Forgive me if this is a well-worn joke, but I saw this video on Guido Fawkes, which despite its rightward-lean, is an entertaining and rewarding read.
Anyway, it amused me, and helped me regain my equilibrium after a day at Puroland.
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15 comments:
funny,some of fawkes prime mentalist pictures are frightening.fawkes alter ego,Paul Staines was actually a successful hedge city boy who has used his weatlh to subsidise his his activities undermining corrupt hypocritical politicians everywhere.whilst he is a libertarian = tehrefore right wing,he has done for a number of Tory MP's and MEP's
not least Den Dover,who salted away £750k to his family
http://www.order-order.com/2008/11/cameron-strips-den-dover-of-whip.html
and he did his best to get Caroline Spelman
'No messing about, as soon as she got elected to the trough she started pigging out.' and 'They are almost all at it, they see it as a perk of the job. None are prosecuted, so it will go on. Let us be clear about this, it is not another "technical breach of the rules", Spelman was stealing from the taxpayers.'
He has also campaigned for some time to give Peter Stringfellow the recognition he deserves for services to lapdancing.a force for good all round.
http://www.order-order.com/2005/02/campaign-for-sir-peter-stringfellow.html
http://www.order-order.com/2008/06/spelman-had-nanny-on-state.html
Fair dinkum, I am only a recent convert to the blog, just when I look at the comments left there I get the feeling he plays more to the right, but I am happy to sit or stand corrected.
blogging on the whole is far more a right wing thing than left for some reason.the number of RW blogs massively outnumbers those on the left.
it's also probably a function fo ebing in opposition,ie you're more likely to want to complain and moan.
The lib dems have a bigger blog presence -LD voice etc-than Labour.Off the top of my head besides paul linford and bob watson,I can't think of any well known labour bloggers now that Recess Monkey has retired.
long term tory blog luvvie Iain Dale links to them
http://www.iaindale.blogspot.com/
conservativehome,a tory blog has grown to truly dominate grass roots in the party,the labour version,labourhome(geddit?) can't really make a be compared.
maybe it's to do with the demographic and politics ie more tories are desk jockeys.
by the way have a look at paul linford,I rather like him.
http://paullinford.blogspot.com/.he used to be a journo too!
commentisfree c/o the guradian is a big holding place for the LW.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog
the great thing about guido is that he has no party allegiance and doesn't want to be an MP or need their money.
same for a lot of bloggers
Blinkin eck, I used to sub-edit Paul Linford's copy - he had a column in the Derby Telegraph, may still do, I don't know. He was usually well-written, but frequently filed his copy late, causing me no end of bother on a Friday, when i wanted to go home, rather than chasing him up for missing e-mail attachments!
lives in belper these days methinks
Yes, I checked out his blog, its very good. Looks well-read. Belper is a lovely part of the world.
he is as I said one of the most read lefty bloggers.nowhere near guido fawkes league but still a presence nonetheless.
one of the great things about blogs is that they can specialise in one thing or another.
Take japan.I know little about it.English is not the second language there or even third or fourth.
as far as I know,there is no bloggers that are widely known as japan specialists,certainly from a western vierwpoint at least.the market is wide open and if you are well read enough,there's money in it too from advertisers.
with whats coming economically,people are oging to need to understand japan as they went through this experience first and their currency will dominate world currency chit chat for years.
eco/geo political.you should consider it.you are in a unique psoition
I am just learning the ropes, but I agree. There are blogs out there - or at least news sites - that offer insights into Japan. I'm still finding my niche, not exactly sure who my audience should be, or what they would want. Perhaps I could do the Drudge reoport link-thing with a speciality in Japan? What do you prescribe, Doc?
By the way, check this link out for old-school thinking about "the future of newspapers" from Murdoch...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/17/murdoch-scolds-misguided_n_144508.html
thatnks for the huffinton link Paddy.
I agree with Murdoc=h to a degree.the FT recently raised it's cover price and noticed no dsicernible drop in circualtion.for year it had been losing moeny,then someone had the bright idea of putting the price up.The market took it.
I believe fundamentally that there's no better way to read news and opinion than in a newspaper.I love the format.But I'm also realistic.The daily mail readership will be around for years,even when the present generation die off another will grow old and take it's place.
