Interview with Joe Gandelman of TMV

By The Pakistani Spectator • Jan 4th, 2008 • Category: Interviews • No Responses

Would you please tell us something about you and your blog?
JOE: The idea behind The Moderate Voice was to do a blog differently a lot of blogs — and this is not criticizing the way others do theirs. Many blogs tend to be highly partisan. They will also go after other writers of blogs and blogs. I wanted a blog that clearly was written b someone who does NOT belong to either party (me) and could one day sound like it was supporting the government another day not supporting the government. In reality, the person who now comes closer to where I am is California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggger, who is a kind of bipartisan Republican (I am quoted in a new book on him).

I also realized that most blogs of the right and left get linked by big blogs on the right or left but centrist blogs have a hard time getting linked. So from the outset (four years ago this) I decided to link to a LOT of blogs…and NOT just centrist and those that agree with me. I wanted to link to blogs that didn’t agree with me and offer various viewpoint. My only rule has been that if a blog or blogwriter goes after me, the blog or its writers personally, I just don’t read that blog or writer anymore or link to it. I only link to people who write about issues or if they disagree discuss and don’t demonize other blog writers who disagree.

I was a journalist for some 20 years, writing from New Delhi, Dacca, Madrid and working on two big newspaper chain newspapers. In 1990 I quit fulltime journalism and became a ventriloquist. Now I work with puppets and a wooden ventriloquist dummy. My joke is I used to work on a newspaper and worked FOR dummies…and now they work FOR ME. (my vent site is http://www.familyentertainer.com )

The object behind every blog is the attainment of a state of being. Do you agree with this statement?
JOE: YES. I had a lot of trouble sleeping before I did blogging. Since I started blogging, I now get to sleep much faster (maybe what I write puts my READERS to sleep). I totally cut out the rest of the world when I write on my blog. There is a problem with this. Some people have let their marriages, jobs and relationships with their children slide due to blogging. So it can get addictive. But when I write on the blog, I only focus on that post. It is really a form of political meditation.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?
JOE: I had several:
1) Some of the WONDERFUL PEOPLE on the right and left who encouraged me. I’m talking about some very big bloggers and smaller bloggers who thought what I wrote was baloney (I am a centrist and am all over the place politically…although these days like most centrists I am not a fan of the Bush administration).
2) Meeting Citizen Smash. He was a “miliblogger” who did his first blog while fighting in Iraq. He came back (a reservist) and kept writing his blog. I turned out he lived 5 minutes from my house. I had dinner with him and his wife three times and even covered a demonstration he had challenging anti-war demonstrators. On election night 2004 he invited me to his house. He was there with about four conservative bloggers. Again, he never tried to impose his beliefs on me…we agreed on some things didn’t on others. I am not at liberty to specify, but he left blogging totally to start a new career.
3)Covering the tsunami. I did a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG post (which you really can’t find now since we changed servers) that got a huge number of hits. I had it packed with information, lnks from news stories and probabl 60 links quoting other blogs from all over the world.
4)Doing the long post on the Pope’s death. Again, I put aside all work that day and did that post with analysis, news links and a huge number of quotes and links. I got lots of great comments and I think that was when my blog hit 90,000 for the week. It is not that big now!
5)Learning three weeks ago that The Moderate Voice had been one of 9 blogs selected by Newsweek to contribute 2008 presidential campaign posts on its new group political blog The Ruckus. We click on a button and it posts a link to our political stories. We are now getting nonblog readers — which are my favorite readers. Too many blog writers already have their minds up. Non blog readers tend to want to seriously discuss.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?
JOE: I’m not a huge technology buff. I think You Tube, the whole technology of blogging is exciting.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
JOE: Yes. In the United States newspapers are either dying or ailing due to competition from the internet and not just due to advertising. Young people do NOT read or relate to newspapers. My former newspaper the San Diego Union-Tribune found that during our awful fires here the newspaper’s blog got enormous response so they’re now paying more attentio to the role of the newspaper’s blog in their newspaper product. Reporters carry carmeras and I’m told in some instances video cameras.

