Posted on March 30, 2011 by The Orwell Prize -
I was, for a while, just Anton Vowl, but in October 2010 I decided to end all of that. I enjoyed writing under an assumed name as it gave a lot of freedom to be experimental and not to worry about being judged against whatever I’ve done in my ‘real’ life, but there comes a time when you feel like you have to just be yourself and not be afraid of the consequences, good or bad, of putting your own stupid giant face and your own rather bland name next to the things that you write. So, I’m Steven Baxter, a not-very-good journalist from London, now based in Bristol, and a blogger on the media, and other stuff, here at Enemies of Reason. I started the blog back in 2007 as I was fed up with being drip-fed the same old nonsense, telling me things I knew were misleading or untrue, pushing certain stories at the expense of others, and feeding fear. I thought to myself: surely, there must be some room somewhere for an alternative voice? And I found it online, in blogs like Five Chinese Crackers and Chicken Yoghurt and Obsolete.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on March 30, 2011 by The Orwell Prize -
Submitted blogposts published at Head of Legal, Comment is Free, The Wardman Wire and Anglotopia. I write Head of Legal to explain developments in law, and the law behind the news, to an informed and interested but not necessarily legal audience. And because I can’t help thinking, writing and obsessing about law, particularly my specialisms in constitutional, public, human rights and European law and the way they interact with politics and society. I’m a barrister, and worked as a government lawyer for twelve years, advising ministers and government departments on a wide range of public law issues from tax to terrorism, from freedom of information to pensions, from discrimination to health and from defence to broadcasting. My career in government included stints at the Cabinet Office, where I advised on the EU Constitution negotiations, and at the Attorney General’s Office where I advised Lord Goldsmith on a wide variety of legal issues. I have advised nearly every government department, from the Home Office to Health and from the Treasury to the MoD. I’ve left practice now, though, and work as a writer, lecturer and consultant.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
We must see justice done (more on rape and anonymity)
Posted on March 30, 2011 by The Orwell Prize -
Submitted blogposts published at Too Much to Say For Myself, Comment is Free and Liberal Conspiracy. I’m Cath Elliott, a freelance writer, blogger and researcher, an unapologetic feminist, and a trade union activist. This is my personal blog.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on March 30, 2011 by The Orwell Prize -
Dipping the reason stick in a fresh pile of steaming dog dirt and waving it in the general direction of woo woo. I am a freelance IT consultant specialising in the development of software test strategies and managing the full software testing of complex systems. I write the satirical skeptical blog, “Science, Reason & Critical Thinking”, and am the co-founder and co-organiser of the Hampshire Skeptics Society and Winchester Skeptics in the Pub.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Since 2004 I have been BBC News’ home editor, a title which has some strange consequences. I get sent samples of “premium quality laminate floor-coverings”. I have been asked to review hammer drills. And offer opinions on Italian furniture design. But my interest and certainly my expertise is not in the world of interiors. In a way, it is quite the reverse. I try to look at Britain from outside, endeavouring to make sense of the dramatic and rapid change affecting the UK by standing well back. My title also implies a role as head of the BBC’s UK Specialist Unit – a team of expert journalists working in radio, television and online. Thankfully, any responsibility in that regard does not extend to trying to manage the unit but I do champion its cause at every opportunity. It is the quality of the BBC’s specialist journalism that sets its news coverage apart and I believe we have some of the best in the world keeping tabs on the domestic scene. What I want to do, (and what this blog is really about), is join some of the dots left by the dozens of stories we report each day. I want to understand our country, to see which direction we are heading in and what challenges lie ahead on our journey.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
The Bleeding Heart Show is a blog of under-rehearsed and over-caffeinated stammerings from Neil Robertson, a Barnsley-born 25-year-old who now resides in Coventry. From time to time, the blog will contain ill-informed missives on British/American politics, popular culture and other miscellaneous outbursts which only ever make sense to the author. The blog is written from a liberal-left perspective and covers such emotive subjects as (yawn) electoral reform, social issues, the maddening rightwards lurches of the Labour Party and the need to revitalise grassroots political activism… occasionally interspersed with cool Youtube videos and pop songs. When he’s not busy inflicting his words on his nearest and dearest, the blogger can also be found indulging in a liberal conspiracy. Don’t worry, it sounds worse than it is. The blog is named after a song by a Canadian band called the New Pornographers.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Oliver Kamm is a leader writer at The Times. He joined in 2008, having been an investment banker and co-founder of a hedge fund. He is the author of Anti-Totalitarianism: The Left-Wing Case for a Neoconservative Foreign Policy (2005).
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
I’m Paul Mason, Newsnight’s economics editor, a job that takes me from Kenyan shanty towns to Russian hedge funds and Chinese factories. My blog is called Idle Scrawl. It veers wildly across the subject: from house prices, to global poverty; from deconstructing glib terminology to devastating critiques of the England football management. It is occasionally meant to be funny.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
I’m Paul Mason, Newsnight’s economics editor, a job that takes me from Kenyan shanty towns to Russian hedge funds and Chinese factories. My blog is called Idle Scrawl. It veers wildly across the subject: from house prices, to global poverty; from deconstructing glib terminology to devastating critiques of the England football management. It is occasionally meant to be funny.
Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Confined by Lucifer to one of the lower circles of Hell, the Heresiarch nevertheless continues to campaign against all forms of orthodoxy.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 18, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
‘And another thing…’ is intended as my outlet for opinions, jokes, musings and whimsy about a range of subjects including – but not only – politics. If you believe that politicians take themselves too seriously, you might enjoy it. If you think they should take themselves very seriously indeed, or shouldn’t have any interests outside politics, I would avoid it, frankly. Try John Redwood. I’ve been a Labour MP since 2001, and was a minister at the Department for Transport from September 2006 until October 2008. I’m married to Carolyn, with whom I have two sons. I have a number of obsessions interests, including Doctor Who, science fiction in general, the music of Genesis, The X-Factor and any other old rubbish that comes into my head.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Iain Dale is one of Britain’s leading political commentators, appearing regularly on TV and radio. Iain is best known for his political blog, Iain Dale’s Diary, and football blog, West Ham Till I Die. He is a contributing editor and columnist for GQ Magazine, writes for the Daily Telegraph and a fortnightly diary for the Eastern Daily Press. He was the chief anchor of Britain’s first political internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street.com and is a presenter on LBC Radio. He appears regularly as a political pundit on Sky News, the BBC News Channel, Newsnight, Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live. He is the publisher of the monthly magazine, Total Politics and the author or editor of more than twenty books. He is managing director of Biteback Publishing.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
- Iain Dale’s Diary
- Iain Dale, Peter Hitchens and Ed Vaizey, ‘What is the big Conservative idea?’ at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2009
Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Longlisted for blogposts published at PoliticalBetting.com and the Daily Kos. Greg Callus is the Deputy Editor of PoliticalBetting.com. PoliticalBetting.com is Britain’s most-read political blog – and the best online resource for betting on politics.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
The police: upholding the law, protecting the weak and innocent, bringing the guilty to justice… or a self-defeating tangle of bureacratic vogons? The opinion in this blog is not official, but it is that of a real serving policewoman and is copyright of PC EE Bloggs. PS, just because I am a police officer does not mean I am responsible for any of the following: poor police driving you saw, roads near you being closed for hours, your unlawful arrest last week.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Home of the Freedom Pass Anarchists and the wonderful world of professional wrestling, psychogeography, allotments and the class struggle. On the day that I retired from my final job as a lockkeeper I left the following on the wall. …… I started work at fifteen years of age Worked on the river and at sea but I also worked in factories and fields. In the circus and in films. I never achieved much. But I never crossed a picket line. Never judged a fellow worker by their colour or creed Nor sucked up to the bosses for my own ends….. Pretty much sums it all up.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Foreign Matters tries to join the dots and tell it like it is. Postions? It takes them. Debates? It makes them. Some blogs will use the language of diplomats without translation, Foreign Matters seeks to explain that a ‘Working Group’ is 5 or more people sitting in a room failing to achieve anything, and a ‘ Bi-lateral’ is a meeting involving two people chatting.
Submitted blogposts
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Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
My name is David Allen Green, and I am a lawyer and writer living in London. This is my personal blog. It is named after a medieval folklore hero – a wizard that bested the devil. The blog became well-known for its detailed and accessible coverage of the libel case brought against Simon Singh by the British Chiropractic Association, 2008-10. However, this blog covers many other legal and policy areas, usually from a liberal and critical perspective. It is not a party-political or partisan blog.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Gender: Male Occupation: Project Worker/Support Worker Location: Scallysville, Chavshire, United Kingdom
Submitted blogposts
- Children in Care – Winston Smith, 17/02/09
- Living Arrangements – Winston Smith, 25/02/09
- Social dis-services at it again – Winston Smith, 03/03/09
- Crisis Funds – Winston Smith, 25/03/09
- The Deadly Case of Assault with a Can of Deodorant – Winston Smith, 03/04/09
- The Right to be Morbidly Obese – Winston Smith, 11/04/09
- Addicted to Idleness – Winston Smith, 22/05/09
- Just Another Burden on the Welfare State – Winston Smith, 09/07/09
- A Self Sustaining Egalitarian Redistributive Food System – Winston Smith, 12/11/09
- Driving Miss Crazy – Winston Smith, 12/12/09
Other links
Posted on October 17, 2010 by The Orwell Prize -
Iain Dale is one of Britain’s leading political commentators, appearing regularly on TV and radio. Iain is best known for his political blog, Iain Dale’s Diary, and football blog, West Ham Till I Die. He is a contributing editor and columnist for GQ Magazine, writes for the Daily Telegraph and a fortnightly diary for the Eastern Daily Press. He was the chief anchor of Britain’s first political internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street.com and is a presenter on LBC Radio. He appears regularly as a political pundit on Sky News, the BBC News Channel, Newsnight, Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live. He is the publisher of the monthly magazine, Total Politics and the author or editor of more than twenty books. He is managing director of Biteback Publishing.
Submitted blogposts
Other links
- Iain Dale’s Diary
- Iain Dale, Peter Hitchens and Ed Vaizey, ‘What is the big Conservative idea?’ at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2009