All week, Crikey has been rating various media for bias. Today, it’s the blogosphere’s turn. I didn’t write the bit on LP. Other than that, it’s a collective effort, so I won’t be responding on behalf of the authors. The article is reproduced, with permission, over the fold.
There’ve already been some responses from some of the bloggers in question – Pavlov’s Cat, An Onymous Lefty and Andrew Norton.
Update: Catallaxy comments. Some analysis at The Dead Roo.
The Crikey bias-o-meter IV: the blogosphere
Mark Bahnisch, Sophie Black, Thomas Hunter, Jane Nethercote and Charles Richardson write:
Australian political blogging has certain character traits you won’t find in other forms of the political media. Sometimes it speaks before it thinks (especially in the comments section), and it always wears its heart on its sleeve. But bloggers are graduating from their traditional role as online pamphleteers into something more influential.
That’s not to say they seek to shove the respectable guys aside, they’re marking their own territory, canine style, and they’re pretty possessive. All of which means measuring a blog for bias entails a lengthy disclaimer. Blogs have never promised balance or objectivity, they’ve never made a pledge to report the facts. You won’t find many poe faced commentators in this medium, more like the odd expletive.
Before blog commentary makes it into the public realm, it doesn’t have to fight its way through an editorial bureaucracy, nor does it have to live up to a masthead. And that’s how we came up with the criteria for inclusion in the Crikey Blogosphere Bias-o-meter — it’s all about the wonks. You’ll notice that we’ve left many of the best Oz blogs off our meter — (Reasons You Will Hate Me for starters.) That’s because they’re political in nature, but they’re not concerned primarily with politics, its practitioners, pundits and policy battles.
And there’s a grey area: some bloggers, like Andrew Bolt and Matt Price, are also columnists. While both are political blogging heavyweights with substantial readerships they’re not included here because they’re not bloggers first and foremost. They’ve taken their ready made readership and their in built brand name along for the ride. But a tip of the hat is due to the voracious Bolt in particular, who thrives on the fact that blogs talk back and has taken to the form with a vengeance.
News Ltd’s Tim Dunlop has been included. Despite working for News.com.au, Dunlop’s reputation was built in blogland (Road to Surfdom) and he’s still a blogger. Incidentally, he hates the idea of blogs being rated from left to right. Appropriately, Crikey expects (and hopes) to cop a bit of lip out in blog land for the following assessments:
Succinct, razor-sharp, and rancorous, this blog attacks the same lefty targets as other members of the right-leaning media, but does so with greater precision. Blair — whose day job is editing the opinion pages of The Daily Telegraph – holds a special antipathy for Tim Flannery, and relishes picking holes in the logic of the climate change lobby. Was particularly indignant recently when accused by Media Watch for tolerating cyber racism over discussion on his blog of Muslim taxi driver. Like all good blogs, goes where others fear to tread, controversially posted the infamous Prophet Mohammed cartoons. Lively and often times incendiary, this blog will be good value during the election campaign.
Broad range of subjects and the occasional post by controversial blogging entrant Helen Dale (aka Darville and Demidenko), doesn’t court controversy for the sake of it, doesn’t pick fights (much). Main man Jason Soon (a bad tempered libertarian) doesn’t go for cheap shots at easy targets but has seemed to have tipped to the right a little further recently. Not predictable. Occasionally prone to whimsy. Tends to post items of interest to let them speak for themselves.
More conversational and polite than many other political blogs, Ambit Gambit can also be a little preachy. But that earnest approach ensures readers get a reasoned analysis of the issues, which, in their choosing, tend to mirror what’s in the national debate. Not opposed to criticising their ideological allies in the Federal Parliament, but can be relied upon for an even-toned defence of Liberal Party politicking You might even call some of their views “centrist�. If political blogging can be rabid, Ambit Gambit proves it can also be reasonable.
