Breaking News: Google "Reads" Substack

An encouraging data point from the world of algorithmically mediated information

This note mainly goes out to fellow Substackers who have told me they feel their work often seems invisible to anyone beyond their subscribers.

Sometimes it feels fruitless to break away from “real life” and write (or livestream) about consequential things going on in the wider world. But I did so yesterday when the filmmaker Jon Bowermaster called midday to be sure I knew that the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater had been blocked by an armed Coast Guard patrol boat from taking part, as long planned, in the “Sail4th #Sail250” parade of tall ships (escorting a Portuguese square rigger) in New York Harbor. The Clearwater had lofted banners with basic messages about racial, Indigenous and climate action and clean water. Later we learned that orders had come from “above.” I got ahold of key folks and posted this conversation:

It was a busy fun day for most of us so the post was quiet. But I was gratified later in the day to get this note from a friend who’d been trying to track news reports about the incident:

I’ve been googling “Did the Sloop Clearwater get escorted out of the flotilla in New York City today?“ for a few hours and keep getting an AI response of no. And then I talk back to AI and tell them they’re wrong and give them reasons why. And then finally just now I see an updated response from AI saying Clearwater was in fact turned around and they are giving readers a place to see more information. And it turns out it’s Andy Revkin’s Substack.

I actually helped clarify what Google was telling people about the interdiction of the vessel. Small victories!

Later in the day, news outlets, including the Highlands Current newspaper in my former neighborhood, got more information on why the sloop was barred. Here’s the Current:

A Coast Guard representative told The Current that, “As part of the parade of sail, participants agreed to conditions established by Sail4th. One of those conditions was to not display political or politically charged messages/statements. The owner of the sloop Clearwater was contacted and requested to remove the message being displayed or be removed from the parade of sail. They declined to remove it. So, the Coast Guard enforced the agreement on behalf of Sail4th removing the vessel from the parade.”

But Jen Benson of Clearwater, who was on the sloop, said there was no communication from either Sail250 or the Coast Guard regarding the banners. “We were not given an option to remove the banners and continue in the parade,” she said.

Thanks, Jon Bowermaster and Polly Armour, for helping alert me and others to what was unfolding. And to David Toman of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater for breaking away from a blitz of calls from The New York Times and others to do an interview. And thanks Thomas LaBarr and others for posting valuable video documentation.

Have a good day, all.

Here’s my old band, Uncle Wade, playing on the Clearwater in 2008 as a parting musical shot: