted the documents could not be verified and retracted the accusations. This incident not only fed into conservative claims of "liberal media bias," it also helped to defuse questions about Bush's Guard service as a campaign issue.
A significant instance of political blogs influencing politics occurred during the 2006 Virginia Senate campaign. In that campaign, S. R. Sidarth, who is Indian-American and was acting as a "tracker" for challenger Jim Webb's
senate campaign, was sent to video record incumbent republican Senator George Allen
during campaign stops. During one such campaign stop, Sadith recorded Senator Allen calling him a "macaca". The term refers to a species of monkey, and is regarded by some as an ethnic slur. The video was posted on the popular video-sharing site YouTube
. The story was picked up by local media, and then by national media, due to heavy attention by blogs such as the liberal blog Daily Kos
. The media attention has been widely cited as a key reason why Senator Allen was defeated by now-Senator Jim Webb. One consequence of the macaca event was to end Senator Allen's presidential ambitions. In addition, the defeat of Senator Allen was enough to give senate democrats a one-vote senate majority when the 110th Congressional term began.
Political blogs have also had drastic implications on political leaders themselves. Some political leaders have greatly benefited from broad audience base the internet provides. One such example is Howard Dean of Vermont, who raised unprecedented campaign funds via the internet through the use of grassroots blogs and his own website. On the contrary, some politicians have greatly suffered due to the increased exposure political blogs provide. Former United States President George Bush was frequently followed by blog sites online. In other cases, political blogs can serve as comic relief and are seemingly harmless to government officials.
Bloggers have also taken it upon themselves to promote and help finance candidates whom they believe are not being properly supported by the party establishment. Such support from bloggers was cited as a critical factor in the surprise victory of Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown
in the 2010 special election. Bloggers in the Brown race promoted a moneybomb
which raised over $10 million for the candidate
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
that comments on politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. In liberal democracies
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
the right to criticize the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
without interference is considered an important element of free speech. In other jurisdictions bloggers use the uncensored
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
nature of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
to bypass state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
controlled news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
but as a result may find themselves persecuted
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
.
Features and reception
Political blogs are often considered to have a stated political biasBias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
. Although professional journalists
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
covering mainstream media
Mainstream media
Mainstream media are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter...
news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
are often pursuing objectivity, political bloggers openly state their personal opinions. But according to a book published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, research by Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
political scientist Professor Richard Davis found that most people who closely follow both political blogs and traditional news media tend to believe that the content on blogs is more accurate. The study also found that blog readers still get most of their news from regular news sources, but they suspect habitual bias
Political agenda
A political agenda is a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate....
. Data from this study is supported by the propaganda model
Propaganda model
The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that states how propaganda, including systemic biases, function in mass media...
. Stating political bias at the outset is therefore seen as being more honest
Honesty
Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft....
. People also have a tendency to follow political blogs that agree with their personal opinions.
Whereas some political blogs offer new insight and accurate reporting, others openly commit libel and slander. Overall, political blogs encourage readers to evaluate their media
Media (communication)
In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
. Above all, political blogs have unquestionably shaped the political arena including the voters and the political leaders, especially in the United States.
There are differing views as to whether political blogs constitute political participation. One view is that political blogs are used as a public forum for discussing the community, candidates, policy and voting. Another view is that political blogs are not about political participation but are merely online ‘soapboxes’ for people’s political expression. However there is correlation between readers of political blogs with voting, support of a political candidate and attempts to persuade others to vote a particular way. The readers of political blogs are also able to interact with the author through the comment section. A reader can contribute new information relevant to the blog post thus allowing readers to help shape and build the story.
Types
Most political blogs are news driven, and as such political bloggers will link to articles from news web sites, often adding their own commentsColumnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
as well. Some political blogs heavily feature original commentary, with occasional hyperlinks to back up the blogger's talking point
Talking point
A talking point in debate or discourse is a succinct statement designed to persuasively support one side taken on an issue. Such statements can either be free standing or created as retorts to the opposition's talking points and are frequently used in public relations, particularly in areas heavy...
s. Many of these blogs comment on whatever interests the author, as befits the blogger's political leanings, personal knowledge base, and momentary interests. Arizona political blogger, Gayle Plato-Besley, credits the blogging medium as jumpstarting grassroots activism: "My column reaches local activists and concerned citizens. The readers and the writers become active participants in the political process."
