A look behind the curtain
While I have been a journalist for all of my professional life and writing is nothing new and different to me, blogging doesn't comes as purely second nature. When I got started in this business, reporters and editors were encouraged to keep their personal likes and dislikes behind a veil of objectivity. We were taught not to join groups with any perceived political leaning and a campaign bumper sticker on your car meant a sure invitation to the publisher's office for a little chat.
As the Internet has changed our society over the last decade or so -- for good or ill -- that veil has slowly been pulled away. Where it was once just the editorial page editor who actually expressed any opinions, the blog revolution has made everyone's opinion legitimate "news" content. While I'm not sure that has been the best change to ever take place for the fourth estate, I do believe the ability for anyone with a PC and an Internet connection to become a journalist of some sort or another is a good thing. It has certainly had an impact on the newspaper industry which I have known and loved all of my life.
In this blog I expect to make posts as regularly as I can find the time to write them. I will concentrate on a variety of topics, but mostly I will take the opportunity to pull back the curtain for our readers and explain why and how the Aiken Standard and other media outlets do the things we do. As the News Director at the Aiken Standard, I make decisions large and small every day with the assistance of Managing Editor Mike Gibbons and a wonderful staff of reporters and editors. Some of the things we do are very popular, others are not. I'm sure it will be no surprise to you that in a 24/7 newsroom working with limited resources and very tight time constraints we also make our share of big and small mistakes every day. These often generate their far share of questions, comments and even the occasional accusation of bias. We are human and we are more than happy to discuss our processes ad even our failings. If you want to know why we do the things we do, feel free to post a comment or question here and I'll do my best to address it in short order.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and thanks for your interest.
