Defining My Audience

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

"Meditation XVII" of Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, 1624, John Donne.

When you write a book or a magazine article, or make a movie, one thing you have to do is define your audience. Whom are you aiming to attract, inform, excite, whatever? I think the same thing can be said for a blog.

Since my positions so often fall on the side of conservatism, you might think that my natural audience would be conservatives. That’s not how I see it.

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First of all, I hold so many liberal positions that I can’t define myself as purely conservative. To name a few, these positions include reasonable environmentalism, pro-choice on abortion, an interest in New-Age philosophies and religions, support for a reasonable social welfare net, some kinds of social engineering, and so on. I won’t go into my conservative positions today, but they outnumber my liberal positions.

With some of the things I believe, then, some conservatives will not be happy with me.

Liberals will not be my natural audience either, obviously. I think they are wrong on most everything these days, except on a few issues.

So, who is my natural audience? Whom am I aiming for?

My Natural Audience

I am aiming this blog at intelligent people from both political persuasions. The key word is intelligent. I don’t expect every intelligent person in the world to agree with me on every issue. I do, though, expect them to make an effort in their lives to arrive at the truth about politics, news and entertainment. I believe every member of a democracy has an obligation to become educated about the issues. I don’t want anyone voting who does not know the issues and where they stand with regard to them.

I guess it’s all right to vote against George Bush or Republicans because you have a gut feeling against them. However, I prefer that you dig deeper than just relying on your gut.

This means you make an honest effort to discern reality.

One way you can do this is to read widely. Another way is to view the news and stories about important issues, but from a variety of sources. Then, you can make up your own mind. You’ve got to do some research.

Know Your Sources

Please be honest about what you are watching. Know that all the major networks are biased towards liberalism and against conservatism. Yes, FOX is biased in favor of the conservatives, and so is much of talk radio. Still, though, much of what you will hear and read on a daily basis comes from a liberal bias. Take this into account when you study the issues. I think it’s all right, and even good, to listen to liberal shows, but don’t mistake them for truth. Be smart in your listening and reading.

Whom Do I Respect?

Do I respect my audience? Yes. If you are open to the truth, whether it be from a conservative or a liberal perspective, I have profound respect for you. We need you in a democracy. We need good liberals and good conservatives, not knee-jerk leftists nor automaton conservatives. We need people who think and read and ponder, and then make the best judgment they can.

Truth Seekers

My natural audience, then, are truth-seekers. Liberal and conservative truth-seekers. From Buddhists, Christians and Muslims to Wiccans; from hawks to doves; from high school dropouts to Ph.d.’s; Black, White and Hispanic. Anyone who seeks the truth and is willing to take its difficult journey. We may not agree about our conclusions from that journey, but we will respect each other for making the soul-wrenching trek.

Rock


(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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