In 2018 I launched The BetaFiles on WordPress. It was a podcast with supplemental articles that I and a couple of others were writing to create a space for content geared toward…no one in particular. We were just writing and talking. Over time, the first iteration of The BetaFiles fizzled out and took a nap.
When the pandemic hit, I re-launched the site and added a YouTube channel to host a new idea of the podcast and new direction for the written content. Out of it, I broke the podcast into smaller pieces out of which came The BetaFiles Podcast, The Optic Poet, The ShortFiles, and Now See This Here Now Then. I attempted to create a central focus that centered on generational voices and perspectives. After a year, it too fizzled out but not before I staked a claim within Substack with the intention of bringing the written content to a new space where I would only focus on the perspective of Generation X.
Once again, it fizzled to a silence and took a nap.
Then something remarkable happened. A huge life changing event shook me to my core. Voices of the oppressed screamed out for justice. The uber eureka moment of all eureka moments happened and…
Actually, none of that happened. I just woke up one day looked at my wife and said, “I think I’m gonna try this one more time.” And she said, “go for it.” So, I am.
I had to decide exactly what I wanted The BetaFiles to be, what I thought I could do with it (feasibly), what it could do for people who would use their time reading it. I have been complaining for quite a while now that the national narrative we hear day in and day out does not reflect the actual reality that we face locally. I have argued vehemently about regional identity and the failures that nationalization run into in our country. I have openly made known that I believe local news’ demise is detrimental to keeping a local identity readily available to every community. So, that’s where I want The BetaFiles to go long term. But let’s be real – that’s a goal that will come only once this “newsletter” grows far beyond sixteen subscribers with only one of them paying for the subscription.
Ultimately, I want this to be a regional project, one that gives smaller, more concentrated regions a site that reports on the news of those communities in that region. I want to grow this into a non-corporate, non-politically motivated news source that deals with what matters for each region and it’s communities. If someone lives in Nebraska, then they shouldn’t be reading about House Reps from Florida or California exclusively. They shouldn’t lose airtime to the Governor of New York or Texas when their scandals do not effect Nebraska or the mid-west directly. They should be seeing and hearing from their representatives in Nebraska and neighboring states to them. They should know what their Governor is doing to make their lives better. And that’s what I want to do with this site ultimately.
But those days are well into the future, and I must set the standard for the philosophy of the site first – paving the way for that time and what those future stories will tell.
So, we come to the current moment and what I want to begin with. As I noted before, The BetaFiles have gone through several attempts of regenerating itself. I have continued to look for the right formula, the right meaning and philosophy, the right audience. At this point, I have resigned myself to the fact that every time I target a specific group, I miss them somehow. In response to those moments, I am going to try something new. I am going to target an audience that doesn’t know completely that they are an audience. It’s a gamble, but what have I got to lose?
That audience is the current moderate citizen - those of us that lie either just left of center or just right of center. Those of us who are quietly watching the nation lose itself to two extreme voices that represent only a fraction compared to this silent majority. Most of this middle group has refrained to even vote anymore as the group has lost a voice in both the local and national politics. I want to write for them, to give them an alternative to the left vs right media narrative we are all drowning in.
The material I will start with will follow three guidelines that I plan to revise and add to as the site grows:
1) New type of news source: one that looks at as many sides as possible to present a more rounded picture of the story regardless of political implications or actions.
2) Giving a voice to the silent minority: What is the silent minority? – the poor. Not black, white, Hispanic – the poor as a whole. This also includes the native minority that has been silenced for centuries in our culture. If we are going to culturally seize on the idea of being as equitable as possible, then we have to look at poverty as those who are suffering the most. Poverty is the real racism, and I will stand by that solidly.
3) The BetaFiles will become the main campus of thought for the true moderate. The independent voter that refuses to align themselves with either of our two majority parties.
There will be serious pieces under my name or the site’s name. There will be satirical pieces by Richard Cranium. There will be guest pieces. And at some point, the podcast will return. I will also have Mini Reflections by Richard Cranium on Instagram, and I’m toying with the idea of resurrecting Google Translate poetry.
I want to do a bi-weekly newsletter meaning that every two weeks I will post several pieces and things to Substack as the main newsletter. I ask that you do not subscribe as a paying member until I am able to get into a more regular routine of posting. I am still a full-time professor, and I have professional duties that do outweigh anything I do for the site. I ask that patience is used and to keep checking the site as I move forward into this new idea for The BetaFiles.
For those of you who are still reading the site, thank you. For those of you who are finding this for the first time, thank you for taking the time to read this.
Hang on to your diapies, babies.
I’m the Barbour and this IS The BetaFiles.