"Slow News Week?"

On writing.

(A turtle/Image created by Dall E)

During the last decade or so, I’ve heard just about every attack there is — from “how did you get this job” to “you should be ashamed of yourself.”

NONE drive me as crazy as the one I’ve heard a few times this week across the Internet: “Slow news week?”

For those unfamiliar with the barb, it’s meant to convey disdain for what you are writing. As in, there must not be a lot going on that you have stooped to write something like this.

I got that response to two pieces I wrote this week: One of cruises and one on the home run derby. ¹

And, to me, reactions like that both misunderstand me and misunderstand what I am trying to do with this newsletter.

Start with me. I think one of the most sucky and corrosive elements of being a political reporter for a living is that you are badly typecast. You have one role to play: Political reporter. Any straying from that specific role is meant with disapprobation.

Stay in your lane, you are told. I don’t follow you to hear your takes on [fill in the blank thing that is not politics], people lecture you.

I think that is a deeply reductive way to think about a person. No one — and I mean NO ONE — has only one interest. (If they do, they are super boring people.). We all — in the words of Walt Whitman — contain multitudes.

I care about politics — of course. But also about sports. And literature. And music. And parenting. And lots of other things — including back pain right now (ouch!).

I care about all of these things because I am a three-dimensional person living in the world. Yes, writing about politics has long been my job. But, it’s really just one part of who I am.

I think more and more readers/users/watchers want to know what ELSE you care about OTHER than just the thing you are best know for.

Which brings me to what I am doing with this newsletter.

I started it as a purely political endeavor — writing only about the sort of stuff I had written about over the years at the Washington Post and CNN. It was what I knew best and what I was most comfortable with.

But, then I started to dip my toe in the water of writing more personally — giving readers a glimpse into the trials and tribulations of my daily life.

And people really responded. In fact, I heard much more feedback for the posts that I would describe as more personal than the ones that were purely political.

I’ve thought a lot about that since I started writing on Substack about 6 months ago. And I think it’s because audiences want to get to know the person behind the byline. For years, I was just a name on your computer or TV screen. Now I am a real-life person — and I think people respond to that.

To that end, I am actively working to mix in posts that are NOT about politics for this newsletter. I have always wanted to write more about sports — and this seems like a really good moment to scratch that itch. Ditto music. And maybe even pro wrestling!

If you came just for political commentary, I am sorry if that disappoints you.². If you came for me though, hopefully this is good news. I am going to try to vary the sort of content you are getting — from politics to cruises and back.

This is a collaborative effort so let me know what you think about all of this!

1. To be clear: That response was not primarily on Substack. It was on social media.

2. I will still be spending a majority of my time writing abouty politics. Butm rather than a 90/10 split it will be more like 65/35.