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Ideas, issues and life in nevada county CA
it's a weblogBelaboring the obvious since 2003
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Saturday, March 01, 2003
your weblog's target audienceIf you write a weblog, it'll have very different content depending on who you're writing it for--and, if it's a "one size fits all" blog, it'll have the usual problem of not fitting anyone well. As I see it these are your possible (and possibly overlapping) target audiences--
And all of this I guess brings up a question...who are you? I'm curious...for all I know you're nobody (note absence of web counter on page) but if not, feel free to drop me a one-line answer. Friday, February 28, 2003
Responsible Journalism I (or, The Union of February Past)(and won't the title of this post look silly if Responsible Journalism II never arrives...)At the bottom of The Union (hard copy) this week runs a teaser for their online poll, saying "Would you support recalling California Gov. Gray Davis? Vote on www.theunion.com!" So your response to it might be, nice. They are encouraging public participation in the news making process. Community involvement good, a step in right direction. Good paper. There's a problem though. Online polls are, to quote a local unnamed highly-placed source, "totally unscientific", and are regularly targeted for manipulation by political groups. Unfortunately, since there are no referees, the group that cheats (or the one that cheats the most) will win the appearance of popular support for its cause. To put it baldly, in an attempt to drum up website traffic The Union is peddling Influence to the sleaziest faction. In carelessly run polls as in soup pans, the scum rises to the top. Not so good for a community newspaper. And, Union-ites, if your response is "everybody knows our online poll is meaningless in gauging popular opinion", then you're being misleading in calling it a poll--that's like calling a paid advertisement "news". Call it a Pretend Poll and you won't risk misleading your more trusting readers. For an example of a newspaper enlightening its readers, see the San Francisco Chronicle's injection of fact into reporting crowd estimates. I understand that The Union is planning to follow suit (with fact-based reporting - ed.), which if it pans out is excellent news. Thursday, February 27, 2003
The terrible twosUgly
Two ugly facts--
SillyA thread on Plastic about how you'd spend your remaining time if planetary destruction was imminent. Two of the better postings--
sorry. morbid sense of humor. StunningAnd a pair of stellar (as in particularly insightful and well written) weblogs--
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
General info on weblogsIf you're interested in putting up a weblog yourself, Dave Winer has some very basic instructions on how to start a weblog. I wish I could say it's easy. It should be, and I hope for you it will be, but I fought with this one for 3 nights before we finally came to an understanding. It should take five minutes to get yours set up. If Blogger causes your mouse to freeze up like it did mine (twice in 24 hours, 2 different computers) try unplugging the mouse cable and then plugging it back in. (and if you want to see an eclectic collection of links, go to google and search for "freezing mouse"...)If you have an open mind and are interested in dialog, in learning from and discussing with others, in exploring ideas and viewpoints that may not match your own, civility is good, it helps to improve the lighting as opposed to the torching. Alternatively, if you already know the One True Way, most likely you'll prefer to divert your energies into rants, obscenities, name-calling, and righteous rage at stupid unbelievers. Your choice. I liked this recent Washington Post article on the subject. Don't be afraid to link to other sites; that's why it's called the Web--one of the Internet rules is that you gain power by sharing it. First and foremost (which is why I mention it last?), think of your readers, and make your site as useful to them as you can, else you may not get any. problem solvedapparently it had decided to post to the future, and since the future isn't here yet, the posting wasn't either.In the beginning...UhHello. I decided to start this weblog & to beg Yubanet to create a Weblogs category (thanks!) because weblogs are the way of the future and I feel that news and discourse in Nevada County have for too long been "owned" by individuals or institutions, & that we need to be able to discuss issues amongst ourselves without such intermediation. I believe that weblogs will be "where the community gets its voice", to dig up an old slogan from a local radio station. As Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News recently put it-- ...weblogs often point to other weblogs in an ecosystem of news, opinions and ideas...[The] vision, shared by other blogging pioneers, has been to help democratize the creation and flow of news in a world where giant companies control so much of what most people see, hear and read..." (I will be doing a lot of quoting; so many writers have expressed so many things so much better than I could that I'm happy to yield the metaphorical floor.) |