The unbearable lightness of blogging
There’s a difference between writitng for a paper or magazine, and being a blogger. The easiest thing to point at is the fact that I can publish whenever I want, as quickly as I want, as a blogger. I don’t have to wait a week or more to “get it out there”, which is useful from a discussion standpoint. I’m also not accountable to editors, advertisers, etc. Oh yes, the people who know me in real life might say a word or two about something I’ve written, but that’s it. Of course, I’m not exactly doing hard-hitting investigative journalism here, so there’s a minimum of rsik of a brick through the window and all that.
A few things have happened in the past couple of weeks that have got me thinking about this odd hobby of mine, and how it relates to other published resources in and about our community.
- I’ve gotten a few comments and quiet emails from readers of this blog who were NOT mentioned in the recent SW Community Connection story on women-owned businesses in the Village - going to show that you always have choices to make when you publish a story, especially a cover story, and no matter what you do, some people will be upset, ’cause you can’t include everybody. That said, one of my commenters mentioned that a published list of the women-owned or women-operated businesses in the Village (inlcuding the ones that were NOT featured) would have been a nice addition.
- My friend Janna has gone from a columnist to a blogger to a columnist/blogger to publisher of Portland Family magazine. Congratulations Janna!
- I got an email on Saturday from Don Snedecor, publisher of the Multnomah Village Post, asking if I would be interested in writing a column in the Post. Lately, Don’s been taking some heat for his story content, and his focus on “crappy local businesses” (a complaint which certainly applies to this blog as well) and Don’s under the impression that the mysterious and dashing “Villager” will do something towards diversifying his content mix, I guess.
- I’ve lived through a minor comment war on the ratio of paid- versus non-paid-placement mentions in the Portland Picks newsletter.
So I said “yes” to Don, and I guess there will be “Multnomah Villager” column in The Post starting with the next issue!
Now if I could just figure out something to write about - now THAT’S a universal journalistic dilemma!
April 10th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
hey, that’s awesome, villager! congratulations!
and i’m hastily reviewing the comments on that portland picks thread that i didn’t think anyone would respond to. that had to be the mildest comment war i’ve ever seen! :D
April 10th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Dear Senior V:
Thanks for accepting my offer to write a “life in the village” column to go along with your fine blog. I just want to clarify that the reference to “crappy local businesses”–them are fighting words–came from a Post reader and not from me.
Peace and Love,
Don
April 10th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Yeah, I really enjoy reading all your fantastic blog stories and it will be great to see you in the ‘Post’ and again thanks for the comment of our business not being mentioned. YOu always seem to care and thats why it comes back to u in triples.
tam
congradulations!!!!
April 11th, 2007 at 5:05 am
Gentle Folk:
Just discovered your Blog. Great, Multnomah needs it! VERY happy to see reply set-up. So many blogs with out ‘em; really no point to output that has no input? Even though I’ve hung out in THE village for ten years, I still don’t know all the places (especially new ones) you write about. How about adding street addresses and/or landmarks said places are near?
Thanking you now, Charlie N.
April 11th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Thanks for the comment - I appreciate it. Good point about the addresses, I get LOTS of readers from outside the immediate area, so I’ll try to make point of highlighting addresses when highlighting a specific business in a post - especially if they don’t have a website I can link to. Check my links page though - I’ve got every Village business I can find a site for linked there.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:43 am
That’s great that you’ll be doing a column. It will be nice to see another perspective in the Post and I’m sure you’ll think of good stuff to say.
My comments in general, which may not apply to anything related to your column(!), about journalism in SW: typically the reporting is on the past. It’s helpful and interesting to know what already happened, but it would also be interesting if journalists would be more inquisitive and investigative. I don’t usually see that in either of the local papers (Post and SWCC) or even from the citywide papers.
As an example, when the Portland Tribune reported twice on the lack of sidewalks in SW, the only sources they used were from PDOT. They failed to ask advocacy groups like the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition or the Bicycle Transportation Alliance who would’ve given different perspectives from the City.
Some examples of Multnomah issues that I’d love someone to look into:
– With the high cost of real estate, why are there still vacant lots (e.g. in the heart of MV next to Sip d’Vine/dry cleaners, approx 5 acres at the south end of Gabriel Park, the lot behind Safeway, etc)? What are the owners planning to do with that land? Could some of Metro’s greenspace money be used to buy that land?
– What type of interaction with the City works best for neighborhood associations? Is the more aggressive, adversarial style of the Hillsdale NA more effective than the Multnomah NA’s style? Or has it backfired?
– Why are speed limits in SW inconsistent between similar types of streets? Is the City just responding to complaints in lowering some speed limits and not others, or is there some other rationale? Does the City ever audit or assess the speed limits in SW overall? Why does the City ignore some areas and attend to others? What are their priorities?
– What are the greatests needs in Multnomah? Not surprisingly, NA’s are often focused on transportation, construction and parks because that’s what the City does. But are those the most important issues for our area? Where are our time and money best focused to do the most good? Are the NA’s too narrowly focused because they’re part of the City?
– What is it that makes the Multnomah area so appealing? When people move here (vs. those who have lived here the majority of their lives), why do they choose this area? What is the outsider’s perspective? And why do most of Portland’s young people (20’s) prefer the eastside? Has SW earned its bland reputation? Is there a cultural divide between SW and the rest of the city?
– Does the City treat SW differently than the rest of the city? Are there biases because most people who work for the City live on the eastside? Are City decision makers knowledgable enough about SW issues?
Okay, as usual I’ve said way too much. Looking forward to your writing. Good luck and thank you for doing it.
Cate
April 12th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Lets raise our hats and get some speed limits set for crossing the bridge into Multnomah Village on Capital Hwy. I watch the buses and the peds all try to cross as cars speed down the street. Lets all work for this. Don, can you try and post a survey or get the citys attention on this issue?
tamara
fusion salon
May 10th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
[...] of the Multnomah Vilalge Post, asking me if I would be interested in writing a column in the paper. I’ve posted about this previously, here. I haven’t seen the issue yet, but Mrs. V has a couple copies so apparently it’s on the [...]