Progressive Bloggers
Encyclopedia
Progressive Bloggers is the name of an affiliated group of Canadian
bloggers who come from the centre, centre-left and left-wing of the political spectrum. Progressive Bloggers primarily maintain their own blogs, whose content is then aggregated on the main Progressive Bloggers website.
Progressive Bloggers was created in May, 2005 by Wayne Chu from the Canadian political website freethought.ca.
, the preservation of Canada’s social programs
and of Canada's multicultural
mosaic
. Members often blog in support of these issues. Feminism
has been identified as a peripheral issue to Progressive Bloggers.
Progressive Bloggers has been endorsed by the Canadian political organization Vive le Canada
.
.
Application for membership is gained through the Affiliates section of the Progressive Bloggers website. Moderators review all applicant blogs to ensure that they fit with the political mission statement of Progressive Bloggers. Membership can be rejected or revoked if a blogger acts in bad faith, such as berating readers of his or her blog, or falsifying their comments.
Unlike some prominent sites like Daily Kos
, which all self-identified progressives can join, the moderators of Progressive Bloggers on occasion deny membership to certain applicants. This has predictably led a few members to express suspicions about whether this practice serves to favour a particular political orientation, or approach to politics. For example, some feminist bloggers have questioned the practice of rejecting blogs that emphasize personal over formal politics, although this appears to have been based upon a misunderstanding: "the personal is the political" blogs are accepted, but personal blogs—my garden, my cat—are not.
While one or two active members have called for a change in membership criteria, these calls have been of too general a nature to be systematically addressed by the moderators. In fact, most of those who apply are accepted, based upon very loose criteria indeed (the blogroll is an explicitly political one, with a Canadian focus; new bloggers may have to wait for a period to establish that they have staying power). The diversity of Progressive Bloggers' political affiliations itself shows that there is no narrow ideological screening on the part of the moderators.
have a high visibility in Canada. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin
kept a high-profile blog during his campaign for leadership of the Liberal Party
. As an opposition member, former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Monte Solberg
kept a widely read blog. Warren Kinsella
, a former advisor to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
, maintains a high profile blog as well. Comedian Rick Mercer
also keeps a blog that frequently pokes fun at Canadian politicians. The contents of political blogs have been used to both defend and attack politicians in Parliament.
In the early 2000s, the Canadian blogosphere
began to organize itself into groups based on political philosophy (left vs. right), political party (Liberal
, Green
, New Democratic Party
, Conservative
) and geographic location. Membership in several groups is common, and there is considerable overlap between membership in the Progressive Bloggers and other blogging groups, especially geographic ones.
There is a friendly rivalry between the Progressive Bloggers and the other large groups of Canadian bloggers, especially the Blogging Tories
. Blogging Tories who consider themselves Red Tories share many views in common with the Progressive Bloggers and some have memberships in both groups. Soon after the creation of Progressive Bloggers, a list of Liberal bloggers known as Liblogs
was formed.
Monitoring the Progressive Bloggers website can give a quick snapshot of what political developments and world issues are considered important in the Canadian blogosphere, as well as what the range of opinion is on these issues. Journalist Antonia Zerbisias
uses Progressive Bloggers to tell Toronto Star
readers what political happenings have engaged Canadians' attention (e.g., 1, 2).
, this software allows users to vote on which Progressive Blogger posts are currently the best. These posts are then promoted to prominence on the website. Commenting is allowed on posts, with the ability of users to rank and moderate the comments of others.
The Progressive Bloggers website also has the capability for user diaries to be maintained directly on the website allowing users who do not necessarily have their own individual blog to post on the site.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
bloggers who come from the centre, centre-left and left-wing of the political spectrum. Progressive Bloggers primarily maintain their own blogs, whose content is then aggregated on the main Progressive Bloggers website.
Progressive Bloggers was created in May, 2005 by Wayne Chu from the Canadian political website freethought.ca.
Political approach
The central political belief of the Progressive Bloggers is that Canadian society should move in a progressive direction. The values that they promote include the importance of the environmentEnvironmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
, the preservation of Canada’s social programs
Health care in Canada
Health care in Canada is delivered through a publicly-funded health care system, which is mostly free at the point of use and has most services provided by private entities. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act. The government assures the quality of care through federal standards...
and of Canada's multicultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
mosaic
Cultural mosaic
"Cultural mosaic" is a term used to describe the mix of ethnic groups, languages and cultures that co-exist within Canadian society. The idea of a cultural mosaic is intended to champion an ideal of multiculturalism, differently from other systems like the melting pot, which is often used to...
. Members often blog in support of these issues. Feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
has been identified as a peripheral issue to Progressive Bloggers.
