The tone of this blog
I have become aware that I am making people angry with this blog.
As happened during the most recent federal election, I am now going to withdraw as much as possible any personal feeling or opinion from my postings, and return to simply posting news links with no comment. I hope this will keep a larger readership happier with the function performed by this blog. Thank you all for your patience.
Lozerto 09:56 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Who cares? It’s your blog!
kingduck 10:00 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
no reason for it, please continue making comments, there’s no reason having a blog if you are going to link news items without added content.
Stephen 10:03 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Sorry to hear that. I enjoy your comments; they give flavour without drifting into rampant editorializing. I understand if you have journalistic instincts that you feel guilty about not adhering to, but I think you have more to offer than just a list of facts and current events.
jeather 10:33 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
I rather like your comments (and it’s nice to know what bias people have when collecting links — no one is unbiased). If anything is an issue, it’s the increasing vitriol in the comments.
qatzelok 10:45 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
There are ways of concealing your bias by manipulating the tone of your texts, and by carefully selecting which articles you choose to feature. Why not be honest about your bias? Is it because our society is married to lying?
Marc 10:55 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Kate — I don’t always agree with your opinion, although I’m pretty happy we agree re the students. But have to agree with Lozerto, this is your blog, keep it that way.
Richard 11:03 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
I subscribe to this blog for the links, not the comments (with which I agree/disagree about evenly). But this being said I think the opinions are important. It reminds the reader that there is a real person on the other side. Just links would seem a bit robotic. This blog has more character than that. There’s no such thing as unbiased writing, even if it’s just sharing links. So I say go ahead and comment. And thanks for the great links :-)
Robert H 11:07 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
It is inevitable that a forum of opinion such as this blog will upset someone, but even in the rare instance when I’ve disagreed with you Kate, I’ve always found your comments to be thoughtful or judicious or witty, sometimes all three at once. I’m impressed by the depth of your knowledge of Quebec’s–and Montreal in particular–social and political environment. I dislike the idea that you will now have to feign indifference or purge your posts of any opinion you might have. I wonder what sort of pressure you have received and from where or whom, and I hope that this will be a temporary policy meant to for the duration of this period of intense disagreement. Like Jeather, what I have found disconcerting is not anything you’ve said, but an increasing spitefulness among some of the participants here. This conflict that germinated with student tuition protests has evolved into an ideological civil war and the strong feelings have spilled into our exchanges here. We all need to check ourselves before tapping “reply.”
Ian 11:21 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Please keep your comments. It’s what makes reading Montreal news on this blog more interesting. I’ve felt slightly insulted by maybe one comment you’ve made before. But I brushed it off and kept reading. Others will get over it.
Adam Hooper 11:31 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Sometimes you use loaded wording when linking. I dislike that. Other times you add a paragraph of opinion after an unbiased report. I love that.
Ian 11:35 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
I’m all for your personal bias. It’s not like the mainstream media doesn’t have a bias. I actually prefer your personal comments, it’s one way that mtlweblog is more than a simple aggregate. You can’t please everyone, after all, so you might as well be true to yourself.
Hamza 13:29 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
jack nicholson’s line from a few good men comes to mind
Jack 16:31 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Kate this is your blog and its good, if a few people don’t share your opinion so what.
Nick 18:24 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Please don’t change! I am a huge fan, and I have been reading you since about 2004, or 05. I have often thought that you provide a service that mainstream media does not, and you deserve an award. I have also often thought I would be happy to pay for the service you provide (especially in the last few months). Personal bias is totally legitimate, indeed expected, with blogs. And since the English-language media coverage of Montreal news — especially recently — is so awful (by which I mean heavily biased towards the conservative end of the spectrum, and yet with readers who don’t seem always to be aware of this), the world desperately needs you (literally). (Please note that when I referred to “sadness and anger” in my comment to a previous post, I was talking about the police violence, not your writing!)
ant6n 18:36 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Agree with Nick 100%.
walkerp 19:37 on 2012/06/09 Permalink
Kate, I’m with everyone who appreciates your subtle and witty editorializing. At the same time, I can see that the tone and weight of the comments is starting to seem bigger than the news items themselves and that that may be a concern to you, so do whatever you think is best.
Julia 10:59 on 2012/06/10 Permalink
I love your commentary! if the jerks are causing you stress, of course do whatever is best for you. maybe consider moderating comments which are attacking people? your blog, your rules after all. (like metafilter!)
Julia 11:03 on 2012/06/10 Permalink
(your blog is the only news I read anywhere. just saying)