Featured Blogger: Alan Colmes of Liberaland

In addition to being a Fox News contributor and hosting “The Alan Colmes Show” on FOX News Radio weeknights from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. EST, Alan Colmes covers the latest newsworthy political issues on his blog, Liberaland. You can also keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter!

Q:  When and why did you start blogging?

A: I began blogging on a lark during Thanksgiving weekend three years ago. I had a free day and thought it might be a way to spend an afternoon. I never thought it would evolve the way it did.

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst political blogs?

A: Hard to describe a flavor, but we work to aggregate some of the best stories on the web. Our goal is to be quick, timely, and engaging, not full of long, dull political commentary. I like to think if you come to us, we’ll give you some of the most important and best liberal stories and content at any moment, then we’ll send you on your way.

Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?

A: Thankfully, my family and friends have accepted that I have an obsessive personality, and I’m always all-in. They tolerate it, and me.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: Taegan Goddard, Greg Sargent, Steve Benen, Glenn Greenwald, Global Grind, Think Progress, RightWingWatch, to name just a few.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?

A: Blogging isn’t an isolated activity. Blogging is also a way of preparing for my radio show and television appearances. As I’m gathering material and writing about it, I’m studying the issues and developing my point of view.

Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?

A: We started using blogger, and then developed the first version of alan.com. We’re currently on version two, and our next iteration is set to debut in the new year with some very innovative features.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: We have a chat room which is most active during my radio show, and I jump in there when I can during commercial breaks. Because my posts go to Facebook and Twitter, I also communicate with my readers on those platforms.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: The biggest thrill is having an idea and being able to immediately push it out to the world. Within seconds, people are commenting on what we’re doing on the site itself, and on Twitter and Facebook, which then brings even more people back to the site. The pain involves technical glitches. I’m a content creator, not a techie, but when there is an issue that needs immediate attention or a longer-term technical problem, it takes away from where I want to be focused.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: They probably already know more than they wish to.

Q: What political issue are you most passionate about covering right now?

A: Obviously, the presidential election, and the latest not-Mitt-Romney.

 

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Tags: interview