I like my Crosscut duality. Crosscut reader (paid up member) and Crosscut writer (barter for an occasional pizza). When I think of Crosscut, I see Taijitu. Ah, that’s deep. But only at an Internet news site can you rescue yourself with a hyperlink to yin and yang!
Reader first. The Crosscut Daily Newsletter in my e-mail is invariably my first contact every weekday morning with the outside world, even before heating the last of yesterday’s coffee and fetching off the porch what in our household we loyally and reverentially still call “the paper.” Already have I previewed what diversity of Crosscut offerings will enliven my day, stimulating any range of reactions from delight to despair, and reliably touching either on something I already care about or have never head of. That’s good.
Writer second. When I first submitted articles to Crosscut, I had no idea how grateful I would become for the chance across three years to play in the democratic evolution of citizen journalism. To explore a topic, struggle to fashion a presentable piece, and cast it into a world of readers for whom one respectfully knows it is a privilege to write.
I’m a sporadic producer. What I write about are things I’m really interested in. I don’t want to be pigeonholed on the transportation beat, even if I’ve had some experience there and I have written transportation pieces for Crosscut. I’ve written, and want to write more, on water quality and environmental issues — drawing on decade-ago days when, as a transplant from the Northwest, my vocation was running a water/sewer system and the Boston harbor cleanup (not the Big Dig). I also want to write more about Northwest places, people, and history I care about.
And I’m grateful David Brewster and the other editors never deny me a sabbatical — as now, when Crosscut pieces must be put aside to devote full-time to the effort opposing Tim Eyman’s misguided and destructive Initiative 1125.
So it’s a wrap: For the reading and the writing I thirst for, Crosscut is unique and, I fear, irreplaceable. Its vitality is our common cause, readers and writers alike. Renew. Join. Read. Write. Enjoy.
Publisher's note: Crosscut's Fall Membership drive is entering the homestretch, and we invite you to consider becoming an annual Member. Such donations are tax-deductible and essential to Crosscut's ability to fulfill its mission of "journalism for the public good." It's easy to join online. There are daily, weekly, and grand prize drawings, spelled out in an adjoining article. Thanks!
