Saturday mail delivery going away

Oh no, not that, anything but that -- said nobody... ever. Honestly, though, Saturday mail delivery contains nothing but advertising (which I actually embrace because who wants to pay full price for their groceries?). For me, it's two weekly shopper-type newspaper publications. With the Saturday mail delivery biting the dust in August, that means that those newspaper companies will simply adjust their schedules by one day. It won't be the final nail in the coffin for those companies because making a one-day adjustment isn't the end of the world.

What elimination of the Saturday mail delivery will do is bulk up delivery during the remaining five days of delivery. It will also make it a total pain in the ass for people who have full-time jobs and need to take a package to the post office to be mailed. Even the existing short Saturday hours are better than nothing but maybe there is a plan in place to adjust existing post office hours to accomodate working stiffs like you and me.

In the end, if eliminating Saturday mail delivery keeps the mail as we know it coming to my mailbox on a regular basis in a timely fashion for another decade then I'm cool with it. The United States Postal Service needed to do this a decade ago and desperately needs to stop paying retirement to their former employees until they die. The number of viable businesses who do that is minimal so make that change, piss off some people who can't plan and stay in business. It's pretty simple.

Racism right where I was born

My family originated in the small Minnesota town of Lake Crystal and while it seems like an idyllic small town, the editor of the Lake Crystal Tribune fits in well with the stereotype that small towns are hotbeds of racism.

Maybe that's a bit of a blanket statement but after seeing the City Pages blotter item about the racist joke which editor Don Marben ran in an effort to "fill space" in a recent edition of the weekly rag, the stereotype seems to hold true.

Lake Crystal Tribune Editor Don Marben wrote a delightful anecdote about a golf course that replaced it's caddies with robots, only to find that their metal surfaces reflected sun in the golfers' eyes.

When golfers suggest painting the robots black, a course employee responds "We did. And four of 'em didn't show up for work, two filed for welfare, one robbed the pro shop, and the other thinks he's the president."

If that isn't racist, I don't know what is. I'm practically hoping that my aunt who likes to clip out dreck like this from that very paper to read verbatim at family holidays and gatherings clips it out and reads it to everyone during Thanksgiving dinner. It would make for a fun confrontation and plenty of bickering because there is more than one person in my extended family who would agree with that being a pretty damn funny joke. I, however, think it's in poor taste at best.



Finding something like that in what is supposedly a community newspaper proves to me that some communities would be better off without a newspaper because that kind of crap is best left for e-mail forwards from ignorant jack-offs. It's not news, it's not opinion, it's just tasteless garbage that shows that plenty of old guard "journalists" should leave the business because their views just don't fly anymore.

Want something less controversial, give the photos at MinnPics a shot.

My hometown is going to hell

I grew up in Austin, MN. Yeah, it sounds like that first statement from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but with the headlines on my hometown newspaper's website it is a bit shameful to say that I'm a former Austinite.

Chief stands by department's actions
Mace was used, three were arrested at an illegal immigration rally Saturday in Austin
The Austin police chief said Monday that his officers acted appropriately Saturday when using a chemical spray and making three arrests at a downtown protest.

Austin resident and member of the National Socialist Movement Samuel Johnson organized the illegal immigration protest at the Veterans Memorial in front of the courthouse, but things escalated when a large group of counter protesters — including many from an anti-racism coalition arrived.

Woman charged for allegedly slashing boyfriend
An Austin woman has been charged with felony assault for allegedly slashing her boyfriend with a knife, punching him and biting him Saturday.

Juana Viviana Lopez, 21, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Along with the second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon charge, she faces a felony count of terroristic threats, as well as one lesser charge.

Austin resident pleads guilty to prostitution count
An Austin man charged with hiring a 17-year-old prostitute who later stole his shorts from a motel room pleaded guilty Monday in Mower County.

Carlos Lennin Batista-Quintana, 24, will be sentenced March 18 on one gross misdemeanor count of prostitution for hiring a 16- or 17-year-old.

