The clock in the kitchen is ticking.
The dog who usually rests under my desk as I work has gone off the sleep in the living room.
It is quiet everywhere but in my head where I am sorting out all l want to tell you about Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave.
This week we celebrate two years of stories and pictures of Southwest Michigan, from Battle Creek to South Haven, Kalamazoo to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. In that time we have collected a solid group of regular readers and each week more and more people find us for the first time.
Whether you’re a longtime reader or one who’s recently found us when your friend forwarded a link from the story on Kinetic Affect, what I’d like to offer is what makes Second Wave different from a lot of what’s out there to read there these days.
The difference is not just that
Issue Media Group, which publishes Second Wave, is a virtual company connected by computers and phones. Or that we’re supported by NPR-style sponsors rather than the traditional advertisers. It’s more a philosophy, or maybe an attitude. And it’s one that more and more people are starting to acknowledge.
Last week, in one of my bedside
magazines I found a story headlined: "The Tales We Tell Ourselves Could Change Everything."
It says, "What story do you tell yourself about what’s going on in your life and in the larger world? According to Harvard motivation theorist David McClelland, the waxing and waning of civilizations, and the growth and decline of economies, are heavily influenced by the stories we tell ourselves and our children.
"If the predominant images in our folktales, children’s stories, and popular myths are positive, and emphasize moderate risk-taking, creative initiative, personal responsibility, and long-range vision," McClelland contends, "then our society as a whole, and the economy in particular, are more likely to flourish."
The author, Eric Utne, goes on to ask: "What sorts of stories should we be telling ourselves and each other to create a more positive future?"
That’s it. That is what Second Wave is about. Stories to create a more positive future. We call it the alternative narrative: When the reality of a place and the story that is told about it don’t match up. They call it Rust Belt, we call it ... anything else. The alternative narrative is the story about what really is happening, as the publisher at one of our sister publications put it, the stories of creative people and projects, emerging trends, best practices. Ideas. Solutions.
We want our readers to tell us what they see is going the right way and how they think we can fix what’s not. We believe there is a need for what we do.
This week, thought leaders Peter Block and John McKnight are in Kalamazoo to talk about abundant, inclusive communities and how to get there.
One of the things they bring up when they get people together is what they call
New Journalism, stories about what’s working in our communities, stories that document what it is local citizens contribute to those successes. Cofounder of Journalism that Matters Peggy Holman says: "What you see here signals a shift in thinking about the role journalism can take to build communities and make neighborhoods functional again."
There it is again. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s why we don’t do negative news. As one of the company’s founders likes to say: If Pfizer is laying off 300 people I can guarantee you that story will be covered. The market does not need us to cover it. That niche is filled.
The startup that just went from four employees to six, the entrepreneur who just moved out of his garage and hired a secretary -- those are the stories we're going to cover because it’s harder for them to get coverage.
Idea stories are not what we feature every week. People like to read about their Derby Darlins, because they are an expression of community, too. (I’ve got the Google Analytics to prove it.) Even so, the stories about creating a time bank in local neighborhoods, programs that encourage the community to include those with disabilities, young people catching the entrepreneurial bug, figuring out how to make hackers and hustlers feel welcome in the region, gardens that teach elementary school students how things grow -- those are what set us apart.
We’re still learning about this new journalism. I was a print journalist for 25 years and now an online journalist for two. I haven’t mastered the fun part of the equation that a lot of our publications have down to a science, although I’m trying with the Second Wave vs. Second Wave challenge. (Visit our
Facebook page for more on that.)
Journalism Career 2.0 started with a handful of other about to be laid off print reporters meeting in an interview at Water Street Coffee Joint downtown. Today, most of my interviews for feature stories are at Cafe Casa on the Kalamazoo Mall. Tomorrow ...
Excuse me. The dog is back. She wants to go outside. Now it is quiet in the house and in my head. But all it will take is one more great story idea to crank up the noise till I have a chance to share that idea with you.
Kathy Jennings is the Editor of Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor.