There are times when we must suspend our cynicism and remind ourselves of the intrinsic goodness of our fellow man.
This is one of those times.
Don't get me wrong. I am a longterm and loyal fan of all things Chris Ferrell. I first met Chris at the wedding of some friends, over a decade ago, and it delights me that he's remains as earnest today as he did offering the sermon that night. I believe, though, that it's dangerous to have our news resources all in the same hands, even if those hands are earnest ones.
John Swinton, former Chief of Staff for the New York Times, reportedly described journalists as, "... the tools and vassals for rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
A word of caution, then, to Ferrell and the folks at SouthCommComm: remember that even in the closest families, folks should disagree every once in a while. If you're going to be the father for a whole gaggle of news sources, think of them more as adult children and less like the ones you're trying to teach how to get along. Nashville is still figuring out how to make sense of this whole online thing, still figuring out the rules and still only speculating that it might actually make a bit of difference in the sphere of traditional journalism. Online journalists here are as likely to be professional writers and reporters as they are to be blowhards with too much time and a blogger account (I, by the way, am among the latter.) It's going to take great conscientiousness to both elevate the field and to protect the independence of all those different outlets. Choreograph it carefully, Chris, or you're likely to step on a whole lot of toes.
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