Just before the US-led Iraq war began 10 years ago, an internet friend began forwarding emails from a CNN correspondent; emails this war reporter was sending home to friends and family as he tried to get from Jordan into Iraq.
His personal stories were more raw and candid than any of the big-media coverage we were seeing and reading back home in the US. The stories felt real, and the voice behind them felt human, not "newsman." This was back when there was no Twitter or Facebook, blogs were "weblogs," and even when you said "weblogs," no one knew what the hell you were talking about.
This war correspondent was Kevin Sites, now also the author of The Things They Cannot Say: Stories Soldiers Won't Tell You About What They've Seen, Done or Failed to Do in War.
In 2003, I was a newbie contributor to Boing Boing, and we were a newbie blog; not even a business yet. Just friends having fun with the internet. I reached out to Kevin and asked if he'd like me to help him convert these emails into a blog he could share with the world.
"What's a blog?," he asked. (more…)