Political activism or public diarist?
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BBC Radio 4's Analysis: Going to the Blogs?, was broadcast on Thursday, 31 March, 2005 at 20:30 BST.
In last year's American election the internet became one of the key political battlefields. Thousands of individuals took to their computers to discuss the issues on their own Internet web pages, or blogs as they are known. Suddenly the agenda was being set not just by the politicians and the spin machines, or the mainstream media and the press barons, but by anyone with a computer and an opinion.
But this is not just an American phenomenon. There are hundreds of bloggers in Britain already writing and researching their own web pages. According to former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, they will become "a force in Britain, and it could ignite many new forces of conservatism." Some have even suggested that the Internet and bloggers will change the nature of political debate, journalism and even democracy forever.
With an election expected in May, Kenan Malik explores the world of Blogs and analyses whether they could really change our democracy
Presenter: Kenan Malik
Producer: Richard Vadon
Editor: Nicola Meyrick
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