Bicyclemark of CitizenReporter.org, whom I missed talking with when he was here last, interviews The American Zombie on the topic of New Orleans, “one of the most under-reported issues in global media today,” in bm208: Blogging New Orleans Till The Very End. The entire dialogue is very compelling, but this is a portion so important that I transcribed it for posterity. Rock on, AZ!
Dambala: What I’m providing is a sounding board ¦ I’m constantly berated that it’s all crap, that it’s not true, but that’s not true at all. 90% of what“s been on that blog has been very accurate. I know I’ve broken 5 stories and I know I’ve made a difference in city contracts, our crime camera contract ¦ I think that this is the American dream; this is what the Fourth Estate should become – everyone telling the truth. If you can’t tell the truth, how can you fix the problems? And that’s what this country was built on and we have gone awry. As long as we have that ability for someone to stand up and say this isn’t right, this is what“s going on, then we have the ability to correct that situation and that’s what I believe in.
Bicyclemark: Just to add a little something to that question, some people might think, what a simple question, do you think blogging is a big deal? I’m not always sure where it’s going, and why the most influential blogs are often the ones that do the least amount of citizen reporting in terms of real issues. But, I’m glad to hear you say it because it’s encouraging.
Dambala: We as New Orleans bloggers, we“re in a very special situation because our city is dying and we care deeply about it. We have a much, much greater burden on our shoulders, therefore we take it more seriously than a lot of other hyper-local areas ¦ It’s more of a religion to us, almost, than it is in other areas. On a hyper-local level, we have had an enormous impact in our communities since the storm ¦ I can go on and on ¦ we“ve all really picked up the torch and done an enormous job, not to pat ourselves on the back ¦ because of the special circumstances, our community is a little bit more focused than others.
Bicyclemark: It is one of the reasons I often come back to New Orleans, because these bloggers are special in the world of blogging. You“ve written that it’s not only that New Orleans is dying, but America is dying ¦
Dambala: Having said that [I am a patriot], since the storm, there’s no New Orleanian that hasn“t been disillusioned be what America is and what our priorities are. We are the cynosure of this decline in America ¦
Mark McBride, Oyster and Editor B (“the voice of the crime march”) are mentioned favorably.
Speaking of citizen reporting, read what Alan Gutierrez has to say about the Poverty Conference held recently in New Orleans.
