This is dedicated to the one I love

Maybe I mean journalism. Or maybe I mean the journalist who has been my companion and inspiration for most of my career.

"The War As I See It" was the name of a column he wrote for a newspaper he started when he was a kid. I have adopted it for my motto because:

• The chutzpah that it took for a preteen living in Charlotte, NC to share with the world his views on the great battles taking place in Japan and Germany is the quintessence of journalism. The need to share stories and the conviction that those stories need to be told is what motivates most of us news guys and gals.
• This blog is, in a sense, an imitation of my friend's insanely optimistic preteen effort: The Internet makes it possible for each of us to write a neighborhood newspaper -- but now, we're publishing to the world.

To me, this is potentially the greatest contribution the Internet can make in an age when corporate mega-mergers are reducing the number of media outlets: Taking fresh voices from the neighborhood and broadcasting them to the world.