Where have all the whiners gone? Don't get me wrong; I don't really miss them. but I am curious as to why readers of this newspaper and this blog who normally devote a good bit of their leisure time to bitching and moaning about how we write and edit have suddenly gone quiet.
Maybe they've all gone off to campaign rallies to either boo Sarah Palin at hockey games or to plead with John McCain to win so that their unborn babies do not have to grow up in an Obama administration.
Of course, it's possible that I've simply scared them away from this blog with my boring stories that never seem to end. Oh, by the way, I'm starting another one tomorrow. Anyone have a problem with that?
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13 comments:
I hope it's a 36 part walking tour of Amity!
I'm kidding... the India thing was loooooooong, but it was quite interesting.
I would complain about stuff... but Dr. Pangloss tells me that everything, as it is now, is the most perfect of scenarios... so even with its flaws, today is the best case scenario because God has willed it to be. :-)
I had a dead opossum on the road in front of my house... eventually, they just sorta turn into part of the road surface.
-ellipses
Instead of whining or complaining, everyone is probably in deep depressions after getting their third quarter 401k reports....and just wait until the next quarter. With some much focus on the ecnomy, you may actually enjoy an extended period of peace and quiet. Hopefully this will give you more time to write more stories. I, for one, really enjoy them.
Let me get this straight ... Are you complaining about the lack of complaints?
Hey, if answering complaints is my job, than complaints are my job security. The more we screw up, the safer my employment! (Just kidding.)
Well, I think the 'bitching' from the people running the blogs about the blind posting only creates less bitching.
I wish I could say I was cultured and interested enough to read your stories outside of the whines, but I admit I'm O for 2 in that.
Your stories are brilliant written and entertaining for a few. Frankly they don't hold interest for the masses and like the previous writer, I rarely read them and just look for the complaints section.
Brant's blog has taken over what you used to do so much more regularly. He has become a must read.
I can see a shift occurring in the blog content between Park and Brant's blogs... Both seem to be migrating to the content they work best with. Park obviously is the better "maker" of "stories" and Brant is the better "maker" of "discussion."
I agree that Brant's blog is a must read, but I would count Park's blog as a must read also... but just as GetGo banks on a high volume of small purchases (multiple intraday reviews of Brant's blog), Sisson Motors relies only on periodic big ticket purchases (spending a few extra minutes every other day or so getting lost in Park's stories)...
Neither is superior to the other, and both compliment the online presence of the Observer-Reporter... despite the issues that arise out of immediate peon response, I would have to score a giant W for the O-R making their online presence a dialogue as opposed to a monologue.
-ellipses
In the more than three years I have been posting this blog, it's never really become what I'd hoped it would be: a discussion with readers about what constitutes news, and why and how we write about it, photograph it, design it and present it. Alas, this is not a particularly hot topic with our online audience.
The stories I have been writing since 2005 are an experiment: trying to fit storytelling into readers' daily habits and to engage readers in a conversation - something impossible in other forms of literature. I'm still mixing the chemicals on this, hoping someday for the right reaction.
Park... I must have missed the period where you intended to engage in a conversation about what constitutes news... I don't know what your audience was like back then (online)... but it couldn't hurt to try to get back to that and see what the response is today.
-ellipses
Regarding your disappointment in the blog not becoming what you wanted, perhaps people do not enjoy being subjected to your sarcasm. The discussions you seek would typically involve an interactive dialog based on mutual respect, not the "I determine what is news and you are just an idiot" approach that seems to come across in response. Not that you are wrong about these people, mind you, but perhaps you have been a little too grumpy for creating discussion. I recognize that many of the whiners are also falling short in creating mutual respect as well. They are on the attack, as people with complaints generally are. But by the label "Whine, whine whine" you are apparently not looking for true discussion.
There have been, over the years, some really thoughtful complaints, and I usually put those under the headings of "Comments and complaints" or "Complaints and suggestions," and although this blog is called the GRUMPY Old Editor, I avoid sarcasm in answering these comments, even when they have been somewhat nasty. The use of juveniles' names in crime stories and publication of gory, disturbing photos are a couple of examples.
And I've never held anyone up to ridicule by using a name, just initials.
Instead of making me feel that my comment was wrong by defending yourself, you could have thanked me for my input and tried to generate a discussion. Just an observation and an illustration of the point that I probably did not articulate very well. I was just trying to give you an opinion as to why some of your readers may not engage in the discussion you were seeking.
Ah ... but discussion oftentimes breaks down into defending one's positions. I always thought that true discussion should be an exchange of ideas without the usually vain attempt to convert the other guy to your point of view. I have many opinions that have never changed in almost 50 years of being able to rationally form opinions, and they're likely never to change, but I'm still interested in hearing why others think differently. I have no desire to convert them to my way of thinking, and I don't particularly like it when someone tries to convert me. To me, there are few absolute truths, which gets me in trouble with a lot of people. But that's the way I see it.
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