**************

Okay, that last story about the prostitute is sort of funny. No, not because it's about paying for sex with a school-age teen but because the prostitute, who was doing her business at a motel known for prostitution, stole the guy's shorts. If you can't trust a hooker, who can you trust?

I promise to keep it classy at MinnPics. It's a photographic journey through Minnesota that you should really check out. And yes, I do portray Austin in a positive light there.

Photos shouldn't be stolen

I'm all about sharing content online. With one caveat. Link back and attribute that shared content to the original creator. I've been very stringent about this area with the content I share via MinnPics. The photographers who take those photos work hard and are proud enough and generous enough to share their content with the world and everyone should respect that work.

But what happens when the shared content online lands in a print publication where the publication earns money from someone's free content? If you're south metro (Minneapolis) blogger Bill Roehl, you send the offending This Week Newspapers (and parent company ECM Publishing) an invoice for $300 for using the unattributed photo. But being skinflints who seem to be in the business of devaluing the work of others while profiting from it, they ponied up a mere $50.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened and, because of unscrupulous and uncaring business people, it definitely won't be the last. I have seen it happen within my own office. Someone will demand a particular image for a client and while we do our best to use something from one of our vast subscription image services, we have very little pull in the situation and when push comes to shove the demanding party usually succeeds in pilfering an image from someone's website.

The obvious problem with this is that the image from whatever website was chosen may (or may not) be copyrighted by that particular website. It may have been stolen from another website by a flat out shitty web designer. We go round and round about how Google image search isn't an art source full of images free for the taking. Those images belong to other people and not everything you view on your monitor is yours to download and re-use. The second problem with using content residing online is that the resolution is about 1/4 of what is optimal for printed materials so while it is "free" the quality is basically shit so you've broken a law or two and shortchanged paying customers by providing lower quality images.

Another possibility is receiving a client's okay to use an image that resides on their website. They demand it and know that because it's on their website, they own the image. Or at least they think they do. This happened a few years ago with a client who chose an image (shitty as it was) from their website for a print publication. The problem was than an unscrupulous web designer had stolen this particular image from another website (a large fitness club rhyming with wifetime) and we were stuck in the middle with a rather strongly worded letter full of legalese. While this taught a couple people a lesson, it didn't percolate down to the rest.

The lesson here is to attribute people properly and if you're unsure about an image, ask questions or simply don't use it. If you don't like hassles, be honest and quit being thieving pricks. Yes, I'm looking at you This Week Newspapers.

Now that I'm off of my soapbox, head over to the Creative Commons obeying MinnPics and shower down kind words on the fabulous photos showcased there. (And if you're in the south metro this week, it's the final week of exhibition of the artwork from the Savage Art Show. The photo I entered is on display at Associated Bank in Savage, MN)

The Associated Press ignorant of technology

If you don't want to pay attention to this story, don't. However, the Associated Press - the overlords of all things daily newspaper content - have slit their throats just a bit further.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press sent a cease and desist order to a Tennessee radio station, an Associated Press member, for embedding AP videos on their website. (Even worse, the AP didn't even know they had a YouTube channel)

The radio station's argument is very clear and they are in the right. If the AP is so stuck in the stone-age that they don't want their videos spread across the web and can't figure out how to disable the embed code on YouTube, maybe this archaic organization has met its endpoint.

A real-life Minnesota leprechaun

The only story I clicked on the local bankrupt newspaper website happened to be about the husband of a woman I used to work with. I had never met her husband but she often told tales of his job as a grave digger. She had some hippie-esque qualities and I knew that her husband was Irish. Upon seeing his photo and quickly reading through the story of the southern Minnesota Leprechaun-looking guy whose job is making the final resting place for dozens of rural Minnesotans in my old neck of the woods each year I felt a connection.

Tom Donnelly digs graves in the countryside between Austin and Albert Lea in and near towns like Clarks Grove, Blooming Prairie and Hayward. I could go on with listing the small towns where he digs graves in the blazing sun or numbing cold. This is the sort of personal storytelling that newspapers need. It's not a happy-clappy type of story but it focuses on a rather unique job and connects that job to a unique person and it's timely based on today being St. Patrick's Day.

