Europhobia

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Guardian's new blog type thing, Comment is Free, has launched. Should be worth a gander - although there are a few notable omissions on the contributors page - where are the proper bloggers who have been invited to write for this thing (for free)?

16 Comments:

Tim Worstall said...: Glenn Reynolds?; 3/14/2006 03:06:00 pm
Nosemonkey said...: PROPER bloggers... He hardly counts any more, surely? Where's our man Justin?; 3/14/2006 03:17:00 pm
Jonn Elledge said...: "PROPER bloggers... He hardly counts any more, surely?" Where's our man Justin?

There's something interesting waiting to be written about this perception that once a blogger makes it to a certain step on the ladder, they no longer count as a real blogger. At one point does the change happen?

There's something interesting waiting to be written about this... This, however, isn't it.; 3/14/2006 03:39:00 pm
Andrew said...: It looks like contributors go up once they have posted an article, that's all.; 3/14/2006 03:44:00 pm
Nosemonkey said...: Bye Earl. Throwing mindless accusations around gets you deleted.; 3/14/2006 04:13:00 pm
Nosemonkey said...: Yes Earl, bye Earl.; 3/14/2006 04:36:00 pm
MatGB said...: I think Andrew's right, it shows up when you've written something.

We'll see. Interesting experiment. Hope they keep the rss feeds partial though, I hate full feeds in my readers, and they can kill my dial up, especially if they've got pictures in.; 3/14/2006 05:07:00 pm
Justin said...: I haven't been sent my login details yet which is why there isn't anything from me so far.

I'll keep you posted.; 3/14/2006 05:40:00 pm
Nosemonkey said...: Last time - fuck off, Earl.; 3/14/2006 06:44:00 pm
Anonymous said...: You've got to hand it to Earl - he's persistant. Never gives up. He should be on The Apprentice, or something. I thought he was called David C, though.

As far as the actual topic goes, define "real blogger" - for me, that's the sort who earnestly believes their blog is making a difference and helping to forge a new world order, despite acknowledging that they're still ranked about 2-millionth on Technorati. Maybe they're actually the best of us, and the most deserving of login details?; 3/14/2006 07:33:00 pm
Nosemonkey said...: I'd say a proper blogger is someone who doesn't make a living out of it. Blogging's about the love of it - writing for pleasure or obsession, not for cash.

Reynolds, as far as I'm aware, makes a packet out of Instapundit. In my eyes, that makes him a good businessman using the blog format as a means of delivering his product, not a blogger.

Plus I'm instantly suspicious of any blog that doesn't allow (largely) unmoderated comments. (Ironic after today, it must be admitted - more comment deletions in the last 24 hours than in the last three years of this place put together...); 3/14/2006 07:50:00 pm
MatGB said...: I'd disagree; a 'real' blogger is someone who writes a 'real' blog. One that allows comment, engages in debate, and covers the issues in the style of a blog.

If you, or Justin, were offered a paid job for a major newspaper; something you've said you'd like, does that stop you from being a blogger? Can you be a journalist and a blogger in the same way that I can be an office monkey and a blogger?

Instapundit makes Reynolds money. Good. If I could make real money doing something I love, fine. He didn't set out to make money from it initially that I'm aware of, nor has being able to make a living off it changed his style, from what I've seen (I'm not a reader generally, although I check in).

When you, and eventually I, switch to paid for domain, the ads will likely, at first, cover the hosting bills and that's it.

But if it starts to make more, if blogging takes off, if it makes enough to support a living? Does that make the only 'real' blogger the unsuccesful one?

I'd love to see a few succesful UK based bloggers able to do it full time. Better than, for example, Polly et al's ill-informed mess that we currently rely on.

I suspect it would need to be a group blog with separate pages, learn from and improve on Kos, Huffington Post, etc. We're not ready yet, but this time next year?; 3/14/2006 10:08:00 pm
Anonymous said...: The ethos of blogging, it always seemed to me, was that as it is available to anyone, done largely on an not-for-profit basis and had an unlimiited range of subjects on which to pass comment, it was in a sense the ultimate evolution of public service broadcasting.

At the very least, because it was only being done by people who wanted to do it, and felt they had something to contribute, it represented the cleanest break yet from commercial media and its inevitable pitfalls. It's about a year and a half or so since I started blogging: initially the reason I did so was a pretty naive political idealism. These days,I rant less, but essentially my reasons are the same.

I like to think that's the way, on the whole, that it has remained. The biggest area where reality deviates from the theory, it seems to me, is that the majority of blogging just isn't all that good, as has been pointed out many times. Still, the spirit of it is pretty admirable sometimes.

Interesting stuff. Might write about it when I get some free time: in the interim, is anyone here an expert on the British Union of Fascists?; 3/14/2006 11:30:00 pm
Anonymous said...: >Delurks<

Am doing my dissertation on them at present if that's any help, have spent most of the last two months reading back issues of 'Blackshirt' magazine... drop me a line at ed (at) thequarryhouse.com if you fancy.; 3/15/2006 09:43:00 am
Devil's Kitchen said...: I'd love to see a few succesful UK based bloggers able to do it full time. Better than, for example, Polly et al's ill-informed mess that we currently rely on.

I think that Worstall, though not technically UK-based, is probably the closest to being able to achieve that.

Gosh, I wish my ads would cover a hosting fee! I am thinking of dumping the Google Ads actually; they really don't make anything appreciable.

The BlogAds are better, but BlogAds seem to have, irritatingly, hidden the MiniNetworks away rather than having them on the main menu as they used to. Consequently, the number of ads on my site has droppped considerably.

DK; 3/18/2006 06:12:00 pm
Tim Worstall said...: Making a living from blogging? I don’t even cover the beer bill.
However, I have picked up an appreciable amount of freelance work from having blogged, these last two months it actually loking like I could live solely from the writing.
That’s a little different from making a living by blogging though.; 3/19/2006 03:24:00 pm