|
›› Guided Tour of the Wardman Wire ›› Our Feeds and Websites ›› Buttons and Banners |
›› MPs' Expenses - House Rules
›› Ad Agency Slogans + Blog Slogans ›› Watching You: Surveillance Society |
Instant Interactivity is Back: Chatrooms on Political Blogs
One of the key benefits that came from the existence of 18 Doughty Street - whatever you thought of the overall balance (old bones that I am not interested in gnawing) - was the opportunity for political bloggers to talk and debate together, and to interact with the wider political blogosphere instantaneously.
If you like, a water cooler for political bloggers.
Cross Party Conversation
To a reasonable extent (and with all its limitations and problems), that conversation was cross-party - and recovered what (I am told) was something of the spirit of an older political blogosphere with fewer “silos”, rather than being partisan bish-bash-bosh.
Election Chatrooms
On election night Guido ran a chat room, and has now started doing them for Prime Minister’s Questions. So did Conservative Home (and I can’t find it).
Iain Dale has done a trial and is now moving into live interviews, and this evening is having a is having an Open House live chat.
Certain of the other innovations of 18 Doughty Street (of which there were a number) seem to me to have been picked up by big media, rather than feeding back into blogs. The best example is the use of video and video clips, which in my opinion is because there are no (and I mean zero) independent political blogs in this country with the resources necessary to make it happen.
Chat rooms - on the other hand - are one of the examples where we don’t need any significant resources of time, people or money.
Cover it Live
Cover it Live has provided the application used by all the examples I quote above. It has a free version, and can be installed easily.
Notionally it is an application for Live Reporting of events, but proved robust as a chat room. The only problem is that the chatroom owner can only set 10 participants to be unmoderated using the free service.
What Next?
I like
- That chat rooms are back.
I don’t like
- That so far blogs on the right are making all the running again.
I want to see
- Some Centre and Left blogs picking up on this trend, and hosting debates.
- Some real cross-spectrum debate and conversation. I think that Iain will do that, but let’s have the same thing hosted elsewhere as well.
And me?
- I’m looking at doing something, but I think that the Wardman Wire niche is probably for conversation about using blogs politically, rather than about politics; I don’t think we have the platform or profile to do - unless someone tells us something different.
The Metric Minister on Mr Blair and Mr Brown from February 2007
Just a bit of fun. This is Mr Miliband talking on Question Time in the last days of the Blair regime:
“I predict that when I come back on this programme in 6 months or a year’s time, people will be saying:
‘Oh wouldn’t it be great to have that Blair back, because we can’t stand that Gordon Brown.’ “
Hmmm.
I can’t find the source for this - but I think it was Guido
.
Mr Galloway prepares for retirement II: Gorgeous George
The problem with being a gin-soaked popinjay , is that you only end up in one place…
…even though gutter tactics had been fruitful in the past for George.
Inspired by Friday Lolcats meme.
The Electoral Hokey-Cokey: Out after 200 hours
I don’t normally cover day to day council politics here, but we have what I think is the first ejection of a Councillor since the Local Election last week.
If my stopwatch is working, Darren Gilbert has been a Councillor for … um …. just over 200 hours (or 8 days, which is shorter than the longest Cricket Test Match).
From Councillor John Dean, who leads the Council:
Mr Dean said: “It was alleged that Mr Gilbert had made up claims that he had cancer while working in a previous job.
“As soon as the Welwyn Hatfield Association were made aware of this we made our own inquiries.
“Mr Gilbert resigned from his position yesterday. He is no longer a Conservative councillor.”
Any more for any more?
Suggested alternative activity: take advantage of the cricket season, which has just started.
Noticed by sweet Emily on election night…
I didn’t spot it before I’ve had Emily Maitlis listening to my Twitter feed. Click through for the full screenshot.
And it served as a prebuttal to Ms Mortimer’s “Naughty Boris planning to stay MP for a year” story on the BBC webpage - as it is in reverse time order. Sweet.
A Bar Chart for the Crewe and Nantwich Byelection
I have a leaked By Election Bar Chart from the Crewe and Nantwich byelection. I’m assuming that they won’t be using this one.
I am delighted to say that I am on blog hiatus until after the Crewe and Nantwich byelection has finished.
The point was made that the Labour figure is understood to be at least two. The reply was “It was estimated as one”.
Tags: barchart, liberal democrat, libdem, labour party, conservative party, tory, crewe and nantwich
[tags]barchart, liberal democrat, libdem, labour party, conservative party, tory, crewe and nantwich[/tags]
Rounding Up the Blogs: Senedd Circular w/b 04 May 2008
This week we have a special “link blog” Senedd Circular, as Matt has been rounding up the daffodils earlier and Miss Wagstaff had a night on the tiles (allegedly). So this is a “Matt” roundup.
Blog Snippets
-
Coalition deals sideline Labour
-
Lib Dem German to quit in autumn
-
New language rule for 57 bodies: thou shalt deliver thy services in Welsh (I have not yet found out whether the Wardman Wire is on list, but another 57 makes 493 ). I wonder if Heinz are in the 57 organisations.
Rounding up the Daffodilscennin Pedr
There’s a big kerfuffle happening about cennin Pedr and why they should be purchased in Wales and not imported from foreign climes such as Cornwall (for example). Read these links to understand:
-
Cennin Pedr in Rural Wales .
-
My take on Cennin Pedr and Free Trade.
I wonder whether someone is going to appeal for a European Union Protected Designation for daffodils as Welsh. If so - prepare to get sued by the Ghost of Wordsworth .
In would be more fun if the Welsh did “red-faced nationalists on the point of exploding”. Unfortunately they don’t; that’s just Tunbridge Wells, a certain brand of Conservative, and Alex.
The Gossip
And - on the gossip front - I only just tumbled to the fact that Blamerbell the Underpants is a sibling of young Ms Jenkins from the Senedd .
Ordovicius tells me that “everyone (apart from me, apparently - pity the English) knows about “the Jenkins Clan from the Rhondda”.
Isaac Asimov had a race from outer space called the Jenkinsites who survived by carrying a cylinder of cyanide gas to breathe - as that was the atmosphere on their home planet. I’m sure there’s no connection - the Asimov Jenkinsites also had six legs and a carapace.
Wrapping Up
Ok - enough. Miss Wagstaff is back next week.
I’m hoping to blog-interview an AM from each party to tease out the more serious points about A preference for Local Production vs EU Procurement Rules early next week. Let’s see if they will talk to me.
