So who are we writing to when we blog? It’s a question I continue to ask as I think so many don’t bother with the question at all. This quote, taken from a very profound speech by newspaper editor Tom Stites, was just one more reminder to me that we need to look out for the poor in intentional ways. Thought-provoking questions to follow…
Now, instead of having sympathy for the poor our newspapers discard them. But so do many of us in this room. Many of us think about citizen journalism and blogs as the saviors of democracy, and while they certainly have impact and show lots of promise, so far they reach a much smaller and much more rarefied audience than daily newspapers. We talk of readers as the audience, as the users, and as the people formerly known as the audience, believing that they are participants in the news process now. It’s much more accurate to say that some are participants now, and to acknowledge that the majority do not participate, and that no small number never will. Many of us are committing the marketing sin of thinking the customers are like us. Some are like us, but most citizens are less educated than us, and make less money than us, and have far more uncertainty in their lives.
So my plea to all of us, myself included, is that we keep America’s discarded readers in mind as we work to strengthen journalism and shore up our withering democracy. We need to remember that they’re citizens, too, and to take care to make sure they have easy access to quality journalism that squarely addresses the issues that affect their lives. Unless we do, there’s a good chance that our democracy is doomed. Or, at the very best, our democracy will be disfigured by a class divide that’s the 21st century equivalent of our nation’s earliest days, when voting was restricted to white male property owners.
So I ask myself:
As young emerging followers of Christ, are we pursuing the poor and weak who don’t live in a world of blogs, coffee shops, $7 meals and media intensive web sites?
As young emerging followers of Christ, are we seeking out and intentionally giving time to people who don’t share our taste in music, art, movies, computers and customized RSS readers?
Sometimes we do. Other times I’m less sure.
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Tuesday July.4.2006 at 7:18 pm PDT
Lon
excellent post… definitely a kick in the pants to some of us voxers.
Tuesday July.4.2006 at 10:49 pm PDT
Parke
As it is for me as well.
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 5:48 am PDT
Josh
Every now and then, you have someone come along with the guts to say some of the things that you’ve begun to THINK but wouldn’t SAY. Parke, you’re that someone! So, you’ve got me thinking….
In my thoughts lately, I’ve been getting around to what you said: “As young emerging followers of Christ, are we seeking out and intentionally giving time to people who don’t share our taste in music, art, movies, computers and customized RSS readers?”
And, although I agree whole-heartedly with what you say, I’ve arrived at this. In the same way that Paul traveled to Mars Hill to speek to the educated upper-class, those who were already seeking a higher existence (a purpose in life so-to-speak), we sometimes blog….to speak to the educated upper-class, those who are already seeking a higher existence (a purpose in life so-to-speak). On the flip-side, Paul used his time in prison to minister to the lowest of lows….not just the homeless, but the criminal homeless. So, we (hopefully) spend the time we find ourselves on the streets, ministering to the homeless.
So, I don’t think that blogging and the internet revolution signal the extinction of ministry to the poor and weak. There are certain tools for certain jobs….and internet communication is just another tool in the shed, useful for some purposes and not for others. However, for us as followers of Christ, I agree with you that we, as Tom Stites states, “[…] need to remember that they’re citizens[children of God], too, and to take care to make sure they have easy access to quality journalism[the gospel of Jesus Christ] that squarely addresses the issues that affect their lives[salvation, etc].
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 7:12 am PDT
Parke
It was with no small sense of introspection that I wrote that on my laptop in a coffee shop I frequent regularly. And I most certainly do agree that all people, regardless of wealth or poverty are important to God. I’m blessed to have a job that touches the lives of the poor, rejected and forgotten around the world every day (largely by speaking to wealthy) so I find myself in both worlds almost constantly. Thank you for taking the time to respond and ponder through things.
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 8:33 am PDT
Josh
Parke,
You mentioned your job. What do you do?
Josh
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 9:37 am PDT
Parke
Right now I’m doing publicity for a Bible translation organization that empowers national organizations and people to translate their own language, which serves as a foundation for deeper faith work and for literacy work in these regions.
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 9:57 am PDT
mixedmoss
Parke,
I struggle with this divide a lot. One way that I address it is to make sure that the lattes I buy are fair trade; at least that way I know that the farmers growing the coffee beans in Guatemala or Ethiopia are getting a fair deal.
But that leads to another question: fair trade is more expensive. So is buying organic, hormone-free food. In our quest to be more “natural,” more just, and better for the environment with our purchasing decisions, aren’t we just creating a greater social divide in our own country? I mean, there are little kids in the low-income neighborhood where I work, who would be thrilled if their families could afford to eat any fresh fruit, and wouldn’t care whether it was organic or not.
Things aren’t black and white. I wish they were. It gives me a headache– not to mention a heartache– trying to figure all of this out. But at least more and more people are beginning to think about it and to ask questions. I think that will lead society as a whole in the right direction eventually. If we can just sift through the questions and the options and the ideas collectively, as free speech has allowed us to do for the past 230 years in America, then maybe, just maybe we’ll be able to come up with solutions for everybody.
In the meantime, I know that my personal calling is to help the poor. And if that means experiencing a continuous cold shower of culture shock as I liase between social groups, then I guess I’ll just have to learn to cope somehow.
-Mel
Wednesday July.5.2006 at 10:12 am PDT
parke
I think we all have to learn to cope with it. The truth always seems to be in places that are uncomfortable, allowing us to neither rest on the laurels of glamorized memory or the passively hope for the coming a dream.
Thanks for adding to the complexity.