I’ve been impressed by the work that Kari Chisholm and his merry band of political junkies down at BlueOregon are doing. And imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So I’m thinking about launching a blog to cover Washington State politics and policy. And that’s where you come in. I need co-conspirators!
If you are:
- Knowledgeable about politics and policy in Washington State
- Have an original point of view
- Can package both of the above into short, pithy, entertaining paragraphs, on a roughly once-a-week basis
Drop me a line and tell me about your beat.
(Yes, Alex, I will be calling you personally about this.)
Instead of launching a new blog, you might want to think about joining an existing one. There are actually a number of Washington State Political blogs. I’ve been covering the eastside of King County since 2002 and am experimenting with adding a correspondent on the real east side of the state. If that works, I’ll try other local areas.
Pacific Views is another well-known political blog for Washington. Their team of three writers cover both local and national politics.
Upper-left (http://upper-left.blogspot.com/) is “proudly partisan” and has been operating since 2003.
The King County Democrats also have a blog, and I’m one of the co-authors. Natasha (of Pacific Views) also writes for KCDems.
Shark blog covers the other side of the aisle. I was very surprised to see a GOP blog in Seattle, just as he was surprised to see a Democratic blog on the Eastside.
Kayne,
Good suggestions. I’m not interested in creating something that is explicitly Democratic, nor something that covers national issues — that’s already being done well by others.
However, if you’re interested in expanding the scope of your coverage, it might be very interesting to talk more with you about that.
Jon, happy to help in any way that I can. Be sure to read the ‘about blueoregon’ bit for some about our approach to being political/apolitical. We’re trying to hop, skip, and jump back and forth between the overtly political stuff and more interesting issues, controversies, and ideas.
Kari-
Thanks for the offer (and the plug!). What you’re doing is (obviously) an inspiration. Hopefully we’ll be able to repay it soon!
Jon,
Let’s take this discussion to email. I’m interested in expanding the amount of coverage, both inside and outside of King County. I’d like to get the expanded coverage up and running by the primaries. I don’t have your address on file so I’ll look forward to your first message.
A recent transplant from Portland, I’ve been trying to find a source of local/
regional and, yes, state-wide news. I dismissed the Columbian after reading 3
different editions. Based on the stuff I’m reading on BlueOregon, a Washington-
based blog would be on my favorites list if it was only half as good as the
BlueOregon blog. If you get something up — please send a notice to me for
registration.
Washington blogs/news, from my linklist under development:
News: The Seattle Times Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Seattle Press the Stranger.com Seattle Weekly Northwest Asian Weekly The Olympian TribNet/Tacoma The Spokesman-Review The Columbian King County Journal HeraldNet/Everett Navy News FedWayMirror Yakima-Herald Bellingham Herald Tri-City Herald Renton Reporter
Blogs: Orcinus archy Emphasis Added Jesus’ General Pacific Views Upper Left defective yeti La Di Da Peace Tree Farm Stumax.com washington state political report RatcliffeBlog Tikun Olam Andrew McManama I VOTED FOR GEORGE The Barbaric Yawp Pleasing to Remember Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs BLOG RELOAD DEBUNKER.NET Monkey Disaster Hronkomatic Hobson’s Choice Dr. Menlo presents EmphaSis AddED gordon.coale slapnose eclecticism Brown Equals Terrorist
If the html screws up, email me for it, at kahlil[AT]despammed[DOT]com
I think this is a great idea!! Blue Oregon shouldn’t keep all that blue intrigue
all to themselves.
While you’re reading this, make sure to check out the Oregon Bus Project’s new sister
organization in Washington – the creatively-named ‘Washington Bus Project’ (hey – when
you got a good brand, why fiddle with the name?).
Here’s a link to their way-cool site: http://home.comcast.net/~wa.busproject/index.html
Here’s a schedule of upcoming Bus Trips for those of you who just can’t wait to ‘Get
on the Bus’: http://home.comcast.net/~wa.busproject/events.html
I’d love to provide an E. WA point of view on occassion. Don’t forget us. We’re more
mobilized than ever. I was astounded at the support for Kerry I saw at the
Benton/Franklin County fair and the Yakama Nation Pow Wow this week.
Given the opportunity to provide commentary once a week would be great. Especially on state issues.
Me: I’m in Pierce County. I help to coordinate the Democracy for America group here.
Yes, as I’ve said before, I think this is a good idea.
also, these might be worth a look
http://www.pacificviews.org/
http://upper-left.blogspot.com/
http://seablogs.hellbent.org/
I have a few links for you to check out. One sounds like a rightie website but is done well.
http://www.soundpolitics.com/