About the Spark
This is a little blog hoping to grow into a local alternative news source. It’s a bit early to say too much about what the project will eventually become, but here are the core ideas we’re going for.
1. Spartanburg matters: Great things can happen here, and we’re dedicated to helping in our own special way. Currently, our main attempts at this are an increasingly comprehensive community calendar, free music listings for all area venues, music reviews/previews, local news criticism/commentary and Spartanburg-based blog and online-video coverage. Eventually, we’ll move into proper news reporting, but we’re a small operation, so we have to do this one step at a time.
2. Great things can take a long time to take root: We’re certainly not the website and media outlet we’re hoping to become. If anything, we’re a pale shadow of what we’ll eventually be. But we’re growing. This process will almost certainly involve lots of fumbling and mistakes, but we are trying to become something bigger and more meaningful. Likewise, we believe that Spartanburg isn’t the city that it will eventually become. We see big things in this city’s future, and we’re dedicated to helping it grow into the community we know it can be.
3. We’re here to spur you on: Our job is to remind you about the good things in your city, nag you about the things that still need to be fixed, applaud when you put on a great performance, and give you access to some of the tools you need to make everything around you a little bit better. Your job is to do the same for us. Sound fair?
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Spartanburg Spark start?
The project “officially” launched on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, but the project itself had been in the works in some form since July of 2006. The “beta” version of the site went up on Friday, Aug. 15, and the basic elements of the site came together over the next two weeks. This was documented as a series of blogs sharing the heading “The Spartanburg Project.”
Is there a “liberal” bias to the Spark?
We get that a lot, and we’re never sure how to answer it. We’re certainly a group of people who — on the whole — want to see Spartanburg move in a generally progressive direction. But several of the key members of the Spark‘s volunteer staff are Republicans and self-proclaimed “conservatives.” We’re anti-racist, anti-discrimination (of any kind), anti-ignorance, pro-accountability, pro-community, pro-sustainability, pro-creativity and generally pro-local anything. But the “liberal” camp doesn’t own these ideas. So, we’re clearly progressive, but we’ll pass on “liberal.”
Yeah, but what about the bias part?
Every publication, every writer, every editor and every media professional has a bias. We have at least two: We’re “progressive,” and we’re “pro-local.” Does this color the site’s content? To an extent, it surely does. It certainly influences the kinds of things we give priority to. But it doesn’t mean we’re out to play “gotcha” with anyone, either, or that we’re not being honest when we present our point(s) of view. As with any media project, the Spark is a product of the people who put it together, and while we certainly aren’t neutral on every topic, we do try to be fair. The difference between us and many other media outlets is that we own up to that bias, right out front.
How can I help keep the site going?
The absolute easiest, lowest-hassle, no-cost-to-you way of helping us is by regularly visiting our advertisers. We use Google ads — the most professional and safe company in the business –so you don’t have to worry about getting some weird virus or something by clicking on an ad. If you want to support us and what we do, please take just a moment of your time and make a few clicks.
You can also donate directly to the Spark by using the PayPal button. We’re not a non-profit or anything, so you can’t write it off your taxes, so I’d think of it more as a tip jar. If you like us, and get value from the site, and would like to see it continue on, consider donating $5.
Likewise, if you really like us, consider buying something from our CafePress store, which has all kinds of t-shirts and coffee mugs with our logo on it. The prices are a little high (see below for an explanation of this), and we get like $1 from anything you buy, but at least you get a cool shirt or whatever, and we get someone advertising the site for free.
Are you looking for contributors?
Always. To get involved in what we’re doing, make suggestions or otherwise communicate with us, e-mail publisher@spartanburgspark.com. We’re always in need of writers with a unique take on the community. Have a passion for local politics, environmentalism, music, visual arts or pretty much anything local? We need you. Drop us a line, please.
How do you decide what gets covered?
Currently, this depends on three factors — our mandate, writer interest and available time. We only cover local topics, so that limits our coverage in some ways. We also tend to cover areas not addressed by the other local media. Since we’re still starting out, we don’t have the luxury of assigning a staff writer to cover a story they have little interest in, so we tend to cover stories our writers have some passion for. When time allows, we’ll cover other subjects of broader interest to the community.
Why does it seem like some parts of the site are still under development?
