Information and Transformation (Part 2)

So after only two weeks, Tom Callinan, the Editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer has decided to give up blogging. He reasons that the effort takes away from his "day job" running the newspaper, and furthermore, instead of helping to build an online community he is mostly just giving a forum for impolite, often anonymous people who attack him over the paper's editorial policy.

Certainly Callinan's "Letter to the Editor" blog served as a lighting-rod during its brief period of activity. Many commenters used the opportunity to take the newspaper to task for deciding not to cover certain candidates or pet issues. Others questioned the paper's lack of journalistic "digging" when it comes to passing along the press releases or PR efforts of others.

My first inclination was to have sympathy with Callinan on the topic of anonymous commenters. They, like some of the "named" commenters, felt entitled to use his blog to force discussion about sidebar topics. I don’t have much respect for this tactic, since it amounts to hijacking Callinan’s audience by waving their arms his front lawn, so to speak, instead of setting up shop down the street with their own blog. (It’s much harder task to earn 25 regular blog readers than the anonymous complainers and sycophants who reload through-out the day to spar back and forth, as I’ve learned with Spacetropic.)

But Callinan’s handling of this issue was inept. He first vowed not to take on the off-topic or abusive commenters, then broke that rule immediately, and then announced he would moderate comments – before finally giving up entirely. This hesitant inconsistency calls into question his judgment, which would seem to be the most important quality for an editor. Blogs, like any other form of media, benefit from some kind of steady, constitutional purpose which guides the content. If you’re going to run a forum for vox populi, do it wholeheartedly. If you’re going to offer take-it-or-leave-it posts, go with that instead. If you're going to blog about your cat, your corporation, or Constitutional law - pursue these topics avidly.

Callinan missed a chance to create a medium by which editorial decisions could be thoughtfully explained and put in context - where some of the insider aspects of the newsroom could be articulated. For a man who proudly took credit for a late-career degree in new media convergence he sure couldn't see the possibilities. And the absence of candid communication from legacy media powers like newspapers gives much more credibility for those who claim that their policies for disseminating information are strictly agenda-driven. And in a city like Cincinnati this agenda, in contrast with a Left-leaning national media, amounts to “keep your head down and shut up” conservatism - the worst kind of conservatism in my book – a stagnant, unthinking complacency with the status quo.

Instead of throwing open the doors to critique and participating in the dialogue, Callinan skulked away. Instead of picking a few key battles and sticking up for his decisions he chose to be intimidated by his antagonists. Instead of circulating among the army of Davids he retreated behind the temple walls - where the seismic shift in the information economy towards speed and transparency can be only temporarily ignored.

Note that Callinan’s blog, linked above, has been removed entirely from the Gannett site and returns a “page not found” error. But thanks to Google cache the exercise in indignity has been preserved. Note too that this post is also appearing (with non-substantive changes) at the Cincinnati Beacon, where a lively debate in the comment section may be reasonably expected.