Mark, you're our inspiration!
After Katrina Bishop’s post, I write this at the risk of making us Brits look like we are all head-over-heels obsessed with the BBC’s Euro-god Mark Mardell.
Oh, what the hell… I have been reading Mark’s blog post on the Th!nk About It launch. Even more fascinating than his post itself, is the cacophony of comments that it attracted.
I think I’m right in saying that we were all prepared for it to be an uphill struggle to try and engage people in the EU to the extent that we would be on the receiving end of a flurry of impassioned comments.
Well take a look at the selection of comments below - that I have extracted from the 70-plus responses to Mardell’s post.
The most active commenter seems to be MaxSceptic, whose name probably sums up his position pretty well. His opening gambit was:
As for competitions - who really cares? Does a Slovak really care what a Danish blogger has to say? Do I, as a Briton, really care for some Greek blogger’s opinions about anything?
This competition seems to me to be designed primarily to elevate the profile of the EJC (who?).
Which prompted this response from PADAV01:
Quite apart from the fact that Europe does not feature on the mainstream political agenda, except at specific times within the four year Parliamentary cycle ? ie. during the run up to the EP elections, the level of general ignorance amongst the public about European matters is frightening.
The last comment (from Max Sceptic) shown above encapsulates much of the problem. European political discourse is still viewed (distorted?) essentially through individual national lens; opinions are formed accordingly
Until a truly Europeanised political arena can evolve, in which matters of specifically European resonance can be debated and decided upon, by an accountable tier of European governance, I think we (as Europeans) are unlikely to make much progress?
Cue Ford Mondeo:
“Do I, as a Briton, really care for some Greek blogger’s opinions about anything?”
Ha! And I thought this insular kind of idiocy was the preseve of certain US neocons…No! I stand corrected! British eurosceptics are olympic gold standard in this respect.Superb! They truly have hit a new low! And what is even more hilarious is that they actually think other Europeans share this mentality!
May I suggest the ostrich as a EUrophobic totem animal. I would say it was “swivel eyed” but its head head is buried deep in the ground.
And democracythreat:
“May I suggest the ostrich as a EUrophobic totem animal. I would say it was “swivel eyed” but its head is buried deep in the ground.”
I had rather thought a better totem would be a blind cow being lead into the woods by a small group of pigs, all standing on their hinds legs.
But to each his own. I like yours, too. It works.
And Gheryando:
padav01 - I don’t know how old you are, but if you’re under 60, you are up for some big surprises once Generation-E gets enters the realms of power in Europe.
And, fellow Euro-bloggers, just as a real incentive to carry on blogging, I include the wisdom of Freeborn Jon and SCLSCL respectively:
The stench surrounding this blogging competition is over-powering.
On the other hand you have these bloggers who are just ordinary people, generally with little experience or knowledge of a particular area, writing these blogs and being given attention which quite frankly doesnt merit any attention. I’m all for useful blogs but can’t stand your average Joe thinking they’re important because they have a blog!
Does a Slovak really care what a Danish blogger has to say? Is the stench of this blogging competition really over-powering? Will Generation-E enter the realms of power in Europe? What would you suggest as your ‘EUrophobic totem animal’?
So many questions … I can’t wait to hear the answers…
- You can take a look at my main blog here: http://studentjournalist.wordpress.com
(17 votes, average: 3.65 out of 5)
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Well, I am a Slovak and. actually, I DO care what a Danish (German, British…) blogger has to say! People outside any country may provide a different and often also a useful point of view on both national and international affairs. And yet the nationality may even be irrelevant sometimes - the important thing is blogger’s (or generally author’s) contribution, his/her opinions, points, arguments and a way of presenting them, no matter which country he/she is from…
I wonder whether MaxSceptic is such a nationalist or just an egoist who does not care about others’ opinions at all…
Getting a confirmation on the 1st day that EU money is involved I also had 2nd thoughts, working as a journalist for 15+ years who knows about overly lavish treatment from interest driven hosts. This fresh post leads me to 3rd thoughts.
While I share the view that it is always awkward when the host pays and plays I would not know about another opportunity to meet such a diversity of bloggers from all over Europe. If nothing else I will at least have checked 80 other blogs over time, add some to my list of daily reading and be happy to see that there is a lively international debate about this distant but powerful political entity called EU.
As European blogging is still in a grass roots stadium compared to the American blogosphere I welcome all initiatives that want to change that. I would not have come across this very well done post without this get-together and it will make me watch out for more. I also certainly prefer a EU willing to enter into a discussion to those countries where bloggers get jailed instead.
BTW, don’t feel too compromised because of econ tickets and 2* hotels. MSM journos fly club and stay where they meet
As self-obsessed as bloggers are, we are the very image of humble objectivity compared to the sort of person that finds it a productive use of one’s time to go on one blog to complain about how another blog is really useless.
[...] Take a look at my latest blog post for the European Blogging Competition, Th!nk About It, here. [...]
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