This week's column: Hey, you oughtta be in bloggin'
Local blogger Sandy Carmany has no delusions about celebrity.
Yes, the veteran Greensboro city councilwoman has received rave reviews for the timeliness, candor and completeness of her Web log, "Sandy's Place," where she not only tells you what she thinks, but also where she'll be almost every waking moment of her life.
You'll break a sweat just reading her weekly itinerary.
But Carmany also is a realist. Her daily audience generally numbers in the hundreds, she told an audience at last month's Converge South Internet conference at N.C. A&T. That's only a fraction of the people who live and vote in her district.
Yet Carmany shouldn't undervalue the big reach of her little corner of cyberspace. Print and TV journalists read her blog. So do other bloggers. She's got an impressive pass-along readership.
Blogs tend to be bucket brigades of opinions, linked, quoted and alluded to from here to who knows where. Consider Ed Cone, a News & Record columnist who blogged Tuesday that the city's Bicentennial Commission contained not one representative from the local Jewish community. Next thing you know, there's a story in this newspaper, and the mayor is scrambling to address the oversight.
That's why it'd be nice if more elected officials followed Carmany's lead. Blogs are a very effective way to explain votes, explore issues and hold dialogues with others without having to be in the same room, the same zip code or even the same hemisphere.
With that in mind, here's a list of people who could be natural bloggers — if only they would.
Deena Hayes: The Guilford County school board member sees the world from her own unique perspective. She can be combative, thoughtful, puzzling, enlightening and frustrating. But she is always provocative. And she is one of the most difficult elected officials to reach, by telephone or e-mail. A blog might help.
Rabbi Fred Guttman: Guttman, of Temple Emanuel, is bright, opinionated, fluent on local and national politics and very good with words.
The Rev. Sid Batts: The senior pastor at Greensboro's First Presbyterian Church offers keen observations about faith, community and the human condition.
Jerry Bledsoe: Jerry, the famous author and former News & Record columnist, seems relentlessly angry these days, but he'd be one helluva blogger. I once suggested this to him at a local blog conference. Not that Jerry's ever listened to me.
Robin Adams: The former News & Record reporter does not mince words, either spoken or written. Too bad she works in public relations for a federal program at a state institution (N.C. A&T). She'd probably have to edit herself too heavily to share what's really on her mind.
Jim Melvin: Fat chance the former mayor would ever do it. But the man has a million opinions, all fired straight from the hip.
Nat Irvin: Irvin, a weekly columnist for the Winston-Salem Journal, teaches future studies at the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University. He is witty, topical and entertaining.
DeWayne Wickham: The director of the Advanced Journalism Studies Institute at N.C. A&T is a columnist for USA Today, a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists and the author of several books. He's got a lot to say. But he is not a fan of blogging, which he dismisses as a waste of journalists' time. It wouldn't be a waste of his.
Beth McKee-Huger: There ought to be a blog on housing standards and other affordable-housing issues. McKee-Huger of the Greensboro Housing Coalition would be a good person to start one.
Marlene Sanford: Yes, I know she's a lobbyist for builders and Realtors, but theirs is a legitimate and important perspective on planning, development and quality-of-life issues. What better way to have a robust discussion about impact fees, sidewalks and trees?
Afrique Kilimanjaro: The young editor of the Carolina Peacemaker has added a fresh, independent voice to the town square in her occasional newspaper columns about everything from Truth and Reconciliation to that awful smell in the Public Library elevators.
Deborah Kelly — Kelly, the executive director of Centro Latino, could help stretch the boundaries of the local blogosphere to include the growing but largely excluded Latino community. The form of such a blog could be intriguing. It also could be bilingual.
Tom Phillips: The city councilman is as straight a shooter as Melvin, but unlike Melvin, Phillips does at least usually aim before he fires. Phillips has a blog but he walked away from it because he considered it too time-consuming. Say it ain't so, Tom.
Yvonne Johnson: Like Phillips, the veteran council member started a blog but never did much with it. (Of course, that may not be surprising. We have a hard enough time getting her to send her election questionnaires by e-mail, bless her heart.) Too bad. I would have valued dialogues on her views, especially in light of her pending run for mayor. What does she think of the results of this year's council race? The mayor pro tem issue? The criticism from some that she appeared on a program with Minister Louis Farrakhan?
The Rev. Nelson Johnson: There is much more to this very complex man than many of his detractors and fans have looked close enough to see. It would be fascinating to take part in real-time dialogues with one of the unifying —and divisive — figures in this city.
Here's an idea: He and Jim Melvin could share a blog, a feisty point-counterpoint about Greensboro's past, present and future.
Among the first topics they could tackle: pigs flying, hell freezing over and Billy Yow joining the NAACP.
Comments (5)
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How about Mayor Holliday? City Council newcomer Sandra Anderson? The list can go on. We are Blogsboro, but there is room for improvment.
Posted on November 20, 2005 11:24 AM
Jay, I agree absolutely. My list was by no means meant to be complete, just a catalyst for discussion.
The mayor definitely needs to be blogging and arguably every council member. Arguably every elected official.
Posted on November 20, 2005 11:33 AM
But Allen, if all those folks start blogging then we won't be the only ones having all the fun.
Posted on November 21, 2005 7:08 AM
I applaud Sandy Carmany for her blog.
I can see why others haven't joined the blogging world. Blogs are hard work. First, you want to make it look right. Then, you've got to keep it current. Then, you're vulnerable to what others post on your blog.
After dabbling in creating my own blog, I have a new respect for bloggers and the folks who run the LTE.
Posted on November 21, 2005 4:44 PM
Good point. It looks a whole lot easier than it actually is.
Posted on November 21, 2005 4:50 PM