Jessica Wilson and Benj Hellie are killing "For the Record," their outstanding political blog. Is this a dominant trend for political-type blogs that are (more or less) solo efforts?
Now, four years and 1200 posts later, we feel it is time to hang up our
blogging pen. Thanks to the herculean efforts of many of the voices
listed above, political blogging has become a full time job; fatigue
finally set in for us.
That sentiment is surely widespread — after all, it’s true. An individual can only provide thoughtful political commentary in blog post form for so long before bringing others in and cutting back drastically, or going the way of fafblog!, Leiter Reports (the political version), and so many others.
Maybe it’s only natural to have fun with it for a while, then to become tired of it. Just like, say, a ski vacation — you ski for a week and it’s been great fun, but then you’re ready to leave mountain country and return to normal life. But if you weren’t there at the start, it’s almost impossible to break into the read liberal blogosphere at this point with an individual blog. Which leaves, I suppose, sites like Daily Kos.
So if the blogosphere isn’t just dying altogether (and I think it’s probably peaked in terms of influence, but is enough of a fixture not to just fade away completely), then voices are being consolidated. Since the voices remaining are multi-contributor blogs, this may not be a problem… but isn’t it somewhat troubling that the blogosphere is starting to mirror the corporate media, insofar as there’s the New York Times and the like, and then Kos, MoveOn, and blogs of that ilk? Perhaps Kos isn’t driven by corporate interests like CNN is, and perhaps at this point contributors have more opportunity to voice opinions which differ from the party line, but it’s not hard to imagine the future of the blogosphere looking more and more like the future of the corporate media. If you’re a cynic or a nihilist, there’s obviously no cause for concern, because progress is a myth and really, when’s the last time the world wasn’t falling apart? But otherwise, maybe it is.
Accidental Blogger 
2 responses to “R.I.P., Political Web Log (Joe)”
We will see what lies in the future of political blogging – whether it will remain a distinctly independent phenomenon or if it will be absorbed by the lure of advertisement etc. as a parallel branch of the MSM. The fact that many mainstream publications now also have blogs, tells us something. Most independent bloggers will stick around as long as they have fun and are passionate about one or more issues. But eventually, especially those with full time jobs will need something more than an enthusiastic audience to keep them going.
A.B is a small blog, nothing like the ones that Joe refers to. I have learnt a thousand things since it was launched in 2005. And even though I have more time than most bloggers to administer this site, it is difficult for others to imagine how much time, energy, planning, patience and social skills have gone into keeping A.B. alive. So far it has been and continues to be fun. But as for the main point that Joe makes in his post, I am quite certain that I would have probably stopped long ago, had I devoted all of A.B.’s focus and space to political blogging. And that is true even though the main impetus for me to begin blogging was indeed politics. The other reason blogging has not become tedious for me yet is the fact that there are excellent co-bloggers on board who break the monotony not only for readers but also for me by varying the style and flavor of the postings. However, blogging at A.B. too will stop some day. I will have to wait and see what the precipitating factor will be for bringing down the curtain.
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You know, I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s a great point. The fact that A.B. has become increasingly a general interest blog is definitely part of what makes it possible for it to keep going.
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