The Star Tribune’s Nick Coleman wrote a column yesterday titled: Blogged down in Web fantasy. Eden Prairie City Manager Scott Neal alerted me to it and said he emailed a response to Coleman. I decided to do likewise:
Nick, I don’t blame you for being ticked at some of the bloggers but blogging is a web technology tool that can be used for many purposes. I’m a self-employed weblog coach and among my blogging clients are two police chiefs, one city manager, one state house representative, and many non-profit staffers… and a couple dozen small business owners. FYI, our Northfield police chief’s blog was mentioned in the Strib’s South section yesterday: “Police employ technology to get closer to community”
Among many advantages, these organization/leadership weblogs help bring “an authentic voice” to normally dead web sites. And here in Northfield, a local non-profit (Northfield.org) is just getting going with a “civic blogosphere” project. We think it’s good for democracy for citizens to be more than passive consumers of media. We see weblogs as an effective and inexpensive tool that can be used for “public journalism” or “citizen-driven journalism” in ways that strenghten the civic fabric of the town.
So yes, whack away at bloggers who are irresponsible.
But keep an open mind to the other beneficial purposes that many bloggers are engaged in and don’t lump one group in with the other.
