Blog bits: interview with Sunny Hundal

I first came across Sunny Hundal at the excellent Pickled Politics and since then he's carved out a strong niche for himself at Liberal Conspiracy, and Comment is Free as well as writing for a whole number of other publications. Sunny's focus on building a left blogging community and providing campaigning tools has made him an incredible online asset to the left.

In the fifth in my short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss American blogs, political influence and the drawbacks of team work.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

I think a blogging low was when I was getting stalked by Will from DSTFW and getting called all sorts of names. But I guess it makes me develop a thicker skin. Blogging highs - when people come up to me and say they've read my articles. It's always nice to know I have an audience.

• You've very much focused on group blogging. What are the strengths and weaknesses of that approach over going it alone?

I think going it alone means you can be a bit more flexible because it's very personality based. So your own personal stories can be shared too.

The problem with group blogging sometimes is that people feel a bit official and that they can't do small, off-handed posts because they have to maintain a certain standard. That ends up making those blogs less personal than they should be.

The strength is obviously that you have more content and more energy in a group blog.

• How politically influential do you think blogging has become?

Depends how you measure influence. It would be naive to think blogging is or will ever affect a significantly large portion of the population to make an impact at the ballot box. In other words - I doubt we'll ever be at a stage where blogs can tell people to vote a certain way for strategic reasons and affect the election.

Saying that though, blogs are read by people within the Westminster circle - so there's more potential to influence the decision makers and influential people with ideas and narratives. Right now though, I don't think we're at that stage of maturity and consolidation yet. I see even more consolidation amongst blogs as absolutely essential before they start making an impact.

• There seems to be a very clear separation between the A List blogs and even the best of the rest. In your opinion what's key to becoming a top political blogger?

Have a big enough niche that you'll blog constantly about. Have access to something different (people, perspective, technology)... blog often. Don't blog long pieces because people barely read them. Focus on current affairs issues so people feel the need to get involved. Don't use obtuse or confusing language. Get involved in your own comments section.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

A mix between the vibrancy of Huffington Post, writing at Talking Points Memo, the community focus of Daily Kos and the design of FireDogLake. Yes, I'm obsessed by American blogs.

Quick fire round:

1. History or economics? Economics.
   
   
2. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Hot
   
   
3. Guardian online or hard copy? I'm an online child.
   
   
4. Afghanistan - troops out now? Nope - need to stabilise the country.
   
   
5. Action movie or comedy? Comedy.
   
   
6. Coffee or beer? Beer.
   
   
7. Opera or Oprah? Neither.
   
   
8. Benazir Bhutto or Yasser Arafat? That's like a rock or a hard place! Probably Bhutto.
   
   
9. Liberal or Left? Left more than liberal.
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your enemies? I'm off! I've always been fascinated by space.

Blog Bits: interview with Kate Smurthwaite

Kate Smurthwaite is a brilliant stand up comic who writes over at Cruella blog, among other numerous places. She's even been on breakfast TV roasting some sexist creep - wooo!

In the fourth in my short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss Michael Jackson (his first mention on this blog), grammar and how much money Germaine Greer has cost her.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

The biggest high is always when I blog about someone in the public eye and they notice and respond. I've had that from MPs, authors and also newspaper columnists. If they agree with my points great but even more satisfying when I can tell I've really gotten under their skin. For instance a Sunday Times columnist (who shall remain nameless) who wrote on her own blog that I was "probably too intellectual to brush her own hair".

The only low really, aside from days when I don't feel like blogging, is when someone who is supposed to be (in my head) a good guy/gal suddenly turns to the dark side. Robin Ince (super left-wing comic) agreed to appear in FHM recently and I cried. If "good" people behave like that what hope is there for "bad" people?

• How does blogging fit into your politics, comedy and life generally?

I blog about all of the above. I blog my opinions, I find out about others experiences through my blog, I publicise my comedy and political activism on my blog and I use it to tell stories from my own life. I also understand politics in the context of my own life and tell stories from my own life in my comedy.

My comedy is very political and my political campaigning is full of comedy. Scientists have shown that jokes affect political opinion more than serious statements do. The revolution starts here.

• How long does it take you to write a post?

Longer than I think. I assume it will take ten minutes (like this interview) and then once I've started writing I end up taking hours and being late for whatever else I'm supposed to be doing.

• How does writing a Cruella blog post compare to writing elsewhere?

