In light of the recent developments regarding the rights and responsibilities of bloggers, I interviewed Temple Stark on some of those developments. The interview, edited to remove the silliness, is below. Temple has threatened to put the unedited version on his blog at a later date. Disclaimer: This interview has been edited for clarity.
Temple: Good morning
Justene: Good morning
Justene: Let's start with the background stuff.
Temple: k
Justene: What is your offline job?
Temple: I am a reporter with the Casa Grande Dispatch, a six-day a week newspaper in Casa Grande, AZ. I cover city government and also general assignment. I seem to have the "new mall" beat in this growth area.
Justene: So, regardless of your blog activity, you are a journalist. Right?
Temple: Since 1996, yes.
Justene: In my mind, that leaves you as a neutral party in the discussion of "are bloggers journalists?" because you are a blogger and a journalist, no matter where we end up on that issue. Would you agree?
Temple: Some might think I'm biased toward print journalism because that's where I make my money and I've been doing it longer. I think I am, too. I have also always tried to differentiate between national media and all others regardless of medium. I see a lot of value in blogs, but we are probably narrowing things down to political blogs which I don't have as much respect for - as a general statement only.
Justene: Do you think you are biased that way?
Temple: Yes, for the reasons stated above. But I only view blogs as a threat as far as the high level of misinformation out there. I enjoy blogs, but as entertainment only.
Justene: As far as I know, you have your own blog, you are the executive editor at Blogcritics.org, and you are the managing editor at Polstate.com.
Justene: Am I missing anything?
Temple: Yes. I also own a few other URLS but don't do anything with them. I have casagrandephotos.com where I satisfy my photography bug and get to show people Casa Grande. But no, other than that, not missing anything.
Justene: I know what you do at each of these but let's break it out for people. Your blog is an individual blog like so many of us have. Is there a particular focus?
Temple: On my personal blog, no, no focus. I think I'm interesting :-) . I will rarely post about politics, however, because of my job, and in that there is rarity if not uniqueness. If there is a focus I would say photography, though that is not reflected, quite yet. I also want a place where my far-flung friends can figure out what's
going on with me.
Justene: Explain your editor position at Blogcritics.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Excellent Justene, and Temple too. Great questions, great answers, i think i know too much.
2 - francisco68
Justene and Temple. Successful interview that kept me interested (and I am not a big reader of interviews). And I thank Justene for the links to Temple's different sites. Those of us who usually just look at the pictures enjoyed the casagrande site.
We obviously don't always agree on things,but you are both gentlefolk (gender neutral) and believe in rational discussion.
Temple's homesite and PolState site are fascinating. If I decide to move to North Dakota there is a reporting job open. Sadly I cannot write on Quintana Roo,Mexico politics for you or they will deport me.
Thanks for the glimpse into both your thoughts -- those on which we agree and not.
3 - Eric Olsen
super, thanks, very important and readable
4 - Eric Berlin
I happen to enjoy interviews and this was a particularly interesting one. Nice job to you both.
I'm fascinated to see where technology, journalism, entertainment, and information are headed.
And I might be biased a little, but I think BlogCritics is a pretty great place to watch it happen, and take part in the process at the same time.
5 - Temple Stark
There's a lot of stuff packed in this two-parter. I just hope most of it makes sense and is clear enough.
Thanks Eric.
6 - Temple Stark
Um this interview got cut by about 400 words. I hope it can be reinstated
7 - Justene
Of course it can be reinstated. It only took another hour of my time parsing through your words over and over again. At first I didn't know you too well and then I liked you and now I am totally over you.
8 - Temple Stark
:-). LOL I think. too funny.