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Will Johnson

Public Writing

Prof. F. deBoer

February 14, 2011

“An Examination of Public Writing”

The New York Times publishes an editorial about foreign support for revolutions

in Egypt. A sports blogger writes about the taxes necessary to build a new multimillion

dollar football stadium for a Texas high school football team. A resident living on a

university campus sees a cockroach in the hall bathroom and does her part to post some

flyers all over the respective hall, using a witty picture illustrating the impending

cockroach invasion. A person who is not well versed in the study of public writing may

not see the correlation between these three cases, but all three involve one very real

connection: the respective individuals are taking advantage of their right to express

themselves free from government persecution to make a change in the world. It is granted

that all three of these cases may not see any change right away, if at all, but it is of the

utmost importance to observe their right to take advantage of it. The simple ability to get

up and take to written communication to advocate, argue and raise awareness of a certain

issue is a very special privilege, afforded to ideologically advanced societies as a way for

people who are plagued by an issue to raise awareness of it from the ground up. A given

problem with a community might best be observed by the authorities, but that is not the

point; the freedom of expression best expressed through public writing allows a society to

reflect a more accurate depiction of itself, free from other intervention and meddling from

outside sources. Public writing, in a nutshell, is the act of a person who has been raised to
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action by a problem to address it through written communication with some sort of

audience. A bit long winded, sure, but there are several important aspects of the

preceding sentence to be addressed that will enhance understanding of public writing as a

whole.

We can start by eliminating the most obvious definition: writing for the public.

This definition is rather simplistic from a cursory glance and seems like a sarcastic

response from a bored student, but there are more important parts that are left out by this

definition. Indeed, the term writing itself is not exactly what it means when put in the

context of public writing. In the case of the student who is beleaguered with cockroaches

in her dormitory and puts up pictures of a cockroach with a cross through it similar to

anti-smoking advertisements, this is not writing at all, but a rather amusing image. This is

an excellent example of how public writing encompasses such a wide scope of

communication in the sense that it may not necessarily have to be about wiring in the

traditional sense, but rather raising awareness through the use of written communication.

In addition, this could also serve as a case where creativity may be the better way to grab

the attention of an audience; while a letter to the editor may be tailored for one set of

viewers, a cartoon could serve to bring in a whole new demographic to motivate into

action.

This also speaks to how our modern day society has changed the perception of

public writing. It is now relatively easy to print out hundreds of copies of a flyer and

mass distribute them to anywhere groups of people congregate, but why stop there? With

the advent of the World Wide Web, the entire world can have access to your blog,

Facebook statuses and Tweets. The nature of Facebook, Twitter and the hot new social
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media of tomorrow allows perhaps too much information to be shared by millions of

people. From relationship updates and sports evaluations to practical uses in the

professional field, anything about your life can be shown to your own select audience, but

this pales in comparison to people who take advantage of having this broad audience to

inform and educate about a certain issue. Celebrities who have this audience of millions

can use this opportunity to let fans know the release date of their new movie, but also

have been known to advocate certain hot button issues of the day. George Clooney, noted

supporter of Darfur awareness via Twitter and other social media, may come off as

somewhat pretentious to some, but genuine advocates for this cause probably do not mind

the attention shined upon their cause. This new world development is a unique vehicle for

knowledge to be shared globally and gives us a chance to raise support for causes others

may not necessarily have been aware of before, through the use of public writing.

It is now established that public writing can take unorthodox forms thanks to the

globalization of our culture coupled with the rise of new social media, but another

question must now be raised: what sort of motivations must public writers have for their

writing to be considered “true” public writing? The nature of a democratic capitalist state

allows for lobbying to be successful when one side has more fiscal resources; one only

needs to look at the success of tobacco companies and their aggressive jockeying for

legislative pull on Capitol Hill to gauge the success of this strategy. In this case, lobbying

cant take on many forms; it can assume to role of phone calls, letters, advertisements and

speeches. These examples establish the definition of public writing at its base, which is to

motivate or persuade a group to a certain cause, albeit one that has vast negative effects

for a population from a health standpoint. Does this classify or shape the definition of
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public writing in any way from a moralistic point of view? In a word, no; public writing,

much like any tool in our social order based on the freedom of the individual is only as

“good” as the purpose for which it is used. It is certainly noble to take advantage of this

fundamental right and advocate change in the world as best as possible, but it a simple

fact that entities with larger amounts of resources will win more times than those who do

not, in no small part due to the capitalist nature of America. This does not necessarily

condemn public writing as a whole, but conversely brings to light the duality of a tool

that can be used for both sides of an argument and how both sides of a moral quandary

can harness it as they see fit. It is this way that public writing serves as a perfect emblem

for the idea of freedom and it reflects the people of a certain country, for better or worse.

But monetary resources are not the sole advantage offered to both sides. Aaron

Friedman was a composer who lived at home, the farthest one can distance from the

stereotypical corporations seen in popular media. By doing his part to raise awareness to

the issue of car alarms going off frequently enough to distract him from his work, he

garnered steady public support until a bill addressing his issue came across the state

legislature (Shamoon). This is a goal of public writing that has the potential to be as, if

not more powerful than any amount of financial resources: obtaining and harnessing the

support of popular opinion. It is only in rare cases that one person may be negatively

affected by an issue to the point of action; statistically, this is a near impossibility. By

taking the effort to address an issue and raise awareness, public writing has the potential

to motivate groups of people to take similar or higher action under the assumption of

group mentality and idea that such action will come with some supporters who have

either been violated by the original misgiving or ulterior motivations. From there, the
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effect is geometric; awareness is raised through groups of people at a time and some

action eventually is taken through the use of popular support. As any historian will tell

you, if a population is disgruntled enough, change will be imminent. The main difference

between societies of the past and our society today is the extensive use of mass media

permitted to those with sufficient determination; the aforementioned social media

(Twitter, Facebook, etc.) coupled with traditional newspapers and other informative

venues can serve to educate the masses on any given cause.

In addition, knowledge of the audience is a helpful tool for any public writer. By

taking advantage of tone and stance, a public writer can take advantage of his/her

targeted demographic and target more people. A public writer can adapt an informal or

formal tone, seek negative or positive attention, and choose the methods to garner

support, ranging from lawmakers to criminals – and increased globalization allows

perspectives previously not heard to be understood and weighed with differing opinions.

In this sense, public writing can take on many different tones, some seemingly

contradictory, but all united under the common cause of writing to inform, persuade and

educate.

In conclusion, public writing can be a powerful tool used for change by a citizen

motivated by a particular problem that is affecting them. With this status comes the

reflection of the values held dear by our culture; freedom comes with the risk of

corruption and rights come with the risk of abuse. Monetary power can be abused to an

extent for usage which proves to be a detriment to the well being of a community as a

whole, but there is no endorsement that can equal popular support in terms of power and

ability to create change. By spreading the word about a given issue, a society can rally
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around an idea and adapt it, through personal, legislative and cultural change. Therein lies

the beauty of the successful use of public writing; the ability to create some form of

change that cannot be guaranteed in any society, but forms the foundation of our freedom

based ideals and will continue to spark change for the better for years to come.
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Works Cited

Shamoon, Linda. "Introductory Narrative." Public Writing. 2nd ed. Kingston: URI

Bookstore. 1-3. Print.