What do you think sets Your blog apart from other blogs?
JOE: I invited people I felt were thoughtful and who could not get bent out of shape if they read a post that had a different opinion on The Moderate Voice. I only invited people who I thought were “independent thinkers.” In general, I made good decisions and some people who didn’t like some of the other opinions on TMV did leave. But I have people who are center, center left and center right.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success, what would it be?
JOE: I spend a lot of time reading all sides. I WILL take a position, but i’ll also quote other sides. I also have no problem quoting and linking to people who don’t agree with me.Why should a blog ONLY offer one view point? Opposing viewpoints don’t cause brain cancer.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
JOE: One of the happiest moments of my life is when my sister, brother and I surprised my father on his 80th birthday by flying down to florida. The gloomiest was a period — 2007 when he had lung cancer, died in May and my 86 year old mother was suddenly left to try to adjust to living without him. It was not a fun year.

What features make this shift more democratic or less democratic?
JOE: I assume you’re talking about technology.The old newspaper news cycle has been replaced by super quick news cycles, a nonending news cycle. Readers can talk back to writers. Readers can provide information to flesh out a story. It’s very exciting.

Do you think [the use of Twitter and other social networking tools by politicians] is bandwagon jumping or what?
JOE: I’m not sold on these things. I get people asking me to join all the time. It’s not my cup of tea. I don’t think it has really reached its peak yet.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?
JOE
1)Madrid: I lived there for nearly 5 years.
2)Rome: I love Italian food and was there briefly
3) Miami: I originally wanted to work there and would love to spend a few weeks there.

What is your favorite book and why?
JOE: I can’t answer that since I have so many books that I read. One that really got to me was War and Peace. I had that as part of a college course. I had a very tough teacher and got an A plus on the exam. I knew it backwards and fowards, all the symbolism. On the political front John Avlon’s The Indendepent Nation is the BEST political book I’ve read…and deals with centrist, independent voters throughout american history and specific candidates.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
JOE: Whether they look me in the eyes when they talk to me.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
JOE: I think few benefit. My blog makes enough to cover its hosting and also the hosting of my ventriloquism website. I will do a fundraising job soon because there are some things I want to do in 2008. VERY FEW bloggers make a lot of money off their blogs.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
JOE:There is a LOT of truth to that. I originally did my blog myself. As the hits grew, I realized it would be “dead” unless I invite more people. We have people who do Guest Voice posts (a post or two that is special) and then the people who are signed up (I only do that after a long time and sometimes not at all since we onl want X number of people signed up to post on their own). But during the holiday season FEW blogged at all. I travel a lot and there are whole stretches where I cannot post. If you don’t post on a blog, it dies. By necessity, I have to have a group blog or I may as well delete the site.

What are your thoughts on corporate blogs and what do you think the biggest advantages and disadvantages are?
JOE: I think a lot of them fall short. They call themselves blogs but they don’t really work as blogs. NOW some newspapers ARe doing good things: the Philadelphia papers, the San Diego paper, the NY Times, and this new Newsweek experiment. As far as corporate product blogs, they have a role but I think the big growth will be in the political blogs.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?
JOE:A lot of them don’t want to do that. They’re too busy attacking other blog writers, other blogs. It’s a pity because this blogging technology allows ANYONE for NO MONEY to be their own editor, publisher and reporter. There are many excellent blogs (big and small) that focus on issues or respectfully debate issues. But there are also some that will not tolerate someone disagreeing with them and in both blog posts go after them. This does not “compute” with me. If I see a post I don’t agree with, I shrug and move on to my next thing. Why should I CARE what X, Y, or Z writes? I can quote him/her/it. But I don’t see the need to berate them, call them names, accuse them of being hypocrites, of being too far left too far right, etc. But many blogs are bogged down in this narrow, provinicial partisan and ideological warefare and seemingly begin to lose sight of the huge issues…and the ENORMOUS potential of what a blog is and what they can do with it.

