I’m going to take on the somewhat poncy soubriquet of ‘commissioning editor’, trying to ensure that LDV's content reflects the diversity of opinion within the party, and ensuring balanced coverage is maintained.
Rob made a fair point in the comments of his post announcing (prematurely, as it subsequently transpired) LDV’s demise:
A relatively small number of bloggers provide the majority of content in the Lib Dem blogosphere - I’m thinking of the likes of Nich Starling, James Graham, Stephen Tall, Paul Walter, Jonathan Calder, Peter Black and the ever fluffy Millennium Elephant [links to them all in my ‘Gold Top Blogs’ sidebar, right]. If they abandoned their own blogs and instead ran a collaborative effort, I believe they’d not only massively grow their own audiences, but also the audience for debating liberal politics online. Collectively, they could produce a fabulously compelling site.Liberals are individuals and individualistic, and this is well reflected in the party ‘blogosphere’. But there is a danger that these talents can be fragmented, smaller than the sum of our parts. LDV has been a terrific corrective to this tendency, and I hope can continue as a must-read first-stop for Lib Dems and the liberal-inclined wherever in the world they are.
This site, my blog, will doubtless continue - though in what form and with what frequency we’ll see.
4 comments:
The point about collaborative effort on LDV is a good one and perhaps ther are just a few of us who could collaborate more. i'd be happy to sumit articles on a weekly basis. There is a problem though.
for all my literacy teachnig skills I am no journalist. My blog tends to be a bit of a rant, a bit lecturing sometimes and a bit off message.
I don't mind putting this sort of stuff on my blog because, at the end of the day, it's my own blog and it does not represent the Liberal Democrats as a whole.
But to send this sort of stuff in to LDV I'd rather worry that I would make it too tabloid, a little low brow, if you know what I mean.
Well I hope this doesn't mean that in the name of impartiality you would keep silent of your own opinion; that would also be harmful for the diversity of opinion within the party.
Maybe you could play the impartial role in the Lib Dem Voice, and express your own opinions here?
Then again, if there must be one "über-blog" in the Lib Dem blogosphere, which puts together the most active Lib Dem bloggers, then you might want to discuss also with the team of the Liberal Review about some rearrangements.
Glad to hear you are keeping your excellent blog going.
All v.best for a blogtastic success.
Nich - agreed, I think most of us feel more comfortable knowing that what we write and how often is up to us. Rob's point is still salient, though.
Anon - it's not that I'm going to feel constrained to be impartial, simply a question of how much time I have to devote to blogging given I've a full-time job and am a councillor!
Jaq - cheers (why the link to Boris?).
Post a Comment