Check out MinnPics and see what local St. Patrick's Day festivities looked like through the lens.

Is this good journalism?

Being that Lazy Lightning featured the Rosemount/Apple Valley/No-Man's-Land-south-of-Eagan-and-east-of-Burnsville version of a Sun Newspapers video report (which is better than this one), I thought I'd unearth one from the other side of the metro. This version from E.P. shows an unblinking journalist who has no business being in front of a camera. I'm sure he's a very capable print journalist but that doesn't always translate to other mediums. Relax and have some fun with it and I'll check things out again in a couple months.

At least Sun News is keeping their video short but some personality and blinking rather than staring would help. In short, the length of the video is great and if some personality (a la StribTV) was interjected you might garner some additional views.

Ahh, much better.

Now that I've criticized a local media outlet, check out MinnPics and feel free to constructively criticize its format but heap praise on the photos because the photographers behind them are fabulous.

The death of the Rocky Mountain News

Today marked the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News. For those unfamiliar, it was one of Denver, Colorado's two daily newspapers.

This twenty-plus minute video is a bit on the long side but also rather captivating.


Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

Many opinions were expressed in this video but the one that stuck with me is the observation that as life and technology and information moves at the speed of light, are we overlooking the small, tangible things such as the physical newspaper. Are we in danger of losing all things physical? Has the internet devalued everything and, in part, contributed to the current financial situation?

I'm heavily invested in all things online and live with all my technology. I've got more than a few feet of Cat-5 wiring running in my house. My cable modem is always on. My iPod and cell are nearly always on me during the work week. I spend many hours weekly online, not just blogging but also managing a multitude of tasks associated with my daily workflow. The advent on the internet and its rapid growth made my job both easier and more multi-faceted. I've taken on additional tasks, learned more skills than I ever thought necessary just a decade ago and have seen the entire advertising landscape change. Advertising, which drives our ravenous retail economy, recently collapsed on itself (in case you hadn't noticed). Everything essentially spiraled out of control and I think that the devaluation caused by the free online model is at least partially to blame. In inside speak, online journalism can be monetized. It can generate a profit and it can thrive and, in a turnabout, support the physical printed newspaper much as the print operations of today pay plenty of the way for the online presence.

But whatever caused the loss of just one daily newspaper, for some reason, really sticks with me. Everything lives and dies with advertising and another tangible product that had a strong virtual and physical presence was laid to rest.

Be sure to watch the video in its entirety as the seemingly endless credits roll. Those are the hundreds of people who, as of tomorrow, are unemployed because their employer had a rough ride for a year. Things don't turn around in a year. Things don't turn around without some faith in the business you run.

People now buying necessities including food

Really? Did we need a complete news story to focus on something so obvious as this?

Discount retailer Target Corp. said Thursday that August same-store sales fell 2.1 percent as consumers shopped cautiously, mainly for essentials like food.

I guess to some people so out of touch with reality who think the world outside of their gated villa is entirely fine and dandy, this story has some value. Unfortunately, those people do not read newspapers because they have people on their staff who brief them on important things such as the performance of their stock portfolio and whether or not Pedro has finished waxing the Leer Jet.

Ah, to be so oblivious.

If you're looking for more reality, check out MinnPics for the latest in photos from around Minnesota and particularly the Twin Cities as the 2008 RNC takes place.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune publishes article about irony

The tech gurus behind the Star-Tribune's website must have their hands full when their RSS feeds seem to be perpetually broken.

Ironically, the story I wanted to read was about some in-house topic about a new way to communicate with the newspaper's opinion staff. This seems to tell readers "don't waste your time".

If only I had my red proofreading pen handy...

Does the Star-Tribune even bother proofreading or spellchecking their "reporting" before they throw their drivel up on the website for all to see?

Apparently they don't any more.

