Blog Watch rewards program

Years ago, when I was city editor of the Lodi News-Sentinel, I worked with an older gentleman who had been around newspapers for a long time (although obviously his presence in Lodi indicated he had not been particularly successful). I recall a conversation in which he explained that the problem with syndicated columnists was that they couldn't produce a winner every time. I've found that holds true for the Blog Watch articles I produce.

Two weeks ago, I wrote of my disappointment with the prior week's Blog Watch article. This week, the pendulum has swung to the other side and I'm excited about the article that will be published Sunday. (Get your free early peak here.)

When the idea of watching regional blogs was first discussed, I was urged to focus on the official voices, the knowledgeable insiders, the important issues of politics and government. Like the good soldier I marched to my orders, but I kept stumbling across these neat personal stories with compelling narratives, slices of everyday life.

From July until around November, the weekly Blog Watch articles reflected those early priorities. But eventually the personal stories gained enthusiastic supporters and the content of the Sunday articles shifted. For me, the Dec. 3 article signaled the change.

The Blog Watch article this Sunday is an excellent example of everything I like about focusing on the personal rather than the officious. It is a smile factory.

Since I have started alerting bloggers that their posts are being considered (see here and here), I've found it necessary at times to explain what motivated me. This was especially true this week with the very short, two sentence post at WickedSmaht’s blog. My nomination prompted another post under the headline A wee bit mystified... that said, "So my previous post was "nominated" by www.ipsosacto.com (hello, cutest name for a website ever, eh?) for a Blog of the Week feature in the Sacramento Bee. While part of me is as pleased as punch, another part of me is asking, 'Really? This blog?' "

Here's the answer I offered:

Having nominated your post, perhaps I should confess a certain self-interest.

First, The Bee offers less than 800 words for the entire article. But, of course, most bloggers, being people who like to write, gush out 800 words in a single post. Seems unfair to let one blogger hog the whole show. So I'm constantly searching for the short posts that can stand alone.

Second, I've worked as a newspaper copy editor for more than 25 years at The Bee. For 19 of those years I worked with a women [sic] who hated exclamation marks. I would put together batches of letters to the editor with all sorts of exclamations, only to have the other editor come behind me and take them out. For me, a 45 word blog post with seven exclamation points is just irresistible.

As for the rest of this week's article, I confess that I picked the "No dogs allowed" post for all of the cat lovers as an answer to a blog dedicated to a poodle and a dog. I also had hoped to use some of the photos taken by the blogger who fought to keep her spot on the race route, but the editor had other priorities.

As I explained last week, I'm in a Twilight Zone story in which a one-armed bandit gives me just enough winnings to keep me from leaving.