Everything to everyone
by kos
Tue Jun 07, 2005 at 11:37:41 PM PDT
2. If a story falls on the front page of the New York Times, and I don't say anything about it, some people probably will manage to actually hear about it even without it appearing on this page.
3. If Josh Marshall, Tapped, the Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Pandagon and numerous other blogs talk about something, and I don't, some people probably will manage to actually hear about it even without it appearing on this page.
4. People who write angry emails chastising me for not writing about issue X or demanding that I do so generally find their way into my spam filter. I imagine many other bloggers react similarly. See also 1) and 2) above.
5. People who write angry emails chastising me for writing about issue X and complaining that there are so many more important things to write about generally find their way into my spam filter. I imagine many other bloggers react similarly. See also 4) and 1) and 2) above.
6. Such occasional reminders are not angry bitter complaints. None of the above should discourage people from emailing me with things they think I might be interested in. There is a big difference between "this is interesting" and "you must write about this." Nor should any of the above be taken to mean that I react badly to any and all criticism of what I write. It's just the type of criticism that comes from people who get angry when this blog isn't their personal megaphone that annoys me. "What you wrote is wrong" is very different from "how dare you do/don't write about issue X."
This is a site about electoral issues, the netroots, and Iraq. Period. If you have an issue you want to tackle, whether it's environmental, Darfur, women's rights, tax reform, education, or whatever, you can 1) write a diary about it, or 2) start your own blog on the topic.
I am not the end-all, be-all of liberal blogging. I cannot be everything to everyone.
This site gives everyone the ability to air their pet issues. I don't have to write about them for them to have value. And I won't. Just like I won't write about issues that I AM interested in but stray from my core areas. Do I stray on occassion? Yeah, but I do so sparingly.
And I'm not afraid to tell people to head elsewhere if they can't find what they want here. Regarding the Pie controversy, people act offended I "kicked them off" when dismissing their concerns. It's not so much kicking people out, as saying that this site isn't everything to everyone. I am actually proud when this site spawns new sites like Booman Tribune, Liberal Streetfighter, The Next Hurrah, Steve Gilliard, Bilmon, etc. Even the new Women Kossacks site, although I wish they'd come up with a better name for the site. There are many other sites and communities out there that could use the patronage as well.
So I don't feel particularly motivated to turn Daily Kos into the EVERYTHING site for the progressive netroots. I'm going to keep within the niche I've established for myself. People can use the diaries or find fellow travellers on any number of issues on other blogs. And if they want more, or outgrow the diaries, they can always start their own blog.
It's citizen media, not Kos media. When you find this site lacking, you can do something about it. And that's the best thing about this medium.
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