Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Rational Ignorance, Academic Blogging, and the Schiavo Matter:
I've gotten a bunch of media calls, and a bunch of reader e-mail,
about the Schiavo matter. I'm staying out of it, but I thought it
might be interesting to briefly note the questions that at least some
academic legal bloggers ask themselves to decide which controversies
to jump into and which to stay out of:
1. How much factual and procedural detail do I have to learn to speak
competently about this? Do I need to read one or two newspaper
articles, or do I have to spend time acquiring a huge amount of
knowledge about the facts and the procedural history of this case
-- knowledge that won't be reusable for future controversies,
since it's specific to this incident?
2. How close is this to my core area of academic expertise? If it's
really close, it'll be (1) easy for me to figure out the right
legal answer without learning much more about the law, (2)
unlikely that I'll make a stupid mistake, and (3) important for me
to know this for my future academic work. If it's far, then it
means more work, more risk of error, and less long-term benefit
from knowing about the subject.
3. How many other experts are talking about this already? If there
are plenty, then I'm less likely to be able to say much that's new
and valuable.
4. How controversial is this particular incident? If it's highly
controversial, that's a plus (at least for many academic
bloggers), because it means that people are listening and there's
more of a chance to do some good by providing useful analysis. But
on the other hand, the more controversial it is, the more demands
there'll be for responses to counterarguments, follow-up posts,
refinements in light of new developments, corrections of alleged
errors, and so on -- which means still more of a time commitment.
5. How interested am I in this subject? It's one thing to invest time
and effort in a subject that fascinates one, another to invest
time and effort just because it's mildly interesting and people
are knocking on your door asking for opinions.
6. How busy am I with other things?
I asked myself these questions about the Schiavo matter, and the
answer was simple.
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