Hey I just posted something but because I wrote part of it on Wednesday it's actually dated as Wednesday and here it is Sunday! Damn my lack of understanding of the nuances of Blogger! DAMN ME!

Kindly set your Way Back machines to Wednesday for this pst. Thanks!

Scenes from a roast...The Valley Press Club – the only press club in the state – conducted its annual roast of politicians and vice versa recently and I have to say that it was one of the best yet, even though I was a performer! Hey I got laughs and I was only sorry the pols I lambasted had left at that point with the exception of the mayor of Springrield who received my good sport award.



John O'Brien of Rock102, big time radio guy and a pretty funny dude performed a monologue.



Our emcee was vet TV newsman Jim Polito, who now has a gig on WTAG in his hometown of Worcester as the morning guy. A great and respected investigative reporter, Jim was one of the two reasons people watched our local ABC affiliate and was recently canned by the new station owner. Having been fired three times in my career, I know that however unfair or unwarranted it may be unfortunately it's part of the landscape of working in media.



Here's the other reason people have watched the ABC station – (left) Ray Hershel, who attended his first press club event and got roasted for his legendary perfect hair. Here his locks are being compared to those worn by the mayor of Springfield (center) Domenic Sarno. Leading the judging is Mike Bissonnette the mayor of Chicopee. Ray won.



And here's me on stage delivering a bit on the "Valley Press Club Book of the Month program" in which subscribers will receive books written by local authors such as "Mike Bissonnette's Guide to Credit Card Management." That mayor recently had to deal with $80,000 in debt at his law practice. Similar jokes followed that lampooned local folks.

Photos courtesy of Brian Zelasko

The only indie bookstore in Springfield closed down recently, throwing many people into another cycle of saying that downtown Springfield is dying. I wrote the following in the papers I edit:

The naysayers will be out in droves talking about downtown Springfield, wearing sackcloths, covering themselves in ashes and moaning now that two stores are leaving Tower Square and that that is an indication of how the downtown has slipped.

Let me ask you prophets of doom and gloom, vultures who enjoy the taste of carrion, how many times did you shop downtown? How often do you make the decision to patronize a locally owned business, instead of heading to a mall or big box store?

If we want local business to succeed then we actually have to patronize local businesses. That might take a bit of an effort, but isn't it worth it?

Instead of heading to that uber-mart to buy produce year-round, why don't you go to a farmers market, farm stand or a locally owned supermarket that features local goods? Why not go to a locally owned bookstore oops, too late for Springfield and buy there instead of going to a big box?

The retail environment can't be based solely on national chains. It's not good for us as consumers, as entrepreneurs or employees.

The closing of Edwards Books at Tower Square should be a wake-up call for all of us who actually want small local businesses to prosper.

Is the new vision of this country a third world debtor nation where we import all of our consumer goods from a dictatorship that keeps labor costs cheap? A country where corporate interests have squeezed out independents? A nation that no longer has the opportunities for personal advancement as it once did?

Hey who the hell cares? Right? Let's all find out what Britney is doing! And where in the frickin' world is Matt Lauer?! And what has Oprah just given her audience?!

It's bread and circus time, baby!

The following is part of my rant in the weekly papers I edit that sort of dovetails into my previous post. I can see by the comments my Sunday post generated it was a barn-burner – and yes Dogboy we need to talk! Happy trip to you and the Mrs.!

Perhaps media criticism in a market our size isn't the most comment-worthy thing I could write about, but I really believe this country has been lured into a political inertia and the kind of journalism most people are exposed to is part of the reason.

I think there is a lot of hopelessness concerning our various levels of government and that feeling has been translated into a lack of participation for some and a sort of selfishness for others. As long as my cow isn't being gored then leave me alone and let me watch a reality show.

One of my ex-bosses at the college where I spent seven miserable years doing public relations amused himself greatly with a phrase he claimed he coined: "F*ck you, I've got mine." That seems to be a feeling that runs through American society today.

