Comparing Political Blogs

The two blogs I compared were “Beltway Confidential: Blogging Washington with Julie Mason” from the Houston Chronicle online, http://www.chron.com/news/blogs/ and “The Fact Checker” by Michael Dobbs, a Washington Post blogger whose blog can be found at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/.

Because I am from Houston, I try to keep up with some of the news by reading articles in the “Houston Chronicle” from time to time. Blogger Julie Mason writes from Washington, DC about politics. I “discovered” her writing because she was a guest speaker in my Writing for Mass Communications class last semester. I absolutely loved the experience of hearing her speak, and now it’s so interesting to read her postings because I can really hear her tone through her words.

Honestly, politics interest me a lot less than the average American University student, but her wittiness, her use of adjectives, and her sharp opinions are so compelling. For example, in a recent article discussing Fred Thompson, she wrote, “He muttered scornfully through his campaign appearances, he bullied that Iowa debate moderator and bragged about it like he’d toppled Saddam Hussein. He was a grouch and he disdained the process.”

These sentences might have been edited out of a newspaper article because of the opinionated statements and the inappropriate metaphor. But these sentences really caught me, someone who is not interested in politics, and kept me reading. Isn’t that part of what makes a great writer?

I feel that bloggers these days, because what they write can be posted for viewers to read in a matter of seconds, compete based on certain levels: fact, interest (humor or wit), graphics (photographs or icons) and technology in general (videos or any unusual aesthetics). The two blogs I chose to look at are good examples of these areas. In Julie Mason’s blog, she constantly uses videos and pictures as well as direct quotes in print. Her titles and her statements are funny and tends to make fun of politicians, and her postings are short enough that readers can ingest fact quickly.

Michael Dobbs’ blog, “The Fact Checker” is very similar. He also focuses on politics, uses video and pictures as well as print. But like any journalist with a concentration in politics, his goal isn’t just to feed the news but to catch politicians in lies, fibs, or half-truths. This blog is unique because Dobbs clearly gives the facts, and then, using a tidbit of pop culture, gives the person of focus the “Pinocchio test”, and lets the reader know just how truthful the former statements were. He even had the 2007 Pinnochio Awards to list the top ten fibs of the year.

I feel that the “Beltway Confidential” and “The Fact Checker” are good examples of blogs that would catch a reader’s eye and keep him or her reading. Both blogs are informal, witty, and use technology to their advantage, and even if the reader doesn’t have time to sit and flip through a newspaper, it would be more compelling to click on a second or third link to learn more about the topics that Mason and Dobbs are presenting.

Dobbs’ blogs tend to be a bit longer than Mason’s; although they both are writers located in DC with a very similar topic, they have different goals. Mason is attempting to spin politics in a humorous way, aiming for a Texas audience who want a quick but accurate view into the DC scene. Dobbs is catching politicians in their own speeches, while still remaining light-hearted, with pictures of Pinnochio’s face to judge the intensity of the lie.