Of blogging, the historical record, and Cindy Sheehan
As a blogger, I am acutely aware that what I write is ephemeral. It exists only on the web, to be read and then forgotten by the the modest readership I have gathered, to whom, of course, I am always grateful. But I'm not a product of the digital age. I was raised on books, and to me, unless it appears on a book on a library shelf, it will be lost to time, and probably very quickly. The printed page -- and I mean printed on paper -- is the only real way to preserve information for the future.
So it is with that in mind that I am both excited and humbled to see my name in print in a real, honest-to-goodness book. I'm sure it sounds silly to you, but for me, I know now that my kids and their kids and their kids who will be born well after I'm gone can go to a library, pull this book off the shelf, open it up, and say, "That's grandpa. He made a bit of a splash way back then."
From American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War--Torn by Beliefs
Steve Janke writes blogs from Canada from his aptly named site, "Angry in the Great White North." He followed Cindy's story like a hound on a racoon. His grasp of the situation and connections to Cindy's extended family placed him at the center of the Cindy tsunami.
"I read about Cindy and found a lot of logical and legal fallacies," Janke said. He researched some of the folks helping Cindy in Crawford and questioned why none of the affiliations had been mentioned in any mainstream articles. Were they afraid of criticizing a woman who'd lost her son, or was it that they agreed with her and wanted to legitimize her position?
"It was probably the media's fault," Janke said.
Contrast the media with the apparent interest from the public (pages 201-202):
Cindy's popularity among mainstream Americans has never been higher. But a year after she and her media consultants made their stand in Crawford, her relevance has plummeted, according to Steve Janke, a blogger at stevejanke.com who closely follows Cindy.
"I did do a piece recently on her blog, which averages five hits a day. Five?! Well, on the day I mentioned it, traffic shot up to three hundred, maybe more, but [it] seems to have returned to as close to nothing as you can get," Janke said on July 30, 2006. "That was the perfect metaphor. The media might still be chasing her, but the public, when given the chance, are ignoring her."
The book makes for fascinating reading, and I heartily recommend it. Don't worry, these are the only two places I pop up in it. But it's difficult to describe the feeling of having become part of a documented piece of American history, even such a tiny part as this. It's given me pause to consider the responsibilty that goes with running a blog. As unlikely as it is, what we bloggers write can become part of the tapestry of current events, and on a rare occasion, that contribution can be elevated to form part of the permanent historical record of those events. We can only hope that the contribution is seen as a positive one, or at the very least, not a foolish one.
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Comments
It's always a thrill to see your name in print- many years have passed since I wrote "professionally" ( i.e., got paid to do it ) for the ad and magazine trade, but I never grew jaded enough not to feel a little tingle of "Gee! That's me!" upon seeing my name in black & white.
We're all just a bunch of ones and zeroes and pixels on the web-- "on the Internet, everyone can hear you scream- but nobody remembers 15 minutes later..."
Print is surely more permanent.
Best wishes from
The Heavy Equipment Guy...
Posted by: backhoe at October 18, 2006 05:07 AM
I got an email a couple years ago from a publishing company that produces university textbooks. They asked if they could use one of the columns I wrote for the National Post in their First Year text book on expository essay writing.
I actually asked "are you using it as an example of bad writing, or good writing?"
They said "We think it's an excellent example, of writing, and that's why we want it to be used as an example for the book. If we were looking for bad examples, we would make it up, or pick something, mix it up a bit and then not attribute it.
It is indeed strange to see your name in print... especially in a textbook.
That's pretty much why I laugh when I am called an illiterate and poor writer with a bad grasp of comprehension blah blah blah.... in blog wars.
I know what I'm capable of achieving with my writing. My dad has the textbook signed with my name on it, on his shelf. :)
I suggest you get a few first edition copies of that book Steve and do likewise. They might be worth something someday on an ebay or amazon auction. :)
BTW - you never got back to me about the financials I've been posting re band office. There's a lot more there now.
Posted by: MWW at October 18, 2006 07:02 AM
Congrats, it's nice work to get a bit of print-space!
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 29, 2006 08:19 PM
 
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