Ruby Sinreich's blog

Check out these two items that both appear on the WCHL website today. One story asks "Can hard news be found on blogs?" concluding with this ridiculous statement: "So the next time you read a blog online, remember that you could be getting information from a twelve-year-old rather than a professional."

As if in answer to their own question, they also have a report about the NC Legislature acting to remove term limits for the Mayor of Chapel Hill - a story we broke here on Orange Politics last week.

Now I've never claimed to be a journalist (although I am a professional, thankyouverymuch), but that doesn't mean my opinions aren't both informed and informative! It's just this kind of lumping the entire online world into some adolescent MySpace stereotype that will keep adults from being able to protect themselves and their children from what they see as the dangers of the Internet.

I sent a slightly longer version of the following letter to the Chapel Hill Mayor and Council last week regarding the manager search, but I think that the points are pressing and critical no matter who is in charge.
. . .

In the past 15 years, technology has blossomed and sprouted many new forms of communication that we could never have imagined in the 1980's. And yet the current town practices regarding public engagement don't seem to have changed in decades.

The field of e-democracy (http://e-democracy.org/) was forged 12 years ago as a way to enable more participation and engagement in local government. This is but one of many ways the Town could enhance communication and information flow with and between residents. For a community that prides ourselves on being forward-thinking, we are way behind the times when it comes to open and accessible government.

If you actually want people to read the (few) articles you are publishing online, it would help to not put flashing eyesores like this on the same page as the news.

You're letting the DTH make you look bad....