Top gay bloggers on blogging

Others have posted excerpts from these posts already but I wanted to bring attention to a couple of interviews that my friend Rex Wockner did during a rare stay in New York in late October. While in the city, he took an opportunity to interview two of my favorite bloggers: Andy Towle who runs Towleroad and Joe Jervis who blogs at Joe.My.God.

Both Andy and Joe have been more than generous in picking up on the stuff I write about here on Blabbeando and I haven't always acknowledged it or thanked them for it. This gives me a chance to highlight their tremendous work and also say gracias. Additionally, when it comes to these interviews, I also had the pleasure of transcribing the original interviews from Rex's digital recorder while I was in Maine in early November to cover the heartbreaking marriage equality vote so, in some ways, I am incredibly familiar with their words. They bring up a number of interesting issues about their high profile as bloggers and what it takes to keep up with their daily input.

I'll just pick up on a couple of key points they raise and provide a link to their full interviews:

Joe Jervis a/k/a Joe.My.God (left) on being fed information (click here for full interview):

"I am very aware of being managed. And I'm aware when obviously lots of LGBT organizations and other groups want to get their message out and how they'll try to massage me into being sympathetic either to their point of view or to feeling obligated to parrot their press release or their event or their rally or whatever, and I try to keep them at arm's length, you know, both emotionally and not to overstep my position journalistically. There are a few groups that are rather notorious for trying to manage bloggers, to make sure that the message they want is the one that we put out. And that's not to say that there aren't a lot of good people doing good work and their message isn't the right message. It usually is. But I'm also very leery of becoming their sock-puppet, and you learn by error. A few years ago, you might be flattered that someone from some major progressive or LGBT group might want to get you on the phone and ask for your opinion, and then a little bit wiser and later you realize that they were sweet-talking you into basically regurgitating to your readers exactly what they want them to read and believe. And so with bitter experience you start treating those sort of conversations with a jaundiced eye".

Andy Towle who runs Toleroad (right) on keeping up with the latest (click here for full interview):

"I feel overwhelmed right now because I'm not reading and I'm doing this interview instead, but, you know, it's how I regularly feel if I'm out or whatever. It's like there is always a constant barrage of news and things happening, so the struggle to keep on top of it is a constant challenge and I think anybody who's in news these days understands the same thing -- that it's just, you know, like a 24-hour thing and to stay on top of it, you just have to constantly keep reading".

I also transcribed a third interview that might or might not eventually see the light of day. It does not involve a blogger but I will highlight it, as well, if and when it is published.

In the meantime, please click through the links given above and read the full interviews with Joe and Andy.

Related:

• Joe.My.God.
• Towleroad
• Wockner