FmH was pointed to today as one of several “worthy liberal blogs” (“The Utne Reader of blogs… always has fascinating and different stuff”) on Winds of Change. This is a relatively new weblog focusing on world affairs by a gentleman, Joe Katzman, who seems to lean toward Sufi wisdom, appears to observe the Jewish Sabbath, and says,

“If you read my blog and think of words like “thoughtful, “iconoclastic,” and “depth”, I’ll know I’ve succeeded.”

He

identifies his politics thusly:

“Cards on the table: I’m a right wing guy. Most people would call me a neo-conservative. In Canada, I support the Canadian Alliance and really like their new leader Stephen Harper. If I lived in the USA, I’d support John McCain. Much of the Blogosphere right now seems to share those views to some extent.”

I’m not sure I agree with his next assertion, that the predominance of right-leaning thought in the weblogging world is part of a struggle to give a disenfranchised political stance a voice. It has often been argued whether the media as a whole have a leftward bias — the conservative accusation — or a rightward tilt — as per progressives. Oh well, if the sense of being disenfranchised juices up the discourse, I’m all for it.

Several months ago, I opined that there seems to be little dialogue between the ‘warbloggers’ and the ‘peacebloggers’, in a fervent reaction to something on UFO Breakfast. At least here is one self-professed ‘neoconservative’ who appears to find something worthwhile in FmH. Thanks for the flattering nod, Joe… [Could that mean he thinks I’m “thoughtful”, “iconoclastic”, and have “depth” too?]

Here’s what Rebecca, coincidentally, has to say on the issue of claims of media bias today:

“Rhetorica is a terrific resource. Go read this wonderful article on Media/Political Bias. It starts with some terrific observations and tools for detecting bias, and it ends with a bang:

Is the news media biased toward liberals? Yes. Is the news media biased toward conservatives? Yes. These questions and answers are uninteresting because it is possible to find evidence–anecdotal and otherwise–to ‘prove’ media bias of one stripe or another.

Far more interesting and instructive is studying the inherent biases of journalism as a professional practice–especially as mediated through television.

Commercial bias…. Temporal bias…. Visual bias…. Bad news bias…. Narrative bias

Take any news story, consider it from those five perspectives, and you’re well on your way to media literacy. Understand and apply everything in the article, and I would consider you to be a master.”

Rebecca’s book on weblogging, by the by, comes out RSN…