Everyone has opinions about something and everything. Often we share those opinions with friends, family coworkers and authority figures. On those occasions, the person is usually known, the receiver of the opinion can always “consider the source”. and begin their own validation or moderation process.
In the vastness of the internet, the opinions are limitless. You can comment on a blog in Europe while sitting in Alaska and you might not realize that your opinions are read by someone in Australia. The distances can create a kind of cushion, cause who really cares? Isn’t it really just keyboard masturbation? Isn’t it making you feel better as a commenter or poster? Do your comments really matter?
Which brings me to the hyperlocal blog, such as this. I’ve been called illegitimate, been told it is cowardly to hide behind, or allow anonymous postings. I have been criticized by you the valuable contributors that the blog is muzzled, and has sold out. So i am getting it from all sides. I began this blog to hopefully make some money from it through advertising sales (which i have not yet). A secondary reason was i saw local websites as inadequate. Those sites lacked the local touch and they are one-way streets, offering information without dialog. The site was here before the election, there were no (maybe one) comments or posts about the levy. It is now a hot button in the community. Everybody has an opinion, many have the facts screwed up. I have never been asked by the board to write anything, nor delete anything. I have offered. My support of the school levy stems from my and my families desire for the levy to pass. To steal a phrase–We Believe. I did a post on that theme a year ago look it up.
In a small community, I feel the blogging media can be at it’s best. Because your comments and discussion CAN matter. But your misinformation can be looked at as true, and sometimes subversive or hurtful. And if the site becomes a place where only gadflies gather and negative discussions occur, well then the value of the site as a community resource and “hot stove league” becomes compromised.
I originally envisioned a site where all opinions and every post would be public. But as this is a new media for discussion and many people in town are new to this, I have felt the need to pull back the reins a bit. It can not be a wide-open lawless frontier blog of a town. The site is not in anybodies pocket and has not been muzzled. No one has asked me to remove anything nor has anyone wanted a preview of anything. I have taken it upon myself to become more considerate and thoughtful, so that the site will grow and thrive. The site will still welcome discussion, it should not be one person’s (my) mouthpiece, but without an editorial board or a larger news organization behind it, i can be accused of picking and choosing comments to enforce my own opinions. But don’t expect action from city governments because you post something here.
The best way to communicate is face to face with people.
I have included your comments here because this is really not about the school board, it is about all of us, posters and lurkers. Comments?
I think you want to post a negative or controversial comment you’ll get spanked.
This levy issue has many facets and opinions. It’s too bad every comment has to be followed by a moderator reply. I thought this forum was for everyone in Aurora to coment and post their thoughts. Not just the ones the moderator likes.
Olive pits back: I guess you didn’t read the comments policy.
Olive, Yes as a matter of fact I did. I’m not saying you can’t delete unwanted posts. It’s your site, you can do what you want. I don’t understand how you can have a forum and not include everyones comments. Sure, some are all full of negativity but I think so far the forum has held a higher standard than most regardless of your policies.
Olive pits back: Negativity is allowed but people who don’t have the facts are responded to. I don’t want to be associated with people who are not fully aware of all the facts, or choose to have blinders on to reality. I am not saying that is you. Those who i know or those who have verifiable return addresses are given more latitude. i don’t know what your other comment was, submitt it again. But really if you want to be heard go to the meeting or call the school board.
I’m curious about the recent comments that have been made by Olive. In the first place, who cares if the school board meetings being televised are boring? It is broadcasting a public meeting to the public. And having attended board meetings in the past, the board isn’t very receptive to having the public there. There is also this climate of fear with some people that if they choose to speak out – their child will be “punished” for their actions. I know this isn’t going to happen but you can’t convince them.
I can appreciate Olive’s support for the school but the whole idea for a forum such as this (and mind you – I thought it was meant to be a community forum and not a personal blog) is to allow people to share their views – those that are for the levy and those that are against. I don’t think anyone who has written is against the school system. They have issues and concerns that are very real – and things the district needs to take under consideration. An open dialogue is the best way to educate people about what the needs of the district are. Which reiterates the need for the board to be open with the public and do everything they can to inform the public – including televising the meetings.