Progressive Bloggers has been endorsed by the Canadian political organization Vive le Canada
Vive le Canada
Vive le Canada is a website stressing Canadian nationalism....
.
Qualification for membership
As of 2009, Progressive bloggers includes over 430 members. Membership is open to any Canadian-themed progressive blog anywhere in the world. It is not affiliated with any political parties and attracts people with differing views, including some members of the Conservative Blogging ToriesBlogging Tories
Blogging Tories is the name of a group of Canadian bloggers who come from the centre, centre-right, right-wing and libertarian sides of the political spectrum...
.
Application for membership is gained through the Affiliates section of the Progressive Bloggers website. Moderators review all applicant blogs to ensure that they fit with the political mission statement of Progressive Bloggers. Membership can be rejected or revoked if a blogger acts in bad faith, such as berating readers of his or her blog, or falsifying their comments.
Unlike some prominent sites like Daily Kos
Daily Kos
Daily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
, which all self-identified progressives can join, the moderators of Progressive Bloggers on occasion deny membership to certain applicants. This has predictably led a few members to express suspicions about whether this practice serves to favour a particular political orientation, or approach to politics. For example, some feminist bloggers have questioned the practice of rejecting blogs that emphasize personal over formal politics, although this appears to have been based upon a misunderstanding: "the personal is the political" blogs are accepted, but personal blogs—my garden, my cat—are not.
While one or two active members have called for a change in membership criteria, these calls have been of too general a nature to be systematically addressed by the moderators. In fact, most of those who apply are accepted, based upon very loose criteria indeed (the blogroll is an explicitly political one, with a Canadian focus; new bloggers may have to wait for a period to establish that they have staying power). The diversity of Progressive Bloggers' political affiliations itself shows that there is no narrow ideological screening on the part of the moderators.
Canadian blogosphere context
Political WeblogsBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
have a high visibility in Canada. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
kept a high-profile blog during his campaign for leadership of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. As an opposition member, former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Monte Solberg
Monte Solberg
Monte Kenton Solberg, PC is a former Canadian Member of Parliament, representing the riding of Medicine Hat in the Canadian House of Commons as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development...
kept a widely read blog. Warren Kinsella
Warren Kinsella
Warren James Douglas Kinsella , is a Toronto-based Canadian, lawyer, author, musician, political consultant, commentator, and blogger...
, a former advisor to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, maintains a high profile blog as well. Comedian Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer
Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and blogger.Mercer first came to national attention in 1990, when he premiered his one man show Show Me the Button, I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in...
also keeps a blog that frequently pokes fun at Canadian politicians. The contents of political blogs have been used to both defend and attack politicians in Parliament.
In the early 2000s, the Canadian blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
began to organize itself into groups based on political philosophy (left vs. right), political party (Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
, New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
, Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
) and geographic location. Membership in several groups is common, and there is considerable overlap between membership in the Progressive Bloggers and other blogging groups, especially geographic ones.
There is a friendly rivalry between the Progressive Bloggers and the other large groups of Canadian bloggers, especially the Blogging Tories
Blogging Tories
Blogging Tories is the name of a group of Canadian bloggers who come from the centre, centre-right, right-wing and libertarian sides of the political spectrum...
. Blogging Tories who consider themselves Red Tories share many views in common with the Progressive Bloggers and some have memberships in both groups. Soon after the creation of Progressive Bloggers, a list of Liberal bloggers known as Liblogs
Liblogs
Liblogs is the name of a group of Canadian bloggers. The Liblogs membership consists of bloggers who generally support the Liberal Party of Canada...
was formed.
Monitoring the Progressive Bloggers website can give a quick snapshot of what political developments and world issues are considered important in the Canadian blogosphere, as well as what the range of opinion is on these issues. Journalist Antonia Zerbisias
Antonia Zerbisias
Antonia Zerbisias is a Canadian journalist associated with the Toronto Star since 1989. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as the Montreal correspondent for Variety trade paper...
uses Progressive Bloggers to tell Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
readers what political happenings have engaged Canadians' attention (e.g., 1, 2).
Website technology
Progressive Bloggers uses custom designed software. In addition to aggregating member posts via web syndicationWeb syndication
Web syndication is a form of syndication in which website material is made available to multiple other sites. Most commonly, web syndication refers to making web feeds available from a site in order to provide other people with a summary or update of the website's recently added content...
, this software allows users to vote on which Progressive Blogger posts are currently the best. These posts are then promoted to prominence on the website. Commenting is allowed on posts, with the ability of users to rank and moderate the comments of others.
The Progressive Bloggers website also has the capability for user diaries to be maintained directly on the website allowing users who do not necessarily have their own individual blog to post on the site.