Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. At one time we celebrated it as a national holiday. Today, though, the world little notes nor long remembers it.
This display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois, is titled “Lincoln Fights Fake News.” The book is an unauthorized biography a friend sent him to fact-check after his unsuccessful 1858 Senate run. The highlights and marginalia are Lincoln’s. He notes that the bit about his first meeting Stephen A. Douglas in New Salem was “wholly wrong.”
Observations: This week’s three dispatches were all about Lincoln, based on our visit to Springfield last year. I tried to find nuggets that most people don’t know or may have forgotten, and deliver them in shorter posts. Working a theme week was a modest success. Still, more people are coming here looking for Bubble Wrap. The web offers many nuggets about Lincoln, few about my pop.
Interaction: More comments this week on three fronts: the blog itself, Faceook, and LinkedIn. As with the old column, I enjoy chatting with readers, even if they are all personal friends and family.
Professional development: Perhaps appropriate for Lincoln Week, I made my debut on LinkedIn. No surprise, most of my contacts are former co-workers from the newspaper. It’s good to catch up with them, too.
Next week: Should I (shudder!) join Twitter or some other social media? Writers and journalists seem to like to tweet, but it never appealed to me.
Also, I’m thinking about a new focus and format for this blog. And I may cut back on its frequency to work on other projects. See you Saturday!
In case you missed it …
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Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Coalitions and competition
Reading Time: 2 minutes I didn’t even know my rival was living and working right in our coverage area. That’s a failure of competitive intelligence.
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Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Missing the mark
Reading Time: 2 minutes A little spare time can be a dangerous thing. It can even become addictive.
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Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Things in common
Reading Time: 2 minutes I’m not the kind to burn my bridges, but I have been known to walk away and let them rot. In fact, I was thinking about doing just that
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Budding Writer, 1980: Mastering the craft
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Journeyman Journalist was nearing the end of his journey. The Budding Writer was ready to bloom again in the spring.
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Journeyman Journalist, 1980: What a bitch!
Reading Time: 2 minutes I finally realized small-town journalism was more than breaking news and deadlines. It had plenty of dull moments. Reading other people’s contest entries was one of them.