The Moderate Voice is supremely pleased to welcome its latest new coblogger, Jason Steck.
Steck has been a favorite of TMV and holds a record, of sorts. We have linked to THIS CLASSIC POST on what it means to be a moderate — perhaps the best single explanation we have seen anywhere, in any medium — at LEAST four times. He wrote it on his wonderful, gem-of-a-blog Tutakai. It’s one of the few we didn’t remove from our blogroll even though it was not updated frequently, because we knew Steck was extremely busy but did post — when he had something meaningful to say.
And almost every post he wrote was meaningful, packed with thoughts, and brimming with common sense in broad-brush think piece type entries. We’ve wanted to have him part of TMV before — and we’re pleased to have him now.
Meanwhile, some readers have asked if TMV is becoming “Where’s Waldo” with all the new cobloggers (and two more invitations are still out). What’s going on is that moderates, centrists and independents have long wanted to have a stronger presence on the Internet and we’re making an effort try and make TMV an increasingly important part of the centrist/moderate/independent online community.
So we’re expanding the number of voices here and also looking into a possible reformat to make it look a little more “reader friendly.” (And we will continue to link profusely to other centrist sites)
This means that more than ever this site offers a MIX of ideas. This won’t stop writers or websites who don’t like something on TMV to immediately dismiss it as being a hotbed of liberals or conservatives. In reality, we’re trying to offer a buffet of perspectives. If some folks want to keep thinking otherwise, they can do whatever makes them smile. What makes US smile is trying to offer an accessible place for those on the right, left and center who like to discuss issues — and to provide a major focal point for centrists on the Internet. Jason is a BIG part of that…
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.