Article on political blogging for Crikey
Crikey, the independent, web-based political media outlet, asked me to do a piece on what I think about politicians and blogging, flowing in part from this article about the same matter in the UK Guardian.
As usual, I blathered on too much, forcing them to publish an edited version of what I sent them in the daily email news they send to their subscribers. You can read the full version over the fold.
I started blogging without any fanfare on August 17, 2004 while I was still Parliamentary Leader of the Democrats. My aims in doing so were varied:
- to de-mystify the political process and make it more accessible to people;
- to use it as a sounding board for thoughts and ideas;
- to seek people’s views and to provide a way to answer some of their questions in a transparent and accountable format;
- to inform people in a bit more depth about some current issues and point them to where they can find more information;
- as a way to provide my views to the public directly in a more conversational form, rather them having to do so in a way that has to attract sufficient interest from the media to report them (usually in very truncated form);
- to let people know a bit about what politicians do with their time;
- as something approximating a hobby;
- just to try it out and see whether it could ‘work’ for a federal politician.
I think it’s fair to say I’ve achieved most of those aims to some extent. The number of visitors to the site has climbed fairly steadily and consistently over time, and a good proportion of them return. Whether that means any extra votes at election time is a different matter, but one that it is not unreasonable for politicians to assess before deciding whether the time and energy of real blogging is worth it.
Some of the blog entries which have proved to be the most widely read have been those covering the debates or passage of major legislation, such as the workplace laws or the RU486 votes, as well as those marking particular events, such as the deaths of Don Chipp or Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
I try to use the blog to talk about the substance of issues, rather than feed the notion of politics as sport or as something mysterious involving artful strategists using tactics beyond the comprehension of all but the cleverest of analysts. I also try to give some insights into what politicians do, how some of the processes work and a few of my thoughts and feelings on non-political things – from potato chip flavours to Jason Akermanis and Steve Irwin – just to provide a bit of variety.
I haven’t used podcasting or videoblogging yet. Although I expect I will at some stage, I don’t see much value in using technology just for the sake of it. Most of the examples by others that I’ve seen and heard have not been very engaging.
There is a much greater use of blogs by parliamentarians in the UK as well as by party members and the politically active. I put this down predominantly to the fact that Australian politics is so stifled by the straightjacket of party discipline. The party line straightjacket on Australian MPs means that the public sees politicians as parroting the party line when they give an opinion, and even if it seems a genuine personal view, it doesn’t matter much, as they will be forced to toe the party line anyway. This is also affected by a mainstream media keen to leap on any sign of ‘division’ within a party, so politicians tend to be loathe to express any opinion which could be used to beat up a story. Hence even the few politicians’ blogs that have appeared on the Australian political scene have been mostly fairly sterile.
I have been a bit surprised that genuine blogs haven’t become a bit more widespread in Australia at local government level. The lesser role of party politics at local level, as well as the more personal, locality based nature of local government, would seem to be more suited to the two-way communication and personal style that the best blogs have.
My blog is an attempt to remind people that their views do count, there are ways they can make an impact and that most of what they read from the ‘experts’ is just opinion of no greater substance that anyone else’s. It’s also an attempt to remind people that issues of substance do get dealt with in the Parliament, and the outcomes of legislative debates and committee inquiries directly affect people’s lives.
To me, the comments section of a blog is its most valuable, albeit fraught, aspect. Frankly I don’t think any website without a comment facility can really be called a blog. At their best, you can get a good quality debate on an important issue with a range of valuable ideas. It has also sometimes proved to be a useful way for me to test and refine my ideas. At its worst, you get defamatory, bigoted slanging matches. However, the comments I get on my blog from people across the political spectrum are usually of a much higher standard than what I have to listen to in the Senate chamber.
Trying to allow freedom of speech without letting your blog become an unwitting platform for flagrant racial and religious prejudice, mindless abuse or deliberate deceit is a difficult balance, but it is far preferable to having no comments at all. Even the websites of News Limited columnists like Andrew Bolt allow comments from the public, so why shouldn’t politicians?
21 Comments, Comment or Ping
The Feral Abacus
“However, the comments I get on my blog from people across the political spectrum are usually of a much higher standard than what I have to listen to in the Senate chamber.”
Have we been damned with faint praise?
