The best blogs have a unique voice, the voice of the blogger. Almost by definition, editing would quiet that.That point of view came to mind again recently when a student stopped by my office. This student is one of five working at The News & Observer this semester, reporting for that newspaper's Under the Dome blog.
Under the Dome is a long-running column of political tidbits, mostly about state government. The blog version recently celebrated its first birthday. In print and online, the Dome column has a mildly snarky tone and speaks of itself in the third person once in a while: "Dome has learned..."
I asked the student about his semester at the N&O. Here's a reasonable recreation of that part of our conversation:
ME: How has your Dome experience been?
STUDENT: Good. I've really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
ME: Are your posts edited before they go online?
STUDENT: Yes. My posts are edited by the main reporter in charge of Dome.
ME: In what way?
STUDENT: The biggest thing was to put voice into the posts. He said my copy was a bit dry.
ME: So he reworked your writing to fit the tone of Dome?
STUDENT: Exactly. He really helped.
In this case at least, editing didn't diminish the blog's voice. It made it loud and clear.
Well, as we both know -- N&O alums that we are -- the N&O always does things backassward.