One notable subspecies of political blog is the watch blog, a blog which sets out to criticize what the author considers systematic errors or bias in an online newspaper or news site — or perhaps even by a more popular blogger. These blogs occupy a niche market, although a scandal involving their chosen subject may elevate them to momentary importance.
Australia
These do not have the same notoriety as blogs in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for "breaking stories" or potentially ruining the reputations of politicians or journalists. They have also not generally attracted the same mainstream media attention which comes along with those activities, although in July 2007 the Murdoch owned The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
used an editorial to attack the credibility of a number of blogs which had called into question the interpretations of opinion poll results by one of the paper's columnists. A directory of Australian political blogs can be found here.
Denmark
All major newspapers have launched blogging communities in 2006-2009, on which politicians and commentators have their own blogs. They are linked from the newspapers' front pages.European Union
The European political blogosphere is very active. Beyond the official blogs of European Commissioners, you can also find a blogging platform dedicated to European political actors named Blogactiv. A full directory of European blogs can be found here http://www.bloggingportal.eu/ and a dedicated search motor based on Google CSE here.Finland
Probably the best known political bloggers in FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
are Jussi Halla-aho
Jussi Halla-aho
Jussi Kristian Halla-aho is a Finnish Slavic linguist, blogger and a politician for the True Finns party who has become well known for his essays criticising the humanitarian immigration and multiculturalism policies adopted in Finland.According to the newspaper Aamulehti, he is the best-known...
, who has become famous for his texts that criticize immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, Green League
Green League
The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
politicians Osmo Soininvaara
Osmo Soininvaara
Osmo Heikki Kristian Soininvaara is a Finnish politician and writer. He served as Minister of Health on Social Services in Lipponen's second cabinet between 14 April 2000 and 19 April 2002. He was the leader of the Finnish Green League party from 2001 to 2005...
and Jyrki Kasvi
Jyrki Kasvi
Jyrki Jouko Juhani Kasvi is a Finnish politician. He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League. In the Parliament he was most active in the Committee for the Future, which he represented in the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment network , related to...
, J. P. Roos, professor at the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
, and Erkki Tuomioja
Erkki Tuomioja
Erkki Sakari Tuomioja is the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament.Tuomioja is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, although his political views are thought to be more to the left than the party line. He is also a member of ATTAC...
(Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Finland
The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...
). In May 2008 Finnish political blogger and extreme right activist Seppo Lehto
Seppo Lehto
Seppo Olavi Lehto is a Finnish far right activist currently living in Tampere. The main theme of his activism is the return of Finnish territories ceded to the Soviet Union in World War II...
was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison on several accounts of libel, slander of ethnic groups and violating peace of religion in his blogs. Among the plaintiffs were court officials of his previous trials, left wing politicians as well as a prominent African resident of Lehto's home town Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
.
Israel
IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's was among the first national governments to set up an official blog. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs started the country's video blog as well as its political blog. The Foreign Ministry also held a microblogging
Microblogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
press conference via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
about its war with Hamas
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
, with Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
David Saranga
David Saranga
David Saranga is an Israeli diplomat and former Consul for Media and Public Affairs of Israel in the United States. Saranga was responsible for Israel’s image in the United States and was the liaison person of Israel to the American media...
answering questions live from the worldwide public in common text-messaging abbreviations. The questions and answers were later posted on IsraelPolitik
IsraelPolitik
IsraelPolitik is an official blog of the Consulate General of Israel in New York, and the second blog to be administered by the Israeli Consulate’s media and public affairs team. It was initiated by David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs, following the launch of isRealli, which was the...
, the country's official political blog.
Malaysia
Due to the strict media controls and censorship laws such as the Internal Security ActInternal Security Act (Malaysia)
The Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances...
and Sedition Act
Sedition Act (Malaysia)
The Sedition Act in Malaysia is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious. The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948...
imposed by the Malaysian government, the Internet is often used as a form of media to circumvent the restrictions. On January 11, 2007, 2 Malaysian bloggers, Jeff Ooi
Jeff Ooi
Ooi Chuan Aun , better known as Jeff Ooi, is a Malaysian IT consultant by profession, blogger, photographer and politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament for Jelutong in the 12th Malaysian Parliament.He is a well known for his criticism of Muslims and Islam in Malaysia...
and Ahirudin Attan
Ahirudin Attan
Ahirudin bin Attan, also known as Rocky Bru, is a Malaysian blogger, journalist and former editor of several New Straits Times Press publications, including the Business Times, The Malay Mail and The Sunday Mail...
