Monday, January 05, 2004
Net Gain
I got into the Assembly today and sought out back copies of the Christmas and New Year holiday newspapers in the library. This was how I found the full page filler by Richard Hazlewood in the South Wales Echo about political websites. Ironically there is no electronic link to this article. Over a massive picture of me Richard reviewed ten political websites including those of Plaid Cymru President Dafydd Iwan ('Slick, eye-catching and recently updated' - 7 out of 10), the Welsh Assembly ('Awful. Impenetrable. Unfathomable...as user-unfriendly as they come' - .2 out of 10), the Welsh Conservatives ('thoroughly professional look' - 7 out of 10), the Welsh Liberal Democrats ('Basic layout but packed with information' - 5 out of 10) and Shadow Welsh Secretary Bill Wiggin ('an irritating pop-up questionaire' - 6 out of 10). Rather bizarrely, Richard seems to believe that I am setting the pace. He awards this site 9 out of 10 and says of it 'The Liberal Democrat AM's site is fast achieving cult status as surfers check out the latest musings on his personal web log. It is also home to his many many press releases.' What a shame Richard has now moved on to his new job as Welsh Tory Press Officer. He was obviously well-suited to writing for the South Wales Echo.
