Better Know 'SoCal Minds'

The Lowdown:

So, what's your blog about?

It's a search for intelligent life in Southern California --it brings you word about intriguing research, ideas, activities, events and people found at the myriad of universities, colleges, think tanks and cultural and intellectual institutions

Why did you decide to start blogging?

To prove I could; to see if content counts in cyberspace.

And who is your ideal reader?

Smart, engaged, engaging folks with a sense of curiosity, humor and balance.

Can you explain your decision to deal exclusively with Southern California research institutions?

As someone who spent a career in fact-based mainstream media, I'm not great at overt opinionizing. I didn't want to tell you what I think; I'll save that for good friends at the bar. I did want to tell about folks who are doing amazing, long, hard work -- in labs, classrooms, libraries, practice rooms -- digging out stuff, analyzing and testing it and presenting it to the world for civil consideration and discussion. Their efforts are provable, arguable in fact; they often undergo stringent peer review before they publish. The institutions take great efforts, by hiring some talented journalists, to present information in clear, compelling ways. It's all stuff of great value, usefulness to the public discourse.

SoCal Minds performs the commendable service of providing broader context for newsworthy events. Do you believe other journalistic outlets do not adequately address the larger issues at stake when--for example--two journalists are returned from North Korea?

Honey, they shrunk my media. That's what I fear and feel too often when I see the products of the craft I've worked in for a career. It's tough. So I hope my tiny effort can help those who wish to put the news into context for themselves; they can get the expertise, research, detail and depth that will really make daily events make more sense by tapping into these terrific institutions of knowledge. And, by the way, many of them, they're paying for with their tax dollars.

Conversely, do you ever find yourself frustrated with a lack of research in an area that you personally consider worthy of investigation?

I'm rarely frustrated on this account; there's so much intriguing stuff to wander through and wonder about, why be unhappy?

You deal with the research findings of both privately-funded Think Tanks and Public Universities. Do you prefer one to the other?

I'm glad and grateful we've got both public and private research going on and that they find their own unique approaches and funders.

Everyone has on opinion on if journalism is dying. Do blogs have anything to do with that?

Journalism, I hope, is changing its delivery method and finding a new business model after a catastrophic collision of new technologies, bad industry choices and leadership and a dire need to maintain traditional news values in confusing, uncertain times. Blogs have great merits of their own; some add journalistic value--that's just not the aim of many.

Can you give us an example of a L.A. Blog that does add journalistic value?

I'm afraid I'm addicted to LAObserved, but I'm learning daily about the great stuff out there on Chance of Rain, Zester Daily, and many, many more.....

And lastly, what's your favorite thing to do in L.A., outside of cyberspace?

I love encountering all the different people, cultures, ideas, experiences that coalesce and clash in the Southland. Everyone knows these, good and bad.

We'd like to thank Craig again for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. When you are looking for a quick intellectual fix, click on over to SoCal Minds, a fantastic source of SoCal insights. For more about think tanks and research institutions, check out our own Jeremy Rosenberg, who blogs for KCET at Think Tank LA.