How not to launch a political blog: “F$%k you”

NZ Left Wing election site 08Wire launched, it seems with an interesting group of backers and is based overseas. It is good to see new discourse emerge, but I see a couple of issues.

First, in the launch article they do their best to turn prospective readers off:

Some analysis is sensationalized. Like David “cut-and-paste / cut-and-paste / I’m-drunk-again! / cut-and-paste / short-spin-piece / hooters!” Farrar, or the various “fuck you!” “no, fuck you!” stoushes that now pass for broadcast-based political commentary. But it’s almost always shallow and disappointing.

Secondly, they follow the tabloid approach to showing articles – just the headlines and a sentence. That isn’t sufficient on a political website – it fails to give you anything to read when you arrive, and there are no glossy pictures to make up for it. It feels like a loony site as a result.

Better are Daily Kos (the biggest political blog) and NZ’s No Right Turn. Both are well laid out and invite you to immediately start reading when you land.