When the extremism is being fought in Pakistan and in other parts of the world, how could Pakistanis promote the moderate voices in the country?
JOE: It will very difficult. You need to use blogs, have moderate people try to do op-ed pieces on the world’s newspapers, link up with broadcast and cable

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?
JOE: It’s hard to rank them. There are at LEAST 20. My favorites span the ideological spectrum. Crooks and Liar’s John Amato (left), Andrew Sullivan (center right), Ed Morrissey (right), David Adesnik (center right of the great blog Oxblog which doesn’t do as much as it used to but he is superb) and every list HAS to have Glenn Reynolds aka Instapundit because of the way he works so fast, and influences the internet and distills issues in short sentences (he was VERY supportive of me when I started). Let me add a few more: Dave Schuler (The Glittering Eye), the great Dean Esmay (an original who has upset people on the left and right), Kos of the Daily Kos (note than when he stopped writing on his own site his hits have gone down …he is an excellent writer). There are many more but to alert your readers some of the very BEST political analysis is done by Dick Polman on his blog (he’s a newspaper columnist).

How do the animosity between Indian and Pakistan can end?
JOE: I can’t answer that. I lived in New Delhi working on the Hindustan Times from Jan 1972 to May 1972 and again from Oct 1973-May 1974. This issue has been around a very long time. There are justified fears and paranoid feelings on both sides. I think as long as the two countries aren’t at war and coexisting it’s progress. But it will take leaders on both sides who really want to reach out.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
JOE: I like Pakistan. In my time on the Indian subcontinent I made at least three trips to Dacca, which have a year earlier broken off from Pakistan. I used to stay with a family in Dacca. The guy who headed the family used to joke about how I was a Jew and he was a Muslim and that this showed people could get along. I probably stayed a total of three weeks at his house. I visited Pakistan briefly, when I left India by car in a trip to Tehran. The car was driven by the former spokesman for the Shah’s government in New Delhi. He had just left his post (he probably left Iran or was jailed or worse when the Shah felt). I loved what I saw of Pakistan.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?
JOE: Yes. John Swift and The Heretik. REAL originals. High quality. They’re not just verbally vomiting up what they heard on a talk show, what they read on another blog, etc. They do what they do in a highly original form.

How a developing country could become developed one?
JOE: I’m the wrong one to ask on that. I would tell you that in the late 60s when I began studying India they were talking about its great potential and future. Then about 20 or 25 years ago some people who I know who study South Asia concluded that perhaps India would always be talked about in terms of potential but not realize it. YET now with outsourcing and other new developments, India is starting to ride high I think developoing countries could become developed if they used the new technology, etc to become wired into the rest of the world. It is irrelevant if you’re in a village: if you can get on the internet you can run a store on ebay or sell products wholesale or export JUST as easily as if you were in Islamabad.

What is the future of blogging?
JOE: I have my doubts. If blogs emerge as information sites, I think the future is rosy and some blogs will be bought out by big corporations eventually. If they evolve into partisan sites that basically battle for parties, go after other blogs and bloggers I think it’s very limited. Also, “fact based reporting” is under attack in the United States. Some folks only want to read what they already agree with and woe to the reporter who asks a tough question or does a report that doesn’t fit in with their existing beliefs. At the same time, newspapers ARE adjusting (finally) to using blogs. This means they can also downsize because as time goes on they may need fewer “gatekeepers” sitting at desks.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
JOE: I spend too much time on the blog (like tonight). It’s almost like a second job. BUT it does take my mind off my many stressful problems which allows me to function better in m personal and non-blog professional lives.

What are your future plans?
JOE: Just to do what I’m doing. I am hoping the blog grows a lot during election year. If so, I can offer more features on it and keep linking to a variety of blogs and websites and offer a variety of ideas. In my performing life, I hope to do some cruises starting in 2008.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
JOE: Just to not give up hope. Look at the history of Pakistan and there have been difficult days before for the country but it survived and its people survived. On the other hand, you do want to battle to make sure it is not “captured” by people who could bring darker days. I’m NOT saying that in every case it’s wise to be a moderate (I concede on some issues you need to take a very strong stand). But given recent events, it seems to be the wisest path. The final message (a commercial): DO visit The Moderate Voice and leave your comments if you like or don’t like what we write.