Shibumi, our posts are crossing in cyberspace.
I really do not want an argument with you. I do not dispute that I rarely post comments on other people’s articles. That’s true. It’s also true of most other news sites I visit. I don’t generally post comments on other people’s articles unless I think I have something to say that nobody else is saying.
That could change — I can assure you that if Freepers really want to have me start posting on topics related to news media bias, on the military, and on religious issues (I attend an Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregation in which most of the members are either homeschoolers or send their children to local Christian schools, and virtually all the members are not just evangelicals but fiery right-wing Calvinists), I might have quite a bit to say.
Unfortunately, I have to respond to you not as someone who probably agrees with me on most political issues but because you are accusing me of bad motives. While I appreciate that you’re not accusing me of outright lying, your last posts make some pretty serious criticisms. I think you deserve a response, and I think those who are reading what you write deserve to know how I respond to what you’re saying.
I don’t see that I’m saying anything inconsistent. I said the same thing in this thread that I have said for years not only to you but to many other people about standard news media practices. Yes, I do want to track how many people are reading the Pulaski County Daily News. If Free Republic were driving lots of traffic to the Pulaski County Daily News I would need to re-evaluate whether posting here is a good idea. Right now it simply is not a big deal.
If this had started as a polite request for me to post full text articles, I’d be a lot more receptive. If Jim Robinson wants me to do that, it will start immediately. Same if that’s what a lot of other people here want. The problem now is that my motives are being attacked, and responding to that attack requires more than just starting to post full text of articles.
I am not unaware of how bad the reputation is of reporters in the conservative world. A lot of that is well-deserved, and I’ve seen firsthand from the inside how bad the liberal bias is with much of the news media. Therefore, I want to be especially careful when people with whom I agree politically express concerns, and even when they’re outright attacks.
I went back and checked my Free Republic email and as far as I can tell, until this series of posts on the Joplin tornados, one person asked me to do that in a period of three years — I would have said that posting the lead paragraphs is standard practice in the news media. Generally it’s what people want. To post full text articles is not only a very unusual request, most news aggregators would not permit it.
Based on the tone and tenor of what is being said here, I think I need to ask whether the issue is not just that I am posting excerpts. That concern could be addressed, but there have been some pretty serious attacks on my motives and my integrity.
That’s far more important to me than the relatively minor issue of whether excerpts or full text articles get posted.