Spiked

Spiked is an online magazine covering "politics, IT, science, liberties and culture". 

THE MISSION

Spiked (or Sp!ked) was set up in 2000 by British journalist Mick Hume following the closure of his print magazine Living Marxism. Funded by donations and organised events, it is currently edited by Brendan O'Neill. Spiked describes itself as "an independent online phenomenon dedicated to raising the horizons of humanity by waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrationalism in all their ancient and modern forms." Phew. And there was us thinking it was just an online newspaper. Clearly, we are mistaken. This site is a mission, a crusade, a digital broadside against the massed armies of the unconsciously superstitious. At least, the people behind it would like to think it is.

WHERE IT STANDS

A review of a new film will give some insight into Spiked's politics. "The message of The Cove, the highly-praised, award-winning documentary about dolphin slaughter, is spectacularly simple: dolphins are freedom-loving, beautiful and intelligent creatures, while human beings - especially of the Japanese persuasion - are cruel, robotic and murderous." Critical of multiculturalism, humanitarian interventionism, political correctness and the environmental movement, Spiked is opposed to the liberal consensus and comes across as deliberately contrary. It's  less interesting than it thinks it is and a little predictable in its cultured opposition to anything it believes smacks of group think. But its enjoyment of its own willful difference makes it as entertaining as Mark Kermode. There is nothing so amusing as someone who thinks they are always right.

ANY GOOD?

Spiked is more than a bit full of itself. We are told that John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx would like this site Torquemada and Stalin would not. That is supposed to be witty but comes across as smug. The is website waiting for a round of applause and a floral bouquet. The writing may be of a high standard, but the content is badly laid out. The site is cramped and busy. For some reason everything is pushed over to the left. (Perhaps this is an attempt at visual insistence. Lobbywatch and George Monbiot have questioned the left-wing credentials of Spiked, suggesting it hides a right-wing corporate agenda behind a superficial gesturing to leftist politics.)

The look of the site might not matter to some, but it does to us. Websites that are easy on the eye invite you to stay. Spiked fails to do this. But for all its weak design, there's plenty of good writing here. 

November 18th 09