David wrote up Chris Lydon’s bloggy thinking-cap session on Friday; and now so has Massmarrier.* Here’s what I took from it: Chris Lydon wants a website (maybe) that would combine all the nifty things that all the current local websites are doing, except smarter and better than before, and more of it. With more adjectives.
OK, so Lydon was pretty vague. I think that was kind of the point, to nudge folks into thinking about the Bigger Bloggy Picture, and to imagine the potential of the scene here. It’s clear also that Lydon contemplates something with more hot celebrity starpower than our humble blogcircle can offer — like Huffington Post, with more Harvard, baby! Fine, as far as it goes. Someone with some pull needs to get People of Stature and Legitimacy to buy into the necessity of writing for it. (Chris, I think you just volunteered to create this monster.)
So, I guess I’d suggest a format to get some of the intellectual chemistry that Lydon would like to see evolve:
- A Scoop-like website — in other words, a design much like this one, but with tabs — see below.
- Have People of Stature and Legitimacy write — with uncharacteristic breeziness and informality, natch — for the “front page” (a.k.a. the “toilet paper roll”, or what you’re reading right now.) Ed Glaeser on housing! Charlie Baker on health care! Mike Dukakis on transit, health care, housing, jobs, and the importance of getting enough bran! Hot diggity!
- Have the Great Everyone Else (a.k.a. jes’ folks) lob laurels and rotten fruit in “User Posts” for the right-hand column.
- Have “Tabs”, like most news websites, for different kinds of content: “Policy”, “Arts”, “Elections”, “Thinkin’ Wicked Hahd”, etc. This functions as kind of an “über-Tag” (If someone knows of a more hep, taggy, Google-esque way of sorting the content meaningfully, let’s hear it.)
So, essentially you’d have a blog/magazine, with sections. But this simply cannot be over-emphasized: The success or failure of such a project would depend on the judgement, energy level, and character of the editor(s). The setup and architecture are just the bones, not the brains.
So, do we need this?
*Massmarrier quotes me as tweaking Lydon in the session: “Charley asked whether his Common proposal might be an effort to gain, “institutional respectability of your own?”
I don’t remember exactly what I said, but this makes it sound like I was disparaging Lydon’s career to his face. I didn’t and don’t have any interest in doing that, so I’ll clarify: To me, it sounded like Lydon wanted his proposed project to have a greater degree of intellectual professionalism (e.g. university credentials) than the current constellation of DIY blogs. That’s all.
I think a more comprehensive front page layout and info structure would be in order for this new venture. Something that takes the best of online newspapers and magazines, even if those are what we’re trying to escape from – creating sections with teasers of “front page writers” on all the different subjects (politics, sports, culture, food, whatever). Gotta get away from toilet paper blogging I think. That’s the next step.
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I also like some of what Political Cortex tries to do, which is that users can submit diaries but are also encouraged to submit longer pieces, which can go through an editing process (with other users and the front pagers) before maybe making it onto the front page.
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You would have a central set of editors and writers to keep a handle on a minimum level of quality of user-submitted stories – for instance, making it possible to make a diary by a user disappear for being badly written, badly researched, or just bad. That’s not how BMG or other Scoop blogs work, but if a newsy Commons blog wants to keep its rep as legitimate some filtering would have to take place. And it should be a benevolent dictatorship in my opinion – what the central editors says, goes. Those editors of course would also have to be professional about their job of controlling the conversation, because you want to have some of the spontaneity of blogs with the quality of an edited filter.
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I also like Political Cortex’s division of user diaries and user stories and front page writers. That’s sorta neat and would work well for this concept Lydon has.
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If any of that makes sense. I might have sunstroke after marching in the Chelmsford parade this morning. ;P
Charley, for your last graph in the post, don’t feel defensive. I wrote your words as you said them. They were powerful enough to stop even Mr. L’s momentum. He (beat, beat) recovered though.
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I think you limned an often unclear aspect of big blogs. Certainly the HuffingtonPost is full of gigantic egos attached to the superrich. Fortunately for our side, they are almost to a one left-leaning and giving time, money and emotion to good and progressive causes.
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So, we often overlook the me-me-me aspect of their blogging. Most philanthropists want the foundation, building and fund drive to have their name. They come from a world of money and power; they understandably expect some return on their investment.
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He didn’t way he wanted the Christopher Lydon (registered trademark) New England Common. However, I think your insight on the ideal result for him was spot on and I thank you for the comment.
Klutz me. I just posted and noticed that it should be that he didn’t “say” not “way” he wanted his name on everything.