tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post114168483213545738..comments2024-02-04T02:14:18.640-08:00Comments on Out of the Inkwell: Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1141917583599625362006-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:002006-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:00i think it's telling that when the cuts come down,...i think it's telling that when the cuts come down, you're left to do the two papers in communities where there's a lot more <I>news</I> news happening, as opposed to the one they throw more resources into, which is the community in which there's a lot more people willing to go out to try to sell advertising.<BR/><BR/>one of the problems with readers wanting thing in their newspapers (and i imagine this goes likewise on tv) is that often when a paper does a readership survey, it finds that readers want more comic strips and photos and sports and less crime and politics -- and then readers get all upset when they're uninformed come election day, but know all about the top 10 scorers on the high school basketball team.<BR/><BR/>and then, readership goes down, advertising goes down, and budgets get cut, and you can't cover actual news anymore.<BR/><BR/>and if you're going to be somewhere that's not syracuse, scotland's not a bad place. maybe one of the trade show or big conference or whatever things happen in nyc some weekend i could hop a train down and we could check out the new fancy-pants dinosaur bbq in the city.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07313842125406605381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1141909189330161372006-03-09T04:59:00.000-08:002006-03-09T04:59:00.000-08:00Josh...you're right, but what I'm trying to get at...Josh...you're right, but what I'm trying to get at ( and will in future media rants) is the "money shot" is the goal. The person making the decision has to maintain his or her budget, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the story. <BR/><BR/>I know this is pie in the sky these days. The story is among the last factors to be considered all too often.<BR/><BR/>But we have to get back to determining how to get the story. I'm willing to bet you dinner at the Dino BBQ (sorry I will be in Scotland this year when I'm generally at Syracuse!) that the news assignment desk at the three TV stations DIDN'T ask when the Colleen was expected to be crowned. That info could have made this story more affordable.<BR/><BR/>In a market this size it's a shame the local media has trouble covering the planned events, much less those that spring up. <BR/><BR/>As consumers we've allowed this to happen by wanting something for nothing and not insisting for higher quality. <BR/><BR/>The shift in advertisers away from locally or regionally businesses to national chains is placing local newspaper such as ours ( we laid off the Chicopee Herald reporter in the name of budget cuts and now I get to do two papers, along with a freelancer) in trouble.Mike Dobbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1141853739156812852006-03-08T13:35:00.000-08:002006-03-08T13:35:00.000-08:00well, here's the thing. news consumers want the ne...well, here's the thing. news consumers want the news for free (you don't need cable to pick up the abc and nbc affiliates), but it's not free to produce. so, you take what you have for income, figure out what your important stories are, and how much in the way of resources you can dedicate.<BR/><BR/>at $18 an hour (say, at overtime, as it's saturday night, and we're assuming what i think might be a low rate for someone at lin or sinclair, which are probably union shops) for a photographer, you figure on getting there a little early, setting up shop, and staying for an hour or so, figuring the announcement will be made a little late.<BR/><BR/>two hours late, and you're still waiting, unsure when the announcement will be made, how long do you hang on? is the shot of a smiling kid worth $50 in wages, plus the inability to use that camera somewhere else?<BR/><BR/>if you didn't happen to be salaried, where would you have drawn the line at sending an hourly employee? with a bare-bones staff, is it worth sending someone home for four hours during a busy week to get the money shot, so that you don't have to pay her overtime?<BR/><BR/>what happens if the mayor resigns or the river floods? are you happy you got that colleen pic, even though you can't get the big hard news story the next week, because your reporter's sitting home?Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07313842125406605381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1141817824166611212006-03-08T03:37:00.000-08:002006-03-08T03:37:00.000-08:00Mike, is the tick draining and killing its "source...Mike, is the tick draining and killing its "source" more fundamental to the current corporate era of journalism -- advertising $$ and sponsor interests forever placed above journalistic ethics; bottom-line economics delivering a literal death-of-a-thousand-cuts to any meaningful journalism; etc.? <BR/><BR/>I've seen it on the local level with the Brattleboro and Southern VT newspapers (hey, the Reformer has a new publisher), and your portrait of the Chicopee event succinctly captures some aspects of this: if the event isn't timed and pre-packaged for local media, it's a no-go/no-show. It doesn't take much extrapolation to realize how badly underfunded journalistic venues fumble non-pre-packaged events -- like, life and reality. NEWS.<BR/><BR/>No wonder the current Administration's domestic propaganda machine has found such a welcome even from once-respected venues like THE NY TIMES.SRBissettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14426874992235196378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1141736206973291522006-03-07T04:56:00.000-08:002006-03-07T04:56:00.000-08:00I suspect this is already on your list of things t...I suspect this is already on your list of things to address - internet news' impact on traditional news. Internet cannibalizing its sources of news, like a big tick slowly killing the very thing it feeds off of.Mark Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04799399359022340724noreply@blogger.com