The best blog post of the month, says Blogging magazine

Damon Cline, the business editor of the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia, pokes fun at all of the publications that come up with “best” lists and then use them to get publicity for themselves.

Cline writes, “Community leaders, and, by proxy, the news media, have a love-hate relationship with lists and rankings.

“If your community is on Money magazine’s 100 ‘Best Places to Live’ list, which the Martinez section of the metro area is (No. 76 to be exact), you’re likely believe the editors at Money magazine are geniuses whose keen eyes for spotting exceptional quality-of-life are matched only by their vast databases of statistics that empirically prove your community is worthy of making the list.

“If your community wasn’t on the list, you probably think they’re a bunch of eggheads who should stick to evaluating mutual funds because they have never even been to your town anyway.

“Like I said, love-hate relationship.

“Here in the 144 square-feet that is the business news cubicle, we see a lot of these rankings. Some are created by large organizations and national publications, and some are created by niche groups and magazines whose circulations are lower than many high school newspapers. We evaluate their importance and determine how much, if any, coverage is warranted.”

Read more here.