One Reno Blogger’s Response To “Up All Night”
I wanted to discuss some thoughts I had after reading Peter Thompson’s excellent article about Reno bloggers, “.” Before I get to my “issues,” did you read it? Thompson is a fantastic writer—his introduction starring Al Gore had me laughing like I haven’t laughed over words on a page since reading Catch-22 for the first time. Here’s that bit of it:
It goes something like this: “In the beginning, when Al Gore created the Internet, the World Wide Web was a formless void and ‘Under Construction’ signs dominated the landscape. Then a heavy, overeducated sigh from the former Vice President swept over the face of the hardwired orb web, and it came to life like a fat kid taking a huge hit from his inhaler.Then Gore said, “Let there be Sites,” and there was nothing but pornography, stolen music and pop-up ads for Third World prescription drugs. And Gore monotoned, “That’s nice, but why not something more?” And so Gore shrugged, “Let there be blogs,” and immediately a snarky comment popped up on his screen and then another, and then somebody called him an “asshat,” and soon he was swimming in terabytes of irony and the terrifying electronic graffiti of wry, noisy mischief in a full-blown blogstorm, and Gore became irritated and afraid, and he retreated into the woods with a flannel shirt and grew a beard while meditating over his terrible celluloivisions of the coming global-warming apocalypse.
Good huh? You should definitely . Anyway, back to my thoughts about the article. I have the sudden urge to explain myself and this blog since the publication of this article because made a few statements I took exception to as a community blogger. Let’s begin with this one (I am giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming he was not referring to me in the sentence preceding this one when he referred to bloggers in “the infancy stage of expression.”):
“If Myrna took her site down today, there would be a void. She has certainly brought people out of their holes and into the online world. But I’m also not sure if those people contribute anywhere but over there, so it’s not like the community has grown because of it.”
My mission to build an online community for downtown Reno, by regularly writing about development projects, events, people, places, and interesting cultural aspects of Reno, is a serious one. Am I as successful as I’d like to be? Absolutely not, but I chalk that up to my technical limits (the kind of site I can build) and the fact that I have elected to stay anonymous which makes promotion of the site nearly impossible. However, I do have evidence that this blog has had an effect, not only on my physical community, but on helping to building an ever more vibrant local online community. Reno citizens send me advice, information, kudos and criticism off-blog on a regular basis. People ask me to post information about their events, ask for my opinion on community events and projects—even city council members. But maybe I should ask you dear readers who’ve come out of your ‘holes.” Why do you visit this blog and do you “contribute” by visiting or commenting on any other local or state blogs? Do you think this site is helping to build a community whatever that means for you? From the context of the quote it seems as if he is referring to Reno’s online community so let us both know if this is the only site you visit. After all, Jerz’s comment is directed as much towards you as to me. I do my best to read and link to other local bloggers when I feel they are discussing something interesting, and I have to assume that they think I am contributing to the community because they ask me to link to them and link to my content.
The day I finally felt I had tangible proof of this blog’s influence on the community was the day I heard WEFI, the name a friend of mine and I have been trying to give my neighborhood for development purposes, was mentioned in a recent city council meeting. Am I telling you this to convince you that I have influence? No, what good is influence if no one knows who I am? I’m telling you this because I wouldn’t keep up this blog if I didn’t think I was achieving my mission—building a community in downtown Reno. This is part-time job with shit pay after all—there is absolutely no financial incentive to continue. Ads run on this site but, so far, they pay for web hosting and maybe a couple of martinis a month. I do it because I gain satisfaction from the community response to this blog, online and off.
