Smeargate, McBride and the New Media

Reading the absolute political poison about “Smeargate” in the London Evening Standard tonight (I’m down here on business) I’m wondering about the timing of launching my own political blog.
Maybe all of us aspiring progressive politicians should give up on new media and get back to press releases and stump speeches?

But two things make me think. First of all, what Damian McBride and his colleagues have done is utterly appalling. Not only is it immoral in its own right, but its devastated the genuinely good news stories about Labour’s G20 achievements. I’ve no doubt the timing has been manipulated by the anti-Labour press, but what on earth made McBride & Co even consider this kind of story-lining was acceptable. They need to get out in the real world. And whilst I am frustrated by the way the Tory political PR machine has milked the opportunity, its only what Labour would have done in the reverse situation.

Secondly, I don’t subscribe to the view that Gordon Brown somehow sanctioned or encouraged this. But I do think it shows how little our current political leaders understand the power of the new media. And because they don’t understand it, they focus elsewhere and leave space for the McBrides and Drapers to operate unchecked. So instead of the building on the power that blogs and social websites have to reach out and build support for progressive politics, we end up with the self-created hatefest we are currently enduring.

So I’m not giving up. New media is great way to build new political relationships and ideas, new ways of listening, sharing and promoting ideas. Just be yourself and don’t say things on the web that you wouldn’t be prepared to say on the street!