Pinning a self proclaimed classical liberal to a precise point on the bias-o-meter was never going to be easy. Well thought out, detailed policy analysis. A glance at the list of categories in the margin gives you a taste of the breadth of this blog — from higher education, to gay marriage, to religion, and sickness and health – this is serious stuff. Norton mounts sophisticated arguments – a quick keyword search of right leaning hot button issues like the ABC and arts grants isn’t going to yield results. You need to dig deeper to guess at this guy’s true leanings, and even if you asked him directly, he’d turn the discussion into a dissertation.
Neutral number crunchers:
Peter Brent, proprietor of Mumble, is a serious political scientist. His blog covers elections, opinion polls and more general political musing; his views are often idiosyncratic, but always backed by solid analysis. Sometimes leans to the left, although in the previous term his dislike of John Howard was balanced by an equal distrust of Mark Latham.
Bryan Palmer maintains a blog as part of a general and highly informative site on Australian politics. The often-acrimonious comments section was recently closed, but Palmer’s posts remain essential reading for their statistical and historical explanations of what’s going on in the federal scene. His own politics remain a mystery; he manages to be informative without showing favoritism to either side.
The Poll Bludger, “known to his mother as William Bowe”, runs a lively forum for psephological debate and analysis. Some of the big names of the profession stop by and comment, and Bowe’s own posts are invariably judicious and well-reasoned. Covers both state and federal elections; his election guides and seat-by-seat predictions are always worth a look. As a Western Australian he maybe leans very slightly to the right, but there’s not much in it.
To the left:
Crikey named Club Troppo our blog of the year in 2005 for its thoughtful, measured and insightful commentary. Since then, Club Troppo has taken a swift kick to Crikey on several occasions, but all’s fair in love and war and cantankerous blogging. Founder Ken Parish is a must read, as is stable mate Nicholas Gruen for in depth analysis on economics, politics, the media, history and Jamie Packer’s speedos. If you want to be taken seriously as a political commentator, you have to have a pinch of objectivity, and the dozens of different contributors these days keeps it firmly on an even keel.
Is it trite to suggest Tim Dunlop is at the top of the Australian blogging heap? Probably, so we won’t, but this blog certainly zings with ideas and energy. Readers can rely on updates every few hours and their feedback is generous — being located on the news.com.au website certainly doesn’t hurt. Dunlop began his blogging life at Road to Surfdom and has managed to make the leap into mainstream, blogging cred largely intact, though some argue he is less staunch now, softening from a possible L4 to L2 after moving to News.
A reasonably active blog for the tea-sipping moderates of the left. Debate is orderly and respectful – the site contains repeated warnings against the use of “coarse language.� Quiggin himself is a professor of economics who doesn’t confine his blogging to sober analysis of the Treasurer’s pronouncements. Social commentary is likely to be followed by analysis of international affairs – Maggie Thatcher, Iraq, etc – or the Australian media’s take on climate change. Readers are encouraged to participate with bi-weekly open forum invitations. Overall, a tweedy yet engaged and lucid corner of the blogosphere.
Well into the red zone, Polemica foregoes punchiness and brevity for a more discursive style, giving readers issues-based commentary rather than finger-pointing and partisan name-calling. National and sometimes international in focus, but also comments on issues particular to NSW. The comments sections remain fairly quiet.
The carbon-friendly powerhouse of Australian political blogging. Sustained on the enormous energy of ringleader Mark Bahnisch and with a host of great commentators, this group blog is always at the ready with a measured, interesting left-of-centre perspective on Australian politics. Never raving or preachy, the continually-updated LP provides plenty of food for thought for both left and right – and lashings of comfort food for lefties.
This is the blog that puts the F in Oz politics. Founded by tigtog (also the editor and FAQ author at Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog ), who was joined by lauredhel in March this year, Hoyden About Town dispenses its femmobolsho views loudly, proudly and with plenty of bite. H about T is notable for its ability to cut through BS (misogynistic and otherwise) with deadly accuracy. Tigtog also sometimes joins the fray at LP.
