- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 1
- 3
-
Sparkle (0)
Oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico more than one month after an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and created what's being called the world's biggest environmental disaster. In deep contrast to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the Internet is playing an important role in how we are receiving information about what it happening in the Gulf. The world is literally watching the oil by live feed via a Spillcam, and bloggers from the region and bloggers with specific expertise in difference niches are essential resources for understanding what is happening right now in the Gulf.
The Gulf Coast is a complicated and beautiful region, and this disaster has wide-reaching impact. A massive and diverse body of political, environmental, economic and personal issues are playing out in the cities, rural fishing towns, beach communities, and family dinner table conversations all along the Gulf states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Bloggers are communicating with the immediacy, urgency and resonance that can only be conveyed by those actually experiencing an event. Their words and images are conveying real-time reports of the impact and of the uncertainty of continuing and long-term damage. Knowing that this disaster has changed a landscape and a way of life, bloggers are writing about the mysterious amalgam of deep Southern, seafaring, tourist-welcoming and community-driven cultures in the Gulf. They are writing requiems to remember pristine beaches and marshes, they are thinking aloud about how to tell their children about the dangers of oil in their air, they are sharing news and creating awareness, and they are organizing action. They are blogging to share their home and hearts --their precious, precarious Gulf -- with the world, because they know this disaster affects everyone and the losses are hard to comprehend.
Here are some of the blogs I've turned to for personal accounts of life in the Gulf region, for niche information, and for intelligent analysis about the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Giving Voice to the Region
Floridian Ryan Marshall of Pacing the Panic Room has been catalyzed by the disaster to document the stories of Gulf residents through his blog and his artful portrait photography. The first post in a series, His Gulf of Mexico is brilliant work, showcasing the mixture of regional pride, anger, grief and hopefulness that many Gulf residents are feeling. Ryan's project is exceptional because of his talent and because of the respect he holds for his role as messenger:
I am headed to Mississippi to reunite with my family there, many of which are in the middle of the fight to contain this spill. I am going to be doing a series of photo essays from the heart of the spill, into Mississippi, and back down into the Florida Pan Handle. These faces and stories will be the most important thing I have ever aimed my camera at, and I hope I can do them justice, and truly capture what we are all facing.
Image courtesy Pacing the Panic Room
Telling the Story Behind the News
Blogs excel at delving deeper than sound bites and at helping us understand niche topics. For example, mainstream media frequently turns to Barbara Callahan and her colleagues at the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) for information about the coordinated oiled wildlife response, but blogs provide more information, personal accounts, photos and videos from them and from others. The IBRRC's blog provides frequent updates on their intensive work in the Gulf, and in this post on The Wip, Barbara not only reports from Alabama but also reveals her passionate motivation:
While it is emotionally difficult to see animals suffering, particularly when they are suffering from something caused by humans, I feel strongly that it is our responsibility to help animals in distress.
Awareness and Action
Bloggers with specific interests or insights are dedicating countless hours to gathering information, disseminating it, and rallying calls to action. For example, blogs like Save the Environment are aggregating diverse media stories to make sure the environmental stories aren't buried. Bloggers like Julie Pippert from the Texas Gulf Coast are taking on the political and fiscal implications of the spill. Writing at Momocrats, Pippert says:
My town certainly can't afford to pay for another coastal cleanup. We barely finished recuperating from the last one and the subsequent hurricane. And it shouldn't be on our financial ledger anyway.
This challenging and provocative post by Rick Moran at The Moderate
