Black Eye

Perhaps it’s bit unethical for a blog to cover the transpiring of another blog, especially when the aforementioned blog is focused almost solely on the Saratoga Region.

Then again, not too many people in the news industry seem to think much of the ethics of blogs all together. Nevertheless, what may have prompted Monday’s disappearance of nearly two years of writing from one of Albany's most prolific daily posters seems more than worthy of note.

Since 2004, the Albany Eye has cast its “unflinching gaze” on the Capital Region’s media, prompting discussion among many circles in the news industry as to the poster’s identity and the role played by the Web site in the grand scheme of things. Lauded by some, castigated by others, the Albany Eye developed a reputation for being a tongue-in-cheek critic of the Capital Region media’s somewhat frequent failures. In fact, the Eye received enough local notoriety to make the fairly uncommon leap from the crowded blogosphere to the printed page, gaining mention in the Times Union, Troy Record and Metroland, to name a few.

And since that time, there’s been a veritable witch-hunt among journalists to ferret out who the somewhat anonymous poster might be. Well, one blogger Friday posted that he’s unveiled the identity of the Albany Eye, but, out of courtesy’s sake and for the continued success of the site, decided not to blow the lid of the poster’s cyber subterfuge.

Following this post, the all-seeing eye mysteriously closed Monday morning. When it reopened, years worth of posts were missing, replaced instead with a pairing of quizzical recipes clearly aimed at taking a pot shot at the national media’s recent infatuation with a lame horse.

While the promise at the head of the blog offers an expanded level of local content when the site comes back online next week, it’s not a far leap to speculate that the poster –who self-admittedly works within the media –has developed a sudden case of cold feet. It’s not to say this isn’t understandable given the tentative nature of many jobs in the media.

Maybe the poster is on hiatus, or indeed does have a plan to broaden the lens of the Eye. But if indeed the Albany Eye has at last been denuded, then the Capital Region has lost a well-versed, good-humored and much-needed editorialist to keep in check the savagery of local news publishers and producers.