After this morning's storms, a report written by Tim Harlow about the damage caused to the west and southwest of the Twin Cities contained one error in particular in a quote which caught my attention. Let's see if you can catch it.

Click on it to make the screen capture larger. Read it carefully then read it again. Hell, feel free to click on the link to the actual story above to see if the hacks reporting the news actually made a correction.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a gander at this zoomed screen capture.

Got it yet?

No?

Well the misspelled word/brand is "Catapiller". How in the fuck do you manage to butcher a relatively basic word so terribly? It's a brand name that I'm familiar with as my dad operated a piece of CATERPILLAR equipment for 15-plus years and it's a damned insect. Come on, it's not a simple typo, it's not just a juxtaposition when you're hastily typing. It's an outright butchering of a word and it makes me wish that the Star-Tribune actually cared about their content, instead of only the bottom line.

Is it just me or has proofreading and correct spelling in journalism taken a back seat to churning out hastily-produced content to boost page views from people like me who despise spelling errors (yes, even my own)?

Hey, remember MinnPics? It's that cool site that I pimp every day which showcases awesome photos from the best photographers in Minnesota and it's updated daily and contains next to no spelling errors.

Cuba, China and news website comments

I'm not big on reading what columnists have to say in the Star-Tribune. Mainly because their biases are painfully obvious and the content is of little interest to me. Today, though, I clicked on a headline in my news reader which led me to some great writing (if you can avoid the worthless comments section).

I'm sure you've heard that China is drilling for oil off the shore of Cuba. What I'm also sure of is that many haven't heard that it's complete, total, election-year bullshit. Unfortunately, the actual decent writing of Nick Coleman is overshadowed by the knuckle dragging cave dwellers who took a well-worded and informative column and turned it into what nearly every comments section on StarTribune.com turn into -- a partisan shit-slinging free for all where only a handful of comments have any value.

And I'm not alone in seeing this. WCCO's Jason DeRusha blogged about the value (or lack of) comments on news websites and plenty of others agree. He does, too, bring up the valid point of why companies open up comments. It's all about the page views. More comments = more time spent on the website and that means more page views and with CPM advertising, you have more inventory to sell. And I thank you for that because it pays my bills (to a certain extent).

I agree with the comments that civility and moderation would be great but that fine line could open up an entirely new can of worms and, in the end, alienate those loonies who drive up your page views. The commenting situation on the big sites will eventually work itself out but for now maybe y'all should just comment here instead.

Hey, there's plenty of opinions at MinnPics but they're all about photos from Minnesota's best photographers and if Erica digs it, it has to be good.

Even Katie Couric gets it

It seems that the mighty (to print media anyhow) Associated Press has done more than ruffle some feathers (h/t) of bloggers and other online media outlets by using their dinosaur-like clout to sue for what is deemed by their own copyright terms as fair use. Apparently the AP would rather maintain a death grip on their member-generated content than allow it to gain wider exposure via outlets where revenue generation is basically non-existent.

I'm not going to claim to know everything about the business model of the Associated Press but from my dealings with them at my former employer they essentially act as a distribution/gathering medium for content used in/created by daily newspapers. The member newspapers contribute stories relevant to wider distribution to the AP and receive a "wire" feed electronically consisting of content from any number of categories with their continuing membership dues. The AP, in turn, distributes content received via both the direct wire feed to newspapers, a top secret web service for stories, photos and graphics and also to their own website. I know they do have their own stable of reporters but the number to me is unknown. Locally in Minneapolis, the AP head honcho is Dave Pyle and my dealings with him were always more on the tech side and finding out the he is also the local bureau chief makes him a jack of all trades and leads me to believe that they (AP) run with a rather lean staff.

The thing that I am confused about is how the AP can claim that even citing a quote violates their copyright when buried deep in their legalese is language stating that citing a quote is fine and jim-dandy. I am well aware that the AP is simply trying to protect their revenue stream but getting more sets of eyeballs in front of your content (and then monetizing it via advertising) seems to be the traditional way of surviving in the online world. Avid readers wanting more than the quote cited on a blog or other website will amazingly click a link to find the rest of the story.

