Why should I care?

The new crop of blogs by Red River College Creative Communications students is random and rich.

The students employ words, photos, videos and sometimes audio to bare their thoughts and feelings.

Especially words.

Each week during the semester I suggest two blog posts to Winnipeg Metro for publication as Red River Rants.

Good on Elisha Dacey, the newspaper’s managing editor, for giving the students’ work wider exposure.

To give Dacey the variety of compelling and energetic blog posts that she has requested, I look over the 75 first-year students’ posts each week.

I look for writing that makes me care.

Among the wide range of topics about which students have made me care are self-hairstyling, poutine, waking up happy and Disney.

Among the topics about which these bloggers have not made me care are their opinions about music or the Winnipeg Jets.

Now, I too hold deeply felt opinions about music and the Jets. I just don’t think a lot of other people care about my views on these subjects.

There’s the challenge: Why should I care about your opinions?

And by “I” I mean anyone other than the writer.

Make other people care and you are a good writer. Don’t, and you aren’t.

One more thing: Spellcheck and proofreading.

Every week several blog posts grab me, and I would love to see them in Red River Rants.

But I can’t select work that contains mistakes. They make the writer, and by extension the Creative Communications program and the college, look dumb.

A couple of the mistakes that made me reject interesting posts this week are misuse of its and it’s, and improper use of your and you’re.

Now that I care about.