, were sued by the New Straits Times Press
New Straits Times Press
The New Straits Times Press is a Malaysian conglomerate of publishing companies, owned by Media Prima. The NSTP publishes several newspapers, including the New Straits Times, The Malay Mail, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.-Origin:...
(NSTP), a government controlled newspaper. The Malaysian court ordered Ooi to remove more than 10 postings on his blog that the NSTP claimed were libellous by January 17. Ooi is prohibited from republishing those postings in his blog or on the Internet until the disposal of the defamation suit filed by New Straits Times Press (NSTP). The lawsuits are the first of their kind in Malaysia.
In recent years it has gain traction as the leading form of alternative media available for the public to voice out dissent and criticism against the Malaysian government. One example of the use of political blogs is the successful organisation of a pro-democracy rally, 2007 Bersih Rally
2007 Bersih rally
The 2007 Bersih Rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 10, 2007. The aim of this walk was to campaign for electoral reform...
which managed to gather over 40,000 participants although it was declared illegal by the ruling government.
Pakistan
These blogs are a combination of news-based and issue-oriented blogs. The only difference is that they focus on many different issues and present both news and analysis. In Pakistan, a major obstacle to this type of blogging is the threat from different political organization to whosoever writes against them. This threat acts as self-censorshipSelf-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
to many bloggers.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a country burdened with a civil war going for a period of more than 30 years. This highly politically conscious nation is the home for some of the most widely read political blogs in Asia.Turkey
Tunç Siper is a TurkishTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
political critics blog. The blog first appeared on the Internet in February 2011. Tunç Siper's location is İstanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Sweden
Political blogging in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
has been recognised as a potential political force since the spring of 2008, when protests
Criticism of the FRA law
The FRA law, a controversial anti-terrorist legislative package in Sweden, has been heavily criticized both in Sweden and elsewhere.- Political parties :...
against a proposed new surveillance and intelligence law (the so-called FRA law
FRA law
The FRA law is a Swedish legislative package that authorizes the state to warrantlessly wiretap all telephone and Internet traffic that crosses Sweden's borders...
) within the blogosphere contributed to putting the issue on the top of the news agenda in Sweden and forced the Government to make concessions in order to win support for its proposal in the Swedish Parliament. Debates surrounding issues such as data privacy, copyright, file-sharing and the surveillance society have continued to be influenced by the blogosphere to a high degree. Political blogs operated on a professional basis include Politikerbloggen which is syndicated by TV company TV4 and which includes gossip, news, analysis and opinion pieces. A site focusing only on the presentation of opinion pieces is Newsmill.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, direct democracyDirect democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
has a long tradition. Direct democracy can be defined as a form or system of democracy giving citizens an extraodinary amount of participation in the legislation process and granting them a maximum of political self-determination. The origins of Switzerland's modern system of Direct Democracy with formalized opinion polls and frequent referendums lie in the experimental phase of democracy in the 19th century when Switzerland was surrounded by monarchies on the European continent that showed little to none enthusiasm for democracy. Political blogging in Switzerland shows a wide variety of political opinions. A well known political blog in Switzerland is Daily Talk.
United Kingdom
The most prominent political blogs in the UK include Guido FawkesPaul Staines
Paul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political...
and ConservativeHome
ConservativeHome
Conservative Home is a British political website started by Tim Montgomerie prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign, that aims to represent UK grassroots Conservative opinion.-Editors:...
on the right with Liberal Conspiracy
Liberal Conspiracy
Liberal Conspiracy is a left wing political blog established in 2007 and edited by Sunny Hundal. Writing in the Guardian, Hundal claimed he set up the site to help "think past single-issue campaigns and work together to push a progressive agenda for Britain ... We have to rebuild the grassroots...
, LabourList
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
and Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward is a left wing political blog in the UK established in 2009 which was created and orginally edited by Will Straw, the son of Alice Perkins and Jack Straw, until December 2010. Straw was succeeded by Shamik Das, the current editor....
on the left. Although the right-wing bloggers were previously seen to predominate - both in terms of traffic and influence - the left has been credited with a resurgence with the success of newer blogs such as LabourList
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
and Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward is a left wing political blog in the UK established in 2009 which was created and orginally edited by Will Straw, the son of Alice Perkins and Jack Straw, until December 2010. Straw was succeeded by Shamik Das, the current editor....
.
