Exit Robison

Clay Robison's farewell address ...

I started this weekly column in October 1983 after moving to the Houston Chronicle. One of the first columns I wrote was about the absurdity of pretending that Texas judges were above the political fray, even though they ran in partisan elections and took large campaign contributions from lawyers and other special interests.

The same issue was fodder for many of my subsequent 1,200-plus columns. Today, judges are still on partisan ballots and donations may raise more questions than ever.

I offer an observation to bloggers, whose presence in the political arena is expanding as the ranks of traditional news reporters thin. There is a difference between reporting and spinning. I have done both for a long time, and reporting is a lot harder.

I hadn't intended to kick Clay Robison as he heads out the door. Quite honestly, very little that he wrote really seemed to set him apart from anyone else in the Austin pool. I'm sure he had a heck of an institutional memory, but that hasn't been evident in his writing anywhere near the degree to which it has for, say ... Paul Burka.

That aside, his point here is an example of a writer past his place in history. Thanks, Clay, for telling us that there's a difference between blogging and reporting. Something that every blogger I know realizes.

It's a shame when certain people have to view themselves as the smartest guys in the room and offer a lecture when a more gracious exit is in much more in order.