Moderator, David Stanford of The Sandbox, publishing, freelancing with Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury; AirForceWife of SpouseBUZZ, Lily Burana of I love a Man in Uniform book; Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive; JD Johannes of Outside the Wire; Craig Stewart of the National Museum of Americans in Wartime
David talks about the military story lines in Doonesbury, especially character BD who was wounded. Gary had been reading milbogs, and David too. Gary came back from a book signing and wanted to start a milblog because word wasn't getting out. David saw Blog of War book and used the bloggers in it to build a cache of writers. Then others came along. Was "knocked out" by the quality of the writing from a wide variety of bloggers. FIsher House wanted to reproduce the BD series to help recovering soldiers. The publishers did it themselves, with funds going to Fisher House, also did a book version of the Sandbox blog. David says he wasn't associated with the military before this. From upstate NY, small town; very moved and emotional about the work he has been doing. Shared book with WWII and Vietnam veterans who really appreciated it. Disappointed by media response to the book. Was so moved by the book, thought it was fresh and important. Not one mainstream review--just milblogs and smalltown community newspapers. "I'm so relieved to be able to discuss this" in small groups that ask me to talk to them, because nobody in his world is familiar with this or takes it seriously, though they sometimes eventually get it when they actually encounter the milblogs.
Is someone archiving milblogs? Is that work safe for the longterm?
Lily - We have to be our own archives. We don't know the future; keep a backup.
JD - I intentionally shoot on videotape because a tape lasts a long, long time. You can't override it or get it erased by electronic emissions. Decades from now I'll have first-person accounts from significant events on the battlefield.
Attendee - Archive.org is acquiring open source materials and take "snapshots" of the web.
Lily, how did you experience the reception of the book? Interface of the military family and the mainstream media (mentions she's impressed with live bloggers--whoohoo!). This is the first time I went public as a military wife. Was confronted with what mainstream publishers think military wives are. They think we are Stepfording traditionalists. Most of the editors got it, but to a lot of people in the mainstream media saw the war as "old news." It was challenging to confront the stereotype that a military wife can't be an independent thinker. Had to change her image with clothes/hair, but "Just because I'm friendly doesn't mean I'm weak. And just because I'm discrete doesn't mean I don't carry a can of military whoopass that is about this big!" As military wives become more visible through blogging, we gain credibility. People really ARE willing to listen. As off-kilter as the MSM media attention is, it can be good. Give them a chance and show them who we really are. "Just bring it, 'cause this is our time." We can show up around the stereotype.
Role as a milblogger and a wife?
Airforcewife: Not nearly as interesting as Lily. I do humiliation blogging--if something is going wrong, it's happening to me. I started in 2004 when my husband deployed. I never had an FRG; only interaction with people like me was online. I got online and met a lot of people, starting with Andi. People see my children outside the military and are surprised that we're not all the same. They expect me/us to behave and I don't really behave that well. They come to me with preconceptions. As a writer, I am approached about military stories in civilian publications. I have to come up with a way to explain the terminology to a civilian world--I'm trying to marry the two. We need a militarese to English dictionary.
Question about keeping mil and civilian worlds separate:
AFW - It's hard to marry them; Right now they're just separate. I kept my sister out of my Facebook because it's my military world. I keep them separate because there's a lot less stress that way.
Lily - Half the conversation becomes translating acronyms and the other is cultural explanations.
Steve invites Jimbo to talk about SOG Media [more on Blackfive in coming days].
Attendee Bouhammer: What advice for people who are going beyond miblogs? Where do they start to take it beyond blogs? MSM articles, books, fundraising for chairty?
Jimbo - Matt started to blog because Matt's good friend died saving a reporter who never told the story about his friend. A large portion of the audience didn't believe the stories were true/accurate. I started out as king of the airborne rant about the media messing up. Media started looking back at us to see what they were doing well/poorly. We decided we were as good at it as they were, decided to do original reporting. What kicked it over the top was VFF sending 12 veterans back to Iraq to report on changes in Iraq due to the surge at the same time Pelosi/Reid were talking it down. Unimpeachable credibility, videos, stories, etc. We can complain about the media or beat them at their own game--sent reporters to Iraq and sold the results to major media organizations. We looked at ourselves and said, "That wasn't too hard...As long as we have guys willing to go there, we have content that reaches the bar of journalism, and we can tell the stories we think should be told," instead of what MSM thinks. Right now I'm in negotiations to sell things from a guy we have in Iraq to broadcast media outlets. It's a matter of getting the equipment and the distribution network. We have a viable business model with SOG Media because the MSM can't keep their bureaus open, for example in Kabul. We can replace that, with a message that we think needs to get out. It has involved a transition--"Reining in my inner Uncle Jimbo," which means not being a ranting hobbyist. We've snuck in the door, and as long as we can work together, we can get what we want out there. We didthe video editing garageband-style, but it came out professional quality. Go to sogmedia.com. It's pro-quality, but we have control of the content and what goes out the door.
