The fifth estate

This here internet thingy seems to have some merit after all. Forget for the moment the constant irritations of unwanted spam (other processed meat products are available), the ironically termed “pop-up” ads for Viagra, dubious financial solicitations from West African astronauts, Doncaster lorry drivers pretending to be girls and Walsall council. Leaving them aside, the internet can be a very useful thing indeed.

Recent goings on in the ether that hovers above our fair borough have been interesting to say the least. Local treasure of the northern wastes, Brownhills Bob has taken umbrage at a press report in the lacklustre Express and Star regarding a quiet road in that Staffordshire backwater being described as the meanest street for gun crime this side of south Chicago. He and the redoubtable Ziksby and others including the Old Bill, were able to debunk this sensational and inaccurate nonsense with such élan that the E&S were forced to print the truth about a kid with a CS cannister but made no reference to their earlier piece of piffle. Reported as being the most dangerous street in the Midlands, it turns out it was all just a “prank”. No apology, no retraction, no future for the printed press.

The rather wonderful Bloxidge Tallygraph recently presented to the online community with what is basically a Unilateral Declaration of Independence for the fair town of Bloxwich; for too long down-trodden under the yoke of oppressive Walsall. Over the hill and far away, pheaseyviews gave us accurate and timely results of the recent by-election in said emergent Bloxwich whilst the fourth estate and the council online presence slept. The Mushroom exposes the foibles of our ruling councillors with wit and insight.

Others, including thestymaster, hapdanial, reelgonekid, janehowarth, stevieboy, richjohnson, junction 10 and a pair or recently married penguins, keep us entertained and informed on Twitter. Apologies to anyone left out – you are all stars.

These rants, tweets, blogs, expositions and sometimes absurd ramblings would be fruitless ejaculations of electrons into cyber-space if it were not for the local web that catches and musters the fireflies, bright sparks and reflected alpha rhythms of those who feel the need to question and communicate.

The YamYam is a news aggregation web site. It gathers news items about Walsall in the absence of a daily newspaper presence in the town. If that were not enough, it also covers business and sport stories and, more importantly for those of us with the arrogance to think that we have something important to say, local blogs in its comment section. Without The YamYam, we would be screaming in a field at midnight, naked except for a bobble hat.

The gathering of diverse opinions undertaken by The YamYam has resulted in a fearless, local and vocal online community not afraid to prick the pompous balloons of those in charge. The first, second, third and fourth estates are listening and some are attempting to engage with some token and half-hearted contributions. But the Genie is out of the bottle and new technology has left the powers that be reactive and impotent.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decided to block e-mails and web connection from i-phones because such behaviour is considered to be a threat to national security. Can you imagine the reaction if our masters tried that here?

Apologia:
The hippo would have embedded links to the blogs, web sites, individuals and stories mentioned above but does not have a bloody clue how to do it. Such is the power of new media.