December 14th, 2004, 5:54 pm

Suicide Blogger

One teen suicide’s weblog has become part of the story for the Spokesman Review. A sidebar to the main story details some of the material that was posted on the boy’s blog, which is no longer on the web. Even more interesting, the sidebar has links to the boy’s flash cartoons. This raises a lot of ethical questions for me, but on the whole I think the instinct of the paper is correct. (Logic being that since the boy shot himself at a school, it’s more of a story.) I think it’s about time that the media put aside their really old-fashioned notions, and treat web logs as valuable resources for understanding their subjects. Even if the subject is a teen. Even if he’s dead. I think the boy’s cartoons add a lot to his story. Here I am, in Florida, watching a cartoon some kid made in his bedroom in Oregon, wondering about his life. It’s powerful, and what we should be shooting for. Check out the cartoons yourself, and tell me what you think.