JD - I started out from the mainstream side before I started blogging. When I found my old Marine unit was going to Iraq, I knew if I didn't tell the story it wouldn't get sold. I shot a demo reel and sold a package to local stations from places were the guys in the unit were from. That was the soft underbelly--what kind of coverage do they have? Not much--four stories: local boy leaves, returns, hurt, wife screwed by mortgage company; I give them option 5: local boy fighting the war. Footage is easy to sell if it's high-quality; no one cares who the cameraman is as long as you match yourself with a named reporter. Then started documentary films and CBS productions, A&E, etc. Outlets started hiring me to go out and shoot video, then hooked up wtih Jimbo for embeds.
Jimbo - Any of you can get the story from a deployed person, dress it up or edit it and sell it to a local newspaper. "I have a story about a guy from town and his unit kicked ass; I have the exclusive story." References recent ambush story in the NYT as an example of the kind of story that works.
JD - Your expertise and context helps tell a story even if you are not there. It just takes persistence to build relationships with local media that you can feed stories to. I come out of TV news, so I knew exactly how to tell the story and pitch it. Don't try to crack the network. If you have a good product, local is very receptive.
Lily - Rejection is a constant and you have to be persistent. Don't get discouraged. At least 25 rejections between each book.
Craig - Moving from avocation to vocation. We got into this because someone I work for brought it to our attention with blogging as the story of homefront support,the Rosie the Riveter story of this war. We want to tell your story. Part of the story is how the technology changes made it possible. It's not just weaponry and medicine, it's communications too. We're going to build a museum that is going to be worldclass and you're going to be a part of it. We're going to tell the story on the individual level, like Ken Burns' Civil War technique. We want to educate and inspire. We will pick individuals representative of the milblogging community and research them thoroughly to tell their story.
CJ - Talked with Washinton Times reporter. I talk to my local media (TV/paper/radio) and now they know if there's something military-related I'm a resource for "on the ground" perspective. Reporter said stories of individual soldiers are now being published in Washington Times.
CJ - Whose responsibility is it to make sure reader understands?
Lily - Journalism 101 is to include the info, put it all in the first paragraph.
Jimbo - Especially if you want to interact with MSM. They are clueless; they're muppets. They see Blackfive and say "That looks cool. What the hell is it about?" If you want to reach a wider audience, you have to assume they don't know what the hell you're talking about.
Attendee working with a veteran support organization - I'm challenging bloggers to do oral/video histories about the veterans who are passing away. We get so many requests from family to archive their stories and we can't get to them all.
AFW - Just a couple months ago my 93-year-old grandmother walked the WWII memorial. She remembers Pearl Harbor, and her husband was gone for three years. I find I have more in common with my 93-year-old grandmother than my contemporaries I went to school with.
Attendee from The US Naval Institute - As a publisher of book/magazines, how can we bridge this gap?
Jimbo - They have a platform where anybody can tell there story to be published on the USNI website. That's a start, a way to build credibility with bigger media. USNI stamp gives credibility to major media outlet. "Your blog's cute, but where else have you been published?" That's why we call ourselves (SOG) a guild--because we are setting ourselves up as a guild, a way to say we are peers who approve.
Grace from Washington Times - I have been tasked with recruiting military bloggers and people in military community to write for two pages in the newspaper every Thursday and "huge" website to be unveiled in early June. Goal is two writers from each base to tell us what is going on in their base. Includes spouses, veterans, children/teens to express how it is from their point of view. "Citizen journalism project." We understand we don't have the resources to go everywhere you are and that some of the best news comes from the ground up. We just did two pages that were out on Thursday the 23rd--one page Metro and one page National.
Grace - I hear that the MSM has failed the military community. Why do you think that is the case? I hear there are all kinds of communities that feel the media has failed them.
Lily - The major newspapers are general interest, so they can't cover it all. The papers are trying to global and we are celebrity-driven culture.
AFW - It's not lack of coverage, it's the way the story is presented, the oprah-ization of the news. I'm not a victim and that's how they want to paint me when they've do stories on me--"Isn't it awful that your husband is gone!"
AttendeeSusan Katz-Keating, former Washington Times reporter, correspondent for People Magazine - Yes, celebrity-driven. Also with the museum. We have a presence on the blog. We invite people to come and interact.
