Owen Temple

Last month this blog was heading for a record number of hits - and then the servers went down so I’ll never find out whether it would have made the 6,000 mark.

I got a couple of contacts, however, that made me think, and which led to my three targets.

One was a comment saying that one reason why people wouldn’t make contact was a fear of having political capital made at their expense. That’s a very reasonable comment - a website/blog like this is very one-sided because I control what goes on it and people who comment are therefore at my mercy/discretion. At the same time, however, I’m sure that readers recognise that this is not a forum but a website designed to promote what I and my party are doing, inform people about things which they might otherwise never hear about, and provide some space for debate and contact.

Target One: To achieve a position where people are confident that if they respond with a comment they’ll get a fair hearing/say.

Other contacts I got were were in the nature of “tip-offs” letting me know stuff that I might otherwise not hear, but which it could be useful for the people of Consett if I knew. Obviously people may feel that these need to be anonymous (though I’m bound to treat more cautiously an anonymous contact than a named one where I can check out details) but anyone who choses to contact me using their own name and marks it “confidential” can be sure that I will not disclose anything without their agreement.

Target 2. To achieve a position where people think it’s worth letting me know things they hear that could affect the well-being of where we live, and trust me to keep confidential anything that they tell me in confidence (where it’s legal to do so!).

And the third target? That’s easy

Target 3. 6,000 hits in August