A columnist differs from a writer in that they are distant from events and tend to offer a more critical perspective. They may perhaps offer a way forward or simply a reminder to get back to the basics of a situation and start over again. They can comment from a different perspective because they seek to cause us to think and assess any situation. This is as true for the Japanese earthquake as it is for the Middle East crisis.
One thing a columnist does is add their own perspective. They may also add the perspective of learned academics, business leaders etc. The result of the column can be a call to action or a suggestion for moving in a new direction. Whether the advice is heeded is one thing that a columnist can do little about, except perhaps continue to write on the subject in the future.
I recently wrote an article criticising the ongoing actions of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in respect of Internet usage based billing. The point of the article that the Commission is not encouraging free competition in the area Internet service provision within Canada. By their actions the CRTC is biased towards the larger corporations when in fact they should be thinking of the consumer. I concluded that it was time for a change of leadership in this organization.
Critique is a crucial tool for the Internet based writer, they need to be prepared to challenge the status-quo is some way.
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