Metro plans to blog; hires full-time writer

Update: More on this story from blogHouston and Lone Star Times. As you can see, Metro doesn't exactly have the best reputation around these parts. Can a blog overcome that? Metro is going to need to be straight-forward and open -- and allow criticism via comments -- or the blog won't make a difference.

The Houston Chronicle's Alexis Grant interviewed me yesterday for a story about the local transportation agency's new blogging effort.

Metro has hired a former reporter to be its full-time blogger, for a site that will launch later this year.

Should be interesting. I think public agencies can gain a tremendous amount of goodwill and credibility through a blog, if it's done correctly. As I told Alexis, the ability to communicate directly to the audience -- quickly and easily -- can be invaluable, as is the opportunity to share insights into how and why decisions are made.

A blogger can also write about the trade-offs that an agency must make in meeting people's needs, in a way that more formal communications can't touch.

Of course, this quote came from me, and not the Me2Revolution guy:

"People want to read a blog and know that an individual is writing to them," Wagner said. "They want to know who that individual is ..."

Ahh, sorry about that. I couldn't resist the dig. :)