Because they are. If the Spark were software, we’d still be in the public beta phase — most of the basic structure and functionality is in place, but some things are still unrefined. Our calendar is still growing, for instance, and it may be months before it is the definitive community events calendar for the Spartanburg area. This is also true for our music listings and community directory — not to mention the other site functions we haven’t actually made public yet. As our content grows, our site will start to feel less empty and more useful to the average reader.
What do you pay your writers?
At the time of this writing, nothing. The people attracted to this project are the kind of folks who have a passion for writing and their community, and would want to write about these subjects for their own enjoyment. Occasionally, we’ll hire out a story for a small fee — usually $10 or so — but until the print version of the paper launches and we hire an ad department to support the business side, we’re pretty much a volunteer organization.
Why do you have ads and a merch store? I thought you were about community?
The ads you see on the site exist to help us offset the cost of our web hosting. In an ideal world, they’d also help us pay for our writers and other expenses, but the Spark currently doesn’t get anywhere near that kind of traffic. The CafePress store serves much the same function, and in the event anyone actually decides to take pity on us and buy a hat or something, it has the added benefit of getting our logo out there.
We also occasionally run free ads for the community, on a whim or because we like the project.
Why is everything in your CafePress store so expensive?
Print-on-demand is kind of a losing game, because you never get the price breaks that come with a big press run. CafePress charges a flat rate per item, which includes their markup from buying this stuff wholesale. We have a small additional markup which comes from letting them sell you something with our logo on it. Seriously, don’t look at these items as standard retail goods. Look at them like the “free” totebags you get when you donate to PBS or NPR. It’s a donation to a cause you believe in and want to support. The coffee mug or whatever is just a nice thank you.
The Spark is wonderful, and I’d really like to advertise on your site. What are your rates?
We’re still working on that. We offered ads for the first several months of the Spark, but were reluctant to actually take money from anyone, since that would require some kind of formal business operation.
So, instead, we’ve decided to go another route entirely. We offer free ads to any local business, band, blog, non-profit group or other such organization under our Free Ad Initiative. In short, it works like this: Instead of charging, we give businesses the ad for free and then ask for donations to keep the site going.
At some point, we’ll buckle down and set up the ads and stuff. We’ll have invoices, pay all the right taxes with the right forms, and otherwise do it more officially. Until we’re ready to do that, though, you’d have better luck just e-mailing us and asking for a free ad.
Steve Shanafelt
Christopher & Steve, et al.
A Perspective from a former Spartan.
I encountered your blog several months ago in the turmoil that was occurring at the “threat” of the upcoming Gay Pride parade in Spartanburg.
As someone who chose to move away from Spartanburg, I am fascinated and intrigued by your commitment and focus in the local community from a liberal and progressive “bias”.
I’m someone who also had a firm grounding in Spartanburg — as my family roots in the area go back over 150 years. When I met people from others areas, I often felt that I was given the gift of being grounded in a place — a place that gave me a strong sense of who I was, something that I often found missing in others. I attended Boiling Springs High School in Spartanburg, and went on to Wofford College. Wofford opened up a larger world for me, and I went on to spend three years in the Peace Corps, and traveled widely.
Everything would have been fine, but for several factors, I had a slightly more liberal family, a wider perspective was opened up to me through college, the Peace Corps, and travel experiences, and I had the “misfortune” of being gay in a fundamentalist town.
In returning at the age of 26, suddenly Spartanburg, which had been the grounding force in my life, never quite fit, or rather, I didn’t fit. For me, it became an intolerant, even hostile place.
But I felt I could stay and try to change some things. I’d participate in many discussions, wrote letters to the editor, joined the local UU church. The fight was worth it. Being liberal, the fight was worth it. Being Gay, it was worth it, (although I was discouraged by how frightened and cowardly the local gay community was). Even when I became HIV positive, the fight was worth it. But the breaking point came in the early 90′s, when I progressed to AIDS. At the time I knew i had a short time to live. I was sick. I did not have the energy to fight anymore.
You’d think I’d be in doubt in turmoil. Spartanburg was my home, the home of my ancestors, my family, my work of ten years, the home of friends, of my church. Despite that, everything became crystal clear.
I did not feel safe in Spartanburg, I did not want to go through what I knew would be an excruciating illness in Spartanburg. And I did not want to die in Spartanburg. My partner had moved to Portland, Oregon a year before, and after visiting several times, I knew that was where I could be safe, so I packed up a few belonging, and drove across country, knowing hardly no one, not knowing what to expect, but hoping for a few more months of being healthy enough to enjoy my new home.