On his departure to news.com.au, Tim Dunlop placed his baby in the hands of Ken Lovell et al, and the transition has been smooth. This blog has lost none of its bite, and it regularly and repeatedly sticks the boot into our PM, without losing its point in the heat of the moment. Prides itself on also laying into Labor leaning types to balance things out, but its birth as a political blog was prompted by its criticism of the Iraq invasion and it has remained true to those roots. Insightful but with a sharp sense of humour.
Pavlov’s Cat is a general interest blog with a strong literary bent, but it also makes periodic comments on Australian politics from a soft left-feminist perspective. Blogger Kerryn Goldsworthy is a former academic, now based in Adelaide, with a gently ironic take on life that sometimes boils over into righteous indignation.
If you want the view from the hard left, this is the place to go. It harbours a variety of writers, including Jeff and Jill Sparrow, Harry Feldman and Robert Bollard, but they tend to share a solidly Marxist background. Plenty of topics are covered, and the posts are often thoughtful and well-written, but the unrelieved one-sidedness can be grating even if you agree with the point being made.
The blog moniker is not ironic. An onymous lefty, formerly anonymous lefty, is the brainchild of Jeremy Sear, aka the blogger responsible for Boltwatch, “where Andrew Bolt’s Deranged Polemic … Gets What’s Coming To Itâ€?. Onymous rarely departs from an ironic mocking tone which he adopts to tackle all things conservative. Although there’s a tendency to rant as he rails against “hardline free-market rightiesâ€? and anything to do with [insert reference to the US/Howard/Liberal Party here], Sear is indefatigable in his defence of the poor and disenfranchised. The Tim Blair antidote, if you’re looking for one.
Does anyone remember the time Tim Blair included Catallaxy on his list of “Australia’s top ten lefty blogs“?
That seems like a long, long, long time ago, Don.
Amusing too as I consider Karl Marx as conservative as Carl Schmitt.
All political and opinion blogs lean either left or right according to the wont of the authors. Similarly all political and opinion blogs are perceived in accordance with the leanings of the reader. The only mistake I can see is if a reader takes all their information from one place.
Absolute pedant alert. Shouldn’t it be po-faced? Unless you’re suggesting that none of our bloggers look like dear old Edgar Allen, in which case, it’s a point well made.
Succinct and rancorous, sure, but does anyone really consider Blair to be “razor-sharp”? More like boorish and deliberately obtuse.
Just quit the BS, orright? The lot of ya.
Using the left/right dichotomy that most people have used, I’m in broad agreement with the blog bias-o-meter except I think the poll analyses should be rated 1 to the left, club troppo on 0 as centrist, Polemica down to 2 or 3 – its not nearly as “left” as LP here and Blogocracy over to left 5 or 6
An Onymous lefty more Left-wing than LeftWrites!? Like, what-everrrrrrrrr!
:-p
Leftwrites, a blog run by a majority of actual marxists, gets less Carls than Jeremy Sear?
Absolute pedant alert. Shouldn’t it be po-faced? Unless you’re suggesting that none of our bloggers look like dear old Edgar Allen, in which case, it’s a point well made.
Took the words right outa my keyboard Mal, someone who was Poe-faced would be pallid and tragic, quite the opposite of po-faced.
Update: Catallaxy comments.
Some analysis at The Dead Roo.
Why only four right-of-centre blogs?
Dunno John, ask Crikey.
Technorati has a filter on the “Australian Conservative Blogs” search term
No offense to the wonderful Tigtog … but there was feminism in Oz poli-blogging before Hoyden About Town became as (deservedly) popular as it is today. I seem to recall both Kim and I giving feminism a pretty good run here on LP.
Excuse me, I must return to my retirement now.
You’re quite right, Kate. One of the reasons I started my blog was because of the other Oz-fem polibloggers who I liked reading so much. I appreciate Crikey’s compliments, mostly, but I’m kinda bemused as well.
Pavlov’s Cat had this to say in response to a comment about her place from “A. Cynic” wondering if her and Hoyden’s inclusion was tokenism (and I’ll break my rule about commening as an author of the piece, but it wasn’t!):
http://pavlovblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/eeek.html#c7774661491394300307
So come back soon, Kate, you haven’t been forgotten!
