So I was a bit shocked to encounter this one, accusing me, the new editor of Expatica Germany since December, of hating Germany:

"Again, I notice that today's German news headlines on the homepage and the mail out are all negative. Not one of them is good news about Germany, but instead they seem to all be designed to curry favor with the "I hate Germans" set. Does your news editor actively hate Germans? Did a German once do something mean to him/her? If you reply with the old saw that Germans did bad things in World War II, I will discontinue my subscription and advise others to do the same, for it would mean your organization cannot be taken seriously."

Wow. It only took a month to get such a letter.

This is too tempting not to address.

Such accusations of bias are a common problem for journalists, particularly for foreign correspondents. Sometimes I think of them as a 'shoot the messenger' type of thing. But not always.

I want to begin by explaining the story selection process for the site because too often consumers of news are left in the dark. Everyday, I take a look at what is going on in Germany that might interest our readers. Mostly, I do this by reading the papers and scanning the news wires, mostly the German wires (Deutsche Presse Agentur) because they cover Germany more thoroughly than a foreign wire service such as the Associated Press (American) or Reuters (British) would (besides, that is what Expatica subscribes to).

I then pick the stories I think are most important for the day, the ones I think are the most news worthy. Of course, that is a judgement call. Obviously, a story about the biggest storm in northern Europe in 20 years is a no-brainer. Articles about the trial of the only person charged in the Sept. 11 attacks are also clearly going to make the cut.

Where it gets trickier is a choice between stories such as the doping scandals or the trial of VW officials. Both are interesting to some readers but not that many, I admit. How do I know that? Because every day, I examine exactly how many times a story has been viewed. And those numbers influence my story choices because, after all, why should I publish something if no one is going to read it.

Most of what is interesting to readers is no shocker to someone who has worked in news in Europe for more than 3 years (and as a journalist for more than 10). For example, anything with the word, "Nazi" in it gets clicks. That includes articles about World War II or Jewish restitution claims or neo-Nazi attacks. Most stories get on average a few hundred clicks a day - these 'Nazi' stories get double and sometimes even triple the amount.

I'll admit that whereas the ‘weather’ story is the bane of existence for most local reporters in the US (as I know this first hand), it is the 'Nazi' story for any foreign reporter working in Germany. We bitch about this among ourselves, that it seems sometimes that stories such as these constitute a lot of what we do, provide a one-dimensional image of Germany and overshadow other noteworthy pieces. The problem is that this is what most foreigners outside (and inside) of Germany are really interested in and also, sadly enough, Germans themselves.

I have never been in a country where the past is so constantly in your face and the news reflects that.

Having said that, there are some 'Nazi' stories that are extremely interesting and worthwhile. I wrote a piece a while back about the German war refugees from what is now Poland and Czech Republic wanting to claim their property back.

I was excited to do that story because I never knew much about the flight of millions of Germans or how terrible it was – and neither do most Americans. The immense suffering of others, the victims of the war and of the Nazis, overshadowed it. Still, the story was dramatic, legally complex, historical and tragic, all elements of a great story.

Another 'Nazi' story I found interesting and put up on the site was about WWII comfort women in the concentration camps. I chose it because it was another element of the war that is not well known or understood.

Still, while certain stories are obvious, I was recently shocked by the amount of response to a story I published on the concern over a new Scientology office in Berlin. I wasn’t sure if I should include it in the line-up but thought it might be interesting for some readers. To my surprise, more than 7,000 people clicked on that article. That is thousands more than usual.

There is one other factor important in choosing a story for the site: I try to include articles I think might not appear elsewhere in the English-language press. Besides English-language newspapers, there are excellent sources of German news in English on the Internet from Germany and I not only try not to duplicate them but supplement them so that there is a reason to visit Expatica at all.

As for the accusation that the stories are negative, well, that is just the very nature of news. Because I put up stories on the storm, neo-Nazis or Angela Merkel’s attempt to revive the EU constitution doesn’t mean I hate Germany though.

It means that I am trying to do my job and give readers the events of the day or stories analysing them. When I stray from that, it is usually to include something funny (the man who flew to Sidney Montana rather than Sydney Australia comes to mind) that I find cute or absurd and to liven the mix. Every once in a while, I include something I want to see well publicized because it is fascinating or important or both such as the new Hundretwasser building in Magdeburg (fascinating) or the CIA rendition flights in Europe and the implications for European governments (important).

I also try to include features on art or music or food trends, people that are doing interesting things, noteworthy places to visit and issues important to Germans and maybe to those of us who live here, too.

I want to address bias as well. I don’t write the stories that go on the site so they are not my bias. But as a human being, of course one has a bias and maybe, Dear Reader, you will find it in the hundreds of articles I have written for various publications. My rule of thumb: I don’t have to be impartial, I just have to be fair.

For example, while I was a reporter at a conservative paper in the US that took a clear stance on abortion (anti), I was sent to cover the pro-life march and counter demonstration. I actually measured the amount of words each side got (I am pro-choice) to make sure it was fair. Funny enough, the pro-choice side that didn't want to initially talk to me (because of my paper's reputation) put my article on their website while my editors accused me of writing a 'pro-choice pamphlet.' Oh well.

And sometimes you just can’t win. When I wrote the article about the German refugees, I knew Poles wouldn’t be happy because it talked about German suffering. Still, I didn’t expect to be accused of hating Poland (which I was).

I first went to Poland in 1989 and later, lived there for two years and I know what they suffered – evidence of the war is still surrounds you everywhere, more than even in Germany. And when Poland entered the European Union in 2004, I was so proud because I knew how far they had come. I cried. I don’t hate Poland. I love it actually.

As for my feelings for my new home, well let me clear that up, too. I first visited Germany in 1985 and fell in love with it, hitchhiking around the country, meeting people, practising my rudimentary German. The hospitality was incredible – people would just take us home or drive us miles out of their way. I spent the next decades defending this country to Poles, Americans, the Dutch and Danes because people have strong feelings against the Germans. My feelings about Germany were so well known that for Christmas 1989, many of my friends thought they were being clever and unique in their gift to me: I received 13 nicely-packaged commemorative pieces of the Berlin Wall, enough to begin building my own.

Anyway, since 1985, I have been back to Germany annually because I have always had many German friends. I began living here in three years ago not to escape my life in the US but because it was fulfilling and fun – and I gave up a lot to do it. I love living in Berlin for too many reasons to explain here. But suffice it to say that I work with Germans, my boyfriend is German and most of my closest friends in Berlin are not expats even though I know many.

Two years ago, I had a birthday party and invited a German acquaintance. After a few hours, he approached me and blurted in surprise: "It's weird. Everyone here is German. You people usually like hanging out with your own kind."

So I hate Germany? I don’t think so.