The Guardian however,is losing moeny hand over fist.It's usbsididsed by it's ownership of autotrader
Independent just laid off 10% of it's journos is toast too.first of many here
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=37022§ioncode=1
Daily Express good as gone.
Local papers are just about as dead as a dead duck in a mass grave.The format is just unwanted,unloved and unviable.
As for what you could do blog wise,the world is your oyster.
1. There is no source I know of that collates japanese stories in English eg Drudge.Drudge is fantastic.It's my one stop shop on the USA.japan is the second largest economy in the world.I only know the PMs name beacuse I come here...and I'm well read on the whole paddy.I could name the leaders of venezuala,russia etc but not japan.
2. Opinion.To me the real scope for you is to read 'between the lines' for Western readers.There is a real cultural difference between Eastern and Western ways and mores.Ok,so the govt are saying ....,this is what they're really saying.
Drudge collates the news,he was first,second makes nothing.
If you look at the UK,we don't need an interpreter for our news.We need opinion formers like Linford and Fawkes.In Japan,western readers need both 1 interpretation-ie make sure they're reading into it what should be read into it. 2 opinion is less important in that way.
The only problem is that doing the no. 1 thing of becoming a one stop shop for japanese news is a lot of work.It would be easier to start off providing opinion and build a readership.
As you've noticed,blog readerships are on the whole very loyal.Once people become regular customers,they come every day on the whole.For instance in my favourites I ahev fawkes,devilsktichen,towerttales,drudge,secret agent etc
tell me your thoughts.is it possible?
One thing I want to do is develop a publishing/writing side to Tower English. She-who-must-be-obeyed has some good ideas for "real English" language textbooks and my dream for the record is to write a novel, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss journalism a bit - not the kowtowing to the editor, but the thrill of chasing a story down, writing it and presenting it for readers.
So, you ask is it possible to develop the site into something more productive... yes, all things are possible.
My knowledge of Japan, or at least sources on Japan, is expanding every day and I certainly have some opinions about it all. As for time, I never have enough, but who does? I think a steady development of the blog might be in order.
I'm loathe to stay on message all the time (I like my forays off on to US and UK tangents) but I could fairly easily cobble together a top ten roundup of headlines and links worth reading from Japan blogs for the week and if time permitted, expand that to a daily service.
I've not felt this rejuvenated about the possibilities of journalism since I read that great Mercury headline in the midst of a Tory landslide when the city held its Labour MPs - "It's red Leicester". Classic.
'I'm loathe to stay on message all the time (I like my forays off on to US and UK tangents) but I could fairly easily cobble together a top ten roundup of headlines and links worth reading from Japan blogs for the week and if time permitted, expand that to a daily service.'
thats the great thing about blogging,you dont have to.say what you think.honesty is a badge of honour in the blogosphere and the readership trust you more when they know your not a vested interest eg Fawkes,a prime example of a blogger done good BECAUSE he's so outspoken and frank.
five years ago,noone had heard of guido fawkes,he probably got 30 readers a month.,now it's 100,000 plus,mighteven be 300,000.
you could always have two blogs,one education and one political/economic.I wouldn't put the two together,people who want to learn english are not the same as those who want/need to understand japan.
there are interesting times coming,and Japans historical experience of deflation is going to be crucial going forward for those of us who want to see what may be coming for us.
http://www.order-order.com/2008/10/806129-pageviews-from-562536-visits-by.html
800,000 page views by 108,000 unique readers.He has had higher months when there's been a good story.
higher circualtion than the Spectator methinks
more thoughts on thsi paddy
'the thrill of chasing a story down, writing it and presenting it for readers.'
these days some bloggers are breaking the stories and setting the agenda for the mainstream media(MSM),GF is certainly one,but that's where it's going.
basically the blogs are less laible to be sued ergo they take more risk with a story than an MSM outlet would.this resulted in people likeGF publishing picutres of the 'fake sheikh'-the news of ther screws reporter who regulalry entrapped famous people but felt he deserved anonymity.brilliant.also on cash for peerages,the agenda was set by the bloggers.no charges in the end,but politicans will think twice next time.
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