One year ago today, Craig Smith and I put our resources and know-how together and started Blogging Tories, the original partisan blogroll community in the Canadian blogosphere. Since then, our model has been ported over to other sections of the political blogosphere as other partisan groups formed blogging communities to catch-up, and to respond.
It’s been an interesting year as Blogging Tories has become the hub for many whom have felt disenfranchised by traditional forms of news media and wished to fight back against an MSM where many say bias exists. In fact, the Blogging Tories community has broken news stories of their own and have influenced the proceedings of Parliament and the current election.
The website is popular among the political class in Ottawa and among the grassroots members of the conservative movement. I believe that blogging will help bridge the gap between constituent and member as technology continuously affects our democratic processes.
Back in late April of this year I remarked:
The Conservative Party of Canada is synonymous with the Grassroots. It is indeed the Grassroots Party of Canada. Therefore, blogging and Conservative make the perfect marriage of activism and desire for change.
Conservatives gather around blogs for warmth in a cold and hostile media environment. From this small hopeful light in the darkness, conservatives spread the message to others open to positive change and re-establishment of our country’s pride. This is the grassroots and this is our time.
I believe in this country in which there is so much potential. Blogging has been an outlet for my activism and Blogging Tories brings like-minded Canadians activists together to help make the grassroots heard. In the coming year, I hope that Blogging Tories continues to grow as more and more blogging activists step to the fore and continue to contribute their voices to the national debate.
Happy Birthday, Blogging Tories!