by Jerome du Bois
Yesterday, both Glenn Reynolds and Charles Johnson pointed approvingly to a piece in the trade journal The Masthead on blogs and newsprint by Phil Boas, deputy editorial page editor of the Arizona Republic and the originator of pluggedin, a columnist corral vamping as a weblog. Reader, you should read his piece before continuing this one.
Perhaps neither Professor Reynolds nor Mr. Johnson, both busy men whose examples have encouraged me, have checked out pluggedin recently, otherwise they wouldn't be so quick to commend Mr. Boas's brave words. As a regular visitor to pluggedin, I wish I could --though I definitely encourage Mr. Boas and his editorial crew to open the gates --with a competent blogmaster / gatekeeper, of course, to keep out the riff-raff.
Mr. Boas pointed to our blog in June of 2003, for which I'm thankful. But that kind of brief note no longer appears in the current pluggedin. Go look for yourself, and you will find a list of columns by various local writers, but: hardly any hot links to any other media (except their own and Channel 12), much less blogs; no email responses; no comments section at all; no extended threads of conversation. It's an outlet for columnists, and it's still one way.
But Mr. Boas does make a valid point about the symbiosis between MSM and bloggers, as the following anecdote should make clear.
We are certainly not ideal bloggers, keeping all our issues updated and posting every day. Life gets in the way. And we're not famous like Jana Bommersbach, or even locally well-known, like M. Zuhdi Jasser or even Bob Boze Bell.
But we have a strong interest in two vital parts of our world, and of the history of the world: Islam and Arizona.
Two seconds ago I put those two words into Google, and what came up as the very first citation? An article in the East Valley Tribune which points almost directly to our weblog (you have to Google our names) and our interest in these subjects. Symbiosis. One degree of separation. We love it because we want to point to the truth; to, as the banner still says, play a more direct role in changing what is ignorable by whom.
So part of the conversation about the influence of Islam in Arizona takes place in The Tears of Things. It's amazing to me, and I could not be more grateful for the internet, an invention of the Western mind.
It should also give the print editor pause. Think about it: Islam. Arizona. Two words. Who are you and what do you have at your fingertips? Printing plants and delivery trucks and reporters and wire services. (Oh: and editors. Uh-huh.) I'm glad. Thanks! Keep up the good work!
What have we got? Four hands, two brains, two committed hearts, some money, some time, a roof over our heads, and electricity.
Better watch out.
Yes --I know they're brave words.
Posted by Jerome at April 22, 2005 03:00 PM | TrackBack