HometownSource Blogs

I just wanted to give notice to the HometownSource blog readers that “Reading Between the Headlines” is going away. I’ve set up a new blog entitled “MN Video Pro”. I figure I’ll have a much easier time blogging regularly about video & photo journalism gadgets, trends and news than I did trying to do social commentary. It’s going to be a much better fit for me. To those that have read my blog, thanks for reading, sorry for such infrequent posts and please check out my new blog (even though it may be mostly of interest to videographers, photographers and mutli-media journalists).

Cheers,

Jeff

www.mnvideopro.wordpress.com

If we’re going to talk alternative models of journalism, let’s not leave any possibility unexplored.

We have to consider the possibility that the masses, not a publishing company, will provide the majority of news and information in our future.

Smart phones have made it a virtual reality that everyone now carries in their pocket or purse the ability to take photos, video, audio and post to the web from anywhere in the world.

The ability to publish is no longer the exclusive privilege of the printing press owners. The ability to produce and share photos and videos has become affordable and manageable by more than just the studios and TV stations. The tools of journalism are now everyone’s tools.
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I’ve got my share of friends, family and colleagues that think Twitter is not for them. I’m sure you’ve heard it too.

“I don’t care what people are doing every second of the day.”
“Why do I need to know that ‘hotguy267′ is having coffee with Sukkbir?”
“If you really want to talk to your friends, why wouldn’t you email or call them?”

Well, of course these criticisms come from people who aren’t using Twitter. Those of us who are, assuming we share some of these same sensibilities with the non-Twitters, have found a way to use Twitter, to navigate it, that isn’t a huge waste of time. We’ve learned to “remove” fellow Tweeters when it becomes clear that their tweets are meaningless and self-centered. We’ve learned to “follow” wisely, following others on Twitter that provide humor, helpful tips & information, and lead us to news and links that we can use.

So, my questions for you: who do you follow that you’ve really enjoyed connecting with on Twitter? How have you managed to groom your Twitter account to make it worth your time? And what’s your tweeting philosophy? How do you decide what to tweet and when to build your followers?

How important is the news to you?

Well, you are reading this, so it must be worth something. The trick for those in the newspaper business is to determine how much it’s worth to folks like yourself.

Across the country, news organizations are meeting to discuss possible future business models for our industry. The City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism also started a project to this end. Last week, I attended one of these meetings at the University of Minnesota. Read more »

The Pew Research Center released the results of a poll this month that asked people if they’d give a rip if their local community newspaper dissappeared.

The results aren’t all that surprising, but do indicate we (newspaper folks) could do a better job of advocating our own relevance, especially with young people.

According to the report, 74 percent of Americans say losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot” or “some.” Fifty-eight percent say they would personally miss reading the local newspaper “a lot” or “some.” (Read the report here.)

So are there any major take aways here? Yes. Read more »

In a small village in  Gambia, Africa, in 1973, my parents traded marriage vows among a swarm of Gambians.

My mother told me how they had invited only a few of their closest Gambian friends and fellow Peace Corps volunteers. Nonetheless, in Africa, all the villagers invite themselves when someone they know throws a party.

After their wedding, my mother and father went on to finish their remaining year in the Peace Corps teaching in the Gambian schools and living a humble lifestyle. Read more »

Thanks to Bill Roehl for this post. It seems some people have forgotten that news comes printed on dead trees. A sign of the times????

“Welcome to New York’s underground. Where the competition is brutal and everyone’s fighting to be the best.”
I’m a movie buff and so being, I cruise the Yahoo! Movies page frequently to check out new trailers and movie news. Today I discovered a trailer for a new movie called “Fighting.”