As for diminishing the value of their created or gathered content, they don't need to worry if they offer additional content above and beyond that enhances the reader experience. A photo slideshow, some audio or video and you've got your bases covered (and if cheery little Katie Couric is game, you should be too). Wake the hell up Associated Press, the written word isn't exactly everything.

Today I pick on websites

Businesses of all sorts need to face the facts, as much as many hope that the internet is a passing fad like hula hoops or He-Man, it's here to stay. I make it a part of my blathering at the office that many of our customers have websites that are hopelessly out of date, have extremely poor functionality and that they should be rather ashamed that they even have this poor online image available for all to see. Hell, plenty of websites look like something I would have created in my high school multimedia class and that's not a good thing.

I know that many businesses will say "nobody uses my webiste". Well, of course they don't. Frankly, it sucks. I'd then ask "when was the last time you picked up the yellow pages for information?" I know that my desk at work doesn't have a phone book because it would do nothing but gather dust. My phone books at home are used to prop up our electric griddle in a kitchen cupboard. If I need a phone number, a map or hours of operation, I look to the internet. That, like it or not, is where information resides and it's easily and instantly updateable.

Still, plenty of businesses fail to understand how people consume information. With more being available each and every day, they consume it faster and in more streamlined ways. I, for one, use a plethora of RSS feeds on my iGoogle start page. I've got blogs, local news, CNN, local news blogs, local blogs, Star Tribune, movie times and the weather all just a click away.

The worst offenders, though (that I'll single out today), seems to be smaller city newspapers. A former semi-competitor newspaper, the Fairbault Daily News, has at least launched its second version of its website but it is rough at best. First impressions, as I said last Thursday, count for plenty and their website leaves plenty to be desired. I feel bad for the folks in Faribault, Minnesota as well as former residents who attempt to use this site on a somewhat regular basis. It contains elements that don't function, motion which is choppy at best and seems to exist merely for the sake of existing and the biggest problem (and the reason I visited it in the first place) is the lack of any visible RSS feed. I wanted to add it to my collection but can't and now won't because of that single reason.
I've said my piece about one missing item turning me off from a website but what website shortcomings have turned you off?

Is the Star Tribune going for broke?

Plenty was written earlier today about the story breaking via New York City that our local Star Tribune newspaper is teetering on the brink of full-fledged bankruptcy. Even more shocking is that Avista Capital Partners who bought the Strib just over a year ago for an already firesale price can't turn a profit after running the paper like a Nazi death camp where nobody is safe from the pink slip bandits.

So after reading this, you are probably asking "Sornie, what the hell does this mean for me? I mean, how the crap does this effect me?"

Well, if you are reading this, you obviously read blogs and if not plural you obviously read at least one blog. Your certificate of appreciation is forthcoming. Well, without the unholy behemoth of the Star Tribune, you would be missing news from one large portion of of the country and while I rarely read even the online Strib (anymore, I did up until a few months ago), it still (even in its currently-on-life-support status) covers the news. Sure, it does so with a far slimmer (and arguably far less experienced) staff, it provides plenty of news to the Associated Press (and thanks, guys, for that award back in 2000) who then funnels it to other large news organizations. Without that constant flow of breaking news, citizen-based journalism would devolve into blogs showcasing the antics of the writers' cats and children.

Let's face it, citizen-based journalism is a cool idea but in the long run you get what you pay for.

"Sornie, you didn't really answer much or even offer up a prediction, what gives?"

Alright, the Star Tribune (believe it or not) will actually be a model for newspapers of the future. Yes, a model for how to fucking ruin a profitable business by gutting the living hell out of it! The dolts behind Avista could write an Amazon.com best seller on the topic because they took something which they bought for half price and still screwed it up. Badly. It doesn't mean, though, that a Joint Operating Agreement is in the future nor is a world where across-the-river competitor Pioneer Press comes out on top.

