Three years and counting

By Bryan Tagas

Today marks the third anniversary of Madison Park Blogger. What began as something of a lark has morphed over time into a cross between a labor of love and a duty.  My goal has been to provide Madison Park with a timely source of news and (very occasionally) commentary, about the things that impact this .9 square miles of lakeside turf that we are lucky enough to inhabit.  I remain dedicated to that mission.

Sometimes people tell me that they would like to hear more of my "voice" in the stories I present.  While standing on a street corner one day last summer, I was admonished by someone who told me, "It's your blog. You can write anything you want. There's no standard for bloggers!" That may be true, but there is a standard for this blog.  I try to adhere to a few journalistic rules which I laid down early in the life of the blog. Since I had very few readers at the time, most will not recall that posting.  But what I said then still applies:

Journalists are supposed to live up to certain standards of journalism, and I think a similar code of 'professional' conduct is required of bloggers. Here are the elements of my own personal blogging code:

1. Be fair and accurate
2. Separate reporting from editorializing
3. Give attribution and provide hyperlinks to sources
4. Avoid conflicts of interest
5. Correct and note errors

This blog is unlike Seattle's many other hyperlocal (i.e. neighborhood) blogs.  The postings are usually not short and sweet--in fact, they're often long and too involved for certain readers. But in the interest of keeping this community informed, I make no apology for trying to be as comprehensive as time will allow.

And that's a perfect segue to my final point, having to do with time. As some of you have noticed, I have not been posting as often in the past few months as I did when Madison Park Blogger was still an "early stage" endeavor. This is not because of diminishing interest, enthusiasm, or will on my part.  Rather it's the consequence a time commitment to the new managerial assignment I recently undertook at my day job (that's the one that pays the bills). Perhaps someday I will again achieve the four-postings-a-week level that was once the standard here. But in the meantime, I simply recommit to keeping Madison Park posted.

Thanks for your support!