Before anyone gets bent out of shape and thinks this is a personal attack on Jerz, let me assure you it is nothing of the kind. This is a response to some arguments Jerz made in Thompson’s piece about blogging and community—blame it on my academic background if you must—but its too difficult for me to ignore an illogical argument. It’s like having an itch—I just have to scratch it. I don’t know if you noticed this but Jerz’s comments center largely around his own efforts as a blogger trying to badger the rest of us into “honest discourse.” Jerz sets himself up as a sort of blogging “other” who “angers other bloggers” because he’s “decided to become a crusader for honest discourse in every discussion.” It’s a typical outsider stance to take in the whole “I’m a maverick” kind of way. Claiming rebel status helps Jerz assume a rather appealing rhetorical position. As an outsider, he can claim he’s not part of the establishment to give more authority to his arguments. His claimed outsider status also allows him to claim that he has no dog in the race but keeping everyone else honest. It’s ironic that Jerz used the terms “honest discourse” in this case, because, well, there is no such thing as “honest discourse.” I don’t like to do this very often, but I’m breaking out my favorite , , , so that we can talk about the idea and nature of discourse and see Jerz’s rhetorical stance for what it is–an effort to set himself up as an expert, and define a position for himself in which he can criticize the efforts and motives of others as that expert. Discourse, by its very nature, has little to do with the truth. It is a system of knowledge (language, ideas, acts, codes, representations, etc.) immanent with power that is accepted within disciplines and institutions and used to legitimate the exercise of power over individuals. In other words, discourse is a social construct that determines and governs meaning within a discipline, community, or institution. A discourse is not so much true as it is accepted as what is true. See the difference? And its probably pretty clear that I do not accept Jerz’s discourse as an authority on blogging, nor his attempt to police the rest of us using the discourses of “community” or his idea of what “honest discourse” is.
By assuming a position of blogging authority and using the discourses of journalism and even blogging to frame his argument, Jerz then moves on to criticize the motives and efforts of other bloggers. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it all is that Jerz, from his own mouth, tells us that his main contributions to the community are his efforts to govern and police the rest of us—not in actually building a community:
Ryan Jerz believes he often angers other bloggers.
“Some don’t even respond to me,” he says. “I think it’s because I decided to become a crusader for honest discourse in every discussion. I’ve written diatribes about blind partisanship, and people take offense to that. I won’t deny having a political bias, but I don’t think that matters. Who am I to tell you how to think? I think Reno and the rest of the world would be better off if everyone would just shut up and think about the possibility that the other side is right. Just once.”
Besides the obvious question the above quote raises (why should they respond to him if he makes them angry?), and the fact that he tells us he’s no one to tell us what to think, he goes on to do just that. Jerz assumes another interesting rhetorical position, as the man in the middle who can point out when others are participating in “blind partisanship.” Again, it’s another admirable stance to take but there are problems with it. From where does one get the authority to decide what constitutes blind partisanship? I suppose sometimes it’s obvious, but in our current political environment, the claim of partisanship has been used as an instrument to divide by the party in power (as it always is) and has become symbolic of the most hypocritical thinking. A partisan world breeds a partisan blogosphere and, because Jerz is deciding what is and what is not “blind partisanship,” its all in the eye of the beholder. One person’s partisanship is another’s logic–particularly in the context of .
But perhaps most interesting is that Jerz seems to know what the public wants, even if they don’t know it themselves:
“People are starting their own sites to be mini newspapers. I’m against that. I want my readers to tell me things about the things I know, and when we put them together we’re all better off for it. The mindset of the public has to change for that to happen, and until everyone realizes that’s really what they want, we’ll be stuck in a rut.”
Perhaps blog readers’ response to this article should be to tell us what they really want rather than letting us tell you what you want. Of course, you could be doing that by choosing who to read and who not to. Regardless, I will continue to balance my mission of building an online community for downtown Reno with my own abilities and artistic desires, because that’s the best I can do. What’s great about the local blogging community is that it is a community–bloggers and their readers interact with each other and share their different perspectives. We all have different motives, different perspectives, and appeal to different communities. There is no right or wrong–and that’s a good thing. This is an important discussion for bloggers to keep having. I, for one, am grateful for the help, assistance, criticism and feedback I’ve gotten from other bloggers. Its really why I feel in love with blogging–the generosity other bloggers have shown me throughout the last year, including Ryan Jerz.
Similar Posts:
- Blogging Can Make You Broke
- Its Our Mission Dammit!
- What Else Is There to Say? Ryan Jerz Is Not Anonymous
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[...] The local free rag (aka the Reno News and Review) had a piece about local bloggers (they didn’t ask me to be in it *sniff*). Anyway, the biggest cheese in the local blogosphere (who WAS interviewed) gave her take on the article, as well as discuss and disagree with a few things stated by one of the other individuals interviewed in the article. Naturally, he showed up down in the comments area, seemingly ready to put up his dukes. Given my personal propensity to shoot my mouth off at any brewing virtual barfight, I HAD to have my say. [...]