Man I hate these things. It’s just blogging, not rocket science, you post, and hopefully you have an audience that reads it and sometimes leave the odd comment or 20.
Rankings and ratings are just about useless and similar to ranking the conversational ability of your friends. They’re all different and bring whatever it is they have to bring to the table. I like all my friends for that.
Jeremy Sear more lefty than Leftwrites?
This exercise really shows the limitations of a single axis, failing to capture the distinction between non-statist bloggers (of all political persuasions) and those fonder of government intervention. As I mentioned over at the Dead Roo, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeremy lined up with Catallaxy on drug legalisation (in favour, especially for soft drugs).
Still, it’s got us all talking, which was probably the point of the exercise.
What makes people think that LW is statist – isn’t this confusing Marxism with Stalinism?
Do people really believe, to use the above example, that many LW posters are against legalization of drugs?
What it actually reveals is that there is no substantial “right” in Australian blogging.
…or politics really. Both major parties pretty much support nanny state welfare, foriegn aid, women’s rights etc etc. Good consevative stuff.
For the record I reckon Jeremy’s blog is about 2 or 3 points to the left, max. But Crikey’s whole spectrum is wrongly shifted to the right by about 7 points.
Those lame tryhards @ Crikey don’t ever fully disclose their own extreme-capitalist-right-wing-ALP bias (sometimes extreme-right-wing-Lib bias).
To figure out a much better guide and where you might really fit, check out: The Political Compass.
(I’m still looking for a spheric-3D guide, at least! but 4D or 5D would be ideal!)
Of course, Crikey left out the competition: one of the most important visionary ground-breaking Oz blogs that started this whole thing: Margo Kingston’s Webdiary http://webdiary.com.au/cms – with its historical links to SMH, Fairfax and the “Not Happy John!” campaign (famous for being organised by Valder, ex-Lib president, ex-banker, ex-howard protector and bankroller).
I’m guessing Margo’s Webdiary itself would fall smack in the very centre, like most small-l libs, while her readership itself, probably a bit more left.
Maybe this is a clue?
I thought it was best known now for publishing its financial statements.
Also, get some sleep dude!
If you’re still up, I hope, like me, you have a good malt whisky in hand.
“Although there’s a tendency to rant”
Absolute rubbish. Now, if you’ll excuse me, here are a thousand earnest words WITH OCCASIONAL RANDOM CAPITALS sarcastically and somewhat repetitively arguing why Crikey’s completely wrong and I don’t rant at all…
I reckon ‘Road To Surfdom’ is only slightly Left of Dead Centre…at least it would’ve been a decade ago…just goes to show how far Right the Murdoch puppets, Packer’s lot, radio jocks like Alan Jones, Hanson & the Howard Govt. have taken Aussie politics. Down the uranium bricked road to RAMPANT CAPITALIST MEGALOPOLIS, home of kooky cults, casino funded government, debauchery in the closet & back rooms, fast food fed mutants, security obsessed paranoids, celebrity droolers, con artists, ad-blitzed armchair imperialists, sleep walking cheerleaders pumping out patriotic pap, gays enslaved to show tunes & kylie clones, motivational spruikers, political puppets & robber barons who leave the workers stunned & sitting in fetid pools of delusions of grandeur.
i need a shower.
One thing I find strange about those who rail against those who use the “left/right distinction” is that said railers are invariably self-described left-wingers. One poster here – it might have been Pavlov’s Cat but I could be wrong – has even posted that they were ‘proud of my left wing politics.’
And then of course, there is this:
Some mothers sure do have ‘em.
http://larvatusprodeo.net/about-larvatus-prodeo/
You’re wrong.
I certainly wouldn’t ever say what you’ve put in those quotation marks. You may of course be maliciously misrepresenting something I said on my own blog about being chuffed to find myself in the same part of the Political Compass graph as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, in which case the answer is ‘Yes, I am indeed chuffed. Give it a rest, you oik.’
Nor, as a rule, do I ‘rail’, except when unbearably provoked by pointless if not incomprehensible trolling.