In a few days, Portland-based blogger Michael J. Totten will be moving his operations to the Middle East for six months. He’ll be based in Beirut and plans to visit Syria as well.
Michael will be writing for Tech Central Station and other publications, but he’ll continue blogging as well.
I’m reminded of what the late great journalist A.J. Liebling wrote more than 40 years ago:
There are three kinds of writers of news in our generation. In inverse order of worldly consideration, they are:
1. The reporter, who writes what he sees.
2. The interpretive reporter, who writes what he sees and what he construes to be its meaning.
3. The expert, who writes what he construes to be the meaning of what he hasn’t seen.
Almost all political bloggers, whether they consider themselves experts or not, fall into the third category. Well done to Michael for going to the trouble of placing himself in the first and second.