Bloggasm

Simon Owens: Which conservative bloggers do you think create the most spin? And if you had to pick a conservative blogger to label a worthy adversary, which blogger would that be?

Lindsay Beyerstein: Generally speaking, the conservative blogs don’t create their own spin, they perpetuate the spin that’s created by the higher ups in the GOP message machine. Powerline and Michelle Malkin are among the top spin perpetuators.

John Cole of Balloon Juice is a worthy adversary.

SO: How powerful do you think political blogs will become (in terms of readership) before we see a plateau in readers? Is there a much larger potential readership than we have now?

LB: I think there’s a potential for a much larger readership than we have now. Total readership is only one measure of the power and influence of the blogosphere, however. Blogs aren’t just a publishing medium like magazines, they’re also a means of organizing people and channeling resources. For example, blogs are becoming focal points for activism within the Democratic party, and not just because a fair number of registered Democrats read blogs.

SO: As a female blogger, do you feel that you are out-numbered by males? Is it any different to be a female writing in the blogosphere?

LB: I’m definitely outnumbered by male bloggers, but that doesn’t bother me. I haven’t felt discriminated against. When I first started blogging, there was a lot of controversy about “where the women bloggers were.” At which point dozens of female bloggers stood up and said “AHEM.” At that point almost all the A-list liberal bloggers were male, and most would probably have described themselves as feminists or feminist sympathizers.

These guys were genuinely perplexed about why they weren’t encountering more women doing their kind of blogging. I think they were embarrassed by the outcry from the women bloggers who accused them of being blinkered on gender issues. The problem was mostly human nature rather than real sexism–being in a rut about who you link to, being overly rigid about what constituted “serious blogging.”

To their credit, the liberal blogosphere really cleaned up its act on the whole “woman blogger thing”. At first, popular male bloggers made a conscious effort to seek out female bloggers and lend them exposure. Now, I think that it’s not even an issue. The great thing about blogging is that it’s a conversation. It may take some effort to the conversation started, but the exchange takes on a momentum of its own when you realize that you had a lot to say to each other all along. Now, I think the liberal political blogosphere is unusually receptive to feminism compared to other media in this country.

SO: What are the five blogs everyone should be reading (besides your own)?

LB: Pandagon
Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Talking Points Memo
Unclaimed Territory
Hullabaloo

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