Summary: Greg Jericho will be a familiar name for those who closely follow politics and the media in Australia. Greg began his own blog, Grogs Gamut, in July 2008; posting on a range of topics from sport, to film, to polling and politics. It was in the realm of politics and particularly statistics that he made a name for himself though. During the 2010 election, Greg made a post criticising the way that the news media covered the campaign trail and it began a flurry of articles and Twitter posts questioning the validity of those hiding behind noms de plume online. Eventually, James Massola decided to circumvent Greg's privacy and publish his details in The Australian, claiming that it was in the public interest. Fortunately, this didn't have the chilling effect that was perhaps intended, and Greg has now become a regular contributor to The Drum and has written a book on the rise of the Internet and citizen engagement with the news and politics entitled The Rise of the Fifth Estate: Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics. Greg joined Sky on The Book Club to talk about the history of blogging in Australia, the importance of Twitter and the difference between anonymity and pseudonymity. Originally broadcast on 25/09/2012. The Rise of the Fifth Estate is out now through Scribe.
