Baited breath for the verdict from Norman Johnson (aka Harry of Harry’s Place) in today’s Guardian. He’s clearly pleased with the G2 piece on blogging influencers. We don’t get a mention, but he expands impressively on the one theme from my own interview that made it into print – ie how blogging affects (infects?) mainstream political and journalistic discourse. Often in very high places:
But Oliver was right about one big thing. Big time. The bloggers’ voices are being heard. Thanks to the outspoken, ungaggable members of this defiant political underclass, this country will never be the same (and not just because I owe my column here to a late-night post, “I don’t give a stuff how many people die”). The Marmite-jar controversy was one of many topics to leap out of the blogosphere and into the national media, and we lost count of the times that leftfield ideas we’d bounced around at 3am would show up, next morning, under some of this country’s best-known bylines. “Bruschetta orthodoxies” was ours, lifted from a debate on premier north London delicatessens. The same with “Shiraz quaffers” (the original sentence had continued, “should head to Majestic, pronto, for a very decent case …”). My pleasure, Mr Hain. And it didn’t stop there. Remember that phrase in Blair’s conference speech, “look at Vietnam or Thailand”? Straight from a no-holds-barred exchange about reasonably priced holiday destinations.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
