I currently have feeds to 53 blogs – that number surprised me, but some post intermittently, some seem dormant, others may well be defunct. Of course I don’t read them all word for word, a quick skim just to see what it’s all about will often suffice. Needless to say none of the bloggers matches Andrew Marr’s description.
In fact 27 come from established media organisations (including 8 from the BBC; there used to be almost as many from The Times before it went behind the paywall) & 3 are by commercial organisations. Most of the rest have some kind of academic connection. Subjects range from politics (8), law (6) medical (3) economics (5) language (5) and stats/science/maths (15).
Of course intemperate language is not unknown in the printed columns of professional journalists – even those at the posher end of the market. And the intemperate or loony commentator is not the bastard offspring of the anonymity of the web – Letters to the Editor used to spawn them too (& that is just the ones they published). Any civil servant who has been on the receiving end of a letter passed down from the ministerial office, marked ‘Treat Officially’ (ie reply to the correspondent under your own name, do not send up a draft for the minister to sign) will have seen some choice specimens too.
But Andrew Marr did prompt one question in my mind. How many of those who own or contribute to the blogs that I read would actually call themselves a blogger? I suspect the number is small – most would say ‘I write’ or ‘I have’ or ‘I do’ a blog.
Anyone who actually revels in or claims the title of blogger is probably uncomfortably close to Andrew Marr’s description.
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