The Modern Day Town Crier and More

In the olden days, as they are named, the town crier called out the news for the people daily. He let them know where things stood on issues important to them and the future of their town. One man, in the town of Red Bank, New Jersey, has de facto taken on the role of 21st century town crier for the cause of protecting the towns rights to continue to use the Internet as they have in the past. It’s a brilliant strategy.

The man’s name is Tom and he’s asking Verizon Communications to make three promises as part of the contract for Internet services with the town of Red Bank, New Jersey. Those promise are:

Promise to provide A la carte cable service to Red Bank residents

Promise not to object to a Red Bank Municipal WiFi network

Promise to keep the internet a level playing field by upholding the tenets of Net Neutrality

Tom’s choice of communicating with the town, with Verizon, and with the Internet at large — to make his cause known and supported — is a blog. Tom’s blog is called RedBankTV,org What better choice among media than a blog if his purpose is to gain the attention of the people who are most likely to care about his cause?

Tom’s blog is a great example of an American in action. I hope that Social Studies teachers find him and share his blog with their students as a way that the Internet is changing how we communicate in writing with each other and the world.

Liz Strauss