About Guido's Blog
Origins
Guido's blog was started in September 2004. The choice of the Guido avatar and character was deliberate, the thinking being that Guy Fawkes had great name recognition, a memorable "brand" and a great reputation as the only man to enter parliament with honest intentions.
Intentions
The primary motivation for the creation of the blog was purely to make mischief at the expense of politicians and for the author's own self-gratification At the time most political blogs, from the author's viewpoint, were earnest and serious. His intention was to create a more fun, gossipy and acerbic "anti-politics" form of commentary. Never having suffered from a lack of intellectual confidence, the adoption of tabloid news values was not embarrassing or accidental, it was a deliberate and necessary step towards becoming popular. The British blogosphere was at the time full of wannabee Telegraph and Guardian leader writers and a lot of "Fisking" - the tedious line-by-line critique of long boring articles in the form of an even longer, even more boring article.
Inspirations
Guido set out to be sensationalist, Matt Drudge was an inspiration, Kelvin Mackenzie's Sun of the 80s was another. The camp, politically incorrect tone of the media/music/culture/whatever website, Popbitch, is deliberately echoed. When media pundit Roy Greenslade described Guido's blog as "the bastard love-child of Popbitch and Kelvin Mackenzie", Guido was proud of his parentage. Madame Popbitch herself contacted Guido to say she was proud of her offspring.
Perception
Guido sees himself as a journalist, a campaigning journalist who publishes via a blog. He campaigns against political sleaze and hypocrisy. He doesn't believe in impartiality nor pretend to it.
Reception
Guido has frequently broken stories that have gone on to dominate newspaper pages. He often gets stories out before broadcasters. The blog is read widely in the Westminster political village and in newsrooms.
The blog was once the Guardian's political commentary blog of the year and has won numerous new media awards Guido had never heard of before nor in all likelihood will ever again. Guido regularly appears in those wanky annual lists of media movers and shakers. He pays no attention to them, but secretly always likes it when he is ranked higher than Nick Robinson.
Intentions
The primary motivation for the creation of the blog was purely to make mischief at the expense of politicians and for the author's own self-gratification At the time most political blogs, from the author's viewpoint, were earnest and serious. His intention was to create a more fun, gossipy and acerbic "anti-politics" form of commentary. Never having suffered from a lack of intellectual confidence, the adoption of tabloid news values was not embarrassing or accidental, it was a deliberate and necessary step towards becoming popular. The British blogosphere was at the time full of wannabee Telegraph and Guardian leader writers and a lot of "Fisking" - the tedious line-by-line critique of long boring articles in the form of an even longer, even more boring article.
Inspirations
Guido set out to be sensationalist, Matt Drudge was an inspiration, Kelvin Mackenzie's Sun of the 80s was another. The camp, politically incorrect tone of the media/music/culture/whatever website, Popbitch, is deliberately echoed. When media pundit Roy Greenslade described Guido's blog as "the bastard love-child of Popbitch and Kelvin Mackenzie", Guido was proud of his parentage. Madame Popbitch herself contacted Guido to say she was proud of her offspring.
Perception
Guido sees himself as a journalist, a campaigning journalist who publishes via a blog. He campaigns against political sleaze and hypocrisy. He doesn't believe in impartiality nor pretend to it.
Reception
Guido has frequently broken stories that have gone on to dominate newspaper pages. He often gets stories out before broadcasters. The blog is read widely in the Westminster political village and in newsrooms.
The blog was once the Guardian's political commentary blog of the year and has won numerous new media awards Guido had never heard of before nor in all likelihood will ever again. Guido regularly appears in those wanky annual lists of media movers and shakers. He pays no attention to them, but secretly always likes it when he is ranked higher than Nick Robinson.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why is it written in the third person? "Guido was.. Guido understands... Guido this, that and the other?"
It is because he is "in character". Many newspaper diarists use the same device. At home Guido says "may I have the butter" on the blog however...
Do you delete comments you disagree with?
Why is it written in the third person? "Guido was.. Guido understands... Guido this, that and the other?"
It is because he is "in character". Many newspaper diarists use the same device. At home Guido says "may I have the butter" on the blog however...
Do you delete comments you disagree with?
Sometimes the feeling of absolute power is just too good to resist, particularly if they have spent ages writing an essay of a comment. Mainly comments from bores and obssessives get deleted. Off-topic comments get deleted as well. The comments policy is arbitrary and inconsistent. Bear in mind tens of thousands of comments get made every year. There is a vague ad hominem offensiveness level that merits deletion as well, by and large that level is different for public figures than private figures. Thousands of comments attacking Guido are still on the blog. Witty ones in particular don't get deleted. Some people are just outright banned and their comments disappear as soon as seen. The policy is inconsistent because Guido doesn't like to pre-moderate comments. Obviously comments that risk libel writs also get deleted. Guido has more than enough writ threats of his own to deal with. Any kind of reference to Guido's family or alter ego is deleted without hesitation. Mrs Fawkes insisted on that after a particularly bad stalker incident.
This blog is private property, not a public commons, readers are guests. Guido is a believer in freedom of speech and suggests you exercise it by starting your own blog.
This blog is private property, not a public commons, readers are guests. Guido is a believer in freedom of speech and suggests you exercise it by starting your own blog.
