Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

by Tauri Tigerpaw

Censorship - not a pretty word in most people's book. And yet even an SL surfing blog that reports on things that may be of interest to the SL surfing community deals with it, i.e., an unpublished story that generates an enormous amount of interest and resistance before it's even posted.

A public information blog is responsible to check the facts and background of a story. It may print someone's opinion or version of events and let the public comment and/or dispute the perspective in a responsible way. To bring information forward so everyone can see the positions, discuss the information, and evaluate for themselves - that's SW's position on responsible reporting. And to invite public comment on the content.

For SW to refuse to print a story related to SL surfing just because of the unpopularity of the product or person or because we were swayed by threats of loss of support would make us cowardly and no better than an uncompensated ad. SW's interest is SL surfing and peripheral activities: the beaches and sims, the fashion, the people, the technology, the history, the trends, the comps, the events and those things having an impact or effect on the SL surf community.

Barchan Paderborn, the founding editor and creator of SW, did not let public opinion or threats inhibit his reporting on SL surfing news, and we will do our best to follow in his footsteps. SW will continue to report on news and information related to SL surfing and those people and events that have an impact or effect on SL surfing. And if readers decide they are no longer interested in all the information about SL surfing but only in a very selected viewpoint from a selected group of people who wish to decide what will and will not be published, then it's their prerogative to no longer read or support SurfWatch.

SurfWatch chooses to trust in the intelligence and discernment of our readership to make decisions and responsibly comment on the stories and information posted. Our readers have not let us down yet.

While staff may have input on blog content, Tauri Tigerpaw, the editor-in-chief, is solely responsible for final decisions on the content of this blog and no member of SurfWatch staff other than the editor-in-chief should be held responsible.

Share: