"Held by the Taliban - A Times Reporter’s Account. A Five-Part Series by David Rohde" - Series - NYTimes.com

I just posted this comment on The New York Times website. It should appear here:

"In the midst of all of the discussions underway about the future of newspapers, one might be expected to say that David's (yes, I do know him) reporting is one of the reasons why newspapers like the Times are so important. I do say that. He has risked much on many occasions to bring home to each of us the \"story\". That is critically important and we should all be appreciative of what he has done and what the Times and the Christian Science Monitor have allowed him to do in the past.
There is another aspect to this, moreover, that I think is worth mentioning. In this interconnected and always \"on\" world in which we seem to live, I think we need to have more discussions about what information we would like to have and then what we do with what we get, and what the differences are among the various places from which we might get stories.
This is not to say that we need to value the Times above all others, although it deserves to be above most for many reasons. What is important is that we use something like this magnificent reporting of David's experience to better put in perspective the information needs not just of us personally, but of the people around us at any moment... and how, having gotten information we value, what we do with what we have received and learned.
How, in the end, do we use the stupendous tools at our disposal - ranging from David ROHDE through computers and satellites, etc. to the internet and all manner of consumption devices from newsprint to implants - to better understand ourselves and the lives around us?
David's series is a wonderful starting place for that discussion."

In so doing, I was reminded how few people comment on stories even in the Times. Most people who do wind up there for their own benefit and I suspect readership of these comments is quite low. Just like most blogs.

Is there not a neef for the Times to boost this some? A guide to being published on the NYT website, for example? If you register for TimesPeople, that helps, it seems. Do a search on my name, for example, and you will see the couple of comments that I have posted. Perhaps I will post more there.