Jimbo - JD's new documentary Baghdad Happens is out. It is hilarious. He said, I thought about what Ken Burns would do and did the opposite. It is brilliant.
David talks about the military story lines in Doonesbury, especially character BD who was wounded. Gary had been reading milbogs, and David too. Gary came back from a book signing and wanted to start a milblog because word wasn't getting out. David saw Blog of War book and used the bloggers in it to build a cache of writers. Then others came along. Was "knocked out" by the quality of the writing from a wide variety of bloggers. FIsher House wanted to reproduce the BD series to help recovering soldiers. The publishers did it themselves, with funds going to Fisher House, also did a book version of the Sandbox blog. David says he wasn't associated with the military before this. From upstate NY, small town; very moved and emotional about the work he has been doing. Shared book with WWII and Vietnam veterans who really appreciated it. Disappointed by media response to the book. Was so moved by the book, thought it was fresh and important. Not one mainstream review--just milblogs and smalltown community newspapers. "I'm so relieved to be able to discuss this" in small groups that ask me to talk to them, because nobody in his world is familiar with this or takes it seriously, though they sometimes eventually get it when they actually encounter the milblogs.
Is someone archiving milblogs? Is that work safe for the longterm?
Lily - We have to be our own archives. We don't know the future; keep a backup.
JD - I intentionally shoot on videotape because a tape lasts a long, long time. You can't override it or get it erased by electronic emissions. Decades from now I'll have first-person accounts from significant events on the battlefield.
Attendee - Archive.org is acquiring open source materials and take "snapshots" of the web.
Lily, how did you experience the reception of the book? Interface of the military family and the mainstream media (mentions she's impressed with live bloggers--whoohoo!). This is the first time I went public as a military wife. Was confronted with what mainstream publishers think military wives are. They think we are Stepfording traditionalists. Most of the editors got it, but to a lot of people in the mainstream media saw the war as "old news." It was challenging to confront the stereotype that a military wife can't be an independent thinker. Had to change her image with clothes/hair, but "Just because I'm friendly doesn't mean I'm weak. And just because I'm discrete doesn't mean I don't carry a can of military whoopass that is about this big!" As military wives become more visible through blogging, we gain credibility. People really ARE willing to listen. As off-kilter as the MSM media attention is, it can be good. Give them a chance and show them who we really are. "Just bring it, 'cause this is our time." We can show up around the stereotype.
Role as a milblogger and a wife?
Airforcewife: Not nearly as interesting as Lily. I do humiliation blogging--if something is going wrong, it's happening to me. I started in 2004 when my husband deployed. I never had an FRG; only interaction with people like me was online. I got online and met a lot of people, starting with Andi. People see my children outside the military and are surprised that we're not all the same. They expect me/us to behave and I don't really behave that well. They come to me with preconceptions. As a writer, I am approached about military stories in civilian publications. I have to come up with a way to explain the terminology to a civilian world--I'm trying to marry the two. We need a militarese to English dictionary.
Question about keeping mil and civilian worlds separate:
AFW - It's hard to marry them; Right now they're just separate. I kept my sister out of my Facebook because it's my military world. I keep them separate because there's a lot less stress that way.
Lily - Half the conversation becomes translating acronyms and the other is cultural explanations.
Steve invites Jimbo to talk about SOG Media [more on Blackfive in coming days].
Attendee Bouhammer: What advice for people who are going beyond miblogs? Where do they start to take it beyond blogs? MSM articles, books, fundraising for chairty?
Jimbo - Matt started to blog because Matt's good friend died saving a reporter who never told the story about his friend. A large portion of the audience didn't believe the stories were true/accurate. I started out as king of the airborne rant about the media messing up. Media started looking back at us to see what they were doing well/poorly. We decided we were as good at it as they were, decided to do original reporting. What kicked it over the top was VFF sending 12 veterans back to Iraq to report on changes in Iraq due to the surge at the same time Pelosi/Reid were talking it down. Unimpeachable credibility, videos, stories, etc. We can complain about the media or beat them at their own game--sent reporters to Iraq and sold the results to major media organizations. We looked at ourselves and said, "That wasn't too hard...As long as we have guys willing to go there, we have content that reaches the bar of journalism, and we can tell the stories we think should be told," instead of what MSM thinks. Right now I'm in negotiations to sell things from a guy we have in Iraq to broadcast media outlets. It's a matter of getting the equipment and the distribution network. We have a viable business model with SOG Media because the MSM can't keep their bureaus open, for example in Kabul. We can replace that, with a message that we think needs to get out. It has involved a transition--"Reining in my inner Uncle Jimbo," which means not being a ranting hobbyist. We've snuck in the door, and as long as we can work together, we can get what we want out there. We didthe video editing garageband-style, but it came out professional quality. Go to sogmedia.com. It's pro-quality, but we have control of the content and what goes out the door.
