Citizen Wayne

The This American Life episode from this week is about guns, and is maybe my favorite episode from the year so far (granted, that’s only 4 episodes so far). The first story, in particular is awesome. Sarah Vowell’s story, “NRA vs. NEA” is about reconciling the culture gap between the pro-gun people and the anti-guns. If you listen to just part of the episode, check that one out. It’s the first act.

It reminds me a little bit of a column I wrote in 2006 for a Progress Indiana, a local LGBT magazine a friend of mine created. I had a regular column called “Confessions of a Metrosexual”. Below is that column.

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I’ve always considered myself to be a pacifist. When I was young, I would defer arguments to the more aggressive kids, even though I knew I was right. It was easier that way—not as much conflict. Even today, I am primarily non-confrontational. I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Sunday, December 11, I did something I’ve never done before, and never thought I would do. My fearless editor Dave, fellow staff writer Tom and I trekked to the far land of Wabash, Indiana to shoot guns. Tom wanted to experience firing a gun for his story (in this issue!) and I thought it would be interesting to tag along.

(Click through to read the rest)

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Image from Julia Wertz's book, "I Saw You", featuring illustrations from real-life Missed Connections postings. Click the picture to visit the books website.

Do you ever spend any time on Craigslist? I do. Although Fort Wayne’s CL page isn’t as hopping as, say, San Francisco’s, there are new posts daily in the For Sale section, Housing, Personals and Careers. I found my day job on Craigslist, sold a couch in five minutes flat, and bought several items, including a Nintendo Wii, which at that time was extremely difficult to find.

I want to do a story about Craiglist. My particular area of interest is in the Missed Connections. You often get ads like this:

Subject: exchanging glances and smiles=) – m4w – 22 (Barnes and Noble Glenbrook)

this past tuesday dec.22 i was working and had made eye contact many times with the most gorgeous eyes, but was occupied with work and could not find the courage to speak to you. you were wearing a white coat and had brunette hair with highlights. i just thought you were very pretty and would like to talk if i’d see you again. i was wearing a peacoat with a scarf and stand 6″ were you wishing we had talked? if so please respond=)

(Link)

There are others — dirty, sexy, desperate, romantic, generic, mysterious. But each one is a little drama, a story that we’re only hearing part of. What makes someone post to a classifieds website in the off-change the person they’re looking for checks it?

We want to know if you have any CL stories. Have you ever posted in the Missed Connections? If so, did anything ever come of it? Any other interesting stories involving Craigslist?

If so, please contact us. We’d really love to hear from you.

Often times, living in the digital age feels akin to being lodged in a cubicle of Jello.

Jello’s sweet and entertainingly colored, but thick, quivering, and not exactly a proponent of easy gestures. It’s hard to see through, too much intake will deprive us of happier nutrients, and in a world of other deserts like the venerable Boston Cream Pie, Jello is the Wal-Mart of deserts.

We may be empowered with a rapidly advancing ability to connect, share, exchange, and friend the world around us, but the volume of Jello-y goodness out there pushes the other courses out of view; often the meat and potatoes are just around the corner, just under the twenty open browser pages, and we’re lucky to get to it before the expiration date pushes it beyond reach.

Since the dawn of the 24-news network, it’s this humble Hoosier’s feeling that the ratio of available information to non-information is compellingly misshapen and what’s worse is that the real stories out there are rarely given room to breathe until they are shoved out of the way for a commentator or sponsor’s commercial. There is a rush as if every story is the most important story and the line between fact and feeling is dimmed.

There is so much stuff out there, many are compelled to seek out the stories that are just around the corner, beyond the expiration date, and under the nooks and crashing in crannies. The downfall is those who aren’t compelled to seek out the punctuation at the end of a sentence and the digital age encourages this lethargy.

Journalism’s change has not been congruent to the path of its audience. Information is wolfed down without chewing. And chewing is the only opportunity you get the real taste.

Citizen Journalism is one step closer to the real story, bombarded not by sponsorship or slant, but by the visceral human story that echoes around inside individuals and among people. It’s the smasher of abundant bottles and the isolator of otherwise compelling material. It’s advocacy for feeling without the absence of fact.

In the digital age, it’s the YouTube moderator in a room full of redundant uploads. We’re digging in this mess to not bury the bone, but unearth its DNA.

-Kelly Lynch

Hello! I’m Andy Welfle, host and producer of Citizen Wayne, and I want to share this exciting project with you.

It’s called “Citizen Wayne”, and it’s a local citizen journalism show, featuring stories about the  Fort Wayne /northeastern  Indiana  experience. What is unique about this program is that we’re not afraid to experiment with narrative structure — focusing on the art of storytelling rather than a straightforward presentation that you would hear in a regular news program.

I’m putting together a 30-minute pilot episode, and I need your help. Continue reading

We here at Citizen Wayne love Ira Glass. Whether it is This American Life, or his speech at the CPB conference, he is a master storyteller, and radio is his medium. And as we are a budding radio program, we’re taking his advice very seriously. PRI just uploaded a series of four short videos to its YouTube channel of Ira Glass giving advice to budding storytellers and citizen journalists:

Part 1 of 4: On the Basics…

Click below for more, below the fold.

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