KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail

Robbie Cozad works on his web site, politicalwasteland.com, from his Galesburg home.

Galesburg political blog's popularity grows

Fueled by controversy surrounding state's attorney's office

Saturday, May 19, 2007

By TOM LOEWY

The Register-Mail

"I really don't have an ax to grind," the 25-year-old founder of the blog www.thepoliticalwasteland.com said. "I really care about Galesburg and I would really like to have some good discussions and debate about the issues facing the local area.

"To me, being informed is so important. I know it certainly seems like people don't care, but I have always felt obligated to be informed."

Cozad, who is a student information system specialist for Carl Sandburg College, never considered himself a computer enthusiast. He graduated from Galesburg High School in 1999 with some basic computer skills. He acquired some more before graduating from Monmouth College in 2004.

"Really, I'm kind of self-taught," Cozad said. "I got my own domain name about two years ago and started my own Web site shortly after that. I started the Web site before I started blogging."

Cozad said he grew into blogging the same way others do.

"Chatrooms and message boards were big for a while," he said.

"I think blogging is an extension of that. As people found their voices they decided to share it with others on a regular basis."

Some blogs are akin to online diaries. Others cover specific topics, hobbies, interests or obsessions.

Cozad said he started "just to get my voice out there" and thought blogging might be a way "to meet like-minded people."

For www.thepoliticalwasteland.com, Cozad wed his desire to speak out with his love of local politics. He started the blog before the 2006 statewide elections.

"I've always been drawn to local politics," he said. "I basically walked into the Democratic Election Headquarters here in town in 2000 and said 'What can I do?' I have always been interested in local issues."

Cozad said he wanted thepoliticalwasteland to address two questions.

"First, I wanted to talk about local issues that the larger sites just don't address. I wanted to talk about Don Moffitt. I wanted to talk about the county sheriff elections and the state's attorney's office," he said. "Second, I wanted to try and get a local perspective on national issues - the national issues that really hit home."

Cozad said he doesn't think the site has taken root in the public the way he'd hoped.

Mike Kroll is a contributor to the site and offered an explanation.

"I really admire anyone who takes an interest in getting a dialogue going about local political issues," Kroll said. "But I do think there is a shortage of people who want to talk - or who can talk - about the things that matter most on the local level.

"The site isn't hosting discussions or asking for feedback about Paris Hilton or something like that, so it is hard for most people to have an informed opinion."

Cozad called the quest to establish the blog "a learning experience."

"There just seemed like there wasn't much interest out there in talking about local issues," he said. "The word 'apathy' gets thrown around a lot and I think I saw some of that."

Cozad said when the controversy surrounding John Pepmeyer and the Knox County State's Attorney's office broke in mid-March, participation in the blog "went through the roof."

"Back in January, I wrote some blogs about the fact Pepmeyer was chosen as state's attorney over Jeremy Karlin," Cozad said. "My site was the No. 1 spot when they typed Pepmeyer's name into Google. I picked up a lot of traffic because of the Pepmeyer issue."

The blog's traffic soared in the wake of the competing allegations made by Pepmeyer and other Knox County officials.

"In the last two or three months, we have had 6,000 to 7,000 hits," Cozad said. "I know that it is mostly driven by the Pepmeyer story."

Cozad said he started following the flurry of news stories that accompanied the controversy.

"It got to the point I was checking the Peoria Journal Star in the morning, The Register-Mail in the afternoon and The Zephyr during the middle of the week," Cozad said. "The people blogging on the issue wrote just as much about the coverage of the controversy as they did the controversy itself."

Cozad said he was thrilled with the reaction - and he wants to capitalize on the exposure.

"What I'm trying to do now is transition the one issue" - the Pepmeyer controversy - into what he called "sustainability for the site."

"I'm trying to think of ways to draw people in with the Pepmeyer story, but then get them interested in a wide variety of community issues," Cozad said. "I want to get people talking about the new City Council members, the Railroad Hall of Fame and bridge issues. I want to get people talking about the Wal-Mart development and the infrastructure in general.

"All of those issues are really important to all of us. And I want people to bring their issues and concerns and talk about them in a place where other people are interested in issues."

Kroll said he hopes thepoliticalwasteland.com can survive.

"I would hate to see the site fold," Kroll said. "I think it is critical for the community to talk about issues and thepoliticalwasteland offers a great opportunity to do that."