[...] Since the end of the election, folks have probably been wondering what local blogs would talk about. Turns out they are talking about EACH OTHER. [...]
[...] If you want to read the perspectives of some other bloggers that were featured in the same article, check out Reno and Its Discontents post about it. People get fired up about why they blog and how it effects them internally, as well as the external world around them. [...]
[...] ago, it was only AFTER another blogger criticized me publicly in the Reno News & Review that I felt it necessary to defend myself publicly. This time, Dullard Mush points out some problems he had with my DNC coverage on his blog, so [...]
Comments
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Myrna, you make good points. I read this blog because I’m interested in Reno. I’ve come to value your observations and opinions. I don’t live in Reno, but considering a move to downtown. You provide an insight that I appreciate. Besides you’re so ‘hot’ when you are scratching that itch…
You would have served the readers of tis site better by highlighting this quote:
:I think Reno and the rest of the world would be better off if everyone would just shut up and think about the possibility that the other side is right. Just once.”
That’s the base of my argument. It actually does sound like you took this a bit personally. I’m the only person you seem to want to talk about. If you had highlighted the above quote, though, the entire premise of this piece might have been undermined. That’s honest discourse, even in it’s non-existent state.
Myrna, you have the tendency to “shame” people who don’t agree with you, like you have me when I said things about women’s issues, or ensign when that canned ad from all over the country ran on stemcell research. You’re not even ALLOWING for the possibility that you’re wrong. That’s not only dishonest, but stupid. Those types of things fueled my responses – over a month ago – to the interview questions. I still feel the same way, but now that the election is over, I think people should move on. Shame me again, f that’s how you feel. This is your spot, after all. And yes, I do anger other bloggers. You’ve been pissed, and others still don’t even respond when I send comments their way – something I do if I’m inclined no matter who owns the site. But I’m not good at building a community, right?
I was ready to ignore all this.
Hmmmm. I remember reading jerz’s rant when he first posted and the first thought I had was “jealousy”.
Myrna, you have nothing to fear. Lots of folks read this blog and many don’t post but they love reading it.
I recently moved to Reno and I was reading your blog for months prior to moving here from rural Nevada. Now, my significant other and I will be looking at buying a home or condo in the downtown region and I think you had some influence on it.
Old reporters have a hard time realizing the news world has changed. Don’t let it get you down.
You rock, Sista!!!
And I love this site and the little hottie logo girl on it. You’ve done a good job.
I love your site. I don’t like the elitist egotistical tone Jerz takes in belittling other bloggers. I don’t care if Jerz disagrees with me or you or anyone, that is what the “Sierrasphere” is all about. I don’t appreciate Jerz’s elitist tone or the profanity laced hate email he sends to me.
Cobbler
Ummm, actually Myrna did highlight that quote, mrjerz…see above.
There’s a lot here to respond to and perhaps I’ll do so when I have more time but let me at least put on my “snarky” blog hat and suggest that when “others still don’t even respond” to you, that entertaining the possibility that it is because they are indifferent or bored with what you have to say is at least something to consider. As opposed to assuming that they are so angry that they run away from the self-proclaimed “crusader for honest discourse.”
snark hat off
Some interesting points about “discourse” are raised by both of you and I’d like to submit my .02 but it’ll have to wait until later…the real world intrudes.
Rambler, by bolding the other part, she implicitly did not highlight what I thought was more important. But that’s what we do. And that’s how I responded. Maybe I am boring. I certainly don’t think that’s impossible. But the RN&R didn’t think so, and Myrna certainly doesn’t, or she wouldn’t have spent the time on this that she did, right?
Cobbler, you are a great victim. Lie your ass to the point that someone reads, then act like you’ve been wronged. Try again.
Mojo, it was all a plot by Bush to help the Heller win congress. You should understand that.
It’s about honesty, people. Can any of you accuse me of being dishonest? Please, let me hear it. I blog to make myself, and those around me, like all of you, better people. I hold people accountable, and I hole myself accountable. Play along for a few seconds. It feels pretty nice. I said the other day on INP that it’s not human nature to reflect upon one’s self. I should have said it’s not human nature to reflect negatively upon one’s self. I’m actually willing to do it. It’s actually possible for me to be wrong. Is it for you? I doubt it. The Repubs are out to get us, Repub voters are stupid, and nobody voted for Titus because she’s a woman. Did I miss something?
