Blogging the blog: one year later

Madison Park Blogger today celebrates its first birthday with this, our* 207th posting. That’s a run rate of four posts per week, on average, during the MPB’s first year of slogging and blogging.

What began as a lark in the spring very quickly became a somewhat-consuming activity; and as blog readership has grown over the past 365 days, we’ve felt an increasing sense of responsibility for the product of our part-time efforts. By responsibility we mean taking our blog’s audience seriously: getting the story—and getting the story right. Our readers now expect that if it happens in Madison Park it will be covered by Madison Park Blogger.

While this knowledge conveys a sense of mission, it’s also cause for anxiety. It’s hard to know, in fact, if we’re really covering the territory. So we rely on you to keep us honest. Please tell us what you know and point out what we’re missing.

We’ve written several posts on the subject of blogging during our first year. We’ve noted, for example, that while there can be a real sense of public service in being a hyperlocal blogger, there’s also a certain degree of vanity involved. In this regard, I’ve definitely had my moments. A couple weeks ago, for example, I overheard someone at an event telling someone else “You know who that guy over there is? He’s the Madison Park Blogger!” (I took this as a good sign.) On the other hand, just today someone sent an email to the blog suggesting we do a particular story (one we’d already covered) and providing a hyperlink to a competing blog’s past coverage on the subject! (Ouch!)

I guess we still have a ways to go.

Bryan Tagas
Madison Park Blogger

[*My wife berates me for my use of "we" on this blog when, as she points out, there is only "me." Well, for those who have not heard of the convention, there is something known as the "editorial we." This is similar to the "royal we" or the "pontifical we." The use of the "editorial we" is known as nosism, and is frowned upon in many quarters. Mark Twain reportedly once said,"Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we'."]

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Yes, it is my blog. But we are having fun with it.