Getting Started

      

Setting Yourself up for Success

Political blogging is about communicating an informed opinion. To do this, you might want to consider the following:

1. An email account for the purposes of this class that allows you to get news alerts.  (Google alerts for your region, country, topic, etc., for example)
2. A Facebook account to follow political pages (Obama administration for example)
3. A Twitter account to follow important news outlets (@thecaucus);
4. A vimeo or YouTube account to subscribe to news channels (http://www.youtube.com/user/CBCTheNational, for example).

What Makes a Good Blog?

Read the following (they’re really short):

* "5 Tips for Blogging” Alvaro Bellido.

*  “Why Blog?  A Guide for Students,” Steve Fox

*  Writing a good blog, by Janine Warner.

Check out these Webby Award nominees/winners for 2013

The New Yorker:  http://www.newyorker.com/politics The Guardian:  http://www.theguardian.com/world Atlantic Politics  http://politics.theatlantic.com/
The New York Times Opinion Page:  http://www.nytimes.com/opinion/ The New York Times - Five Thirty Eight http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/ The Economist online - Democracy in America blog.  http://www.economist.com/blogs/de...
The Huffington Post http://huffingtonpost.com
Truthdig http://www.truthdig.com
Close Read on newyorker.com http://www.newyorker.com/online/b...
Comedy Central's Indecision http://www.comedycentral.com/indecision

Last Step!

Write a 100 word response describing what you, as a user, thought was most effective in the blogs you visited, what made them stand out, what had the most impact on you. Post the response on the class forum of our LEA page under the subject "What makes a blog worth reading?".