An interesting enough kind of article but to the sentance which read :-

"...they're being led by the same Westminster announcements and the same PR initiatives as is Fleet Street"

I would add that clealry bloggers are led by the same spin from the party PR machines; some more so than others. If one were cynical, you maight be forgiven that some parties even stage their own people to blog on Slugger! Perish the thought!

Several locally elected rep's do post on slugger as far as i'm aware.

I don't think its a secret.

Roger's right. And it was no secret when I asked for people from political parties. It's actually quite a brave thing to do on their part. Blogging is not yet built into the party's PR output in Ireland or the UK. Most political establishment consume blogs, but are still not sure how to handle them.

I'd be interested in hearing more about how you believe party spinners lead bloggers.

It's interesting to note in the media.guardian.co.uk an article by Dominic Timms
"Ordinary people it seems are blissfully unaware of the publishing revolution - knowing more about "dogging" than blogging, according to a survey.Far from blogging being the practice that acolytes predict will turn mainstream media on his head, seven out of 10 people don't know what a blog is, says the survey
, which also found more people are aware of "happy slapping" than podcasting.
The survey undertaken by a panel of taxi drivers, hairdressers and pub workers for the advertising agency DDB, found just 10% said they knew about podcasting - the speech-based equivalent of music downloads.Meanwhile nearly 40% say they understood the expression "dogging" - the practice of watching people have sex in public places sensationalised by the tabloids with the help of Stan Collymore.
A further 56% said they were aware of "happy slapping", where teenagers mug people and video it on mobile phones.
"Our Grapevine Panel gives us a good indication of what people are talking about. When I asked the panel whether people were talking about blogging, they thought I meant dogging," said the DDB planning director, Sarah Carter, who oversaw the survey.
"Our research not only shows that there is no buzz about blogging and podcasting outside of our media industry bubble, but also that people have no understanding of what the words mean. It's a real wake-up call."

Are we bloggers the trainspotters of today or is that the "doggers"? :-) Mick will you be the first to start blogging about dogging in Northern Ireland? :-)

No, no, no, after you CS!

I do think the article you've linked to is not getting it. It's not about mass consumption, but effects of early movers - by which I mean both bloggers and readers. Ach, I need to do an article about this!

Mick,

Do you ever think you'll get fed up with the whole blogging scene and if so, would you want Slugger to go on without you if you were to quit?

Mick,
Did you login? I registered just to read the article even though I've a pet hate against paying to read articles online. Someones bound to post an article on dogging :-) If you do it you could start by visiting the car parks at Stormont or Parliment buildings. You might find Reg & Stella, Ian & Eileen or even Gerry & Martin at it :-) If you post a peice on dogging, please warn all the readers of Slugger especially if you get pictures as they'd probably all need counselling afterwards.
CyberScribe :-)
PS Has the campaign started to bring back the Portadown News?

Sorry!
It looks like I've developed a stutter on here, it must be a bit like Northern Irish politics.