.
That would not be. In my first few months in Portland, I lost 30 pounds, nearly died twice Despite that, I never once regretted my move. I had never realized how much energy it had taken for me to live in Spartanburg. Now, I could take a deep breath, and breathe. I felt safe.
After 6 months, I flew back to Spartanburg for a visit. At it happened, a close friend from work had just died suddenly of a heart attack. He was very conservative, and vehemently anti-gay (even though his own son was secretly gay). He had represented one of the reasons I had to leave Spartnaburg. I could only stare down at him in his coffin, and whisper, “Was it all worth it?” I met another co-worker, a anti-gay conservative. I could only ask him, was it right for me to leave my home, my friends, family, and church to find a safe place to die? He looked down. I want to say he was ashamed, but that was probably asking too much.
It’s been 14 years and I never once regretted my move. There are many parts of Spartanburg and being a Southerner that are deeply ingrained in me. But I know it as a place that is not safe on many levels — physically, financially, but most important, spiritually and emotionally. For the past 14 years, I haven’t had the need to fight for my right to be. I am no longer on the defensive for being a liberal, a gay, or someone with AIDS. I can just be myself. I don’t think people realize how liberating and freeing that is. The weight I was carrying just being myself in Spartanburg was oppressive in many ways, but it’s biggest detriment was in how it was holding me back in my growth as a complete person.
Finally some questions:
First I want to thank you guys for offering a bit of light in conservative fundamentalist area of the country.
But is Spartanburg worth saving, or even possible to save? Gosh, all that energy you are putting out. I can’t help but think how you guys would grow and blossom someplace else. It seems that at some point, the fight would just suck the life out of you. You have the option to leave. Why stay? (And not everyone everywhere has that option. I was visiting the townships in South Africa last month — where the best that could be hoped for was to grit one’s teeth, and hope for something better).
On a visit back a few years ago, I met a young gay teenage boy at a PFLAG meeting. My advise to him was to get the best education he could, and get out of Spartanburg as quickly as possible. To save himself. Otherwise, chances are, he would end up living a stunted incomplete life.
I realize it is people like him, people like you, that need to stay and fight for change, so that the next gay kid can have it a little easier. I though I was willing to stay and fight. or at least until illness brought me down.
But now, healthier, and after living on the other side in a community that welcomes and accepts me, I would not consider returning. Was the cost of the fight I did wage worth it? I see the struggle of my gay friends, still there, and I am sad for them.
Sometimes, I think the best option is a sort of triage for young gay kids. To do what we can to try to save them. To let them know there are safe places. To hold on, until they can move there.
What would you tell that young gay kid?
When is the fight not worth fighting?
Is it worth the expense of one’s whole life?
And when is the cost too high for you guys?
gb: Thanks so much for sharing your story. I really enjoyed reading your personal experience with Spartanburg, and was honestly moved by what you had to say.
First, I should start out by saying that I’m writing this as my own opinion and it in no way is meant to be “official” Spark opinion (whatever the hell that would be anyway). I also don’t speak for Steve on this, so he’ll have to chime in on his own if he wants to.
My answer to your central question about whether Spartanburg is “worth it” is, sometimes.
There are days when I don’t want to look at the local news or see anything Spartanburg-related, because I know that odds are, it will be something that I’ll feel obligated to go to war over. Plenty of times–maybe even most times–I look around my hometown and I see so little worth redeeming that I want to pack my bags right then and there and tell everyone I leave behind to kiss my ass goodbye.
Other days, I’m more optimistic. Spartanburg does have some tiny pockets of progressivism, and part of what I take it as my job to do is support those pockets as much as I can. The way I try to do that is by battling the conservative extremists that dominate our political debate here. Whether that makes any difference or not, I can’t say. Either way though, it’s all I know to do.
The thing is, from a rational point of view I know that I’m doomed to lose those political battles, all of them. Spartanburg will NEVER be a politically progressive place, and if I’m going to be honest with myself, I have to admit that. The most we can ever hope for is to have a reasonably-sized progressive subculture, a blue blip in an ocean of red.
I did leave once, and if it hadn’t been for some unexpected personal twists and turns, I wouldn’t have ever come back. We lived in the SF Bay area–Santa Cruz specifically. I didn’t really get involved with the political scene while I was there, but it was incredibly refreshing not to have arguments with people over whether MLK’s birthday should be a holiday or whether we should teach evolution in schools.
