Proper Tone/Appropriate Procedure
Although I have arguably been a professional writer for more than 40 years, and been published in various kinds of formats in several nations, I must acknowledge that I am more than a little perplexed by some of the problems associated with posting information on the Internet. Prior to the arrival of this incredibly empowering medium, virtually all printed material distributed for mass consumption was subjected to a process of editing and review based on canons established and enforced over centuries. However keen the writer, oversights occur. In the best of circumstances, editors exist to catch such oversights and make them right before the material is approved for publication and distribution.
While vastly expanding the role and production capacity of all those who seek to distribute written words, and images of whatever sort, the Internet can effectively be used without the input, and accumulated wisdom, of editors, rewrite desks, fact checkers, and received common sense shared by disciplined, professional groups working closely together for decades. Thus, those of us who participate in this new, grand global marketplace of ideas and frivolous chatter, the recognition arrives sooner or later, that flying alone, and profoundly outside the traditional, institutional framework associated with publishing and distributing mass messages, has a price.
I will say more on that. But, in passing, I want to comment on the significance of the fact that the U.S. newspaper industry is collapsing. This development presents the nation with a potential tragedy of massive proportions, because newspapers are the foundation on which responsible public dialogue is conducted in this nation, and much of the rest of the developed world. Broadcast and cable news here in the United States is significantly derived from information gleaned from newspapers. And pretty much all that information is subjected to the canons of review, criticism, and editing, mentioned above.
When, and if, newspapers go down, the people who possess the knowledge and wisdom required to produce them will disperse, and largely disappear. This will inevitably exact an unavoidable transformation in national dialogue in ways that most of us will end up severely regretting.
In any event, back to the Internet. As indicated, this new kind of publishing produces anxiety because of the responsibility required to get it all right. I worry a lot about tone. I don’t want to insult anyone. I don’t want to be considered hostile, or bitter, or mean-spirited. I don’t want to be hurtful to anyone, in any way. I have been trained to think critically. But my personal perspective is almost always optimistic. Nonetheless, I worry about tone…
This line of thinking leads me to wonder about the limits to freedom, for myself, and everyone else in the world participating in this marvelous, new enterprise. What are the rules? How does one learn them? What are the taboo subjects? What constitutes irresponsible commentary? And what are the responsibilities of those who are knowledgeable and educated? How much criticism is too much? What aspects of domestic and global affairs should watchful, sober-minded, and reasonable persons, avoid, if at all possible?
I am using this site to do whatever I reasonably can to assist in the elimination of poverty and homelessness. I have studied the subject for decades, and this includes the use of long-term observations, located in major cities around the world. I believe I know what I am talking about when I get going about the nature of urban poverty in the world today.
Thus, I am attempting to share some of what I have learned about poverty and homelessness, particularly in urban contexts. In an effort to do this, I regularly touch on subjects rarely associated with poverty and homelessness. That’s because I understand that endemic social problems of this sort have roots outside the specific locations in which they exist. If I prove even moderately successful, more people will come to understand that poverty and homelessness can be eliminated, and that this can be accomplished in positive ways that benefit the whole of society.
But, as indicated above, I spend lots of time these days thinking about proper tone, and the rules of appropriate, and responsible, procedure…