nosemonkey’s eutopia part 2

“Nosemonkey is the meaningless pseudonym of J Clive Matthews – a writer, editor and online content consultant whose work (mostly on film, travel, history and politics).”

This year the London-based blogger has been one of the five men shortlisted, among Europe Editors of the BBC and the Economist for the inaugural UACES (University Association of Contemporary European Studies) -Reuters Reporting Europe Award. The winner will be announced at the end of this month!

His previous blog, hosted on Blogger, was named Europhobia, which apparently caused some confusion as to what his stance on the EU was. He himself tends to admit his undecidedness on the issue.

Having delved through a number of the posts, what is interesting is that JC Matthews doesn’t really have the pretence of breaking the news, yet he isn’t simply commenting it either. He seems to strike a balance between the two, raising an issue and often debating the pros and cons. One gets the impression that his posts are based on first-hand knowledge and a tendency to be a bit of a news junkie.

Tis not to say that Matthews’ blog is boringly neutral either. He does state uncompromisingly unilateral opinions and constantly brings humour into the equation. In certain particularly brief posts he will poke fun at a politician.

He has a sneaky way of placing his links, inserting them into what appears like a random expression which will actually lead the unsuspecting reader to an official report, a blog or another of his posts (on Nosemonkey or elsewhere).

The comments the blog receives tend to reflect the even-handedness (but not always). The post in itself is not a be-all end-all and the debate often continues.

He sometimes includes other people’s posts in his blog and has compiled a lengthy directory of blogs he finds relevant. Two days ago he posted a list of links to various articles. What I guess is refreshing is that he does seem to go that extra mile in bringing up to date news and analysis of the far from “glossy” aspects of European policy.

His most recent posts include a rant on WordPress 2.5 and Firefox, former Czech president Vaclav Havel’s potential assets for EU presidency, and a quick note to the Olympic protestors.