As you read this, 2007 is an innocent little year (well, almost if you scroll down Google).
Like most infants, it absorbs its environment: the words used, the events it sees, the way people treat it…the very tone.
It may be naive to say this, but even with powder-keg issues in politics, passionate issues that people want to write about on weblogs…in the interest of this little child, who is right now as shapeless as a piece of unsculpted clay, can we perhaps lower the tone a bit this year?
Can we resolve to do this as we seek solutions to tough problems here and abroad?
Can we do this each day on the new infotool called weblogs which also started out like an innocent, young child but increasingly seem to be less awed by the wonderment of ideas and more gathering spots that celebrate seemingly inflexible mindsets? Can this incredible opportunity, seldom witnessed in the history of mankind, where people sitting at home can write, publish, edit and distribute their ideas at little cost and in milliseconds, start to realize its potential — by weblogs running more original reporting? Can weblogs truly become home-base for citizen journalists versus what most of them (including this one) are now: home bases to citizen op-ed writers or citizen political activists?
Can we try to broaden our circle as we discuss what needs to be done, rather than set a bad example for The Kid by belittling or blasting those with whom we don’t agree and therefore limiting our discussions to those who already agree with us? Isn’t it healthy for The Kid to be exposed to more than those who smile and nod their head saying, “Oh, yes, yes you’re so smart and wise because that’s exactly what I think!”
Could there perhaps be a little less demonization of those with whom we disagree and more focus on specific issues?
Could we worship the talk radio screamfest culture a bit less and perhaps try to purge its influence from our debate and writings? Could we think about how the trend since the early 20th century has been a steady move towards segmented “narrowcasting” in entertainment and politics…and that as we move into the 21st century perhaps a bit more “broadcasting” (such as in consensus and coalition building) could help keep The Kid healthy?
This doesn’t mean eschewing hard-nosed evaluations; any good parent sets ground rules and standards for their infant.
But can we nurture this baby this year…rather than have him end the year an old, battered, jaded man who has heard all the obscenities, seen all the horrors, been bitterly disappointed, experienced some joys, been frustrated to the point of cardiac arrest — and ends up in need of intense therapy?
Let’s at last try to do it right this time. For the kid.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.