When I write for my blog I write about whatever I feel like writing. Anywhere else I write they're going to have pre-emptively pigeon-holed me (and maybe themselves) so I'll already be there as an expert on whatever they think I should be an expert on.

I write much more about "mainstream" politics and rationalism on my blog but when I go elsewhere the first consideration is usually "has a vagina, is only entitled to write about sex or issues specifically affecting only women". But hell, I'll take the work, at least I'm getting work. Also I don't really bother double-checking spelling and grammar on my blog, my readers are smart enough to figure it out.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

It would look like a newspaper that divided coverage up based on a strict set of rules - so one sentence per person killed, etc. So several pages a week about Iraq and Afghanistan, several pages about male violence against women every week and then a single line "Popular singer Michael Jackson died this week at his home."

And proposed law changes would be discussed based on rational scientific basis of lives saved or dramatically ameliorated. If I had time I would write this myself but I never will, it would take a big team.

Quick fire round:

1. Jo Brand or Shappi Khorsandi? Both - how could you choose?
   
   
2. History or economics? History. Economics is a bunch of theories and most of them don't work.
   
   
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? It's hot. I'm still watching.
   
   
4. Guardian online or hard copy? Online, I buy The Independent in paper copy.
   
   
5. Afghanistan - troops out now? Of course - our prescence so far has boosted Taliban numbers to the point where they're now capable of invading parts of Pakistan. Why continue driving people to them?
   
   
6. Action movie or comedy? Comedy. Good one though, there's a lot of rubbish on the market these days.
   
   
7. Coffee or beer? I don't drink coffee.
   
   
8. Opera or Oprah? Opera
   
   
9. Greer or Dworkin? Dworkin. I don't even consider Greer a feminist any more plus she publically said women weren't funny and it's affecting my income. Dworkin was great.
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your enemies? I'm on it. I think humans should have started colonising space decades ago. Not instead of solving problems here but instead of causing them (see above under Afghanistan).

Blog Bits: interview with Sue Luxton

I've been a great fan of Cllr Sue Luxton's blog for sometime now. Whilst parking permits and planning applications are not necessarily the stuff revolutions are made of I think Sue has really worked out how to fit blogging with her work as a community activist and Green councillor.

In the third in this short series of interviews Sue bigs up the Lewisham blogging massive and comes out in favour of David Cameron... that's piqued your interest!

• How do you think blogging as a councillor differs from other types of blogging? How careful do you have to be?

Hmm, that depends on what kind of councillor you are (community activist, climbing the greasy pole, electoral geek), and what you're aiming to do with your blog. I'm sure no non-councillor blogger in their right mind (and possibly a large number of cllr bloggers, or at least those wishing to retain the interest of their readership) would spend as much time as I do talking about controlled parking zones, pot holes and dog shit, but these do tend to rank pretty highly in the topics residents raise with us!

I'm very aware that whatever I say on my blog can be twisted, misconstrued and taken as the 'official view' of the Green Party and try to bear this in mind when posting. I've written the odd throw away remark I've regretted, but generally I opt for cautious and boring over exciting and risky, and fairly parochial rather than trying to deal with international politics and lots of Green Party national stuff.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

Highs: when a resident tells me they found something useful/came to an event having read about it on my blog, or when some constructive discussion takes place in the comments. I also hope that another high at some point will be to be able to look back through the blog and remember some of the things we've managed to achieve as councillors.

Lows: trolls - I've had petrolheads making quite personal remarks because I had the audacity to support 20mph speed limits, someone accusing me of supporting the Tamil Tigers and others who try to turn any topic into a discussion on their pet issue. Also writing post after post after post, not getting any comments, and wondering if anyone is reading it (happens less often now). Occasionally feeling a slave to the blog or guilty when I haven't posted after a busy week.

• How does blogging fit into your wider political activity?

I try to use it to give an overview of the work we're doing on the Council. I don't tend to use it much for national party politics, unless something has really annoyed me, or there is a clear local angle. I try to remember that it's only hitting a certain demographic and that the readership is not reflective of the ward as whole.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

I think both Mrs Normal and Sian Berry are well-designed sites. The perfect blog would of course also have to have impeccably-behaved readers and commenters!

• Lewisham seems to have a very healthy online community - how come?

