Joining the Blogosphere - Nevada County catching on to Web journal craze

In the upper right-hand corner of The New York Times is a slogan that’s familiar to anyone who’s ever picked up a copy of the “Gray Lady.”

The newspaper beckons potential readers with “All The News That’s Fit To Print,” a tagline that flies in the face of tech-savvy citizens exploring the rapidly expanding world of online journalism.

For them, the world of online, personal journalism known as Web logs or “blogs” is as limitless as their imagination.

Nevada County residents use blogs to keep track of friends and relatives in far-flung places, to pontificate on specific issues of the day or just poke fun at their own dependence on technology.


A new soapbox

Russ Steele, a retired engineer and Air Force veteran, said he started his blog, ncwatch.blogspot.com, last August in part because he wanted an additional way to publicly express his thoughts outside of The Union’s opinion section.

Steele’s recent posts include commentary on the Nevada County Board of Supervisors’ decision Monday to refund $500 to residents opposed to a wood-chipping site at East Bennett and Brunswick roads as well as musings on outspoken Grass Valley Planning Commissioner Terry Lamphier.

“I feel like a commentator,” Steele said. “The trend here is that more and more news is being disseminated electronically. I think people will find the news they get from their neighbor just as interesting or more interesting as news that comes from far-flung places.”

Steele, 67, a Nevada County native who has read the local daily newspaper consistently for 50 years, believes blogs will survive, especially since the 18-to-34 year-old demographic has grown up in an electronic media marketplace.

Surveys conducted in 2005 by the nonprofit Pew Center indicate that 16 percent (32 million) of U.S. adults read blogs. The survey suggests that those who read blogs account for 20 percent of newspaper readers and 40 percent of the talk radio audience, according to the Pew Center.


Just saying ‘hi’

Many use blogs as an advanced way to connect with friends and loved ones, as if they all stopped at a bar after work to talk about their lives.

That’s the concept behind Sadico Junction, a site run by 29-year-old Sadie Hartmann of Penn Valley. Until this past week, readers were greeted by a picture of the set of the old “Cheers” bar, where, as the song suggests, “everybody knows your name.”

“The picture is a physical manifestation of Sadico Junction,” said Hartmann, whose father gave her the nickname that graces her blog.

Hartmann, an expectant mother with two young children, began the post simply as a place for her friends and relatives to riff about their daily lives.

The blog describes her admiration of the Black Crowes, plugs a new karaoke video game, gives a detailed re-telling of her brother-in-law’s harrowing trip down the American River rapids just after the heat wave that accompanied days of snows in the Sierra and includes a take on an atheists’ convention in San Francisco.

“Having a blog feels tight,” Hartmann said. “(Posting messages) and having someone read them is like stopping into a room and saying hi to everyone.”

Hartmann’s cousin, Levi Nunnink, 21, reads Sadico Junction regularly and swaps stories with her on his own blog, www.culturezoo.blogspot.com. In fact, those who visit the blogs are affectionately referred to as “bloglings.”

“It’s a good way to focus and learn about the writing process,” said Nunnink, a Grass Valley resident who designs web pages for Sutter Health in Rancho Cordova.

The instant communication of a blog makes the world feel smaller,
Nunnink said.


A tech addict’s forum

For Sierra College Trustee Aaron Klein, 26, blogs are an important way to connect with his far-flung constituency of residents in Placer and Nevada counties.

On his blog, www.sierracollegetrustee.blogspot.com, Klein posts news articles about Sierra College, speeches he delivers to local organizations, as well as archives of stories that mention his name.

“It’s a great way to facilitate a conversation with the people you represent,” said Klein, owner of a software development company who was elected in November to represent western Nevada County on the Sierra College board.

Just prior to launching his Sierra College blog, Klein in October created www.crackberryaddict.blogspot.com, a name that pokes fun at Klein’s incessant dependence on the handheld electronic e-mail device he keeps clipped to his belt except when he showers or sleeps.

“The difference between having a BlackBerry and not is like being connected to civilization or not,” Klein joked. “You don’t realize how useful it is until it breaks.”

On Klein’s personal site, he apologizes to his visitors for the dearth of local content and rhapsodizes about the virtues of good customer service.

The blog also includes commentary from Klein’s wife, Cacey.

Klein, who reads several newspapers daily, believes the immediacy and free-form style of blogging can complement what newspapers have been doing for centuries.

“I think people read something in a blog and they look very carefully at it and they want it confirmed by other media,” he said. “Blogs aren’t there to replace other media; they’re simply there to keep media accountable.”

Blogging basics

• A blog, or Web log, is essentially an online journal where just about anyone can post their thoughts and allow comments from visitors.
• There are a number of places where blogs can be posted. Those include www.blogger.com, www.typepad.com, and teen-oriented sites www.myspace.com, www.livespace.com, and www.xanga.com.
• Each of the sites above includes simple directions to set up your blog.
• The first blog was believed to be established in 1997.