While I'm happy that record numbers of people have enrolled to vote due to the Democratic Primary, I can only hope that these same new voters turn up at neighborhood meetings and at City Council sessions as well as demand more from their local press. The way to do that is with positive reinforcement: tell the advertisers of the media you consumer and like you're a customer because of that outlet. Then write the editor and publisher to tell them you did that. And include some suggestions for stories and improvement.

My e-mail is down and I'm up against deadline, so forgive me as my mind is wandering a bit. Here are some bits and pieces that are floating to the surface through the chaos:

One of the biggest variables in the news business is whether or not an event is a "story." Last week a reporter from CBS3 and I were the only media at a presentation of a $25,000 donation to the construction of a new playground at the Glickman School in Springfield.

Now the school has never had a playground and this generous donation when matched with city funds and those raised by parents and students will give literally thousands of students in the years to come a safe, modern place to play.

Now isn't that a story? So why did other media outlets skip it?

I was the only reporter that I could see at least at Craig Della Penna's presentation about river walks and greenways at Chicopee Comp last week. Chicopee has three river walk projects pending and Della Penna's presentation was certainly a strong argument for them.

Wasn't that a story, too?

For me, a story has to be something that will attract the attention of readers, give them some information they might not be able to ferret out on their own and allow them to react: celebrating, wanting to participate in or protesting an event or situation.

For me, seeing footage of a fire may not necessarily be news in the sense of how many people that story can affect. And the local TV folks love to show us overnight footage of fire and car wrecks.

Why? Well, it's relatively inexpensive to produce. It is potentially crime- and death-oriented, which is huge for television news.

Hey, everyone is strapped for cash in the news business these days. There are plenty of things my staff and I can't get to just because we've run out of time. The events we do cover we feel are important ones that reflect the life of the 13 communities where these newspapers are read.

I've heard television news directors here say that people don't want good news. What they want is crime, money and weather. Good news is just a sideline to the types of news consultants say people want to see.

Are these the same consultants who tell NBC we really want to see the national news time on the "Today" show wasted on Britney and Lindsay crap?

So is my approach to news wrong? Well, our papers are read, we're selling advertising and when people come to our Web site they go to an average of 12 pages.

So folks, if a member of our News Department is the only one who turns up at your event, please know that we and our readers and advertisers think your story is important, even if it doesn't involve a car crash.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them." --Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787

"The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure." --Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823

I’m a Jeffersonian type of guy. I believe in the need for a free and healthy press to provide people with information and a vehicle for the exchange of opinions as a foundation for a working republic.

But even on a local scale such as the one in Springfield Massachusetts that’s an iffy proposition.

I’ve pretty much given up on national television to actually give us necessary information. The boiled-down to a sound bite story now competes for time with whatever stupid thing some celebrity is doing resulting in a battle of feeble news elements.

My real concern is with local media. It’s in bad shape. Does the local press give people the necessary vehicle they need to be informed citizens?

Let’s take my hometown of Springfield and its media market as an example. It’s a medium-sized market that has seen outlets for local news shrink and disappear. Much of this has had to do with two on-going trends: the displacement of a local advertising base with one dominated by non-advertising chains and the acquisition of media outlets by outside conglomerates.

Lack of advertising killed off the daily newspaper in Holyoke. A group of investors with no vision deep-sixed the area’s first and dominant local talk station WREB. The corporate dominance in local commercial radio by Clear Channel has resulted in many years of what I call “angry white guy radio” with relatively little local content and only one political point of view.

I’ve welcomed the emergence of progressive radio on one station, WHMP, but even that station has only a few hours of local programming and no local call-in shows.

The local PBS station does have local television programming something the commercial stations have abandoned other than the local “newscasts.” The local NPR station does a bare minimum of local news and basically ignores the largest part of its market, the city of Springfield. The Albany, NY, station WAMC has made a commitment to our news that is quite admirable.

It’s interesting to note that talk radio experts I’ve heard speak all say that a good local call-in show will beat a syndicated one. People want local content.

The dominant regional daily paper, The Republican, has gone through a series of lay-off and cutbacks that has affected the scope and depth of its coverage. The spin-off company of theirs that produces their Web site, MassLive, is based on an economic model that requires free content or content paid for by the newspaper. That’s a bad model right there.

