http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote Back in the old days -- that's less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers -- editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an "editor's note." Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor's note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today's blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor's Note. Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:28:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Start with two assumptions: (1) The human brain equates "it's in writing" with "it must be true"; and, (2) I am a fan of, and user of, social networking because things like blogs, e-mail, Twitter and Facebook keep me instantly in touch with family and friends. (If you are under 80 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/28/balancing-tweets-and-news/ OK, so it's not "cool" to be thankful. Too many of us have turned so cynical -- and the serious cynics appear to love trolling the Web -- that we can find the bad news in everything. Anyone who is thankful gets accused of being, well, Pollyanna or silly or, ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/26/thank-you/ When you're 13 not much matters except boys, your girlfriends, music and maybe must-do homework. Oh, and not liking being told what to do by your parents. At 13, you're certainly not terribly distressed by who wins the presidential election, whether the stock market is up or down (as long ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/20/nov-22-1963-where-were-you/ Tonight as the newsroom quieted down, settling into the last hour of detailed work before the press start, I shared with them this note. It's for them, and it's personal. I wanted you to share it, as well. Tonight you were part of history... Every 100 years or so, a ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/05/tonight-you-were-part-of-history/ I've been in some newsroom somewhere on election nights since 1970. There is no better place to be. Some things have changed beyond recognition. Back then, we counted resulted by hand, added them on spreadsheets with calculators and prayed we'd get enough results to be able to declare winners for ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/04/the-best-place-to-be/ No matter where -- or when -- you vote today, you'll be standing in line with like-minded folks. If you're like I, in the past you'd swing by the polling place, pop in, color in some circles, chat up the poll workers for a couple minutes and whip back out, ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/04/bring-along-your-coffee-and-a-book/ Standing in line at First Free church with a couple hundred good folks all ready to do one thing: vote today. the line at 6:20 a.m. is 20 minutes long. By 6:45, it's headed for an hour. It will be like this all day. And no one minds. Smiles and friendly ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/04/vote-how-great-is-this/ Got a call this morning asking if I knew how and where to find a copy of the sample ballot. I know we published it in the paper a week or so ago, but in case you want you own copy today, here's a good way to get one, along ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/11/03/need-election-info-click-here/ If the Register Star stopped publishing would rrstar.com cover the news as well? Yes, someday. Web news is in its infancy. It needs its mother around for a while to hold its hand until it can go it along. How long? At least 10 years; maybe 20. The best way to ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/10/30/what-if-the-newspaper-closes/ David Carr writes for the New York Times and nytimes.com. He knows news for print and news for online -- and he "gets it": If print news operations cannibalize their core operations (the staff that does news, information and advertising), there soon will be little or nothing of credible value ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2008/10/29/if-print-dies-web-news-a-cesspool/