I received a few e-mails from folks last time I posted about the 46th Democrats Local Action Fair. Some folks asked me to post Republican items if I post Democrat items (and for any other political parties that submit items). The implication was that I should not post anything unless I post for all parties. Others asked me to post more political events and information than I am currently posting.
I would like community input about what you want to see. Please speak your mind in the comments and you can do so anonymously. If you have difficulties with the comments, you can e-mail me and I will post your comments.
I would think that if your blog was like a news channel and you were being paid by the Democratic party for advertising informational items, then to be fair you would have to post equal Republican/other party coverage. But I assume you are not being paid…
It also seems like you have enough on your plate to have people request that you actually do MORE research, writing, etc.
And for purely selfish reasons, I would not be interested in reading Republican items. But I can just “skip past” the stories that I don’t want to read about, also. And I could do the research myself to find out if my party was having any local gatherings.
I received this comment by e-mail:
I think if you are going to post about Democratic events, then someone should post about Republican events. I’m assuming there’s got to be at least one person in the neighbourhood who’s attending Republican functions since you got the complaint, so I don’t see why someone couldn’t do posts about Republican events rather than expecting you to attend every function for every party. It would also prevent any chance of someone accusing you of doing biased posts against the party you don’t belong to. As much as I dislike the idea of politics being posted at all, they are an important part of the community because it can potentially affect tax rates; schools; buses; etc.
Agreed with the poster above regarding the fact that we can just skip past posts we don’t want to read. Frankly, anyone who gets too bent out of shape about something like this probably has too much time on their hands.
That said, I’m curious as to the origin of the original story. If it was submitted by a reader, then the onus really lies upon other folks to submit similar function “ads” in the community, presumably for their own political factions or interests.
If it was an original post gathered by the staff, then yeah, it might be a little out of line. You don’t want to alienate readers with a perception of bias or pushing your politics on them. If people are involved in political functions, then there’s a likelihood that they will be aware of them via other channels.
I didn’t see the news item as political at all. The Dem’s had a fair where organizations serving North Seattle had tables and discussions on how we can be involved. It featured food banks, tutoring programs, community councils, groups working to save trees, improve local schools, improve parks, development and transportation issues. If Republicans have similar community information fairs it would be reasonable to include them in a news item if the bloggers are aware of them, but I don’t think each party needs equal time every time one is mentioned.
Republicans under Regan were responsible for gutting the “Fairness Doctrine” – so them demanding equal time is a bit disengenous, Im afraid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
This is your blog, do whatever you want with it. People are under no obligation to read it or agree with it. I’d say its progressive enough with regard to community organization that Republicans are probably not in great attendance here anyway.
-Matt
The Democratic Party in North Seattle can be found at 46dems.com. I’m the chair, and I actually live in the Pinehurst neighborhood. One of our members just pointed me to this blog, and I’ve added a feed to our News page.
The Republican Party in North Seattle has a group on Meetup.com: http://www.meetup.com/46thLDRepublicans/. I have tried to contact their chair, Lisa Bailey, and have not gotten an answer back.
It is the responsibility of any political organization to put the time and effort into outreach, and put our ideas out for the community to view. It’s also our job to listen and help to empower the members of our community to push for changes that they want to see. Respect and communication are two way streets.
I am a Democratic PCO in the 46th and I have forwarded information about our 46th Dems meetings. I understand wanting to be fair, and I think that if Republicans or Green Party people or whoever have meetings coming up that would interest Pinehurst people, it should be their responsibility to let Renee know about them.
I asked her to announce the Town Hall meeting with our State Legislature Representatives and State Senator a week ago Saturday, and she was afraid people would think that was “political.” It may have been political – the business of the city and neighborhoods is by definition political – but it was not partisan. Our legislators, although now they are all Democrats, represent all of us. I’m happy to say there was a very good turnout.
All of these meetings are places in which people can interact with their elected officials and voice concerns about Pinehurst, North Seattle, or the city/state in general. That’s why I would like to see them on the calendar.
The joint is run by the people who show up.
I agree with Barbara Stoner that it is the responsibility of those who want something posted to submit it.
Whether or not Renee’s deems to post it – I am fine with ignoring Republicans’ sense of fairness.