I hope Olive continues to allow an open diaglog for the residents without coming off as the mouth piece for the school district.
The recent turn with Olive has me concerned. I thought this was a forum for the community to respond. Since there isn’t a daily newspaper, there are few opportunities for the public to express their concerns and views. The school district is important to all of us who live in this community. I think it it great that people have the opportunity to share their views and concerns via Olive – even when they disagree with Olive’s views. This is a difficult time for our school district and by clamping down on views of those who disagree with Olive and the school district does not help the levy. Yes, people need to attend the meeting tomorrow night but we know, not everyone is going to be able to be there – due to work, childcare issues and other activities that are going on especially since notice wasn’t given until Saturday so it didn’t afford people the chance to plan ahead. I think it is a good first step to ask people for their input. I hope the Board will plan on staying until every last question is asked. I hope Olive doesn’t get scared by this current dialog that is going on. This is great! You have people expressing their concerns for the district. None of the ideas listed in the posts are unreasonable. In fact, I hope the school board reads Olive to get a sense of what the public is truly feeling. Believe me, what is posted on Olive is mild compared to what I’m hearing at the grocery store and other places. People are angry by what is going on with the Board and the cuts. I fear if the Board doesn’t hear the people tomorrow night, the levy will fail worse than it did in November.
What’s up with Olive? What makes a return address verifiable? I though this was a forum for residents of Aurora to opening and freeing discuss their thoughts. I voted for the levy and I plan on attending the board meeting. I use to enjoy reading the ideas and comments of others. I think many Olive writers have great ideas and humor. But now it seem we’re just talking to Olive instead of Aurora residents using OliveAurora. Sound like the school board got to you and now they’ll get their wish to shut down the only place citizens are truly being honest about how they feel and not have to worry about retaliation. Too bad.
Olive hopes this is the last of my running commentaries i post this for illustrative purposes. This post exemplifies what i wish to discourage and have limited, because the first paragraph begins with an unsubstantiated and anonymous attack. I was at the meeting and I have a completely different opinion of the Board’s attitude at the meeting, and i can substantiate this by an accounting of the number of hours that the board and Mr. Bennet have put in listening to the public. In additon to this public meeting, they have been available after every school concert the past two weeks, if they didn’t want to hear anything then they would be staying home and watching Mythbusters. Then the post goes on to represent opinion as fact, then it goes into more pseudoauthority b.s. Then adds a IB red herring, THIS ELECTION IS NOT ABOUT THE IB PROGRAM!!. From the statement i guess this person voted against the levy as a strategy to force cuts and limit our childrens’ opportunities. Then it threatens! (hey the school board is not reading this, go phone them with your bitterness) and then the author washes their hands, absolves themselves and validates by saying, “but i supported all the other levies except this and one other” and “i went to Aurora schools and support them”. It then drags up an almost decade old statement from the former superintendent who has been gone for years. Then again more mis-truths, this board or Super has never said this is the end of the need for additional resources or buildings. There are some good points made in the comment but they are overshadowed. Sorry Sbpaur, but you posted it, i can comment too!
With respect to the levy forum that was held the other night it’s become clear that the school board has no intentions of actually taking into account the public opinions that they were supposedly soliciting. There was an arrogance conveyed that is disturbing.
The fact of the matter is that the levy was defeated because the public feels the level of funds requested was excessive, in addition I believe that the fact that 4 mil. of the levy is permanent, meaning that it will never again come up for a renewal and the voters will never again have the ability to decide whether or not it is needed, alarmed many of us. Additionally disturbing is the school boards insistence that it be in the black by millions of dollars. School districts are not meant to be in the business of amassing wealth they are meant to be in the business of educating children and being revenue neutral. The whole reason the levy system of funding is in place is so the voters can decide whether or not they support the vision for the funds being requested. In November the voters sent a message to the school board that they did not support that specific vision. Instead of recognizing that fact and making appropriate changes the board appears set on trying to take another bite at the apple.
