Before You Say Blog…/Frank Mallonee

Bill Britt of the Alabama Political Reporter says he cringes whenever he hears the word blog; we’re assuming that’s mainly when it’s used to describe his news site. The word “Blog” is short for web log, and it’s absolutely what our website is—a political blog with a dash of other topics thrown in.

After all these years, we still get comments telling us that a good journalist wouldn’t inject so much opinion. We’re not journalists here, and opinion is what we give…free of charge.

Even one of our own bloggers recently called the Tennessee Valley Talks site a blog—no, it’s a forum. Shoals News, Pen-N-Sword, and the Quad-Cities Daily are not blogs; they’re news sites just as the Alabama Political Reporter is. Many of these news sites will have an editorial now and then, but that still doesn’t make them a blog.

We were greatly distressed to learn that some news sites which have sprung from the printed page have used Britt’s commentaries without proper attribution, much less financial reimbursement. We’ve had that happen on rare occasions here, but most sources who quote us give us proper credit and/or a link. Thanks to all who do link us.

What of those who openly steal from us or one of our bloggers? It’s irritating, but as we told our food blogger Cherry Pitts, it says a great deal about them and their character, not us.

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Our favorite blog quote? From Reg Henry who said: If you can’t say something nice about someone, write a blog.

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Dr. Frank Mallonee recently passed away. Mallonee was a long time UNA political science professor, and a scholarship is to be inaugurated in his honor—a very fitting tribute.

The University of North Alabama has turned out many fine graduates over the years. The finest we believe are those who learned from professors there that making a value judgment is not a bad thing, but a very good thing. Thank you. None of us is picking cotton yet.



Shoalanda