Chicago Tribute

John Saul mentioned this to me on Wednesday. I hadn’t heard this part of the Blagojevich ballyhoo so I went and looked it up.
Situations like this would really make me proud of being with a such a newspaper – my rebellious side would kick in, and I would want to be part of standing up to guys like this. Although it does sound like there wasn’t much knowledge of it around the editorial room…
Update:
Sounds like the buck may have stopped with the owner of the Chicago Tribune and/or his advisor. The Tribune staff mostly heard about it once it hit the papers.
Hard to be rebellious if you don’t know there’s anything to rebel against.

NPR – Not Protected from Recession

Not really sure why I’m posting this. The semester is over, and the blog will probably waste away into shriveled virtual parchment due to lack of use.
Plus, we have heard many stories of journalism layoffs, and unfortunately I don’t think that’s going to taper off anytime soon. So posting another story is like pointing to the next of many nails in the coffin.
But I really like NPR, so learning that they are laying off a number of people just adds to my disappointment. So maybe I’m just writing to acknowledge such events as a passing.

Journalism Bailout

I think I side more with the skeptics on this one.  As bad as things might be, this seems like a sure fire way to allow government censorship of the press.

Fade to black

Now that we’ve learned about all these nifty ways to access information and how the Internet is changing the media, you’re going to need to temper it with media ecology. Go E-green or go home.

CNN getting rid of science and tech team

According to the CJR, CNN is dropping its entire science and tech reporting team and folding those responsibilities in with its general reporting staff. This is especially relevant for us, because environmental reporters are included in those cuts.

The day arrives…

The day has finally arrived.  The day I knew was coming.  Today is the day there is finally an article for me to post on the slashing of broadcasting jobs.  And we’re not just talking about reporters or producers, we’re talking about anchors.  

I love this quote because it is sooooooooooooo true!!! (Please pardon the extra o’s.  I just don’t know how else to express my feeling in writing!)

“Basically, you replace someone who knows City Hall with someone who can’t find it,” said John Beard, who lost his job at KTTV last December after 26 years as a news anchor in Los Angeles.

Now, I know the trend Mr. Beard is referring to is nothing new.  I fought that battle for years.  I was never opposed to new reporters.  After all, I was one at one point and everyone starts somewhere.  My problem was always the fact that I, as a person with experience, history, contacts in the community, a relationship with my audience, etc., was made to feel disposable because the new person would do it for cheaper than me. 

This has been my problem with these job cuts all along.  I see the value (in all forms of journalism) in having someone with a fresh perspective being brought in to help navigate the changing landscape.  What I continue to be opposed to is the systematic expulsion of experience and knowledge.

O.K., I’m done with my rant!

Citizen journalist follow-up

Here ya go, Mike. An article about citizen journalists in Mumbai.
“At the peak of the violence, more than one message per second with the word “Mumbai” in it was being posted onto Twitter…”
It may become the newest piece of advice for people going abroad. Along with innoculations and updating wills, they may suggest signing up for Twitter, if you haven’t already, just in case you end up in a terrorist siege.

More crowdsourcing and citizen journalists in the headlines

I just pulled this off the front page of The New York Times’ webpage.  Notice the reference to “The Lede” in the lower left corner.  I’m curious to see what this turns up and/or adds to the story.  Tragic, nonetheless.

nytimes.com

Times they are a changin’

So I was watching Citizen Kane the other day and the portion of the movie when the news of Kane’s death was spreading really caught my eye.  One scene in particular was set in a cafe and every person had their head buried in a newspaper reading his obituary.  It made me think of people receiving news of such a public figure dying today.  Take the death of Saddam Hussein for instance.  People weren’t reading about it in the newspaper, they were checking it on their blackberry’s and watching a phone video of the hanging!

untitled II

We usually talk about current events on this blog, but I wanted to share a feature story from The Washington Post magazine about Slam Poet Gayle Danley.

The theme and details included in the writing give the piece an edgy tone that fits the profiled subject.

You can listen to a similar story on NPR’s Tell Me More. Her poetry, which is featured on the show, is delivered with a lot of power and emotion. It is worth a read or listen.