Shall We Write?
Two bloggers whose sites I admire and vist daily, Mark Evanier and Josh Marshall, both received emails from readers who took issue with them writing about the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and not mentioning the recent story of the American who was murdered (I am being vague on purpose, wholly agreeing with Rayne's take on blogging on this subject).
Both Mark and Josh responded in a similar fashion, i.e., no comment from a blogger does not imply anything other than s/he had nothing to say or nothing to add to what has been said, etc. A blog is not a newspaper; there is no (implied or explicit) obligation to comment and/or report on everything.
And I will admit to a little peevishness about trolls or others who happen upon our blogs, disagree, and feel compelled to go into attack mode. As in the most recent post by RLP. A disgrace to baseball bats.
As I mentioned here previously (stop me before I link again), I am in love with the idea of decent dialogue, wherein two people can come from different perspectives, or even disagree, and find the whole experience interesting and enlightening and, above all, polite and respectful. May the trolls stay under the blog bridge.
Publishing has been undergoing a remarkable metamorphosis, and I have no idea where it will finally sit down and rest, but I'm interested. Wander over to see Dave Pollard and you'll find some saavy, smart, creative essays on where we're headed in the blogosphere (among many, many other subjects; Dave thinks about a lot of things).
At any rate, as opposed to a blog, a newspaper column (even a dinky one like mine) carries a responsibility in most cases to address the issues of the day. I could not not write about Abu Ghraib, any more than I could not not write about 9/11 or an election or a bad city council decision. And the columnists I read (short list being Peggy Noonan, Leonard Pitts, George Will, Ellen Goodman, and W.F. Buckley) all wrote about it, too, I assume with the same (although national) obligation.
And I got what I wished. My friend Larry and I both write for several newspapers, but we got our start at the Mukilteo Beacon, a small-town newspaper owned by Paul Archipley, a reporter who moved north and found a community without a local paper and started one in his home. It's local and weekly and small, but it services a community of generally affluent, well-educated, professional and engaged people who read every word and attend meetings and volunteer, as happens in thousands of places just like Mukilteo all over the country. It's a great gig, and as it happens Lar and I both opined on the same subject.
Read his column. Read mine, if you want. And, also if you want, let me know what you think about a couple of guys, 10 years apart in age, far different experiences in life, tackling a subject we both find horrific and trying to make some sense of it, and learn and go on. I am proud to share pages with him, happy to be able to write, disturbed by the current situation, hopeful about the possibilities, and suspicous now of men wielding baseball bats.
That would include the Mariners so far.
That Larry and I would agree about.
And I asked you not to let me link anymore.
5:09:47 PM 
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