Coming back wasn’t something I wanted to do, but sometimes I’m glad it happened. A part of me thinks I wasn’t ready to leave yet and now, I’m not sure that I want to leave.
Then there are other things at work as well. This isn’t meant as a slight to people from other places, but in my experience Southerners have particularly strong ties to place and history, or at least I do. I’m reluctant to leave my heritage behind because I was driven off by reactionaries. I also wonder what would happen to Spartanburg if every progressive left. Wouldn’t we just be giving this place and everyone in it over to the extremists without so much as a fight? I’m just as Southern as they are, and my roots here go back just as far–if not further–than theirs do. What gives them the right to claim that theirs is the “real” Spartanburg, and mine is not?
Still, that’s pretty easy for me to say. Other than getting some dirty looks for my Obama bumper sticker and occasionally catching shit from conservative internet politicos, there’s no threat to me personally, just a lot of inconvenience. If I were gay, things might look very different.
In fact, I’ve talked with my girlfriend before. We’ve both agreed that if we ever had a child who we knew was gay we’d get the hell out of here as soon as humanly possible. It’s one thing to subject myself to the political inconvenience of living here, but it would be quite another to allow my own flesh and blood to grow up in a place where the majority of the people actively hated him or her. That’s when the cost would be too high for me.
Leaving that scenario aside though, I don’t know where my breaking point is. I know I have one, but I haven’t reached it yet.
Still, if you know anybody in Portland who’d be willing to take on a guy with a bit of a writing talent, but no other marketable skills to speak of let me know
GB: Thanks for sharing your story. I’d say you made an extremely rational, sane choice in leaving Spartanburg. The deck is definitely stacked against a progressive, liberal, gay person with AIDS here, and will be for the foreseeable future.
“First I want to thank you guys for offering a bit of light in conservative fundamentalist area of the country.”
No problem. Thus far, it’s been remarkably easy to do. But the Spark isn’t aiming to provide light; if it’s bright here, it is because we’ve provided a place where other people can bring their candles.
“But is Spartanburg worth saving, or even possible to save?”
I didn’t move to Spartanburg or start the Spark project to save the city. That would be a terribly frustrating — if not outright impossible — thing to do. But helping to move the city in a new direction isn’t impossible. Even if it’s an inch at a time, that’s still progress.
The goal here was simply to facilitate a movement that was already happening, and had been for some time. As far as I can tell, the city has been slowly moving in a progressive direction for at least a decade — possibly much more — but only now are things starting to bubble to the surface. Spartanburg is trying to save itself, if anything.
“Gosh, all that energy you are putting out. I can’t help but think how you guys would grow and blossom someplace else. It seems that at some point, the fight would just suck the life out of you.”
I just don’t see it that way. I moved here specifically to start this project, and to participate in a cultural shift that was already taking place. And the “fight,” such as it is, hasn’t been that big of a deal thus far. I fully expected it to be a daily battle, but instead I’ve been struck by just how many progressive people are in this city.
Then again, I’m not carrying the burden you were, so it’s much, much easier for me: I’m straight and I don’t have a stigmatized disease. No one hates me simply for existing.
“You have the option to leave. Why stay?”
Again, I moved here specifically to help with an existing progressive momentum which was dragging the city’s population — kicking and screaming, in some cases — into the 21st century. This “fight” isn’t something I got caught up in by accident; it’s why I’m here.
“What would you tell that young gay kid?”
Spend a few years in Asheville, New York, or almost anywhere in the Bay Area. You’ll probably love it, and you’ll learn that you aren’t the one who is messed up, but rather that the culture you grew up in is saturated with people who are afraid of a bunch of stuff that ultimately doesn’t matter all that much. If you find yourself back in Spartanburg for some reason, and you feel like helping to change the culture, do so knowing that any change takes time, and that progress is always slow.
“When is the fight not worth fighting?”
I can’t answer that. I imagine that you fight daily just to stay sane knowing that a virus is doing its best to kill you. I don’t blame you at all for not wanting to fight the homophobia of religious fanatics and the fears of people who think that you can catch HIV/AIDS from shaking hands with a gay person.
