February 14, 2006
BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Driscoll On Driscoll
Today the Blogometer talks to conservative Ed Driscoll, who writes the eponymous EdDriscoll.com.
What is your full name?
Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.
What is your age?
Over 40 and climbing.
Where did you grow up?
Burlington, New Jersey, a small suburb located between Philadelphia and Trenton.
Where do you live now?
Just outside of San Jose, California.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a freelance journalist who writes regularly for a variety of magazines, primarily consumer electronics publications, including PC World, Videomaker, Electronic House, Servo, TechLiving, and also music publications such as Vintage Guitar, and Computer Music, a UK -- based publication. And on the Web, for Tech Central Station and Blogcritics. I've also written for National Review Online and The Weekly Standard, and I'm a paid contributor to Pajamas Media.com. (But I've never worked on any political campaign.)
When did you start blogging and why?
Around 1999, I began reading self-published e-zines, such as Virginia Postrel's, which was -- and is-a frequent destination of mine. Back then, I associated Weblogs solely with online diaries. Shortly before 9/11, I Googled my name, and discovered a Website called "InstaPundit" had linked to a piece I had written for National Review. That was the first time I noticed someone using Blogger.com other than as a diary, and the proverbial light bulb went off in my head.
In February of 2002, I wrote an article about this "New, New Journalism," and interviewed several bloggers about 9/11 and its aftermath, including Reynolds, and original milblogger "Sgt. Stryker." Both fellows permalinked me when my blog launched the following month, so I really hit the ground running.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
That the post-9/11 world has become the post-objective journalism world, for both better and worse. There had long been rare, scattershot admissions from the media about their bias, but before the Blogosphere, "the MSM" almost invariably billed themselves unbiased and objective, about as often and with as much believability as the Coneheads insisting that Remulak was a small town in France. The Blogosphere dramatically changed this, along with veteran journalists finally going on the record. Eventually, during the run-up to the election last year, then-New York Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent wrote his blockbuster op-ed admitting the Gray Lady's bias. This was followed shortly by the whole RatherGate debacle.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Essentially, I blog when I want, about what I want. So depending upon other writing deadlines, I'll blog either a few hours a day, or more, or none at all. And if I'm traveling, as long as I have access to a broadband connection of some sort, I'll blog a little when time permits.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non -- political blogger?
Reynolds, Postrel, Charles Johnson, Roger L. Simon, Hugh Hewitt and Orrin Judd all immediately come to mind, and there are dozens of others.
I'm not sure if The Bleat fits the exact definition of a blog, but James Lileks.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Non -- blogging columnists I admire include: Mark Steyn, Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, Brian Anderson.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
Probably "Special Report With Brit Hume", though I watch much less TV news than I did prior to following Weblogs. Unless a huge story is breaking, I just find myself preferring to get my news through the 'Net, in as much or as little quantity as I want about a particular story, rather than the soundbite format dictated by the limits of television's format.
What MSM -- produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
At this point, mostly those linked to by bloggers.
What non -- MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
See above.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead -- tree (i.e. print) form?
Very, very rarely these days -- usually only if traveling.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I see the two converging. After several years of thumbing their noses at bloggers, increasingly, newspapers and other forms of Big Media are adding blogs to their Websites, whether they're staffed in -- house, or outside productions such as Blogcritics. And blogs are more and more starting to add features once thought of as strictly the province of the MSM: multimedia (both audio and increasingly video), original reportage, and long -- form posts that at their best, rival or surpass the content of traditional publications.
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