JD - I started out from the mainstream side before I started blogging. When I found my old Marine unit was going to Iraq, I knew if I didn't tell the story it wouldn't get sold. I shot a demo reel and sold a package to local stations from places were the guys in the unit were from. That was the soft underbelly--what kind of coverage do they have? Not much--four stories: local boy leaves, returns, hurt, wife screwed by mortgage company; I give them option 5: local boy fighting the war. Footage is easy to sell if it's high-quality; no one cares who the cameraman is as long as you match yourself with a named reporter. Then started documentary films and CBS productions, A&E, etc. Outlets started hiring me to go out and shoot video, then hooked up wtih Jimbo for embeds.
Jimbo - Any of you can get the story from a deployed person, dress it up or edit it and sell it to a local newspaper. "I have a story about a guy from town and his unit kicked ass; I have the exclusive story." References recent ambush story in the NYT as an example of the kind of story that works.
JD - Your expertise and context helps tell a story even if you are not there. It just takes persistence to build relationships with local media that you can feed stories to. I come out of TV news, so I knew exactly how to tell the story and pitch it. Don't try to crack the network. If you have a good product, local is very receptive.
Lily - Rejection is a constant and you have to be persistent. Don't get discouraged. At least 25 rejections between each book.
Craig - Moving from avocation to vocation. We got into this because someone I work for brought it to our attention with blogging as the story of homefront support,the Rosie the Riveter story of this war. We want to tell your story. Part of the story is how the technology changes made it possible. It's not just weaponry and medicine, it's communications too. We're going to build a museum that is going to be worldclass and you're going to be a part of it. We're going to tell the story on the individual level, like Ken Burns' Civil War technique. We want to educate and inspire. We will pick individuals representative of the milblogging community and research them thoroughly to tell their story.
CJ - Talked with Washinton Times reporter. I talk to my local media (TV/paper/radio) and now they know if there's something military-related I'm a resource for "on the ground" perspective. Reporter said stories of individual soldiers are now being published in Washington Times.
CJ - Whose responsibility is it to make sure reader understands?
Lily - Journalism 101 is to include the info, put it all in the first paragraph.
Jimbo - Especially if you want to interact with MSM. They are clueless; they're muppets. They see Blackfive and say "That looks cool. What the hell is it about?" If you want to reach a wider audience, you have to assume they don't know what the hell you're talking about.
Attendee working with a veteran support organization - I'm challenging bloggers to do oral/video histories about the veterans who are passing away. We get so many requests from family to archive their stories and we can't get to them all.
AFW - Just a couple months ago my 93-year-old grandmother walked the WWII memorial. She remembers Pearl Harbor, and her husband was gone for three years. I find I have more in common with my 93-year-old grandmother than my contemporaries I went to school with.
Attendee from The US Naval Institute - As a publisher of book/magazines, how can we bridge this gap?
Jimbo - They have a platform where anybody can tell there story to be published on the USNI website. That's a start, a way to build credibility with bigger media. USNI stamp gives credibility to major media outlet. "Your blog's cute, but where else have you been published?" That's why we call ourselves (SOG) a guild--because we are setting ourselves up as a guild, a way to say we are peers who approve.
Grace from Washington Times - I have been tasked with recruiting military bloggers and people in military community to write for two pages in the newspaper every Thursday and "huge" website to be unveiled in early June. Goal is two writers from each base to tell us what is going on in their base. Includes spouses, veterans, children/teens to express how it is from their point of view. "Citizen journalism project." We understand we don't have the resources to go everywhere you are and that some of the best news comes from the ground up. We just did two pages that were out on Thursday the 23rd--one page Metro and one page National.
Grace - I hear that the MSM has failed the military community. Why do you think that is the case? I hear there are all kinds of communities that feel the media has failed them.
Lily - The major newspapers are general interest, so they can't cover it all. The papers are trying to global and we are celebrity-driven culture.
AFW - It's not lack of coverage, it's the way the story is presented, the oprah-ization of the news. I'm not a victim and that's how they want to paint me when they've do stories on me--"Isn't it awful that your husband is gone!"
AttendeeSusan Katz-Keating, former Washington Times reporter, correspondent for People Magazine - Yes, celebrity-driven. Also with the museum. We have a presence on the blog. We invite people to come and interact.
Jimbo - JD's new documentary Baghdad Happens is out. It is hilarious. He said, I thought about what Ken Burns would do and did the opposite. It is brilliant.
