Time’s best blogs of 2010

Time Magazine‘s annual list of 
‘best blogs’ includes a few journalism blogs, but not many–and certainly no Canadian journalism blogs. Which makes us at J-Source wonder: was it an oversight or do Canada’s news orgs need to step up?

Some journo-related blogs that made Time’s list include entertainment news site Deadline Hollywood (staffed by 24-year industry veteran Nikki Finke and Slate’s women-centric Doublex (Time writes: “It doesn’t take a gender expert to know that the nation’s news is still being reported, edited and broadcast mostly by guys. But at Slate’s Doublex.com — an extension of the site’s XX Factor blog — the day’s news is run through a frank and thoughtful female perspective.”

Other journalist-driven sites include infographic lovers Information is Beautiful, film critic Roger Ebert’s honest and meticulously-maintained blog, music news site Pitchfork, Gawker spin-off The Awl and a blog of a former photojournalist called Strobist.

Journalism plays a larger role in Time’s list “essential blogs”, which include:

Boing Boing (which has had a web presence for 15 years and was originally launched as a magazine in 1988). Time writes: “The site features longer techy think pieces, mixed with gadgets reviews, and opinions on the intersections between law and technology.”

Techcrunch: “Michael Arrington may be as cocky as ever, but it’s with good reason: his tech blog remains the essential destination for the inside scoop and analysis on what’s going on in Silicon Valley and beyond.”

Gawker: “The mothership of the network that includes Gizmodo, Deadspin and Jezebel, Gawker broke some fascinating stories in the past year, including State Department hazing in Afghanistan and tax quirks from one-time would-be senator Harold Ford. But though they can do the high-brow now too, the endlessly entertaining low-brow snark keeps us coming back for more.”

Politico’s Ben Smith: “Once assigned to cover and blog about the Democrats’ successful 2008 campaign for the presidency, Smith manages to still be a must-read outside of a megawatt election, combining his own reporting with a roundup of the best of political media to produce a cheat sheet to the opinions and news of the moment.”