I’m not typically prone to moral outrage, but for some reason this movie sparked some. Read more »

I’ve often heard criticism of the mainstream media’s coverage of the middle east. “We’re not getting the full story” or criticisms such as the media reporting with an agenda, but not reporting the “good” things going on over there. Well, there may be some legitimacy to the criticism, but Joe the Plumber is taking it to a new level.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=215322&title=burger-at-1600

A friend brought this article, Hyperlocal Websites will Boom in 2009 as Community Newspapers Fold, to my attention. If I subscribe to all the opinions in it I’d have to be pretty scared considering I work for exactly the type of community newspaper the author is talking about.

But, I have to believe there’s a way out for us here at ECM Publishers. I have to believe that we can find a sustainable model for community news that, yes, relies predominantly on online news, but may also have room for a print product (perhaps a subscription model as I discussed in my last blog post.) Read more »

In my meager attempt to follow in the footsteps of some of the more prominent and prolific industry blogs this time of year, this post is a list of my own predictions for the future of journalism, particularly the future of community newspapers like those here at ECM Publishers.

PREDICTION #1) Free distribution community weeklies will eventually begin charging a subscription rate for their print edition, effectively and significantly trimming print circulation down to the most loyal print readers. Everyone else will go to the web for their community news. (Which we of course hope will be OUR web sites). Read more »

Have you seen the video of an Iraqi TV reporter hurling his shoes at President Bush? What am I talking about, of course you’ve seen it.

I was running on the tread mill at 7 a.m. this morning and I swear it was on every major news morning show on constant repeat. It’s the news networks own “viral” video. I heard Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wanted to confiscate all the video tapes, but the Americans let the reporters have their tapes. I’m sure Bush aids are feeling a little miffed that the video is getting so much air time. Critics of the mainstream media (MSM) are probably cursing the networks for focusing too much on the bizarre and not enough on the substance of what was a much more substantative presidential visit to the Middle East, but then the video’s popularity with networks shouldn’t come as a surprise. Read more »

With the recent bankruptcy filing of the Tribune company, parent company for The Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, etc., the writing on the wall, or perhaps “blog”, seems fairly clear. Newspapers need to change tactics as fast as they can and move to online only operations. Any burdened by substantial debt have even fewer options. Read more »

Pardon me. This post is a bit of an oxymoron.

But, I’m getting fed up with a blogosphere that seems more intent on moaning, complaining, finger pointing and accusation making than it cares about uncovering facts and encouraging constructive dialogue.

Emails from conservative friends of mine who ask me about the latest Obama conspiricy they read about on a blog, conservative bloggers in my own publishing company posting a litany of complaints about a liberal media (yes I’m talking about the Upsiderblog), there has been nothing meaningful or useful coming out of the blogosphere lately.

All that the blogosphere has done is launch a barrage of viciously biased and seemingly baseless attacks while at the same time polluting any constructive dialogue about serious issues. It’s great at raising doubt and fear, but shamefully inept at producing concrete evidence and reliable information. The list of things the blogosphere has contributed to national news and healthy debate is far shorter than the list of damage it inflicts.

Bloggers have really outdone themselves with posts like this, http://www.newsherald.com/articles/obama_69275___article.html/good_percent.html. The “I give up, this nation is screwed and I shouldn’t have to give any conclusive evidence as to why I feel this way” anthem I’ve been hearing from bloggers lately is a cop out. Sure, the MSM is imprefect. Sure they’re not totally objective. Finding bias in the media is no prize winning skill. If bloggers wanted to make a real contribution and wake us all up to injustice, bias and conspiricay, then they can all do some actual leg work and stop sitting around in their offices or living rooms hyperlinking pieces of rhetoric together and actually interview people, research court and government documents, or actually attempt to adhere to a code of ethics.

I’m sorry if that’s too close to the job description of a journalist.

It’s one of my favorite TV shows, first because I’m a big fan of great comedy and political satire. Second, becuase I’m a journalist and I’ve learned to laugh at what “we” in the media do from time to time. That’s why I took great pride and satisfaction in being one of the fans to sit in the live studio audience for an on-location taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart here in St. Paul yesterday.
Here’s an account of my experience:

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