Progressive Democratic Blogging in MA
A small network of progressive, democratic political bloggers has popped up in Massachusetts in the past year. They, or I should say "we," operate independently of one another, but we are finding our voices and, I believe an audience. We are a new phenomenon, but our presence is already being felt and its my sense that we are destined to play a growing and significant role in state political life.
That may sound a bit grand, but read on.
Here is a sampling of recent material from this network. All of the bloggers, (except me), but especially .08 Acres (and a Donkey) have written about Governor Mitt Romney's apparent presidential ambitions, and speaking tour of early primary states.
Blue Mass Group has a very interesting recent post Thinking Strategically on Gay Marriage . Blue Mass Group's recent post linking to a debate about the pros and cons of Deval Patrick and Tom Reilly as prospective candidates for governor, points to the beginnings of what will be a spirited, statewide discussion. Nohomissives has been a must-read for news about the race for the 3rd Berkshire race to replace former State Representative Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield).
We have all covered the three special elections for state representative, adding breadth, depth, links and additional perspectives to coverage by the news media. One of the very useful functions of these blogs is finding links to most, if not all of the important print coverage of the special elections in one place.
One portent of the future importance of the political bloggers is that Tim Schofield, who is leading the pack in the crowded field in the democratic primary for the 18th Suffolk district (Allston, Brighton and Brookline), links to blog coverage of his campaign alongside mainstream press clips on his web site. This is, to my knowledge, a first in Massachusetts politics.
Meanwhile, The Fray, a political blog at MassLive.com is an interesting hybrid, sponsored by The Springfield Republican newspaper, and yet functioning in the eclectic manner of other individual and group blogs. The Fray often notes what MA bloggers of all political stripes are writing about -- right alongside items culled from the state and national media. By the same token, The Fray is a must read for us unaffiliated bloggers, and we often link to and comment on items highlighted by The Fray's staff bloggers.
Nohomissives is the elder statesman of the progressive democratic bloggers in Massachusetts -- having gone live in July of 2002. The rest of us are new within the past year. I have no idea the size of our audience -- but what I think I am seeing is a nascent alternative media. We comment and link to items in the news across the state. We often distill and link to information from a variety of sources that you won't get from reading daily and weekly newspapers alone. We add another high quality source of information and analysis to the media mix.
We bloggers have played an important role, I think, in the run up to the March 15th Democratic primaries in the three special elections for state representative. If what's past is prologue, the progressive democratic bloggers of Massachusetts, have an interesting future.
That may sound a bit grand, but read on.
Here is a sampling of recent material from this network. All of the bloggers, (except me), but especially .08 Acres (and a Donkey) have written about Governor Mitt Romney's apparent presidential ambitions, and speaking tour of early primary states.
Blue Mass Group has a very interesting recent post Thinking Strategically on Gay Marriage . Blue Mass Group's recent post linking to a debate about the pros and cons of Deval Patrick and Tom Reilly as prospective candidates for governor, points to the beginnings of what will be a spirited, statewide discussion. Nohomissives has been a must-read for news about the race for the 3rd Berkshire race to replace former State Representative Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield).
We have all covered the three special elections for state representative, adding breadth, depth, links and additional perspectives to coverage by the news media. One of the very useful functions of these blogs is finding links to most, if not all of the important print coverage of the special elections in one place.
One portent of the future importance of the political bloggers is that Tim Schofield, who is leading the pack in the crowded field in the democratic primary for the 18th Suffolk district (Allston, Brighton and Brookline), links to blog coverage of his campaign alongside mainstream press clips on his web site. This is, to my knowledge, a first in Massachusetts politics.
Meanwhile, The Fray, a political blog at MassLive.com is an interesting hybrid, sponsored by The Springfield Republican newspaper, and yet functioning in the eclectic manner of other individual and group blogs. The Fray often notes what MA bloggers of all political stripes are writing about -- right alongside items culled from the state and national media. By the same token, The Fray is a must read for us unaffiliated bloggers, and we often link to and comment on items highlighted by The Fray's staff bloggers.
Nohomissives is the elder statesman of the progressive democratic bloggers in Massachusetts -- having gone live in July of 2002. The rest of us are new within the past year. I have no idea the size of our audience -- but what I think I am seeing is a nascent alternative media. We comment and link to items in the news across the state. We often distill and link to information from a variety of sources that you won't get from reading daily and weekly newspapers alone. We add another high quality source of information and analysis to the media mix.
We bloggers have played an important role, I think, in the run up to the March 15th Democratic primaries in the three special elections for state representative. If what's past is prologue, the progressive democratic bloggers of Massachusetts, have an interesting future.
posted by Frederick Clarkson at 9:40 PM
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