Although the influence of political blogs on the government is growing this has been accompanied by criticism of their content. A former leading adviser to the government has criticised their anti-establishment nature for fuelling a "crisis" in politics stating that there should be more emphasis on working together to solve problems rather than making hostile and conflicting demands on politicians. Some bloggers are blamed for encouraging citizens to remain in a "perpetual state of self-righteous rage", behaving like "teenagers" who are "increasingly unwilling to be governed but not yet capable of self-government." The director of the Press Complaints Commission
Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission is a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC is funded by the annual levy it charges newspapers and magazines...
has called for a voluntary code of conduct similar to that governing newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s due to the current lack of redress for those angered by their content.
Notable blogs and bloggers
According to WikioWikio
Wikio News is a European online portal for news and blogs. It was launched on June 19, 2006 in France and is also available in other countries since 2007....
, the top ten political blogs in the UK are:
| Blog | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberal Conspiracy Liberal Conspiracy Liberal Conspiracy is a left wing political blog established in 2007 and edited by Sunny Hundal. Writing in the Guardian, Hundal claimed he set up the site to help "think past single-issue campaigns and work together to push a progressive agenda for Britain ... We have to rebuild the grassroots... link |
Broad left magazine-style site edited by Sunny Hundal Sunny Hundal Sunny Hundal is a British blogger.He was born in London to Sikh parents of Indian origin. He describes himself as a vegetarian and a strong environmentalist. He has a degree in Economics from Brunel University and has written articles for leading British newspapers including The Financial Times... . |
| 2 | Left Foot Forward Left Foot Forward Left Foot Forward is a left wing political blog in the UK established in 2009 which was created and orginally edited by Will Straw, the son of Alice Perkins and Jack Straw, until December 2010. Straw was succeeded by Shamik Das, the current editor.... link |
Founded by Will Straw, providing "evidence-based analysis on British politics, news and policy developments". |
| 3 | LabourList LabourList LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with... link |
Largest Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... -aligned blog. Founded by former spin doctor Derek Draper Derek Draper Derek William Draper is a former lobbyist, former editor of the LabourList website, and psychotherapist. As a political advisor during the 1990s he became widely known for his role in two political scandals, "Lobbygate" and "Smeargate".-Biography:Draper was educated at Southlands High School in... . |
| 4 | Guido Fawkes' Blog link | Influential anti-establishment blog created by libertarian Paul Staines Paul Staines Paul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political... . |
| 5 | Liberal Democrat Voice Liberal Democrat Voice Liberal Democrat Voice is a popular political blog, read by over 60,000 individual visitors per month specialising in British politics.The site was created by Rob Fenwick in September 2006... link |
Independent blog aligned to the Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... . |
| 6 | ConservativeHome's Tory Diary ConservativeHome Conservative Home is a British political website started by Tim Montgomerie prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign, that aims to represent UK grassroots Conservative opinion.-Editors:... link |
Founded and edited by Tim Montgomerie Tim Montgomerie Tim Montgomerie is best known as the co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice and as Editor of the ConservativeHome website, and has been described as "one of the most important Conservative activists of the past 20 years".... , previously chief of staff to Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003... . |
| 7 | Political Scrapbook Political Scrapbook Political Scrapbook is a left wing political blog. The site was described as "influential" by The Independent as and is viewed, along with outlets such as Left Foot Forward, as part of a cohort of British left-wing blogs which have attracted significant interest from the media... link |
Described as a left-of-centre equivalent of the longer established Guido Fawkes' Blog. |
| 8 | Labour Uncut link | Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... -aligned site edited by former journalist and MP for Birmingham Erdington Siôn Simon Siôn Simon Siôn Llewelyn Simon is a British Labour politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington from 2001 to 2010. Simon was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Creative Industries... . |
| 9 | ConservativeHome ConservativeHome Conservative Home is a British political website started by Tim Montgomerie prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election campaign, that aims to represent UK grassroots Conservative opinion.-Editors:... Platform link |
Platform section of the ConHome site. |
| 10 | Guardian Politics Blog The Guardian The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format... link |
The Guardian's blog on politics, politicians and political news |
United States
While many countries have political blogs, the influence of such blogs on political discourse is most prominent in US politicsPolitics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
. Political blogs in the US, either published in the bloggers' own domains or interest-specific blogging platforms such as Blogster
Blogster
Blogster is a blogging community that features specific-interest blogs. Blogster maintains an online community of users who publish content, images, video and more. Blogster members can network and collaborate by creating a blog, building a personalized profile, creating friend lists, commenting...