The future for the often-hated Strib is anyone's guess but I'll venture out on a limb here and say that Avista will somehow manage to yank the paper out of potential bankruptcy trouble but what emerges will be sold but what is sold will be only the intellectual property because there is plenty of available office space to lease in some nearby suburbs and that downtown land is very valuable to the right person(s) and printing can be easily contracted elsewhere (Pioneer Press?). The Strib will survive but it will be a feable and weak (as opposed to lean and flexible) paper compared to where it is today. Again, a model of how not to run a business.

How local is too local?

It's been said that while newspapers as traditional dead-tree editions/bird-cage liners are dying, Americans are consuming more news than ever. They, myself included, are just consuming it in different ways.

Much has been said about blogs but they, for the most part, seem to fall in to three general categories including political opinions, news opinions/rehashings and personal happenings/musings. While they apparently (and I can attest to it) have a niche that people will be drawn to, they do little to further the coverage of news because 99% of the time the blogs discussing news and politics base their takes on these events on the original coverage of major and traditional news-gathering outlets.

My conundrum is this: How would a news outlet (hypothetically in the southern suburbs of Minneapolis) reach a neighborhood whose residents choose, for whatever reason, to not associate themselves or said neighborhood with the city it and they reside in? Let's also say that by distance alone, the neighborhood itself is separated from the core of this particular city. The bulk of this neighborhood's residents are commuters and despite repeated efforts, the city's main print media outlet has tried but failed to reach them in a traditional format. How, then, do you attract this lucrative but somewhat small amount of residents and deliver pertinent news and advertising messages to them?

The main approach being discussed is electronic only. Which way(s) would you like to receive news (and entertaining content) if you were a busy suburban household who only lived in an area and hadn't associated with this portion of the community? You probably don't know or even see your neighbors, moved to this area for (relative) housing affordability and your kids (if you have any) may not even attend schools in the city which your neighborhood technically is in.

Would you like to get specific news from area communities which affects your neighborhood? Would you like short videos about the news and the people in your neighborhood? Would you contribute your own photos and feedback on the news stories from the professionals who cover the news? Would you contribute even the occasional blog post? Would you want it light-hearted, serious or a mix of both or something entirely different?

Tell me your thoughts on how to best reach these (hypothetical) folks.

Tuned out

America is obsessed with reality. They just aren't obsessed in actual reality. It seems tohat now, more than ever, Americans are turning to so called reality television in numbers greater than ever. The question behind this phenomenon is why?

Why are Americans so obsessed with escapism? Why, too, are the 24 hour news networks catering to this escapism? Why have, in recent months, entire days of coverage on these "news" networks been devoted to non-news makers along the lines of Britney Spears, OJ Simpson, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan? Why are websites who cater to the mindless masses with names like Gawker, TMZ and Defamer more important than those with actual journalists behind them?

In a world where the half hour national news programs on the big three networks have all had major shifts in their on-air presence and have hemorraged viewers at an alarming rate in the past decade, do the majority of people know more about the war in Iraq or Lindsay Lohan's trials and tribulations in her multiple rahab stints?

With newspapers supposedly dying, where will people turn to for investigative reporting? Who will take the time to dig deep for the story behind the story? Even with newspapers struggling to stay afloat, they are reinventing themselves to cater to the glossy, celebrity-obsessed culture of American consumers. Enormous lifestyle sections featuring fashion trends and hot celeb vacation spots have taken precedence over hard hitting news that, while it isn't in your back yard, still has long lasting effects on you and your life.

Even I am guilty of this trend. I have taken to a lighter approach in my so-called writing. Gone is the endless political criticism and focus on news from a year ago. I understand that focusing solely on one topic can burn people out but a topic such as the dumbass antics of fifth-rate celebs can get old too. I encourage people to find a healthy balance and turn off the bullshit "reality" programming fed to us by networks and cable channels who think that Americans would rather live their lives through the "reality" of others. I hate to break it to you but "Kid Nation" is coached and MTV's "The Hills" is scripted.