Political blog

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.

Political blogs often have a clearly stated political bias. Although mainstream media news is often presented as impartial, bloggers believe that it does in many cases have a hidden political agenda. This assertion is supported by the propaganda model. Stating political bias at the outset is therefore seen as being more honest. On the other hand, blogs are often seen as being too anonymous and lacking in factual reliability to be trustworthy. However, they can serve as a soapbox for opinions not represented in mainstream media.

The increasing popularity of political blogs by independent commentators has led to their adoption by media companies, politicians and other organisations hoping to be seen to be more accountable to their audiences, but these are often not considered "proper" blogs by the blogging community.

Types of political blog

Most political blogs are news driven, and as such political bloggers will link to articles from news web sites, often adding their own comments as well. Some political blogs heavily feature original commentary, with occasional hyperlinks to back up the blogger's talking points. Many of these blogs comment on whatever interests the author, as befits the blogger's political leanings, personal knowledge base, and momentary interests.

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.

Regional examples

Australia

These do not have the same notoriety as blogs in the United States 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.

Canada

Main article: Canadian blogosphere

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 and a dedicated search motor based on Google CSE here.

Malaysia

Due to the strict media controls and censorship laws such as the Internal Security Act 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.

Screenshots by Jeff Ooi
Utusan Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo by Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo
Malaysia-Today by Raja Petra Kamarudin
Rocky's Bru by Ahirudin Attan
Lim Kit Siang: For Malaysia by Lim Kit Siang, Member of Parliament, Democratic Action Party, and opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim by Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the People's Justice Party
RantingsbyMM by Marina Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir
Philosophy Politics Economics by Tony Pua
Sassy MP by Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament, Democratic Action Party
Shahrir Samad by Shahrir Abdul Samad, Member of Parliament, UMNO
Che Det by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, previous Prime Minister of Malaysia

New Zealand

Main article: New Zealand blogosphere

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-censorship to many bloggers. But there are people who are not afraid. The Glass House is a purely political blog which has been presenting an insight into the political situation in Pakistan since April 2005.

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.

United Kingdom

Many political blogs in the United Kingdom frequently publish articles, rumours and news from various angles, often with a general anti-establishment bias. Among the many influential UK bloggers are Iain Dale, Tim Worstall, Harry of Harry's Place and Guido Fawkes.

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. 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 newspapers and magazines due to the current lack of redress for those angered by their content.

United States

While many countries have political blogs, the influence of such blogs on political discourse is most prominent in US politics. Political blogs in the US 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.

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.

One of the most significant instances of blogs influencing politics occurred during the 2006 Virginia Senate campaign. In that campaign, S.R. Sadith, 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 You Tube. The story was picked up by local media, and then by national media, due to heavy attention by blogs such as the liberal-leaning 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 many positive and negative ramifications. Whereas some political blogs offer new insight and accurate reporting, others openly commit libel and slander. Overall, political blogs encourage readers to evaluate their mediums.

Beyond the readers, political blogs also have 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. Dean 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. United States President George Bush is frequently followed by blog sites online. His follies and everyday mishaps are recorded without restraint. In most cases, they serve as comic relief and are seemingly harmless to the Bush administration.

Above all, political blogs have unquestionably shaped the political arena including the voters and the political leaders

Notable American political blogs and bloggers

• Allahpundit (now at [[Michelle Malkin#|]]
• AMERICAblog
• Andrew Sullivan
• Common Dreams
• Crooks and Liars
• Daily Kos
• Ed Morrissey
• Eschaton (weblog)
• Huffington Post
• Instapundit
• Right on the Right
• Little Green Footballs
• Newsbusters.org
• Michelle Malkin
• MyDD
• Political Animal at The Washington Monthly
• Powerline
• Raw Story
• Shakesville
• Talking Points Memo
• ThinkProgress
• Wonkette

See also

• Citizen journalism
• Politics of Australia