If the school board wants to pass a levy in March not only will they need to continue to make needed cuts to programs that aren’t worth what we are spending on them (IB) but they will also have to recognize that they need to reduce what they are asking for and change the operating portion of the levy from permanent to a set time period.
I know a very large number of people who did not vote in the last election for a variety of reasons who will be sure to show up and vote against the levy if it is not reduced and the operating portion made not permanent.
No permanent tax is ever good, this one especially so given the timing and reasoning.
I have lived in Aurora for nearly 40 years and in that time have only voted against two levies. The first being the request for all the money to build the new bus garage etc. and the second being this last one.
Unlike many in Aurora I actually had the pleasure of having gone through the Aurora School system and have beeen an ardent supporter of much of what has been done over the years. That being said I remember being told that an addition to the high school would solve all our buildout concerns, then I remember being told the same about Leighton that it would solve our concerns about current and future growth. Now I’m being told the same thing again about the additions being proposed on this levy and the need for additional operating funds. The difference is that this time I’m not buying what they’re selling.
Olive,
It is often said in the world of journalism: If you’re not pissing someone off, you’re not doing your job.
You are now experiencing what newspapers, television and radio news organizations go through every day. Yes, you have been criticized for muzzling public comment and yes you have been called a spokesblog for the school board (as far as I know nobody’s accused you of the same concerning the city). You’ve also been accused of providing a platform for citizens to speak out on issues that make them passionate, and to do so in ways that make them feel protected.
Every day newspapers and news organizations wrangle with the ethics of anonymity, and many prefer not to use anonymous sources unless there is no other way to gain the information. As a blog you have the freedom to allow anonymous postings from people who might not otherwise speak up out of fear of reprisal. You may be receiving more comments now than before the election but that’s because your site has been discovered as a platform and it has served as a catalyst for discussion.
And it appears that the catalyst on OliveAurora is the school levy. As a policymaking body for an institution as important as a City’s schools, the Aurora School Board is not looked upon with a great deal of trust — but then again, what school board is? In some respects all school boards have no one to blame but themselves if misinformation is being bantered about. Most don’t handle communications very well at all. Aurora has an opportunity to make that different. They have what has been touted as a communications/public relations person. Put her to work on the misinformation and the rumors — that’s usually the job of someone in that position.
As for OliveAurora, as long as journalism has existed there have been people who say subversive and hurtful things. And people will always complain that the reporters, the editors and the publishers are always hiding facts, picking and choosing information and being someone’s mouthpiece — that’s just like the big city news organizations.
Journalism’s stock-in-trade has been integrity. Without integrity a journalist is nothing. Bloggers have tried to trade in on that stock but fall short when they do not honor honesty, truthfulness and integrity in reporting. If you need to institute an editorial policy then do so; sixteen miles to the south is one of this countries best schools of journalism if you need help. If you need a volunteer editorial board just say so.
You now have a little star burning in Aurora’s sky. Some days it will burn brightly when an issue stokes the fires of passion and emotion; other days, when the stories are slow, it will seem a dull glow flickering on a distant horizon.
Welcome to the big time.
If this is truly a local blog then you need to stop policing it with the exception of comments that may be defamatory, libelous or profane. The readers/contributors will correct any inncorrect information.
Anything else means that it’s your blog and not a local/community blog. In that instance it’s entirely likely that others (blogs, webtsites, etc.) will rise up to take it’s place.
It’s really up to you Olive to decide whether this will be a local blog serving the community or a personal blog supporting your thoughts and interests about local matters.
Just my 2 cents.
Olive,
Maybe there was a misunderstanding here.
This forum is great. It’s the only place where Aurora residents can air their views.
Like I said before. It’s your site and you can do as you please. That’s the chance one takes when posting on a site like this. But……….If someone has an opinion about something the moderator need not reply to each and every post refuting what they belive to be “more correct”. We all read these forums with an eye towards credibility of the posts, or lack of.
Again. I’m glad this is available to use. Keep up the good work.
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce