I’m not sure how I missed this, but I did. The Winston-Salem Journal has launched their second blog and it is focused on the Kernersville area. I suspect my friend Joe is behind this.
Don’t Know How I Missed It
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Category Archives: Media
Is the Prerequisite for Being Nationally Syndicated That You Be a Total Moron?
I was reading my Winston-Salem Journal this morning when I came across Cal Thomas’s op-ed piece titled "Morale Slippage in Iraq". To be blunt this piece of horse dookey is something I’d expect from my middle-school kids.
The entire piece is about the supposed decline in morale among insurgents in Iraq, and it is based entirely on:
…documents authored by an al-Qaida operative and seized by U.S. soldiers during an April 16 raid in the Yusufiyah area (12 miles south of Baghdad) offer hope to the American side that success may be closer than we think.
The author’s name is not known, but his conclusion about the lack of progress by the insurgent-terrorists is revealing.
So let me get this straight; in a nationally syndicated column you’re going to predicate your entire argument that the insurgents are getting bummed out and we need to stay the course (i.e. ignore the ignorant pessimists calling for us to withdraw) on a document by an unknown author? For all we know it could have been written by a lovelorn jihadist who’s figured out he misses his girlfriend.
Look at it from the other direction: what would you think of the intellect of someone who based their assessment of the enemy’s outlook on the writings of 18 year old Private Joe Smith from Boise, ID who’s pissed off that he’s frying his butt of in Iraq and happens to think that President Bush is an idiot and that his officers are a bunch of idiots and no one knows what they’re doing You’d laugh your butt off.
Thomas goes on to list some specifics from the captured writings like:
The documents reveal "The Mujahidin do not have any stored weapons and ammunition in their possession in Baghdad" and that there are as few as 30 or 40 insurgents in some areas compared to "tens of thousands of the enemy troops."
"The only power the Mujahidin have," says the al-Qaida operative, "is what they have already demonstrated." That consists of sniper fire, "planting booby traps among the citizens and hiding among them in hope that the explosions will injure an American or members of the government."
Since the source is unknown how the heck are we supposed to know if this turkey even knows what he’s talking about. Again it could be some kid who’s reporting what he’s heard through the grapevine. And of course there’s also the possiblity that this is disinformation but Thomas never considers that.
I’ve never been a fan of Thomas, but as time goes by I’m beginning to wonder if he really can be as obtuse as his writing suggests. Sadly, I think so.
The Lex-Robinson T-Shirt Company?
A friend sent me a link to this interesting little t-shirt website and for some reason (maybe the shirt pictured to the left) it made me think of my favorite journo-bloggers Lex and John Robinson.
Smithsonian Debate
One of the more vivid childhood memories I have is of going to weekend classes at the Smithsonian. One class was nature drawing (I’ll never forget the smell of the stuffed beaver they put in the middle of the table for us to draw) and another was black and white photography using a pinhole camera that I made myself in class (I’ll never forget the smells from the darkroom either). That was right after my parents split up and we were pretty broke, so I’m not sure how my mom swung it but I’m glad she did.
Anyway I thought about those experiences when I was reading this NY Times article on a joint venture between the Smithsonian and Showtime that should mean some big dollars for the Smithsonian. It is also raising the ire of many folks and it is worrying others who think that it will closet off some of the Smithsonian’s collection.
But as the Times article points out the Smithsonian is always struggling with cash issues, in no small part because access to all the Smithsonian museums is free. To be honest I never knew that any museums charged admission until I was asked to pony up to get into MOMA in NY. I was shocked and then very appreciative of what the Smithsonian is and does for free.
So my question is this: is the Smithsonian justified in entering joint ventures with commercial enterprises if it means that they can keep admission free? It is quite possible that one issue has nothing to do with the other, I really don’t know, but if they are related and deals like this help keep admission free is it worth it?
NY Times Puts Google Maps to Good Use
The New York Times has used the Google Maps interface to plot all of its "36 Hours" travel columns over the last three years. Winston-Salem was recently featured and you’ll also find articles on Boone and Charlotte.