The Republican has become a five-minute read most days. Ironically, there are still plenty of good writers there who are capable of very good reporting.

The Republican has through many years of ham-handed political interference and attempts at king making has made itself suspect when it comes to the coverage of local politics.

Its weakness has allowed the growth of local weeklies, such as the ones I edit. We, too, feel the crunch of the changes in the advertising base and as a weekly can only do so many stories as compared to the daily. Yet we frequently beat the daily in covering stories. I keep a file of their swipes from us.

Our advertisers say they get results and our papers are well read according to independent audits, but I would hate to see our area without a daily paper, something that might happen if trends aren't reversed.

I’ve come up with a plan that would strengthen our paper’s position, but my publisher has yet to adopt it.

Local television news also has some reporters capable of good solid reporting, but they are hampered by formats that emphasize incorrect weather forecasts above real news. Seeing attractive young people report about communities they barely know or care about isn’t a good formula for success in my book.

So are Web sites the answer? That is the huge question because if Jefferson were alive today, I’d bet he’ d be a blogger.

The issue with Web sites is developing an economic model that would support local reporting. Right now, most of the blogging done locally is a sideline supported by another career. That hampers the marketing of the blogs, which is crucial for commercial success.

Will people pay for blogs when they have been trained for generations that news is relatively free with the costs of producing content underwritten by advertisers instead of being purchased by consumers?

People want local news, but would they be willing to pay $1 a day or more for a newspaper or a blog subscription to insure the economic viability of that news outlet?

The other element that is restricting the commercial growth of blogs is the technology needed to view them. Newspapers are cheap and completely portable. One day everyone might have a device to be on-line wherever they happen to be, but now is not that time.

In this market what is truly creating a Jeffersonian press are the wide variety of news and opinion blogs we currently have. I’m thankful for that.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Below is the latest poll from the Zogby group. Here's what I'm doing: cutting down on trips for work – where I use most of my gas – and looking to see if I could use the bus service on Mondays when I'm at the desk all day. What are you doing?

If my memory serves, one of the reasons Jimmy Carter was booted from office was due to the OPEC gas crisis and yet I seem to hear very little – the corporate media filter at work – about what the current presidential candidates are going to do about this crisis.

Our fragile economy – weakened by NAFTA and bled by corporate greed for short-term profits – isn't robust enough to tolerate rising energy costs.

Boy, I wish the electric cars were on the market.

"UTICA, New York— Record-breaking oil and gasoline prices are causing many Americans brace for even steeper hikes, with 87% who say they expect the nationwide average price for regular unleaded gasoline to hit $4 by Memorial Day, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

"This pessimism at the pump isn't just in the short term—nearly two thirds (62%) believe $5 per gallon gas will arrive sometime this summer and the vast majority of Americans (93%) say they are concerned about a potential rise in gasoline prices over the next year—67% say they are very concerned. As Americans spend more for every fill-up, those with the least to spend are the most worried—77% of those with less than $35,000 in household income say they are very concerned about the potential rise in gasoline prices over the next year. Gas-price anxiety might not be quite as strong among those from wealthier households, but even among those with more than $100,000 in household income, 60% say they are very concerned.

"Most also fear that the days of inexpensive fuel may be gone for good—66% are doubtful the nationwide average price for regular unleaded gasoline will ever again fall below $3 per gallon. The interactive survey of 7,815 adults nationwide was conducted May 6-9, 2008, and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.1 percentage points."

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Hey, Barnes and Noble already have a page up for my Springfield postcard book, so go here and order it dammit!

Buy a couple of copies of "Escape" as well or send me $25 for each copy and I'll send you a personally autographed edition.

It looks like I will be having some sort of signing event for "Escape" in NYC and in White River Junction VT later this summer. Distressingly, the indie bookstore where I was going to debut the Springfield book is out of business tomorrow. If you have local non-chain businesses in your community please patronize them.

It's a sorry state of affairs when a city of 152,000 people with four colleges allows its ONE indie store to die. Yes, I'm both a frickin' bleeding heart corporate critic and a local patriot. Sue me.