More on the New Direction of TSMW, and a few thoughts on your feedback

We are continuing our coverage of media, of course - but are waiting for comment on a story, before we publish it.

This being said, I have decided to take a few minutes on this late Friday night/early Saturday morning to comment on the feedback I received on my post about our new direction.

The feedback was generally good. Believe me when I say that I am looking forward to posting new and improved blogs.

However...I feel compelled to acknowledge a comment received about 20 minutes ago, in which I was told that I should continue voicing my opinion.

While it is not my intent to fully silence my opinions...the post drew me to make a point.

We are being seen here at TSMW as a professional effort. I am being seen as a professional journalist.

As our effort may well be read by newsrooms in the three-state area we cover, it is important that we avoid speculation as much as possible, especially in matters of employment. We don't wish to scare anybody into believing that their jobs aren't secure...that reflects badly on us if we do, and we lose standing in the journalistic community that way.

However...speculation and opinion are two slightly different things. Opinion is our thoughts about some news item/something we ourselves have seen that has been confirmed. Speculation, on the other hand, is just, as our friends at Ohio Media Watch would say, "throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks."

Professional journalists should avoid speculating as much as possible. And that is why we've undertaken a greater emphasis on fact finding when it comes to posting news stories. But...opinions will still be a part of Tri-State Media Watch. It's just not going to be a large part of what we do...