First some introduction is in order: I’m Joel Natalie, an old school, old media guy who has been playing in the new media space since 1996, when I launched Erie’s first radio station website for WCTL. Since 2005 I’ve been a regular blogger on my Radio Free JoJo blog, and for Press and Tower, the blog about Erie media. It was in the context of my work on Press and Tower that Mike asked if I could provide a weekly spotlight of one of the ErieBlogs.

This will not be a popularity contest; indeed, there is a lot of strong blogging going on out there. I’ll just shine the light on blogs and posts that are particularly timely, well written, and interesting.

This week I want to point you to Dale Hannah’s blog over on GlobalErie.com entitled “What If?”. Dale has become one of the strongest of the very few political voices in the local blogosphere. He is doing the time-consuming leg work of the citizen journalist; attending the meetings and connecting with the first sources.

This week he covered the health care town hall meeting of Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA). He explains his disappointment in the post Townhall Meetings = Fail:

There was only time for about 10 questions, mostly because questions which could have been answered in one sentence took much longer while Mr Casey searched through the 800 page bill to read from a certain page, rather than giving a direct answer.

After attending town halls with both Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper and Senator Bob Casey, I can only conclude that rather than accurately informing the public on the content of the bill, the audiences were subjected to more brainwashing.  But then, such are the ways of the politicians, and nothing more than what I had expected.

You may not like Dale’s conservative politics, but you have to applaud his efforts to cover local issues that directly affect our lives and our region.