Sep 29th, 2006
Andrew Bartlett
I agree that it’s not a very high bar to get over, Feral A, but it’s still worth noting given the regular portrayal of blogs as a worthless rabble.
Sep 29th, 2006
The Feral Abacus
Andrew: agreed on both counts. Perhaps we should consider ourselves to be a worthwhile rabble… Anyway, I appreciate your efforts in maintaining this forum, and I don’t know how you find the time to contribute so much.
BTW (and a bit OT), its been some years since I’ve listened to parliamentary broadcasts, but I remember being struck by how much better the standard of debate in the Senate was in comparison to the House of Reps. Has debate in the Senate deteriorated in your opinion?
Sep 29th, 2006
ken
“There is a much greater use of blogs by parliamentarians in the UK, as well as by party members and the politically active.”
One reason for this – certainly at the local level, which h in reality is as big in the main as our State level, has been very signficant “e funding” being drvien through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over in the UK.
Sep 29th, 2006
Andrew Bartlett
Good point Ken – I should start pushing for support for that.
Feral A:
I have no doubt the standard of ‘debate’ has deteriorated – for the same reason that it has always been so poor (on average) in the House of Reps. There is no longer any need or purpose in trying to persuade or even make a pretence of justfiying a position. I’m not suggesting it used to produce the pinnacle of all intellectual pronouncements, but now there is mucy less to interrupt or dilute the empty political posturing and parroting of talking points that is part and parcel of parliamentary pontificating.
Sep 29th, 2006
patrickg
I think your blog has accomplished all that and more, Andrew, and I truly believe that it will be looked back on as somewhat of a watershed in Australian politics, as it should.
The idea of direct, meaningful – not just contact, but actual _engagement_; dialogue with an elected representative (because, I guess I feel that they are all our representatives, regardless of which one we voted for)is a genuinely noble action, whatever the result.
I always feel, reading your blog, that democracy is at work here. Because I feel that you listen to my – and others – opinions, even if you disagree, and can change my mind as much as I can change yours.
In short, I feel represented here; that my voice is not just heard in the context of a potential vote, but as a citizen – and damn it that’s what I am above and beyond any other category.
Sadly I think such attention is a rare thing in Australian politics. Even if my goals happen to achieve a confluenece with another part, it’s happenstance, not dialogue, or informed debate that has shaped the unity.
I relish the diversity your site attracts, and the opportunity to participate in the small but powerful democracy here. I feel you inform, and invite information, of yourself and others.
Thank you, it means a lot to me.
Sep 29th, 2006
ken
At the risk of getting to maudlin I tend to agree with Patick.
What is created here is almost a community of interest – a bit of a social experiment – as a community based socila worker AB should understand this and the evolving nature of such communities.
Its not unlike when your kids start saturday sport, a group of people form a community based around nothing more than a shared activty. Hence the Bartlett blog.
In this case the sharing of views is a learning experience, but the commonality is the forum.
Sep 29th, 2006
Nicholas Gruen
Andrew,
Congratulations on your blog. Certainly from what I’ve seen the best blog by a parliamentarian as Crikey says – for all the reasons that it says.
Sep 29th, 2006
John Tracey
a bizarre mixture of the “womens weekly”, “Order in the House” and talkback radio
run by a politician who, most of the time, says he doesn’t have the answers.
And it’s Purple!
Sep 30th, 2006
John Tracey
Baganans comment on the first (of the recent) Woorabinda threads should, I humbly suggest, be considered significant too.
Bartletts blog is indeed brilliant. Not because it is good, but it is amongst the first experiments that appear to have worked. Whoever invented the steam engine was brilliant, but the engine of itself is pretty slack compared to the possibilities that unfolded.
Baganans comment, An Aboriginal woman born on Woorabinda, throwing her 10 cents worth alongside a senator.
Not a significant thing in itself, lots of people do it all the time. Nothing new about blogs too.
But there is something new about a senator and an Aboriginal person blogging about Woorabinda.
one small step for a blogger
one giant step for the blogosphere
Baganans comment is particulaarly relevent to Woorabinda 2 thread as well.
Sep 30th, 2006
John Tracey
also
Indigenous bloggers are not new too. I know of one very vibrant national forum which I shall not identify to stop it getting swamped by too many curious non aboriginal people asking stupid questions and destroying the integrity of the forums. A similar dynamic to on the ground tourism and antropology issues.
