Total nonsense 2011
I see Total Politics are drip-feeding us their award-winners. I didn't get around to voting this year, and don't seem to have placed. There's a different system this year, which separates "blogs" from "bloggers", which sensibly reflects the shift towards group blogs and authors who post in multiple locations rather than one place.
Among green "bloggers", the top 20 contains few I ever read, apart from the great DocRichard at no.18, who I ought to link to more. However, I am happy to be introduced to Viridis Lumen, Jonathan Kent , Natalie Bennett and Nishima Doshi. Where are Weggis, Gordon and eh? And among "blogs", the greens include only one of my regular reads, Barkingside 21. Here's my favourite green blogs and bloggers in no particular order: Sue Luxton and Ute Michel’s Green Ladywell (read more about Sue here), Barkingside 21, Flesh is Grass, Richard Lawson’s Mabinogogiblog, Peter Cranie, Dean Walton's Green Blog, Adrian Windisch’s Green Reading, Weggis, Greens Engage, Isca Stieglitz, Jessica Goldfinch for House of Lords, Matt Sellwood of Hackney’s Anglo-Buddhist Combine, Gordon’s Green Feed, Greenwich Darryl’s 853 and, although he's semir-retired, Jim Jepps’ Daily (Maybe) (he's now here).
The "non-aligned" (what does that mean? in this context it mostly seems to mean "boring and mainstream") includes the great Nick Cohen, the also great Paul Mason, my friend Michael Ezra and the lovely Simon Hoggart (surely not a "blogger" by any definition). "Media" blogs, which seems to include both bloggers who blog about media and bloggers who are part of the mainstream media, two totally different things, actually includes a number of sites worth visiting, but that seem too mainstream to really be included in a blog award, which I guess shows how blogging has really gone overground in the last year or two, with both good and bad effect. So, I can't begrudge places for the Spectator Coffee House (no.1) and The Staggers (no.3) or the very smart and witty John Rentoul and the muck-raking Andrew Gilligan. More interesting are the tabloid-watchers of Five Chinese Crackers (no.24). Media "bloggers" overlaps a little, and includes a few more I'd recommend: Fraser Nelson (no.3), the fantastic Alex Massie (no.10), acerbic Peckham resident John McTernan (no.18), the genuinely original Madam Miaow (no.30), Danny Finkelstein (sadly behind the Times paywall, no.31) and David Aaronovitch (way down at no.49, but a columnist rather than a blogger, so no complaints).
Now we get to the real meat, as far as I'm concerned, the "left-wing" categories. Mostly, as usual, this is completely dominated by dull Labour party hacks. Under "blogs", you have to get to no.15 before there's a blog I actually read, the not exactly left-wing Harry's Place. Huge kudos to my comrade James Bloodworth for Obliged to Offend, a new entry at no.18. More comrade, Though Cowards Flinch, at no.29, Stumbling and Mumbling (no.31), Madam Miaow (no.52), Shiraz Socialist (no.55), the lesser Bob (no.56), Harpy Marx (no.58), Normblog (no.63) and Tory Troll (no.72) and Pickled Politics (just no.73). Left-wing "bloggers" appears to have been sown up by some Green Scottish syndicate voting. Apart from them, here's my choices (overlapping with the last lot): 6 Owen Jones, 8 James Bloodworth , 12 Chris Dillow, 14 top Londonist Dave Hill, 24 Rob Marchant, 38 the great Jim Denham (my personal no.1), 41 Adam Bienkov,
45 my friend Carl Packman, 51 Edmund Standing (not exactly left-wing), 55 David Osler (surely deserving of a much higher place), and 61 Harry's Place (not exactly "a blogger"!).
One disgraceful ommission (apart from me) is Harry Barnes' wonderful Three Score Years And Ten. Also missing (as far as I can see): Between the Hammer and the Anvil, Boffy, Infantile and Disorderly, Left Outside, Tendance Coatesy, Very Public Sociologist. and most surprising, The Third Estate.
One thing worth noting is the completely inexplicable inclusion of Mehdi Hasan very near the top of a few lists. You can read the long version here and here, but in short the man is both a talentless writer and an apologist for the most obnoxious ideologies of our time.
Previous: 2010, 2009.
The "non-aligned" (what does that mean? in this context it mostly seems to mean "boring and mainstream") includes the great Nick Cohen, the also great Paul Mason, my friend Michael Ezra and the lovely Simon Hoggart (surely not a "blogger" by any definition). "Media" blogs, which seems to include both bloggers who blog about media and bloggers who are part of the mainstream media, two totally different things, actually includes a number of sites worth visiting, but that seem too mainstream to really be included in a blog award, which I guess shows how blogging has really gone overground in the last year or two, with both good and bad effect. So, I can't begrudge places for the Spectator Coffee House (no.1) and The Staggers (no.3) or the very smart and witty John Rentoul and the muck-raking Andrew Gilligan. More interesting are the tabloid-watchers of Five Chinese Crackers (no.24). Media "bloggers" overlaps a little, and includes a few more I'd recommend: Fraser Nelson (no.3), the fantastic Alex Massie (no.10), acerbic Peckham resident John McTernan (no.18), the genuinely original Madam Miaow (no.30), Danny Finkelstein (sadly behind the Times paywall, no.31) and David Aaronovitch (way down at no.49, but a columnist rather than a blogger, so no complaints).
Now we get to the real meat, as far as I'm concerned, the "left-wing" categories. Mostly, as usual, this is completely dominated by dull Labour party hacks. Under "blogs", you have to get to no.15 before there's a blog I actually read, the not exactly left-wing Harry's Place. Huge kudos to my comrade James Bloodworth for Obliged to Offend, a new entry at no.18. More comrade, Though Cowards Flinch, at no.29, Stumbling and Mumbling (no.31), Madam Miaow (no.52), Shiraz Socialist (no.55), the lesser Bob (no.56), Harpy Marx (no.58), Normblog (no.63) and Tory Troll (no.72) and Pickled Politics (just no.73). Left-wing "bloggers" appears to have been sown up by some Green Scottish syndicate voting. Apart from them, here's my choices (overlapping with the last lot): 6 Owen Jones, 8 James Bloodworth , 12 Chris Dillow, 14 top Londonist Dave Hill, 24 Rob Marchant, 38 the great Jim Denham (my personal no.1), 41 Adam Bienkov,
45 my friend Carl Packman, 51 Edmund Standing (not exactly left-wing), 55 David Osler (surely deserving of a much higher place), and 61 Harry's Place (not exactly "a blogger"!).
One disgraceful ommission (apart from me) is Harry Barnes' wonderful Three Score Years And Ten. Also missing (as far as I can see): Between the Hammer and the Anvil, Boffy, Infantile and Disorderly, Left Outside, Tendance Coatesy, Very Public Sociologist. and most surprising, The Third Estate.
One thing worth noting is the completely inexplicable inclusion of Mehdi Hasan very near the top of a few lists. You can read the long version here and here, but in short the man is both a talentless writer and an apologist for the most obnoxious ideologies of our time.
Previous: 2010, 2009.
Comments
I have some vague memory that these awards proceed from people initially nominating themselves.
But since I don't follow this thing - or most of the Blogs mentioned, in part because not one I noticed ever makes an reference to non-anglophone politics - I'm not sure.
Mind you, neither did I.
Looks like those who publicised it on their blogs did well, and those who didn't, didn't.
Who wants to medal in a pedant's wankfest?
At least Harry's Place keeps and eye on the nasty jew-haters...