Writing for my blog vs. writing for the newspaper

The ongoing saga at the Alisal Union School District has brought me something else to write about: a kind reader of the Monterey Herald (presumably also of my blog) left a very angry message about my "slanted" reporting about the Alisal. Although this woman did not leave exact details of the story she was referring to (or leave her name or phone number so I could seek clarification) I believe she was referring to the blog post I wrote last week, a response to a KSBW editorial by Joseph Heston.

Because the caller said Trustee José Castañeda should be gone, and that I should remain neutral, I'm going to assume she interpreted my comments as defending Castañeda.

I wasn't.

But I wasn't calling for his resignation either.

All I said -- or tried to say, perhaps unsuccessfully -- was that Heston didn't know the community, and that I did not believe the community would recall Castañeda (rightly or wrongly, I won't take sides on that one). I said Castañeda was well liked in his community (I never said I liked him or disliked him).

Maybe it was the fact that Heston, in a follow up editorial, quoted me as saying: "For some, Castañeda is even a hero."

I didn't say I consider him a hero. I said "some" consider him a hero. I also wrote that some community leaders don't have a stomach for his "tenuous relationship with the truth," as described by the prosecutor in his perjury case. I was quoting both sides. How's that slanted?

It's not the first time that I've been accused of "unbalanced" reporting, and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's interesting to note that the caller technically accused me of bias, and that Castañeda's supporters generally don't talk to me because they don't like my reporting. If I'm being accused of being unbalanced on both sides, I must be doing something right, right?

But I want to leave with an important message: my stories in the print Herald will always be objective: just the facts, no opinion. My blogs are different: they're written in the first person (verboten in the newspaper). I cheer for our students triumphs, I cry for their untimely deaths. I offer a glimpse of what may be going on behind the scenes. I'm trying also to bring some national news into local perspective. And it's a work in progress, so if you have suggestions on what I should be covering, I'd welcome them.