This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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I will not keep checking my Facebook for updates. I will not keep checking my Facebook for updates.
If you have never heard of Facebook count yourself as lucky and slowly step away from the computer. This is Internet crack and you want no part of it.
For the rest of you who have Facebook you understand the addiction. Keep in mind denial is the first sign of someone who is saying no.
I tell myself I am new to Facebook, that soon the novelty will wear off and I’ll forget it’s even there. That’s what I tell myself.
So far I have 50 friends on Facebook, a paltry and rather embarrassing sum in comparison to most, but I like all my Facebook friends and that’s what matters. Included in my little group are my best friend from second grade, my high school geometry teacher and a presidential press secretary, all people I have known and worked with in both recent and long ago chapters.
I liken Facebook to having all your favorite literary characters in one room:
“Captain Ahab allow me to introduce you to Nancy Drew” They don’t make sense this disparate group on my Facebook, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
It’s not that we have meaningful discussions; on the contrary, most of it is lighthearted and mundane. People I thought I’d never see or hear from again suddenly I know when they are going to the dentist or what color they painted their kitchen. Through micro-blogging or “status updates” we tell one another little details in our lives.
Critics call names. They cry voyeurism and exhibitionism. They say Facebook is a natural extension of reality TV and another example of how shallow and superficial America is getting. I imagine these critics only have three Facebook friends.
Occasionally on Facebook someone will mention something significant occurring in his or her life and words of encouragement pour in. With Facebook you get a personal cheering section. It’s like having an ever-widening circle of friends over for a cup of coffee only with all these people in my kitchen how am I ever going to get any work done?
