Crampton - Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2011/12

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK. For the first time, the guide will be available only in digital form, a reflection of the way that journalism and publishing has changed in the last year. It seems entirely appropriate that you will be reading this online or on your Kindle or iPad rather than in a physical book after all, the political blogosphere has always been about pushing boundaries and changing to respond to demand while more traditional forms get left behind.

In the past year, weve continued to see the lines blur between the blogosphere and mainstream media. A wide variety of political bloggers are now regularly in demand as commentators for broadcasters, and whether something is of interest to the blogosphere has become a major test for a political story or issue. Mainstream media outlets have responded to this trend by continuing to embrace blogging as a now-crucial part of how political journalism works. As Nik Darlington highlights in his chapter assessing the Conservative blogosphere, outfits like the Daily Telegraphs blogging offering are able to assemble an impressive array of political commentators, supported by the resources of a national newspaper. They are, and will continue to be, a force to be reckoned with.

Lobby journalists are now often expected to maintain an active blog as well as writing for their print publication. Its notable that Lobby stalwarts who have really embraced this change, like the Guardians Andrew Sparrow and PoliticsHome editor Paul Waugh, once again did very well in this years Total Politics blog awards, appearing in the top twenty alongside the long-established independent group blogs like ConservativeHome and Left Foot Forward. You can read more about the trend towards consolidation and the rise of group blogs in the commentary on this years blog award results, and see the results of the poll for yourself at the end of this book.

Translating online campaigning and blog readership into tangible political action has been a big trend of 2011, from UK Uncut to the Rally Against Debt to the Occupy movement. In his chapter, Dylan Sharpe, who was the head of press for the No to AV campaign during 2011s referendum, examines this trend and lays out the limits of online campaigning for producing results at the ballot box. This doesnt mean that campaigning blogs cant make significant inroads on the public perception of a cause, as Samira Shackle explains in her chapter, in which she outlines how a campaign can use political blogs to their advantage. Mark Ferguson, editor of LabourList, also tackles this issue in his state of the Labour blogosphere chapter, charting the way in which it has eschewed the tendency in opposition to cluster around a handful of big-traffic sites and rather disseminate information and opinion through a vast network of more niche-interest blogs.

The most striking thing about this years blog poll, though, was the relative lack of new entries. There were only two new entries in the top twenty. As blogs consolidate and pool resources, it is now very difficult for an unknown blogger starting out on their own site to break into the upper echelons of the blogosphere. However, with the advent of sites like the Huffington Post and Iain Dales new megablog Dale and Company, there are platforms available for newcomers to start out in an environment that will provide support and a higher chance of recognition.

Having said that, theres no doubt that the blogosphere continues to go from strength to strength. As the chapters on the state of particular areas of the blogosphere demonstrate, strong and diverse communities exist online, reflecting all aspects of political discourse. The writers who have contributed are all superb examples of the high quality of commentary to be found online, and I hope you find what they have to say as interesting as Ive found it to commission and edit.

Heres to another outstanding year of blogging!

Caroline Crampton
Westminster, October 2011