Aborigines have been in cyberspace for some time and await a cultural revolution once issues of access to computors and basic training increase.
Anyone remember Paolo Freire?
The possibilities for literacy programs, especially adult literacy, are enourmous through simple engagement with blogs. To follow the Freire line a step further. Literecay programs that involve engagement with the world including politicians would be a significant step towards improving the lot of the invisible and e-illiterate people of any and many circumstances.
Sep 30th, 2006
Oz
The Guardian reported that the Conservative Party is planning to use blogging and podcasts. Undoubtedly Labour and the Lib Dems will follow down this path.
In general, it seems the internet is underutilised in Australia for social change and two-way communication.
I agree with the talk about the rigidities of party discipline but at the same time blogs can offer an opportunity to make the case for positions parties take to those who want to engage politically and sidestep a media that often simplifies issues into soundbites.
Sep 30th, 2006
Oz
The march of the blogosphere continues and now the Conservatives are planning on going tech-savvy with blogs and podcasts.
It’s interesting how it seems that while other countries such as the US and UK are embracing the internet in general as a tool for political engagement, there isn’t such a push in Australia despite declining political party membership and activism. The ALP had the suggestion of online branches in the Hawke-Wran review and in NSW now they’re webcasting the Central Policy Branch.
Your point about party discipline is true but I think that still MPs, not only local councillors and political parties can use blogs. For example, justifying party positions in detail, in comparison to a soundbite in the media and allowing people to engage with those positions. Could be a good alternative to talkback radio.
The only concern I’d have is that those who are most able to access technology and engage online through blogs won’t be the ones whose lifes will be effected by decisions the most.
Sep 30th, 2006
John Tracey
sorry for going on,
but the beauty of a blog discussion is you can just scroll past if you are not interested, different to a meeting where you have to sit through rants as a captive audience.
Anyway, as a habitual nuisance blogger, I would like to say that i post here not just because I think Andrew will read it but because i hope and suspect other politicians and policy makers might read it too.
And another thing, even though Andrew is over modest, too busy and cautious of what he commits to print in the public sphere, he is the one who chooses the articles that we all gather around like chooks and discuss. He sets the agenda and within a very broad meaning of the term the discussions stay on topic.
Andrew is indeed setting a political agenda independent of his profile in the mainstream media. “The medium is the message” works on subtle layers as well as obvious structural things. The essence of subliminal propaganda and hypnotic suggestion.
Goebbels never had the obsessive stare into a light screen to work with. There is ground for innovation here. Well done Andrew.
Sep 30th, 2006
John Tracey
me again
As a matter of relevence to the topic Mr. Moderator, this thread has inspired me to write an article of my own. Another flow-on effect perhaps?
“Sex, Political Dinosaurs and the Evolution of the Bloggosphere”
http://johntracey.blogspot.com/2006/09/sex-political-dinosaurs-and-evolution.html
hot off the press!
I will fix up the links tomorrow, half of them are to this blog anyway.(thank you Andrew)
Sep 30th, 2006
John Tracey
I’ve done it.
John Tracey’s Soapbox
http://johntraceysoapbox.blogspot.com/
Oct 1st, 2006
ken
Furtehr to point 4 – this is the sort of thing regularly happening in the UK>
http://www.headstar-events.com/edemocracy06/
Oct 3rd, 2006
Donna
‘Even the websites of News Limited columnists like Andrew Bolt allow comments from the public, so why shouldn’t politicians?’
Yes, but Andrew Bolt is extremely selective in which comments he publishes on his blogsite.
Oct 3rd, 2006
Megan Yarrow
Andrew, I reckon yours and John Quiggin’s are Brisbane’s best blogs.
Quick question though (and apologies for being slightly off-topic) but, has anyone heard anything in the mainstream media about the Pine Gap 4 trial currently happening in Alice Springs?
Ps Good accommodation notices on ZZZ today !
Oct 6th, 2006
Andrew Bartlett
Thanks Megan
I haven’t seen anything on the mainstream media about the trial, although the protests happening this weekend are getting some coverage
I still hope to do a post on the Pine Gap issue at some stage, but ongoing details can be found by clicking on this link.
Oct 8th, 2006