Hello, all,
I came here via above-discussed the RN&R article. Just a couple of things:
1. As a local blogger, myself, I am not, and may never will be, part of the local bloggeratti. I like it that way. I don’t blog about local issues, but that’s ok. I’d just assume read goings-on from others better informed of the local scene and stay out of the apparent politics of it all.
2. Having read the article, but just a few snippets of Myrna’s viewpoint, I already have opinion of mjerz’s opinion of other bloggers.
a. MJerz, while, as a registered Libertarian, I agree with many of the viewpoints you offer on your blog, I may suggest that the reason you do not get a lot of responses to your posts is perhaps your almost disdainful attitude toward others who may or may not agree with you. If you wish to gain respect from the other side, welcoming them with open arms before debating them may be a good start.
b.Regarding this remark:
“I think Reno and the rest of the world would be better off if everyone would just shut up and think about the possibility that the other side is right. Just once.”
First off, I (and I would assume many other people) would take umbrage with being told to “Shut Up”. Especially if it’s because you think your viewpoint is neither in vogue or in disagreement. This is why people have blogs. To express a VIEWPOINT. Whether to discuss politics or to discuss pictures of left over cheese sandwiches. You should thank your lucky stars that, despite the doings of the DHS, you STILL live in a country where your online sayings are neither censored or totally wiped off the digital display (at least 99% of the time, anyway).
SO you have your blog. You have a place where you can have your say. And, for the time being, noone can take it away from you. That right belongs to ALL of us. Not just a few who’s views YOU think are valid. If noone responds to your rantings, or responds the way you wish for them to, well, consider the alternatives. Like living in China. Where ALL online content is censored.
c.I REALLY take offense to this (well, you did say you piss off other bloggers, and I respect this as just being your humble opinion. But you put it out there, so…):
“People are starting their own sites to be mini newspapers. I’m against that.”
I honestly don’t see a problem with this. The problem I see is people like you telling them it’s not right. And most of these “Mini-newspapers” that you talk about are folks just linking to other sites’ pages and discussing their content. Or talking about what they got grandma for her birthday, or a fully detailed review of that new Wii machine that’s coming out. As a “recording artist”, I personally rely on “Mini newspapers” set up by other musicians to give their views on new machines or instruments to which they’ve been given access. No sponsor influence by whomever manufactured the product. Just straight-up, no chaser, honest opinion of a product with which they’ve worked.
Again, last I checked, this is STILL a free country, MJerz. Where people can say, do, and think as they please. The blogosphere is another place where self-expression can reign. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read it. But you do NOT have the right to tell others what to do. Which I’m sure you aren’t, but your tone in the article and here in the comments area is how you are coming across as.
BTW, as stated above, I’m a local blogger. NOONE from RN&R contacted me about being in this article. It is NOT something I’m losing sleep over.
My $1.00′s worth. Over and out.
Helen
Foucault?? Didn’t he run around in rubber underpants?
Nice try Jerz, but your tone is increasingly elitist and pretentious.
If you don’t want me to appear as a victim, stop attacking me.
By the way…do you know what “banned” means? Stop trying to comment on my site when you yourself said that you would be “proud to be banned from this (www.cobbgobbler.net) site”.
You should also use less profanity in your hate emails to me if you want to appear intellectual.
Cobbler
Ha, I’m sure that’s just one of the pervy things he did, but he was a brilliant man.
I think you missed the point Jerz.
The beauty of the blogging universe is that people can do whatever they want for whatever reasons they want. When you say that you’ve appointed yourself as the crusader for honest discourse, you automatically become suspect.
I didn’t take anything personally except that you seem to have insulted the people who read and contribute to this blog (as you define it). This is not personal. This is an intellectual argument.
The point is, in that article you come off Reno’s self appointed authority on Reno blogging and that doesn’t sit well with me. Have you allowed for the possibility that what angers other bloggers is your self-appointed stance as the one who tells other bloggers how to blog? Who are you to decide what a community is or what “honest discourse is?” Its very presumptuous. And when you do that, as you did in the article, you naturally set yourself up for criticism.
