BNN “Influence Index”

Much of the blogsphere is in a tizzy over the release yesterday by BlogNetNews of its “Influence Index.” I think I’ve been pretty clear about what I think of so-called “blog rankings.” Heck, since changing my url in January, I hadn’t even gotten around to registering it with Google until this morning, the result being a Google Page Rank of 0. That gives you some sense of how important I think such things are.

So I actually find all of the talk a bit amusing. And Lord knows, with the tax filing deadline quickly approaching, I need to be amused 😉

Nevertheless, I feel compelled to speak out a bit on the originator of BNN, Dave Mastio. Yes, Dave leans to the right. OK, maybe more than leans 🙂 But I don’t think he intended the “Influence Index” to fall that way. I don’t know the exact formula he’s using – because it was my recommendation when we talked about him doing this a while back that he keep it secret in order to keep folks from manipulating it. I do know that whatever the formula is, it needs fixing – and fixing quickly – if the so-called “Influence Index” is going to mean anything to anybody. I’ve said as much to him in emails when the thing was released. When the two largest blogs in the Commonwealth – NLS and RK – are not the top blogs, there is something wrong with the formula.

Perhaps there is an over-reliance on BNN internally-produced stats. The majority of BNN blogs are right-leaning, which is not the case in the Virginia political blogsphere taken as a whole. Not included in BNN are such blogs as 750 Volts, which is manned by Teen Blogger of the Year Kenton Ngo or Waldo Jaquith, who won Young Blogger of the Year and whose own blog aggregator was the first in Virginia.

And let’s face it: there is no Republican equivalent of NLS or RK. If they existed and were at the top of the rankings, I doubt if you would see as much consternation as this list has produced.

I also have a problem with the term “Influence Index.” Influence whom? The blogsphere is still pretty much a very small group and many of the participants are bloggers themselves. Talking amongst ourselves is no indication of influence.

So the formula is badly flawed. But I have to say that I don’t think it was intentional on Dave’s part. I know Dave. He contacted me when he first started BNN, I’ve helped him tweak BNN when I could, and he’s since become a client of mine. Dave may be a rightie but not one of the right-wing crazies that are out there. (You know who you are 😉 )

Anyway, below the fold is an email that I got from Dave. Judge for yourself. And have some fun blogging.

As for the rankings? Fuggetaboutit 😆

My longest stint anywhere has been with USA Today as an editor and writer. I’ve also worked for such known hotbeds of right-wing activism as Knight-Ridder, The Detroit News and The Virginian-Pilot.

And I’ve written more articles for left-leaning Slate, Salon, Mother Jones and The Washington Monthly than I have for National Review and The Weekly Standard.

Some links:

Mother Jones – on sleazy Republican fundraising
Reason – on Republican environmental lies
Salon – on the sleazy behavior of John Stossel
Slate – on Republican hypocrisy in going after Clinton fundraising
Policy Review – on potential pitfalls in how Social Security privatization would work

On the matter of being a speechwriter for the Bush Administration: it is public record that I was the speechwriter for the United States Trade Representative from January to December of 1994. I worked on the Australia FTA and the Central America FTA and I am proud of the work I did. I don’t think there was anything particularly partisan about my speeches. You can read the speeches I wrote for Amb. Zoellick yourselves and decide.

If you care to read them, I think you’ll find strong advocacy of free trade. Just not much partisanship there — USTR (and its predecessors) have being doing the same thing since Truman made free trade a cornerstone of his policy to help rebuild Europe.

Take a look at all the versions of BNN I’ve built. In every state except Tennessee, there are more liberal blogs good enough to get in than conservative ones. That wasn’t a plan, that’s just the way it turned out. Feel free to go to any state and count yourself.

Best,

Dave Mastio