, often have an open and well-defined liberal or conservative bias.
The first major scandal that blogs participated in involved remarks made by then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, when the senator remarked that U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and former presidential candidate Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
, who ran on a segregationist platform in 1948, would have made a good president. The continued attention of bloggers, such as Josh Marshall
Josh Marshall
Joshua Micah Marshall is an American Polk Award-winning journalist who founded Talking Points Memo, which The New York Times Magazine called "one of the most popular and most respected sites" in the blogosphere...
, kept the story alive and drew media attention not only to the event itself, but Lott's previous comments along the same lines and association with groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens
Council of Conservative Citizens
The Council of Conservative Citizens is an American political organization that supports a large variety of conservative and paleoconservative causes in addition to white nationalism, and white separatism...
. Research by a Brigham Young University political scientist, Richard Davis, found supportive data that also suggests political blogs have become an echo chamber
Echo chamber
thumb|right|Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technologythumb|right|Hamilton Mausoleum has a spectacularly long lasting unplanned echoAn echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce echoing sounds, usually for recording purposes...
that extends the shelf life of news stories.
Political blogs attracted further attention as a result of their use by two political candidates in 2003: Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
and Wesley Clark
Wesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr., is a retired general of the United States Army. Graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later graduated from the...
. Both gained political buzz on the Internet, and particularly among bloggers, before they were taken seriously as candidates by traditional media outlets. Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi
Joe Trippi is a long-time American Democratic campaign worker and consultant. A mainstay in presidential politics, Trippi has worked on the presidential campaigns of Edward Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Dick Gephardt, Jerry Brown and most recently John Edwards...
, Dean's campaign manager, made the Internet a particular focus of the campaign. Both candidates stumbled in the end, but were, at one time or another, thought of as front runners for the Democratic nomination. Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, the eventual Democratic nominee in 2004, maintained a blog on his own campaign site, as did his opponent, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Conservative bloggers assisted in President Bush's 2004 re-election by criticizing a CBS 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
story in the final weeks of the general election campaign, which purported to have new evidence of favoritism toward Bush during his National Guard in the 1970s. Blogs such as Little Green Footballs
Little Green Footballs
Little Green Footballs is an American political blog run by web designer Charles Johnson.Media observers in the United States long described the site as "right wing", but since 2007, the site's emphasis has changed, such that "LGF has become better known for the various fights it picks with many...
and Powerline
Power Line
Power Line is an American political blog, providing news and commentary from a conservative point-of-view. It was originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together: John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff...
raised questions about the authenticity of CBS's documents, which were followed up by traditional media, until CBS admitted the documents could not be verified and retracted the accusations. This incident not only fed into conservative claims of "liberal media bias," it also helped to defuse questions about Bush's Guard service as a campaign issue.
A significant instance of political blogs influencing politics occurred during the 2006 Virginia Senate campaign. In that campaign, S. R. Sidarth, who is Indian-American and was acting as a "tracker" for challenger Jim Webb's
Jim Webb
James Henry "Jim" Webb, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Virginia. He is also an author and a former Secretary of the Navy. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
senate campaign, was sent to video record incumbent republican Senator George Allen
George Allen (U.S. politician)
George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...
during campaign stops. During one such campaign stop, Sadith recorded Senator Allen calling him a "macaca". The term refers to a species of monkey, and is regarded by some as an ethnic slur. The video was posted on the popular video-sharing site YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The story was picked up by local media, and then by national media, due to heavy attention by blogs such as the liberal blog Daily Kos
Daily Kos
Daily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
. The media attention has been widely cited as a key reason why Senator Allen was defeated by now-Senator Jim Webb. One consequence of the macaca event was to end Senator Allen's presidential ambitions. In addition, the defeat of Senator Allen was enough to give senate democrats a one-vote senate majority when the 110th Congressional term began.
Political blogs have also had drastic implications on political leaders themselves. Some political leaders have greatly benefited from broad audience base the internet provides. One such example is Howard Dean of Vermont, who raised unprecedented campaign funds via the internet through the use of grassroots blogs and his own website. On the contrary, some politicians have greatly suffered due to the increased exposure political blogs provide. Former United States President George Bush was frequently followed by blog sites online. In other cases, political blogs can serve as comic relief and are seemingly harmless to government officials.