I was kind of bummed he didnt include my site in the article
He even got ahold of me to ask me some questions about my site. Oh well, I guess I am not officially a blog, even though I post almost daily, and it’s certainly as much work as a blog if not more.
I dont get much feedback about my site, although I sure get a lot of hits though. I hope you all dig it, and if I can improve it in any way lemmy know.
I love reading Myrna’s blog, I don’t find her one sided at all. There’s been a few issues where we disgagree (Pitched roof of Palladio) and she’s never ‘belittled’ me because my opinion differs. Keep up the good work bloggers!
Egads, i missed your second post. I would say that your whole position as a crusader of honest discourse is dishonest. In fact, I did say that. You really have to try and think about this idea you have that you should be holding people accountable for whatever it is you are holding them accountable for. Where does your authority come from? That’s the kind of thinking that’s getting you into trouble, because the response you get from people should be telling you that they don’t buy it and they can’t all be wrong.
Your proclamations of your own honesty and your own ability for self reflection in contrast to others is sounding a little like “he doth protest to much.” I don’t see it and from the other comments, it looks like others don’t see it either. I also want to say that I have no ability to shame anyone. I only have the ability to point out what I think are untenable intellectual positions.
Blogs are for people to express themselves, and their opinions, no matter how one-sided they are. People aren’t so stupid that they read someone’s blog and think it’s a news article. It’s like being at a cocktail party and hearing Myrna say something and you take it into consideration as her opion on the matter. And sometimes you walk away and think, “Yeah she’s full of shit” and somethings you think, “Hm. Never saw it that way before.” Or, you can post a comment that says, “Rock on sista” or “You are so full of shit.” if you WANT to get into a debate or find more information.
But to have “the honest opinion” that people shouldn’t argue with seems pretty arrogant. That’s preaching, not blogging.
Myrna, no one else has answered this question, but I’ve read a lot of people’s blogs because of this, like the 12 Horses, Reno Rambler, Yukon Sully, and mostly DowntownMakeover, which is my favorite. And I wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise. Except probably the Reno Rambler ’cause I followed a link from RGJ once.
Well, I definitely come from a liberal point of view so someone might say that that’s one sided. And to be fair, I dont get as excited about something like the roof of the Palladio as I do about, say, Ensign’s anti stem-cell stance.
The point here is not to attack Jerz but to talk about some of his statements in the article. Please–let’s not get personal–keep it intellectual. That goes for me too.
Well…where to begin…perhaps to respond to the digs about the need to start mini-newspapers. My bias. My grandaddy started the newspapers in Carson City, Minden – his “shop” was in his garage outside his one bedroom brick “home” in both cities. We grew up “po” children/gradchildren of Northern Nevada. Descendants of a pioneer who did not have a website, but certainly a legacy (house in Minden is historical landmark). So Myrna – right on! Whatever it takes to build community – especially in your scholarly fashion – true discourse as accepted to be what is true – and to keep us posted about whaddup around the town and the state. My logic says thankgod/goddess that you are not elitist and that you can actually think and write at higher levels.
“Long-time reader, first time writer.”
This is great. Gotta love this type of debate/discussion. But regardless of your views on the propriety of blogs and their contents…..
“The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press,
is that we must put up with, and even pay for, a good deal of rubbish.”
Justice Robert H. Jackson
I wish I could make that cherry popping sound Randi Rhodes makes on her show.
Jerz=Jerk. Smug, arrogant, holier-than-thou. Boring pseudo-superiority. Myrna rules!
No more name calling you guys….I would hate to have to start deleting comments.
Hey, Myrna! I’m in Vegas and finally found a cool internet cafe/juice shop so I could check in. Keep up the conversation and typing!
This is where I am tonight:
Wish we had one of these in Reno! Maybe I will have to pass up on my dream of a condo by the Truckee River and set one of these up instead! Oh, but I do love my Java Jungle!
Later!
Mojo
And yes, I still despise Heller for the changes that jerk made in Nevada elections and that includes the restictions on polling.
I despise juice and smoothie bars–too healthy.
What beautiful dramatics & discourse minds thrashing about in cyberspace creates!