Why would anyone bother to read a blog?

This is a question I often ask. I am amazed at how many people have had a peek at this blog over the years. I'm even more amazed at how many people message me about the contents, tip me off about things going on in Barnet and just thank me for raising things. In Barnet we are blessed with some fine blogs. John Dix, Theresa Musgrove and Derek Dishman have all made an amazing contribution to our community. We also have two retired bloggers, David Miller (former Chair of the Chipping Conservatives) and Vicki Morris, who moved away but helped define the world of Barnet blogging. Finally we can't forget the rather spikey individual that was Dan Hope, a former Conservative Councillor, who fell foul of Mike Freer and his regime. Dan sadly passed away a few years ago, but dedicated a huge amount of time to videoing council meetings and making sure transparency in Barnet was maintained.

All of these bloggers have one thing in common. We all put a huge amount of time into ensuring we have content that is worth reading on our blogs. I spend a huge amount of time researching blogs, writing Freedom of Information requests, collating stories from various stories, speaking to various councillors and council officials (in darkened doorways sometimes). The people who talk to me care and want the stories in the public domain.

Why would anyone read a blog? The sad answer is that if you really want to know what is going on in our locality, really want to know the stories that matter, there is no other real source of information. The local papers no longer have the resources to do in depth coverage of stories. It would simply be uneconomical for them to spend three days collating a single story. Some of the blogs I put together take weeks or even months to put together. You get a tip off. You put in an FoI request or attend a council meeting, sometimes, you have to go to several, over a period of months. Sometimes it is disheartening for me to put all that work in and only get a couple of hundred reads, when the next day I do a light hearted list of pictures of three legged dogs playing football that gets 27,000!

Over the last year, I've done a lot less political content. It had been my intention to stop that altogether, however the new Leader of Barnet Council has declared war on the public in Barnet and so like the old First World war vets in 1939, I've had to dust off my uniform, dig out my helmet and head off back to the trenches. There is work to do and thanks for being part of the journey. I have only one small request, for all the time I've out in. Please can you tell all your friends to have a little peak at my blog and that of the other Barnet bloggers. There is a lot of things going on in Barnet. Maybe your friends will not be interested, but if they are, then why would you want them to miss out on the fun.

Thanks for your support.