Showing posts with label Tenth To The Fraser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tenth To The Fraser. Show all posts
Briana Tomkinson
Sunday, December 21, 2008

On anonymity

I was just re-reading an post on the Burnaby Politics blog about a rumour that former Conservative MP Paul Forseth could return to politics in the Burnaby-New Westminster riding currently held by Peter Julian. As a resident of this riding, I am mildly interested, though at the moment it is nothing but a rumour. This blog post is not about the rumour, however. It's about the reader response: thirteen comments on the post, all anonymous.

I struggle with this on Tenth to the Fraser. We have our own semi-regular commenters who choose to remain anonymous. I like to hear from them, but I wish they would leave a name or a handle with their comments. I'm sure there are valid reasons why people would choose to be anonymous, but I confess my knee-jerk reaction is to assume either cowardice or axe-grinding.

Now, before you flame me (anonymously) in the comments section, this is nothing personal against any of our anonymous commenters (or any on Burnaby Politics). I just feel the level of dialogue on a public forum is better when people are willing to stand behind their comments. Using your real name is best, in my view, because it forces a person to consider the effects on reputation when they post a comment. A nickname is acceptable if it's how you are known online. Given the option to use a nickname, I just don't understand choosing to be "Anonymous."

I'm not planning to prevent anonymous comments at this point, unless such comments turn hateful. While they are sometimes stinging, so far I haven't felt they have crossed the line. Or at least, not too far past. But I would like to express my preference that commenters here include their name or nickname.

We aspire on this blog to represent a variety of voices and opinions in New Westminster, so we especially value the contributions of those readers who respectfully disagree. Thank you, all of you who have shared your opinions with us. Perhaps some of you will consider sharing your opinions in a guest post in the new year - assuming, of course, that you are willing to sign your name to it.

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Will Tomkinson
Monday, October 27, 2008

Tenth to the Fraser Endorsements Due

Many newspapers and websites have chosen through history to forgo complete objectivity and endorse a candidate or candidates in an election. Often, the choice made is an illustration of that publication but it is often the intent of the endorsing journal to present a choice that, in their view, would be preferred by their readers. Such is the value of knowing ones audience. The New York Times, for example, first endorsed a presidential candidate with Republican Abraham Lincoln, who would later lead America in a war to emancipate the slaves of the Confederacy, and has most recently endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, also a unique product of the story of Africans in America.

Here on Tenth to the Fraser, we have no historical leg to stand on. As far as you know, we could be rabbits escaped for the Queen's Park Rainbow Playland Petting Zoo but nevertheless, we have decided that we will be endorsing our own custom slate of candidates for Mayor and council.

Blog Editor Briana and I (William) will each be presenting our picks later this week, after we have had a chance to hear another scheduled All Candidate Meeting (this Tuesday) and hand out gobs of Hallowe’en candy. In an election that will be so poorly followed an attended, we figure it is almost a necessity to publish these choices as a way of synthesising and evaluating what is available from the candidates.

Or we are both full of it. You decide.

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Will Tomkinson
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Yikes! Bias. I Hardly Know Thee.

I was just reading Pat Tracy's neat blog From the Editor's Desk . Her most recent post is about the difficulty in remaining unbiased while relating political events. Or at least being perceived as unbiased. As the editor of the Record and the Burnaby Now, she has to keep on top of those concerns as her papers cover the municipal elections:
And then there’s New Westminster, where The Record has been accused of both being for and against the new civic slate, Voice, which is running a full-throttle campaign.
I have also had this experience now with this website. Hey, the stakes are low but these pages are for all of New West so when I was writing about the recent all candidates meeting in Queensborough, I wanted to give each candidate a fair review. As I sit down now to write about the presentations made by the Mayoral candidates, I think to myself, 'do I really need to be fair?' There are plenty of opinionated blogs out there. I think for now, every one gets an even shake. There is lots of time for broad generalisatons and disparaging remarks between now and November 15th.

Let me know if you agree!

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Will Tomkinson
Saturday, October 18, 2008

Tenth to the Fraser

New Westminster was the ideal location for a bustling metropolis, built up by the Royal Engineers as British Columbia's first capital. Today it is known as that suburb you drive through to get downtown.

My family is from here. My great grandfather came to this city through Montreal from Manchester, England. He raised a family in a duplex, still standing, on the corner of 10th avenue and third street. He was a carpenter at the BC Electric trolley factory at the bottom of 12th st. My grandfather studied at UBC and was a biologist for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on the Fraser. He and my Grandmother, a head nurse at Riverview, raised their family in a house on 7th street, across from Lord Kelvin Elementary. It was only recently torn down and replaced. My Grandfather shot the photograph on this post; the construction of the Putello Bridge in 1937.

I was raised on First Street with my family and now I raise my children in the West End, near Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary. This website is to illustrate just what kind of town New Westminster is. It has often had an undeserved reputation but I have always known it as the perfect jewel in the center of the Lower Mainland. Tightly knit, self sustainable yet fully a part of the greater metropolis around it, New Westminster sits at the intersection of our regional commerce and the heart of our regional identity.

Here, I hope, you will read interviews with notable personalities within ours, the Royal City; explanations of current events, political goings-on and a place to showcase features of our city in our past and present. It is an interactive site, so feel free to contribute.

There is a lot to look forward to! We have an upcoming civic election, featuring for the first time the newly formed Voice New Westminster slate. We have seen a vast change in the city since 1986 and certainly in the last five years. In my view, New Westminster could be the jewel box of the lower mainland. With defined, tightly knit neighbourhoods, heavily integrated transit options and a distributed commercial base, New Westminster is a city for its Citizens. I invite you to explore it with me.


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