That’s a very nice, useful application of the Google API, not just another "Let’s do this just because it’s cool" application. I think it actually adds value to the columns since I could see using this a tool to find a getaway that offers something a little different.
First Shoe Dropping?
There’s a rumor afoot that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer might go web-only, or in other words cease putting out a print version. I think this would be the first case of a newspaper with more than six subscribers going web-only. That noise you hear is trees singing with joy.
Craigslist Ran More Classifieds Than All US Newspapers Combined
According to this article Craigslist sites are generating 3 billion page views every month and running more classified ads than all US newspapers combined. According to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster the biggest problem they have is keeping up:
"We struggle to keep up. Last year overall
growth was 200 per cent, both in terms of page views and listings – and
if it pools to 100 per cent, we would be happy with that."
I can think of a few newspaper people who would LOVE to have that problem.
What I Hope I’d Say
If I were a publisher and the Bushies came after me I hope I’d have the same reaction as the publisher of Capital Hill Blue:
"This flamboyant use of the forces of criminal prosecution to
threaten whistle-blowers and intimidate journalists are nothing more
than the naked tactics of street thugs and authoritarian juntas."Just how widespread, and uncontrolled, this latest government
assault has become hit close to home last week when one of the FBI’s
National Security Letters arrived at the company that hosts the servers
for this web site, Capitol Hill Blue.The letter demanded traffic data, payment records and other
information about the web site along with information on me, the
publisher.Now that’s a problem. I own the company that hosts Capitol Hill Blue.
So, in effect, the feds want me to turn over information on myself and
not tell myself that I’m doing it. You’d think they’d know better.I turned the letter over to my lawyer and told him to send the following message to the feds:
Fuck you. Strong letter to follow.
Normally I redact the f-bomb from this blog since I know my mom and wife read it, but that’s exactly how I feel about Bush and company these days and I suspect they share my view. However, my message would read: "Fuck you. Strong vote against you and your ilk to follow."
Can’t Accuse the Greensboro News & Record of Being Passive
The Greensboro News & Record is getting more recognition for its forward-thinking in terms of new media. PressThink, which has been a fan of the N&R for a while, recently profiled the paper’s editor John Robinson (although being compared to Mr. Rogers is definitely a mixed blessing). This is well-earned attention because the N&R is doing what any business in a threatened industry should do: get aggressive.
It started with their blogging, which JR should take credit for because he led the way. He could have assigned blogging to someone else but he stepped into the fray himself and that sent an important message to the people working for and with him. He is also careful to share the credit if not shift it completely, to the very smart people he has working with him like Lex Alexander. That’s another sign of leadership and he should get credit for it. He’s right, of course, that they all deserve credit but if you’re going to get the criticism that leaders always get then you should also get credit when it is due.
This would be an interesting story if the folks at the N&R stopped with the blogging, but they didn’t. They have now launched three community hubs, called "Hometown Hubs", is experimenting with podcasts and is also delving into using multimedia for stories. All of these initiatives can be found in their Town Square section. They have also restructured their classified advertising, which is the lifeblood for any newspaper.
The N&R is absolutely doing the right thing. Its traditional business is under assault and the relative cost of experimenting online now is very low compared with the risk of doing nothing or moving slowly. If nothing else it is raising the cost of entering the market higher for any potential entrepreneurial competitors, but more importantly it is allowing its people to learn the skills they need in the coming decade or two while the cost of doing so is small. That is truly forward thinking.
XM Rolling Out a Way-Cool Feature
The new wave of XM Radios coming on the market offer MP3 recording capability which is cool because it allows you to record your favorite XM stations and then listen to them on the road, while working out, etc. Now they’re going one step better: they are adding a button that when pressed "bookmarks" a song that you like and the next time the radio is connected to your computer it will automatically buy and download the song via Napster.
This is the kind of concept I can see working for a lot of online companies down the road and not just from XM, but since XM is doing this already let’s extend that thought process. Say XM starts a "Great Authors" channel and they have interviews and book readings with authors and they enable you to buy the book through Amazon with one click of a button. Pretty cool huh? Same concept could work for advertisers (some XM stations do have advertising), but that probably makes too much sense for most advertising agencies.
Befuddled 