January 19, 2006
BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Regarding Henry
Today the Blogometer talks to GWU poli sci prof Henry Farrell, who contributes to left-leaning academic group blog Crooked Timber.
What is your full name?
Henry Farrell.
What is your age?
35 years old.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Ireland; first in Dublin, then in a small town in Tipperary. I left Ireland in 1993; since then, I've lived in Brussels, Washington DC, Florence, Bonn and Toronto.
Where do you live now?
I now live in Washington DC.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Center for International Science and Technology Policy of George Washington University. I do academic research on various topics, including blogs. I've done bits and pieces of volunteer work for political campaigns in Ireland, and worked for Irish TV as a political researcher during the 1992 general election.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging in January 2003. I'd come across Kieran Healy's blog, and figured that I had to move quickly if I wanted to get a toehold before he completely saturated the market for expatriate Irish social-scientist bloggers.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
My favourite non-political blogging has been the seminars I've organized on writers like China Mieville, Susanna Clarke and Steven Levitt. My favourite political post is this one on Rick Perlstein and the Democratic Party.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I usually read through the blogs after breakfast, and return to them at odd moments during the day. I don't have any specific schedule for writing blog posts. My output varies, but is usually somewhere around 2-4 posts a week. It varies a lot, but as I write for a group blog with several other active posters, it's easier to take time out when I need to.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Favourite political bloggers are Mark Schmitt, Kevin Drum, Matt Yglesias, Brad DeLong, Max Sawicky, Nathan Newman. Favourite non-political (or only sometimes political) blogs are Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Cosma Shalizi, Boing Boing, Scott McLemee, The Valve. Favourite non-classifiable blog -- Fafblog. Favourite blog on the other side of the political spectrum -- Steve Bainbridge.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Favourite op-ed columnists are Paul Krugman (although I don't read him very often now that he's behind the Times Select paywall) and Barbara Ehrenreich.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I don't really watch TV news or the political programs -- I occasionally watch the "Daily Show."
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Irish Times. When I have time, I try to glance at a few European newspapers -- La Repubblica, Le Monde, the FAZ.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
In addition to those mentioned above, I keep up with about 50 blogs using an RSS reader. I try to persuade myself, with indifferent success, that this constitutes "research."
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Daily. I subscribe to the Financial Times -- which I find simply indispensable as a source of news on international (and especially European) politics.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Blogs don't have enough readership to present a serious alternative to major newspapers or TV as a mass medium. The major problem that mainstream media faces isn't blogs -- it's finding ways to make Internet publishing into a paying proposition (a problem that many for-profit blogs have too). Where blogs are going to have a major impact is on those subsections of the media and politics that seek to influence elite opinion rather than mass opinion. We're already seeing how opinion journals on left (the American Prospect, Washington Monthly) and right (the National Review) are creating blog/online magazine hybrids. Over the next several years I suspect that we're going to see a proliferation of blogs run by think tanks, by lobby groups and by others trying to shape elite political debate. I'm an academic; I'd also like to see more academics using blogs to communicate with a wider public, and more use of blogs by intellectual journals. Why don't the Boston Review, the New York Review of Books or the London Review of Books have blogs? They're cutting themselves off from an important set of debates.
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