Why blogs are an essential part of the democratic process
Cross posted from A PR Guru's Musings.
I'm currently writing a report on the use of blogs by politicians. PoliticalHackUK reports that Iron Angle (not online) in the Birmingham Post has criticised new Lib Dem MP and councillor John Hemming for having "enough time on his hands to write a surreal internet blogspot.'
PoliticalHackUK says that this is a good example of the 'Dead Tree Press' just not getting it. I was the first elected councillor in the UK to start blogging, way back at the beginning of 2003 (which if you consider internet years to be a bit like dog years, is a long time). I was nearly the first UK politician but was narrowly pipped at the post by Tom Watson MP.
Both as a professional communicator and elected politician I would turn the Birmingham Post's comment on its head. I feel very strongly that politicians who don't blog are failing their constituents. Let's look at some of the facts:
Well over half of the UK population has internet access at home, those that don't nearly always have access at the local public library or their workplace.
Politicians have a duty to engage with their electorate and keep in touch. Traditionally we have done this by attending community meetings, holding advice surgeries, delivering leaflets and newsletters.
The internet is simply another channel for us to use. But it has some significant benefits. The cost (in both time and real money) is far less than the other channels mentioned.
In today's busy society fewer and fewer people have time to attend meetings in drafty community centres or church halls. The people who attend are frequently the same ones every time.
Leaflets require (even with DTP software) a reasonably high level of skill and time to produce. And then the local political party needs money to print them, and volunteers to distribute them. To get the money you need to fund raise from members and supporters. More time and more work.
Contrast this to a blog which can be set up in less than 10 minutes. Creating entries is very easy and can even be sent by email or text message. It helps if you're a good writer, but if you're simply reporting what you've been doing on your electorate's behalf then you don't need to be Shakespeare.
So for very little time and no cash cost you can potentially reach more than half of your electorate. OK, to actually make the blog work properly then you do need to be a bit more proactive and let your constituents know about it. You'll probably need to use traditional communications channels to do this such as promoting the URL in leaflets, newsletters, email signatures, letterheads, business cards, surgery advice posters etc.
The blog doesn't replace traditional communications channels but is an essential part of the mix. To ignore the internet as a channel is every bit as bad as failing to do advice surgeries, attend community meetings, or publish newsletters and leaflets.
Given how easy and low cost it is, there really is no excuse not to blog.
So what's the downside?
Well the main one is that by giving the public better access to your activities and opinions then you are also giving access to your political opponents. And it is only natural that they will want to selectively quote you to distort your opinions in a negative light. The very ease of blogging means that you need to be careful that your words are not easily misinterpreted.
There are several recent examples of politicians' own words on blogs being used against them.
In the Hartlepool by-election the Labour Party put out leaflets quoting Jody Dunn (the Liberal Democrat candidate) who on her blog described the people of Hartlepool as "either drunk, flanked by an angry dog or undressed". She lost, but not because of her comments on her blog.
In the recent general election the Liberal Democrats took out a full page advert in a local newspaper quoting from the blog of Conservative candidate Stanley Johnson (father of blogging MP Boris Johnson). Stanley said on his blog that if elected he "didn't intend to do much in Parliament." To give Stanley his due he did go on to say he intended to concentrate on local constituency issues, but of course the Liberal Democrats didn't quote that bit. He lost, but not because of his comments on his blog.
The lesson from these examples is not that politicians shouldn't blog but that just like anything else they should take care. There have also been lots of examples of politicians getting traditional media wrong (Conservative Ed Matt's fake photo in is Dorset South election leaflet).
