The dog that does not bark

I posted the following on the Total Politics local government blog:

Is some critical mass needed before a community gets a decent online watchdog?

Recently I've started travelling into Bristol a couple of times a week for work. Though just 20 minutes away it's like another country.

You can see that by looking online. I've been checking out Evening Post Watch, Green Bristol Blog, Charlie Bolton's Southville blog and, of course, the daddy - Bristol Indymedia.

They're just coming from a broadly left/green perspective, there are plenty of other political Bristol bloggers out there. They share a delight in poring over what the council (and other civic institutions) are up to.

Just ten minutes down the road and Bath is home to a number of media companies as well as many national reporters who have fled London.

Yet a year ago the local paper went from a daily to a weekly and barely a handful of the city's blogging community takes any forensic interest in what the council is up to. (The Bath Bomb is giving it a go with limited success).

And then on my doorstep in Wiltshire you can see the virtual tumbleweeds blowing across your computer screen.

The local authorities in the county are going through their biggest change in 30 years with millions of pounds at stake in the unitary process. With issues from acadamies, to major regeneration schemes, the changing relationship with the military and serious environmental concerns there is no lack of meat.

Who blogs the most about this? The county council's chief executive and the council leader.

Comments

[green bristol blog]

Thanks for the mention, but you really should have included the Bristol Blogger, who was my inspiration, and there's a few others too who I have links to.

Out in the sticks Ian Liddell-Grainger (local Tory MP!) is a real thorn in the side of Somerset County Council, so there may be hope for Wiltshire.