In Medias Res: An Ordinary Revolution, Part II [1]

<1> A series of relatively recent events has forced me to reconsider the practice of publishing and the art of media-making. As Reconstruction approaches the completion of its fourth year of publication and begins a massive editorial reorganization [2], I have been undergoing a reorganization of my own -- a job search, manuscripts in search of publishers, a virtual conference to help plan, a dissertation defended, and a new baby at home. In addition to this, there are journal issues to complete, submissions to review, edits to make, reviews to write, and, now, an editorial to create. I am, as we all are, "in the middle of things" -- hence the catchy title.

<2> For Reconstruction, a journal organized around a process rather than a critical or methodological approach, remaining unfinished and in transition has proven to be our strength. An odd convergence of events has led me to believe what the margins have known for some time -- this "middling" quality is the seat of mediation. Far from being mundane, banal, or reactionary -- the experience of being dynamic and working towards productive communication is where we live.

<3> Craig Saper's keynote at the Cultures of Technology Virtual Conference, "Epistemologies of Doing: From Media Studies to Media Making," discussed the role of new media technologies in creating ethnographic experiences that aim to facilitate knowledge through action. Ironically, I missed Dr. Saper's talk because I was called away to do my own interviews and give my own lecture on media -- a discussion of journalism and local government. I struggled to find mainstream examples of local coverage that could reflect the same urgency, appeal, and intensity that is reflected in national media. I struggled to find big media coverage that could maintain the surprising transparency and lack of spin that somehow survives in local news. I struggled with this as the President Bush's April 13, 2004 press conference played in the background, bouncing off of the memories of Condoleeza Rice's 9/11 commission testimony [3]. Media -- prepared, preserved, and packaged -- a giant Twinkie for the body politic. And at the end of my struggle to come up with an appropriate topic for discussion, I discovered, like Dorothy returning from the land of Oz, that it all has to happen in our own backyards (and frontyards, living rooms, sidewalks, streets, and sewers). Politics is from the polis -- true politics must be locatable and must begin locally.

<4> This is why independent media is so good at what it does. Marginal though it may be, at its best its intent is to build a bridge to the middle. And whether one uses this bridge to run towards the middle or run away from it -- this middling ground, in its desire to connect, builds a public sphere by facilitating dialogue where there was none and by building a community in transition. As a path between two worlds, a bridge enables us to walk tall but denies us the luxury of simply standing our ground.

<5> A number of our past editorials have addressed our identity as an independent publication, and I feel that our archives reveal a diversity that is difficult to find elsewhere. But who we are as a community should not be defined by the path we have followed, it should be defined by what we do. With this issue, I remind readers about the pleasures that come with doing.

<6> Whether you decide to submit an article or review, get into a debate on our message boards, or sit back and read -- remember that as scholars we are all called to be media makers -- our real work is to help build bridges and walk across them. As a result, it is within our power to take this process wherever it needs to go. For $100 a year or less anyone with a computer and internet connection can start their own journal or write their own blog. Anyone with access to a copy machine can start their own magazine. Anyone with a marker and an idea is a potential media blitz. Anyone with a voice can speak in support of someone who cannot. And anyone with some chalk and a blackboard better let their students know this.

<7> Simply adding our trickle of academic discourse to the floodplains of media frenzy is not enough -- figuring out new ways to divert informational flows or build escape routes is what we need to do to save the members of our sinking polis. If nothing else, we can use our long-windedness to inflate some life rafts, so others can float to safety -- and we, with all of our backbiting, promotion-grubbing, and browbeating ways, can sink lazily to the bottom gulping big lungfulls of our own piss and vinegar. To clarify, we need to rediscover risk, sacrifice, and insecurity. We need to stop believing in ourselves and start believing in other people. Something I learned from my baby: I need to stop trying to be the best at what I do and get comfortable with the idea that if my baby isn't better than me, then I am a failure.

<8> As a pleasant finish to a year of transitions, I am happy to offer the following articles which in their own way discuss the production and consumption of media. Four articles offer descriptive critiques of mediation: a humorous look at Plato's rhetorical shenanigans, a grim discussion of the excesses of war, an analysis of a popular television show, and an investigation of underground publishing. Two articles offer prescriptive strategies for media-making: a call to create a working-class rhetoric and an articulation of the role of media literacy in education.

Davin Heckman

Notes

[1] This editorial is a follow-up piece on Davin Heckman and Patrick Vrooman's "Teaching in the Middle: An Ordinary Revolution" in Reconstruction 3.4 (Fall 2003). [^]

[2] In an effort to more fully realize the democratic spirit of Reconstruction, with volume four the editorial board voted in favor of decentralizing the editorial process of the journal. As a result, an open call was placed to audition new editors to manage submissions from a wide range of specialties or "editorial domains." In addition, the administrative process was split across several positions: managing editor, technical editor, submissions editor, special projects editor, and reviews editor. The goal of this reorganization is to disperse executive power, improve the journal's quality and efficiency, and to create a mechanism for its continued success. [^]

[3] To participate in a thoughtful discussion of Rice's testimony, visit Michael Benton's April 8, 2004 essay "Musings of a Political Discontent" on In the Fray. [^]