Public service blogging is not redundant

Some useful links in this article by Patrick Butler:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/mar/08/public-service-bloggers-not-redundant

Am I disheartened? No. Social media is growing stronger. In the "age of austerity", interactive "crowdsourcing" websites like voluntarysectorcuts.org.uk and falseeconomy.org.uk bring fine detail to big number budget cuts. The Broken of Britain site gives a powerful voice to disabled people facing benefit cuts. Twitter's ability to break and share news, and question "the official version" of the cuts is only beginning to be felt. There is huge potential for social media to audit public data and hold institutions to account.

And I haven't lost faith in literary excellence. For the past few months, a blogger by the name of Redundant Public Servant has with immense grace, style and sensitivity described the "half-life" of a public servant working through his last months of notice after 20 years. Read it as an powerful antidote to media stereotypes. That blog is now coming to an end: Redundant Public Servant has got his P45. He's also, after multiple failed interviews, got a new job. And that, in these grim times, I'm taking as a good omen for us all.

Particularly:
http://redundantpublicservant.wordpress.com/about/

http://voluntarysectorcuts.org.uk/

http://falseeconomy.org.uk/