My Welsh Blogosphere - A Change Of Personnel

Thanks to David for the opportunity to express my thoughts on the wider blogsphere and congratulations to those involved in the campaign to Save the Vulcan pub.

It would come as no surprise to you that with a blog entitled ‘A Change of Personnel’ I have my doubts about the differences between our parties and politicians, especially the ones in Cardiff Bay, you only have to look at the One Wales Agreement and the All Wales Accord to see what i’m talking about.

So if I think that way why do I blog at all, apart from interest in politics, the main reason is to curb my frustration with Welsh Politics and to try and make sense of what I see and read, sometimes it works and I write sensible rational posts and sometimes it doesn’t and I just rant on things that really annoy me.

I also enjoy reading other bloggers thoughts from across the political spectrum and various views and debates that go on different blogs, ones you wouldn’t always get to hear if bloggers weren’t around.

In the interest of balance it would be good to see more Labour member’s blogs and also some official and non official Conservative blogs although I see little chance of it which is a shame especially in the current climate where votes and voters are up for grabs like never before.

In the aftermath of the recent European Elections politicians have a golden opportunity to reconnect with voters by generating new ideas on all sides of the political spectrum, so what has been welsh politics response to date, for me reading the speeches, blogs and newspaper articles by the people who could soon be in charge not a lot really, its seems to me that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Moving on to the importance of blogs, some people think Welsh blogs are irrelevant, others think they are nuisance, but in an era where party membership is declining, public meetings are almost non-existent and people lead busy lives it becomes more important to encourage interest in Welsh Politics wherever we can and online is one place that the politicians, political parties, lobbyist, media and ordinary people can engage with the issues and stories of the day. Blogs like the online newspapers and journals reach beyond Wales, where people are interested in Wales and Welsh politics that enables them to engage in current debates in way not possible just a few years ago.

Finally I believe that blogs will continue to be an important part of 21st century welsh politics, to rage, rant and scrutinise ineffective government and inept politicians, to offer ideas and highlight alternatives, to debate issues and often disagree and especially given the challenges facing the main stream media and the lack of alternatives, something which should be worry us all.
So here’s to a long and healthy life for Welsh Blogs and bloggers long may they write.

(Written by V, author of the A Change Of Personnel blog)

This is post twenty three of a series of articles giving a chance to Welsh bloggers to have their say on the state of the blogosphere and where it's going. If you're interested in contributing place feel free to contact me at welshbloggers@gmail.com