Hello again. Former star Webdiarist Tim Dunlop will write a column for Webdiary this year. ‘Blogjam’ will surf the net and suggest political web logs and articles you might find interesting. Tim has been in Washington for a couple of years, where he launched his successful weblog Road to Surfdom. Tim’s Webdiary pieces include the brilliant Pauline Hanson’s gift to democracy, Rebuilding the left, Two Nations tragedy and his most famous Webdiary piece Pull the udder one.

On the subject of blogs, I’m looking for Webdiarists who’d like to report regularly on the federal seat they live in in the lead up to the election and during the election campaign. If you want to have a go, send me an opener – describe who you are and the seat where you live. Please disclose your affiliations, and if you want to hide behind a nom de plume, please explain why.

Blogjam

by Tim Dunlop

Welcome to the first instalment of a Blogjam which we hope will be a weekly round-up featuring what the blogs are talking about. With an election likely in Australia this year, and one due in the United States, and little matters like Iraq on the agenda, this is going to be a big year for politics and therefore a big year for the political blogosphere as well.

For this first Blogjam, I thought I’d give you some links and general information about a range of blogs – my heavily biased cruise through some of the ones I like best – though future instalments will try and link not so much to blogs per se but to specific pieces bloggers have written.

If you’re new to the blogosphere, can I suggest you read the piece I wrote for the Evatt Foundation about what blogs are and why I think they have a part to play in democratic politics. I don’t want to oversell you on the concept, but I like the fact that the web of interactive discussion and writing they create by linking to each other and to other material available online has created a public space that brings together the expert and the non-expert in a medium where they can interact in a way not normally available.

Let’s start with John Quiggin’s blog. John is a Professor of economics at the University of Queensland and he is one of a number of economists who blog. You’ll find some others over at Catallaxy, run by Jason Soon. The hallmark of John’s writing is his ability to explain even complicated matters in a non-condescending but accessible way.

Another academic’s blog worth checking in on is Back Pages put together by historian Christopher Sheil. Chris has a background in Labor politics so brings an insider’s view to his political discussion, but like John Quiggin, writes about a range of topics (including sport and music) to balance out the more serious topics. Then there is Rob Schaap at Blogorrhoea, who doesn’t update all that often but who brings a unique perspective to current events. Absolutely not be missed – one the blogosphere’s best writers.

For a constant stream of current events, including key stories that might otherwise fall through the cracks, there is Alan over at Southerly Buster. Always worth clicking through to. As are Sandgropers Gareth Parkerand Robert Corr. Gareth is a journalism student in Perth whom I often argue with, but who always plays fair. Rob is another West Australian blogger who covers politics with insight and enthusiasm.

There are a couple of excellent sites which deal with the events of the day in a more quirky way. First up, there is Gummo Trotsky, one of the blogosphere’s real discoveries. Then there is David at Barista and the inimitable Sedgwick, who is, despite what you might have heard, Australia’s governor general.

And no general introduction to the topic would be complete without mentioning sites like She Sells Sanctuary, Blogger on a Cast Iron Balcony, Hot Buttered Death, William Burrough’s Baboon, A Yobbo’s View, and the official site of the Australian Libertarians.

Not all these are strictly speaking political blogs, but then again, politics isn’t just what happens in Canberra or Washington D.C..

I’ve stuck pretty much to the Australian blogosphere here, but the international scene is huge, growing and impressive – a veritable Valhalla of hot topics and good writing. Impossible to narrow it down too much but all of the following will repay your investigation: Atrios, Calpundit, Lean Left, Body and Soul, and Crooked Timber. All have a political focus, but that’s not all they do.

Okay, I’ve only really scratched the surface here. You can find a lot more sites permanently linked at my blog, The Road to Surfdom, and it is worth taking some time to explore what’s available. You might also like to check Cursor, which is a daily compendium of key stories throughout the blogosphere and beyond and that is more or less the model for Blogjam.

Forget all the guff you hear in the mainstream press about people being disengaged from the process, turned off by politics, fed up with issues, sick of big ideas, not willing to talk. Blogs have shown that if you strip away the spindoctors, the PR people, and the media consultants, talk to the punters like they are thinking adults with their own opinions to express, and then provide them with a steady stream of fact-based argument (spiked with fringe-festival humour) they’ll show up by the train-load.

More next week (and apologies to those I left out!)