Sunday, September 05, 2004

Jeff Jarvis and Douglas Rushkoff are having a spirited discussion about ads on weblogs. I'm a professional, I'm used to getting paid for my writing, I'm happy to get paid...but this blog is different from my work in other forums, because it's all mine...or is it? I posted this in the comment section at both blogs: I'm struggling with the ad question now, and thinking of dropping them from my site. The problem is not that they corrupt me as a writer, but that they change what the reader sees, alter the way my blog is perceived by visitors. Part of the problem is that as a relatively centrist Democrat (as determined by triangulation: on the Upper West Side, I'm a conservative; here in North Carolina, a liberal...but I digress) the political ads I've attracted are all pro-Dem and even moreso anti-Bush. And while that may reflect to some degree my own politics, I would like to be the one to say so. I don't like opening MY page and seeing these brightly colored, eye-grabbing polemics that a casual reader may assume to be representative of my attitude and my tone. So maybe I'll just drop the campaign ads. Or choose them more carefully. On the other hand, when our regional blog conference got big fast and we had to rent a larger venue, I wanted to keep it free -- so I paid for the hall with the proceeds of my BlogAds. Complicated. 9:50:33 AM    comment []

Elizabeth Edwards Q&A in the Times mag. "Do you find it hard to play the role of the submissive wife?" "I didn't know I was." 8:14:40 AM    comment []

"The narrow perspective and limited context Americans get from their corporate media outlets are approximately as informative about the situation in Iraq as the new season of 'Survivor' will be about the situation in Vanuatu." This morning's newspaper column: We know less about the ongoing battle for Iraq than we may think. The fog of war has descended on the media. "We're getting ready to choose a president, a decision that many of us will base in some large part on events in Iraq and elsewhere in the larger war against Islamic terror organizations. It would help if we knew what the hell was going on." Read the whole thing here. Now, let's all go watch the hurricane on TV... 8:10:20 AM    comment []