Taxgirl Shares Nugget of Blogging Wisdom

Last week I blogged about “Taxgirl” Kelly Phillips Erb’s coverage of the Richard Hatch tax debt controversy.  It was my observation that she had changed something about the way she reported the story after speaking with Hatch directly about his situation.  Well Kelly was nice enough to provide me with a little clarification, part of which I have reproduced here:

“One of the reasons that I’ve blogged the story so many times is that I’ve been fascinated by the history. Like you, I practice tax law and I have been trying to get my head around why this case didn’t stop earlier. This wasn’t an ordinary story. In fact, that was the point of my original piece: the IRS doesn’t, as a rule, just toss folks in jail.

One of the cool things about blogging is that it’s not static. Providing regular content to an engaged audience allows you to update stories as they happen. And I’d like to think that’s what happened here. It wasn’t my intention to “backpedal” or paint Mr. Hatch as a victim with my follow-up piece. I don’t think I so much “changed my (sic) tune” as I found out more about the story and reported what I learned.”

She’s right.  I hadn’t thought of it that way.  It’s great that she was able to tell Hatch’s side of the story and add something that we probably wouldn’t get through standard news outlets.  I also support the notion that a good blog is often dynamic and engaging.  Thanks for the perspective Kelly!

The comments are not very prominently displayed on our blog, so click here if you want to read the Taxgirl’s comment in full.

The Hatch Tax Saga Continues: Hatch vs. Erb

Forbes contributor, Kelly Phillips Erb, blogged about ex-Survivor contestant/winner, Richard Hatch’s tax problems last week and this week she’s completely changed her tune.  What made her backpedal?  A personal call from Mr. Hatch.

The Tax Girl’s April 24th blog post portrayed Hatch as a quasi-celeb tax-dodging goofball.  Maybe its the commercial that makes him look like a goofball.  But nonetheless, Hatch called her out in a comment to her article, claiming that she didn’t bother getting her facts straight.  Then they spoke via telephone and Hatch gave her the complete rundown on what has happened in his fight with the IRS and the judicial system from the time he finished his stint on Survivor up to the present.  AND NOW, in today’s blog post, all of a sudden Hatch is a “victim” and a true survivor.  See today’s post here.

Whatever, I get it.  The phone call made her realize that Hatch is an actual human being suffering under the burden of a massive tax debt, and following his tax story through reports of the mainstream media may not have resulted in an accurate understanding of the controversy.  Heck, if Kelly were to call me in response to this post, I’m sure I’d do some backpedaling myself:)