Blogging Editorial

By Amanda Vance

Yoani Sanchez is a university graduate living in Havana, Cuba. In school, she studied philology, a field that combines linguistics with literary studies; today, she blogs. Her site, Generacion Y, is a platform for her to air her grievances about the repressive nature of the Cuban government and society. It is also a place for her to advocate for the release of Cuban political prisoners, and to call on companies like DHL to refuse to do business with a government that won’t respect her human rights. In a country in which she has no ability to speak her mind, her blog has become her only vehicle for self-expression, while also offering the truth about Cuban life to foreigners.

Sanchez is just one of millions of young women and men who blog daily, and her style of writing is only one of many approaches that people have taken to this increasingly popular medium of exchanging information. These days, a mere ten years or so since blogs first became popular, there are blogs on nearly every possible topic, from celebrity gossip to music to art to politics, both domestic and international. Some are written by professionals or experts, while others are written by Sanchez, or another the girl next door. There are video and photo blogs and blogs run by institutions like the Council on Foreign Relations. Even the White House has one.

The ever expanding blogosphere begs comparison between some of the different types of blogs. What works better – a blog written by a woman like Sanchez, whose stories personalize the tragic facts of Cuba’s repressive regime, but whose writings express one opinion and one political agenda rather than multiple points of view and verifiable fact… or a blog like Politics Daily, that brings together professional reporters to write neutral, in-depth, and “smart pieces from across the ideological spectrum” that “challenge readers’ biases”?

Consider Sanchez’s site. Her writing reflects only her opinion, but it is one of the few glimpses foreigners have into the minds of Cubans, whose contact with the outside world is restricted. Most of her accusations (particularly those directed at multinational companies) are not easily verifiable, but her blog still offers valuable information and insight into another culture and a burgeoning movement of political activism in Cuba, especially when she tells inspirational stories about men outside of the party running for local office. It also brings readers together in an impressive effort to translate her writing into 17 languages. The blog may not be neutral or strictly factual, but it is clearly useful from a democratic, information-disseminating perspective.

Politics Daily, on the other hand, seeks to offer neutral, factual, and accessible information on a variety of topics, from the environment to foreign policy to immigration to abortion. The journalists who contribute are paid professionals, and this is reflected in their writing: unlike entries on Sanchez’s blog, nothing on Politics Daily is meant to change somebody’s mind. The articles focus mainly on news, with some opinion thrown in here and there and from multiple perspectives for a little extra flavor. The benefits of this kind of blog? It goes into more depth than your average news-site, the writing is good and accessible, and the information is generally trust-worthy. Still, it lacks the personal touch that Sanchez adds to hers, which makes a tired topic like Cuban human rights abuses come alive to your average, desensitized reader.

So then, given the pros and cons of each, why make a choice? Arguably, one of the strengths of the blogosphere is its incredible diversity of information, sources, insights, and opinions. Some sources are more trustworthy than others, but given the range of expertise available online, it is not particularly hard to fact-check should it prove absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, the internet can continue to give a voice to those like Sanchez, who lack freedom of speech, or in other cases simply feel unheard, and give more people more access to a variety of different ideas they might otherwise not know. For all its challenges and criticisms, when all is said and done, the blogosphere is rather beneficial and can only improve with time and growing popularity and efforts worldwide.