Blogs From a Certain Perspective

I just returned from a task force meeting of academia, government regulators and industry that discussed our collective response to soybean rust. One of the big topics of discussion was how best to get notice of a positive detection in the state out to producers and agronomy centers in order to respond. I spoke during a break to the state Department of Ag's PI staffer and suggested perhaps a blog on the department's website. That way persons checking the site could see the string of info as it was made known and could look back to see prior information releases. A listserve, I felt, required the action of signing in before the detection occurred and had the potential to flood your in-box. A blog has none of these issues.

An academic type overheard our conversation and weighed in. "I wouldn't use a blog to distribute information. It has too much of a negative connotation among certain people." (Emphasis added.) What?!

How can the medium have a negative connotation when delivering a message about soybean rust!? A handwritten letter or a fax or an email or a website would be better because they don't have a "negative connotation?" My guess is this person is suffering from PEST (no pun intended) and is still upset.