Across the Tampa Blogosphere: September 16, 2011

This week I promised to reveal the REAL best bloggers in Tampa.

Apparently September is “best” season. Not only is Creative Loafing about to hold their annual Best of the Bay soiree next week, but CBS Tampa recently went looking for the Most Valuable Bloggers in Tampa. The winners were —

Clark Brooks at Ridiculously Inconsistent Trickle of Consciousness

Dawn Morgan at Tampa Do-Gooder

Catherine Durkin Robinson at Out in Left Field

and Creative Loafing’s Daily Loaf.

Congratulations!

Oddly, though there are categories for Sports blogs and Health/Fitness/Medical blogs, no winners were named in those categories.

Now, for the REAL best.

Peter Schorsch claims he’s the best blogger because he makes money at it and he’s so prolific. He’s got a point. There are millions of bloggers and I bet most of them hope their blog translates into a way to profit from their writing. Peter gets special mention because he’s built something substantial through sheer determination and hard work.

But let’s not forget there are other local bloggers who have done the same. Before Schorsch got started Jaden Hair was creating her food blogging empire at Steamy Kitchen. Not only is Jaden a terrific and prolific blogger, she’s also astonishingly nice and goes out of her way to help other bloggers. Catherine Durkin Robinson also deserves recognition for the success she’s had using her blog as a platform for her writing.

Some of the bloggers in mainstream publications also deserve recognition. Jeff Houck at the Tampa Tribune understood the importance of social media long before anyone else at the Trib snapped to its importance. Eric Deggans at the St. Pete Times is another journalist who seemed to understand early on the importance of blogging.

But, simply because they’ve already received so much attention, I’m omitting those mentioned above from consideration.

Food blogging – Along with blogging about politics, food blogging is one of the most popular topics for the beginning blogger. People want to share their favorite restaurant finds and recipes with their friends. They want find good places to eat and good recipes to cook, so they turn to the blogosphere. Tampa’s foodie blogosphere has been terrific over the years, but this year I’m going to recommend Carlos Eats as the best. Carlos has a real enthusiasm for food blogging. He’s currently studying in Seoul and blogging about his eats there, but he’s also assembled a team to keep the local reviews coming. However, this is easily the strongest category and I recommend browsing all of the foodie blogs in the right-hand column. There is some excellent work being done there.

Politics blogging – Without a doubt the Ybor City Stogie is the best politics blogger in Tampa. While Stogie doesn’t provide much editorial comment he has been pointing out progressive and liberal causes in the Bay area for years. That kind of stamina is hard to find. Even harder to find is consistent quality that Stogie brings to the political blogosphere. Honorable mention goes to Ben Kirby at The Spencerian, Michael Hussey at Pushing Rope, Deborah Tornello at LitBrit, and Chris Ingram and Irreverent View. I agree with some of these bloggers more than others, but together they regularly provide insight to today’s political stories.

Art blogging – I’m recommending two blogs as best. Art Taco covers the art scene with regular updates about events around town, and Finding Tampa is doing some great photographic work around Tampa.

Sports blogging – John Fontana, hands down. Fontana is the best sports blogger not only because of his work at Raw Charge, but because of the remarkable work he’s done behind the scenes in helping many of Tampa’s bloggers. Honorable mention goes to Mike Lortz who has been doing great work on local baseball for years. Lortz has also done a considerable amount of humor blogging under the name Jordi Scrubbings.

Making Tampa a better place blogging – Alan Snel‘s advocacy for bicyclists has made a real difference in Tampa. His single-minded devotion to making Tampa a better city is an inspiration.

General Interest blog – Some bloggers get overlooked because they jump around from topic to topic. The SOG City Oracle falls into this category. SOG blogs about politics, food, music, Tampa, and life in general. Definitely one of the best. Another best in the General Interest category is Smiles Go With Everything. Originally Diana focused almost exclusively on fashion, but has been expanding over the last year to cover more topics. I must say I’m a fan.

The bad thing about creating a “Best” list is that so many great bloggers get left out. I don’t read sports blogs, mommy blogs, or entrepreneur blogs very often, so I’m probably missing many in those categories. Run DMT deserves special mention, as does Slow and Steady, as does The Florida Blogger.

Reviewing all of the blogs has prompted me to update the blog roll in the right-hand column. If I’ve left out your favorite, let me know! and I’ll add it.

Finally, Thank You Tampa Bloggers! I know it’s a thankless task, and it may seem sometimes like no one is reading or that no one cares, but each of you, by speaking up about your interests, and blogging about your passions, is making Tampa a better place and a stronger community.