It's true, that Lewisham (with a few Greenwich interlopers such as 853.com and Tory Troll) has a pretty lively blogosphere. Even Time Out acknowledged this recently and they normally ignore south of the river entirely, unless they want to do smthg on gangs or a feature on where the next Dalston/Shoreditch is.

Maybe it is some kind of gritty south-east London determination in the face of snide remarks from north Londoners and sectors of the media that spurs us on to prove there's more to south-east London than not having many tube lines!

Back in March 2006, when I started Green Ladywell, the number of local bloggers was fairly small, with Transpontine, (former) Labour councillor Andrew Brown, Bob from Brockley, Lib Dem councillor Andrew Milton and the Man from Catford being the stalwarts of the (male-dominated) blogosphere. Things definitely took off when Brockley Central joined the foray in February 2007 and it seemed to develop a huge online community around it within a few weeks. A few other women bloggers such as Deptford Dame and Brockley Kate (part of the Brockley Central team) came along, although women are still notably in the minority amongst bloggers.

The other thing that was good were the occasional Lewisham bloggers meet ups (initiated by Andrew Brown) and then the Brockley Central drinks, which were a great opportunity to put faces and names to previously anonymous bloggers.

Quick fire round:

1. Tory government better, worse or same as Labour? Marginally worse, but more expensively spun.
2. Chumbawamba or Blur? Hmm, that's a toughy as I was a big fan of both, saw Chumbawamba a few times at uni (whatever ever happened to Credit to the Nation?), but would have to say Blur, having revisited their back catalogue recently at their Hyde Park gig.
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Yeah, nice idea, Deptford Dame was knitting with friends there today. Got to be better than all the generals on the other plinths, surely?
4. Clegg or Cameron? Cameron is the more convincing.
5. Action movie or comedy? Comedy
6. Mark Thomas or Jo Brand? Mark Thomas
7. Opera or Oprah? Neither!
8. Livingstone or Monbiot? Probably Livingstone, but perhaps we could splice the best bits of them together somehow?
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Super smooth.
10. Newspapers or magazines? Newspapers (unless it's the Ecologist/New Internationalist)

Blog bits: Interview with A Very Public Sociologist

Phil, whose been blogging away at AVPS for some time now, is one of those old school socialists that show you can have a good theoretical grounding and talk like a human being at the same time. He writes on a wide range of subjects from sci-fi to wild cat strikes, he can entertain on them all.

In the second of a short series of interviews with fellow bloggers we discuss trolls, George Galloway and the Committee for a Workers' International.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

Highs: Occasionally managing to bash out a post that gets very appreciative comments and plugs from across the blogosphere - it reminds you why blogging can be very worthwhile. It also gives me a platform to foist my music taste on the world.

Lows: Trolls can be incredibly annoying if you let them get under your skin. And then there's blogger's block which can be frustrating - back in 2007 I remember it lasting for half a year.

• How does blogging fit into your general political activity?

I suppose in one sense it doesn't. It appears to have very little impact on my trade union activities or the other work I do as a Socialist Party activist. If I wasn't a blogger I'd still be doing the same political work as I am now.

But on the other hand it does effect my activity, or rather how I reflect on that activity. For me blogging is more than mouthing off. Among other things, it's an opportunity to test arguments, clarify my thoughts about political and theoretical issues and think through what me and my comrades do. So blogging is an extension of my activism.

For example I often blog about the discussions that take place in my local party branch and regional get togethers, and nine times out of ten I attend a demo or a meeting with an eye to writing about it later on. A number of readers have told me this gives them a different view of the SP than what they can expect from our publications and website - so I've inadvertently fell into another way of plugging my organisation, but this wouldn't be possible if I was an inactive member. My blogging then is parasitic on my activism.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

That's a tough one! I don't know if I can answer it! To be honest it would probably be an amalgam of all my favourite left blogs plus a shit hot lay out.

• Traditionally hard left organisations have liked to keep quite a tight control over their propaganda... has your blogging ever got you into trouble?

No, not trouble. The only time there was an issue was last year when I wrote a piece about the Committee for a Workers' International's strategy in Germany and Greece. One of our comrades talked about the strategic debates taking place in those respective groups, which I blogged about in perhaps too much detail. A comrade asked if I could amend it so it was treated in more general terms, which I did.

There's been other times when comrades - and not just SP comrades - have asked me not to mention something.. But that's very rare now. Everyone I work with knows I don't mention sensitive things such as membership figures, financial details, the specifics of what we're planning locally, behind the scenes talks with other organisations and what have you.