But that’s not really the battle the Spark is fighting. If anything, our battle is just to provide a place where people can talk about all kinds of stuff that they normally aren’t able to in a local context. Gay rights are a part of this, but so is zoning in the county or the merits of the local hip-hop scene.
“Is it worth the expense of one’s whole life?”
I don’t think anyone is asking for that. This isn’t a matter of one person carrying an impossible burden of changing a whole community. Lasting change generally doesn’t happen like that. It takes a lot of effort by a lot of people over a long time, and most of these changes are so small and slow that you almost don’t notice them when they happen.
The Upstate Pride march is a good example. The triumph there wasn’t the march; it was that years of quiet activism and organization within the GLBTIQ community finally came together enough for such at thing to happen at all. It’s easy to see the dramatic stuff, but you have to build a plumbing system in order to have a fountain.
To put it another way: This is a slow, steady process of building a community, brick by brick. At best, the Spark is a wheelbarrow in this equation. We’re not doing all the work, we’re just helping those who are.
“And when is the cost too high for you guys?”
Again, I’m here entirely by choice. There’s no expectation on my part of being here forever, but while I am here I intend to help the existing process of community growth along. The cost of doing that is a few hours a day of my time, and I’d argue it’s worth it.
But, largely because I’m not from here and not tied down to a history, a job, a specific peer group or a family reputation, I don’t have a lot of the same costs that you would. Most of the people I know in Spartanburg I’ve met through the Spark, and what recognition I get in the city comes through that. This “fight” is, thus far, a net gain for me.
It doesn’t hurt that, to the extent that I’m “fighting,” I’m basically doing it on my terms. I’m not trying to force anyone to change, I’m just trying to provide something that wasn’t here before. I’m not arguing with the ninnies on the GoUpstate forums about why civilization won’t fall if two men are allowed to hold hands while walking down the street, or trying to win a shouting match at a town hall meeting with someone who is convinced that Obama is really a Kenyan spy who seeks to destroy America by providing reasonable health care.
But I’m also not in a position to be afraid of losing business or support because I’ve offended some extremist whackjob, and that’s not true for a lot of people around here. I have a lot less to lose.
Thanks for your honest response to my story and questions.
I think social scientist find it interesting how social and personal change happens, often as a result of people and communities being placed with stark choices about their life and future. In my case, it was facing death, and ultimately how I would choose to live. In the case of my ancestors, either through religious persecution, or economic circumstances such as the potato famines in Ireland, ultimately having to make the choice of leaving their home with the hope and dream of something better. The results can be unexpected. One outcome of the AIDS epidemic in the US was forcing people out of the closet, even violently protesting when they saw themselves and their friends dying. Things would never be the same.
And I think how the results can also be awe-inspring and courageous, such as Nelson Mandela leading his country through the pitfalls of apartheid. Or it can be discouraging and heart-breaking, such as what has happened in Zimbabwe over the past 30 years when confronted with similar choices.
I can agree with you about having a sense of place. I still feel that when hiking the NC mountains, it is something that gets deep down inside your bones. Yet, when does a sense of place become stagnation, a willingness to tolerate the intolerable, to turn a blind eye to the persecuted, until we discover one day that we are them? At what point are we forced to relinquish what was once a well-worn sense of place and time, forced to to move on in that larger and more eternal movement of humanity, to write a constitution, nail a theses on a church wall, or to sail across an ocean, into the unknown?
ok — even that was getting a little too hokey pokey deep for me…..
but I’m glad you guys are part of that movement, and not part of the stagnation.
Thanks for all the work you do.
Hello Steve,
I’m the author of Comment Rating wordpress plugin. Google alert pointed me to your blog about the experiment with comment rating system.
The plug-in is under active development. And I’d love to have your input to improve it further. The dynamics of reader regulated commenting system is rather intricate. I’m considering adding another highlight category for hotly-debated comment (Likes+Dislikes)>X. This type of comments will surely fan more opinions and comments.
If you have any thoughts, please comment on my todo list for the plug in.
http://wealthynetizen.com/comment-rating-plugin-todo-list/
BoB
Will do, BoB. Although I only installed it a few days ago, I’ve been impressed with the plugin in general. We’re still working out the settings, but on the whole I quite like it. There were a few other karma-like plugins I looked at, but this one had the notable advantage of not being a huge hassle to set up, being easily customized, and having a decent amount of documentation.
I’ll definitely pass along any observations as we continue to test it out.