Error: Unable to create directory /home/demockra/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2010/09. Is its parent directory writable by the server? The Mission and Vision of Demockracy

My column will take on a different look today. Instead of the week in updates, I’d like to give our loyal readers an update about Demockracy–where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.

As some of you may know, Demockracy was founded just a few short months ago.  Starting out in the middle of the crescendo of the 2008 election, the site naturally took a strong politics and news focus. However, as the last screaming Chicagoan headed out of Grant Park on election night, we decided that it was time to refocus and reevaluate who we were. In the past month, we have taken one step back and properly defined our mission and vision before going two steps forward:

The mission of Demockracy is to create intellectual discourse and thoughtful discussion on the policy and political issues of the day through the lens of top quality analysis and informed opinion.

The vision of Demockracy is that of a nonprofit online policy and politics magazine that thrives as a virtual intellectual community of scholars through open dialogue, in-depth analysis, intellectual honesty, and a plethora of quality writers.

As such, we’ve implemented a few new policies and will try our best to live by our golden rule:  Above all, quality over quantity.

As part of this policy, we’ve made a concerted effort to recruit new writers who will meet the standards of our current contributing editors and columnists, Mark Wilson and Dave O’Gorman, who earned these positions through the quality of their work.  So far, we’ve been fairly successful in bringing in a new crop of writers from a wide array of backgrounds. Two of these new writers have already posted articles, including this great piece by Tony Smith.  Expect to see plenty more in the coming weeks and months.  Since quality writing takes time, and all our authors volunteer their time and have full-time day jobs, it will obviously take a few new quality writers to get to the point where we can have a daily stream of quality work. Right now, perhaps it should be “quality, served fresh every few days.” However, we believe that in the next few months, you will begin to see top quality content practically every day. If you would like to join our team or know of anyone whom you think would be a good fit for Demockracy, contact me directly.

What will this new Demockracy look like?

1. More columns.

2. Original video content.

3. More in-depth politics and policy pieces.

4. More comprehensive featured pieces.

5. A wider variety of topics, including more of a focus on policy and international politics.

6. More diversified political commentary that goes beyond reporting the news.

If you’ve been reading recently, you’ve already seen the seeds of many of these changes. As the weeks and months go by, you will only see more.

Thank all of you for reading, and I’ll be back soon with my take on the world.