Bloggers have also taken it upon themselves to promote and help finance candidates whom they believe are not being properly supported by the party establishment. Such support from bloggers was cited as a critical factor in the surprise victory of Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...
in the 2010 special election. Bloggers in the Brown race promoted a moneybomb
Moneybomb
Moneybomb is a neologism coined in 2007 to describe a grassroots fundraising effort over a brief fixed time period, usually to support a candidate for election by dramatically increasing, concentrating, and publicizing fundraising activity during a specific hour or day...
which raised over $10 million for the candidate
Notable American political blogs and bloggers
- AMERICAblogAmericablogAMERICAblog is a liberal American blog founded by John Aravosis in April 2004, with several co-bloggers. The blog helped expose Jeff Gannon in 2005, and in 2006 helped make cell phone privacy an issue by obtaining Gen. Wesley Clark's call records. The blog focuses on U.S...
- Andrew SullivanAndrew SullivanAndrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
- Common Dreams
- Crooks and LiarsCrooks and LiarsCrooks and Liars is an American liberal blog founded by John Amato. Along with John Amato, frequent contributors include Nicole Belle, Logan Murphy, Mike Finnigan, David Neiwert, SilentPatriot, , Susie Madrak, Nonny Mouse, Kenneth Quinnell, and Howie Klein. Journalist Tina Dupuy is the managing...
- Daily KosDaily KosDaily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
- Ed MorrisseyEd MorrisseyEd Morrissey is an American conservative blogger, columnist, motivational speaker, and talk show host.He goes by the nickname Captain Ed and he currently lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota....
- Eschaton
- FiredoglakeFiredoglakeFiredoglake is a US collaborative blog which primarily specialises in covering news from a left-progressive/left-liberal stance...
- FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEight.comFiveThirtyEight is a polling aggregation website with a blog created by Nate Silver. Sometimes colloquially referred to as 538 dot com or just 538, the website takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college...
- Hot AirHot airHot air in economics refers to the Assigned Amount Units credits given for the reduction of Green House Gas emissions among the former Soviet Bloc countries since 1990....
/Michelle MalkinMichelle MalkinMichelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, and author. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She is a Fox News Channel contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs... - Huffington Post
- InstapunditInstapunditInstapundit is a United States political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee. The blog began in August 2001 as an experiment, and a part of Reynolds' class on Internet law...
- Little Green FootballsLittle Green FootballsLittle Green Footballs is an American political blog run by web designer Charles Johnson.Media observers in the United States long described the site as "right wing", but since 2007, the site's emphasis has changed, such that "LGF has become better known for the various fights it picks with many...
- Newsbusters.orgMedia Research CenterThe Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
- MyDDMyDDMyDD is a collaborative politically progressive American politics blog. It was established by Jerome Armstrong in 2001. Its name was originally short for "My Due Diligence." In January 2006, the name was changed to "My Direct Democracy" as part of a site redesign, with the new tagline "Direct...
- Out on a Lim
- Political Animal at The Washington MonthlyThe Washington MonthlyThe Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
- Powerline
- Raw Story
- RedStateRedStateRedState is a conservative American political weblog.The site is currently a subsidiary of Eagle Publishing, Inc., a conservative publishing house which also owns Regnery Publishing and the weekly magazine Human Events...
- Shakesville
- Talking Points MemoTalking Points MemoTalking Points Memo is a web-based political journalism organization created and run by Josh Marshall, journalist and historian covering issues from a "politically left perspective,". It debuted on November 12, 2000...
- ThinkProgressThinkProgressThinkProgress is an American political blog edited by Faiz Shakir that "provide[s] a forum that advances progressive ideas and policies". It is an outlet of the Center for American Progress.-Sections:...
- WonketteWonketteWonkette is a left-leaning American online magazine of topical satire and political gossip, established in 2004 by Gawker Media and founding editor Ana Marie Cox, and edited by Ken Layne from 2006 to 2011...
- MediaiteMediaiteMediaite is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media industry as well as other issues. It is the flagship blog of Abrams Media, a ring of blogs run by ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams and also featuring Gossip Cop, Geekosystem, Styleite, Sports Grid, The Mary Sue and...
- Tikun OlamTikun Olam (blog)Tikun Olam is a Seattle-based political blog, which regularly reports on Israeli security matters, and is known to have good sources in Israel's military community...
- LewRockwell.comLewRockwell.comLewRockwell.com is a 501 libertarian web magazine operated by Burton Blumert , Lew Rockwell , Eric Garris , and others associated with the Center for Libertarian Studies ; its motto is "anti-state, anti-war, pro-market"...