I do think some might wonder why I churn out loads for my blog but very little for party publications. But on the other hand I think most comrades can see the positives of having a number of CWI-aligned blogs.

• The print media seems to have a wary relationship with online publications - do you think they're right to be scared of us?

I think this is overhyped. The press know they'll be able to buy in popular bloggers as columnists if needs be, so the Telegraph has nothing real to fear from the scores of identikit Tory bloggers out there. But as for *left* bloggers, print will only start fearing us when our movement starts meaning something.

Quick fire round:

1. Tory government better, worse or same as Labour? Marginally worse
2. George Galloway or John Rees? Galloway
3. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Hot
4. Lenin or Taafe? Taaffe (never shared a urinal with Lenin)
5. Opera or Oprah? Jerry
6. Caroline Lucas or John McDonnell? McDonnell
7. Buffy or firefly? Buffy - not keen on Westerns in space!
8. Max Weber: marks out of ten? Eight
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Ever so smooth
10. Newspaper or magazine? Blog

Blog bits: interview with Cath Elliott

Cath Elliott is one of those people who's always interesting and provocative. In the first of a short series of interviews with fellow bloggers I thought I'd have a quick chat with Cath about blogging, politics and space travel. You can find Cath on Comment is Free and Too Much To Say For Myself.

• Why do you blog?

More than anything else I think I blog because I love writing, and blogging is a format that really suits the way I write. Plus of course blogging is a way of getting information out there and helping to raise awareness of issues, which is a huge advantage for anyone’s who’s involved in political activism.

• What are the highs and lows of blogging for you?

The highs and lows are both the same really, because my favourite thing about blogging apart from the actual writing is interacting with the people who read my stuff. But the comments I sometimes get, especially on my Comment is Free pieces, also represent to me some of the lowest/worst aspects of blogging too…

The highest points for me have been the emails I’ve received from people, especially from women who don’t want to comment on some of the more robust threads, who want me to know that they appreciate me speaking out about certain issues. Sometimes when I’ve just read through a thread that just seems full of hateful comments, I won’t deny that I’ve wondered what the point is of it all. But then I’ll get an email, or meet someone who recognises me from my CiF photo, and who says something really positive, and that just makes it all worthwhile.

• How does blogging fit into the rest of your political activity?

As I said at the start, I think blogging is one of the best and fastest ways now to get information out there, and it also gives you a much wider audience than more conventional methods of communication. Because of this I think it’s a vital component to any political activist’s arsenal, and I’m always surprised to find activists, or trade unionists, who still aren’t using any of the new media.

Blogging compliments and fits alongside my political activism, but I’m also wary of letting blogging take over that activity completely. I’d hate to become just another Internet warrior, spouting off on the net but doing nothing concrete to effect change out in the real world.

• If you could imagine a perfect blog - what would it look like?

Charlotte Gore’s. Seriously, I love the look of her site, but unfortunately I’m not a techie so I haven’t got the first idea of how to go about creating something so sublime.

• What's the big differences between blogging at somewhere like Comment is Free and the blogging you do elsewhere?

The blogging I do on my own site is a lot more personal than any of the stuff I write elsewhere and I think it gives people a much better picture of who the real Cath Elliott is. Having my own site also allows me to really let rip when I feel the need, without having to worry about what the editors are going to think.

Obviously Comment is Free and Liberal Conspiracy where I also write don’t want the more personal stuff, and I also tend to have to be a bit more measured about what I say or at least how I say it when I’m writing pieces for them (I realise some people might find that a bit hard to believe).

Quick fire round:

1. History or philosophy? History
   
   
2. Fourth Plinth - hot or not? Lukewarm
   
   
3. Dworkin or Greer? Dworkin, obviously.
   
   
4. Afghanistan - troops out now? Yes, the sooner the better
   
   
5. Action movie or comedy? Action movie
   
   
6. Coffee or beer? Coffee (or wine), I hate beer
   
   
7. Opera or Oprah? Oprah
   
   
8. Lenin or Keir Hardy? Lenin
   
   
9. Obama: super smooth or mad dog imperialist? Super smooth
   
   
10. There's a free ticket on the next space shuttle - do you go or do you send your kids! Neither. I hate flying, and it’s bad enough waving them off on a plane, I don’t think I could bear waving them off into space.