JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

It’s a sign of how busy this week has been that it has taken me days to check out what The Seattle Times advertised on the front page of Sunday’s paper. In the meantime J.D. Lasica and others have linked to the paper’s new blog titled Backyard Bloggers

Welcome to Backyard Blog, our group online journal for this election season. We’ve asked a broad array of people with deep ties to the region to share their views on politics during the 2004 campaign.

The blog features 14 contributors, voters under-35, and based on what they have written and what I can find on technorati, I would guess that this is a first-time blogging experience for some but not all.

I applaud the paper giving bloggers a voice and promoting blogs. However, I had hoped for more. Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic, but I had imagined that a newspaper-sponsored blog could become an avenue for community discussion and dialogue. This site still seems very one-way. Those wishing to comment are directed to an email message. Moderated comments on such a site are a must, I know. But I wish that the blog would at least publish some of the comments somewhere. Or that Backyard Bloggers would link to other bloggers, especially local ones (links to Slate don’t count!). There is a vibrant blogging scene in Seattle and the paper could try to get involved. So far, although the blog includes 14 voices and faces, it seems like a traditional media form of communication. I appreciate that the writers are sharing their perspectives on politics with personal voice. But I wish for more links and interaction among the community.

For example, it’d be great to see what Trudy W. Schuett suggested happen at the Seattle Times.

If a Big3 media outlet, such as a local newspaper, had a blogger on board, they could provide an added level of background and reporting to their own stories by providing links to both the blogosphere and other web sites with pertinent information.

And, of course, I would like it if the site could be syndicated! Offering a feed to readers is a sign of serious intent. The blog seems designed for those who are new to blogging, as many Times readers may be. I’m grateful for the paper providing the introduction and hoping more may come from this beginning.