European Political News

Freeform Fridays are a new experiment on the Wardman Wire: Im wondering about inventing Freeform Fridays, where I will give a platform to anyone with something interesting to say - a sort of virtual Speakers Corner. In my mind there needs to be somewhere on the blog which is relatively unstructured, to be a total change from the quite tightly timetabled nature of the rest of the week. Id see that as an opportunity for young or new bloggers to address a slightly wider audience - one of my priorities for asking people to write columns has been to look for good new writers, who would like the opportunity to write for a different audience or in a different style. Id like to see articles about eclectic political subjects on Fridays - for example how the mistresses of Charles II have an impact on life today, or a piece about the history of Hogarth, or even something about how political eras and movements can be studied by the distinctive hats they wore. Friday also needs to be more relaxed, partly because that is the feel of most of our workplaces and homes, but also to move the blog into the weekend mode. Id welcome any suggestions you have in the comments box below. As it happens, I am away on short notice (10pm last night) at the Jeecamp today, so as an experiment I have a few “lighter” postings myself today - and I have emailed the regular writers inviting any contributions. I wonder if anything will happen? Tags: freeform friday

I’m thinking about what type of posts would be best on the Wardman Wire on Fridays Since we now have a (fairly) regular posting schedule for the rest of the week, I’m tempted to look for a way of making Fridays less organised, and perhaps give an opportunity for a range of guests to post. The chaos will come out somewhere, so it might as well be somewhere expected… I have come up with some suggestions, but would welcome any comments you might have. Choose a topic and invite impromptu Guest articles for Friday on the preceding Monday. As 1, but ask people to respond on their own blogs, and then link to them all with excerpts. To this feels a bit too much like either the Britblog Review or the new “On the Stump” project I have been working on with Jon Bright (more on this soon, perhaps over the weekend or on Monday). Invite submissions on any political topic, and run up to half a dozen articles each week. Find a Friday columnist - perhaps on a “non UK Politics” theme (foreign policy? a “Letter from Peking”?) Go for something that is completely divorced from politics. A mixture of all of these.# … is in the comments below. I hope. I’d welcome suggestions and comments, if you would like to add any below. Tags: freeform friday, friday on the wardman wire