The long(er) version
Right, so this is the lowdown.
In a lecture on blogging - yes, there are such things - I was told the most important thing for a blog is to be very up-to-date, regularly updated and short.
Ah.
I am a real fan of this blog's form and layout, and even if it is arguably a gimmick, the idea that it is updated every week, allowing me to review the whole week's events. I think it was a good idea, and I stand by that.
However, it is not just feasible for a blog. It would work in print in a weekly format, and it would work online in some other form, perhaps, but you simply cannot have a blog that is updated once a week. Not only is this not often enough to significantly appear on surfers' radars (even though the point is that people know when a new post has been made), it means that stories grow old as the week progresses. True, this has often been useful: waiting until the Sunday that week allowed me to take in the entire fall-out of the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand situation, and in other cases, too, I have been rewarded for waiting for a story to develop instead of getting in their with an opinion that turned out to be misjudged. What's that Sky News motto? "We're never wrong for long." Well, that's not the motto I want.
Nevertheless, my reaction to breaking news is usually very quick, and so there is no point waiting to voice it to the world online if it is old news by then. People want views - well, theoretically they want my views - at the time.
From now, Huw Davies' Week Spot remains the same in that I am still reviewing the week's events, but as they happen. No more 'Updated on Sundays' - this baby is going to updated when it matters. As news breaks and as my opinions form, this blog will be updated with my views on the subject. So, like a normal blog, basically.
I should warn you: this will not be a go-to site for the most up-to-date news. I can get there quickly, but not any quicker than BBC News and that ilk. Besides, I won't always have anything particularly original to say about the latest update in the financial crisis.
So the blog will continue as usual with my views on the news, but as and when it happens. Capisce?
This week, no blog. Next week: the last Week Spot blog as you know it. And after December 7th, we start afresh.
Thank you for your support. Goodnight... and God bless.