Category Archives: Blogosphere

Blogosphere, Peoria Police

There’s a reason you have to have press credentials to see the police blotter

39 Comments

I read Billy’s recent “free” post about how he was denied access to police reports. His post calls into question the police department’s restriction of this information to only those with press credentials.

I wanted to find out what the police department’s policy actually was, so I e-mailed Chief Settingsgaard. It turns out that, rather than an attempt to keep information away from people, it’s actually an attempt to make information available more quickly. The police reports include private personal information such as social security numbers and home phone numbers that can be (and should be) redacted. But rather than hold up those reports until they can be redacted, the police department makes them available immediately to the press, trusting that they will be responsible and “[maintain] appropriate discretion.”

In order to restrict this information to the media, one has to ask, “who are ‘the media’?” Traditionally, that moniker has belonged to the mainstream media, but these days there are a lot more freelance reporters. With news organizations downsizing, and the ease of starting new niche-print or online publication, there are a lot of journalists out there who don’t have traditional “press credentials.” Settingsgaard realizes this as well.

“Obviously the industry is changing and not all reporters are members of the mainstream media any longer so clearly we need to adapt so that persons like yourself and Bill Dennis are not excluded. In the short term I will ensure that access is opened immediately to Mr. Dennis and others like him whom we are familiar with. Long term I will be taking a close look at how to make the system better and either configure the reports so that anyone can view them or modernize our ‘press’ qualification.”

My thanks to Chief Settingsgaard for his quick response to and resolution of the matter.

And as for Billy: That will be $30, please.

Blogosphere

BlogPeoria goes behind a pay wall

31 Comments

Billy Dennis is trying something new in the Peoria blogosphere: You won’t be able to read his original content on the BlogPeoria Project (www.blogpeoria.com) unless you subscribe. Subscriptions are relatively cheap at $3 per month. His post explaining the new system is here.

In a nutshell, blogging is one of those things that most people do as a hobby, in addition to having a “real” job. Since Billy recently got laid off his “real” job (the company he worked for recently closed their Peoria offices), he wants to make blogging his full-time gig. That means he’s planning to do more freelance, original reporting and is hoping that his readers will be willing to pay for the content. Between subscriptions and ad revenue, he believes the business venture will work.

He’ll have no dearth of challenges.

First, even though the Peoria Journal Star is supposedly behind a pay wall, it’s a weak one that’s easily defeated, so their content is still, for intents and purposes, available for free online. Plus, all the TV/radio stations that do news post their news stories on line. And there are the other blogs that will remain free. Billy is consistently going to have to come up with content that is not available from these other sources if he’s going to convince people to pay him $3/month.

Second, Billy will have to overcome his own reputation to a certain extent. People know that he’s capable of doing original reporting, but they also know that he puts up scads of worthless posts, such as “eye candy” and one-line posts that just link to a Journal Star article. So he’s not only going to have to provide good, original content, he’s going to have to overcome negative perceptions people may have about the kind of posts they will get if they subscribe.

Thirdly, several people on a local forum (Peoria.com) have complained that they are getting a virus downloaded to their computer from Billy’s website. Billy is going to have to make sure his site is secure from these sorts of threats. Not only does it anger your customers when their computers get infected, it can also land you on a real-time blacklist which will block your site to any of their subscribers.

Lastly, he’s going to have to edit his posts. Hideous misspellings and grammatical errors are fine for a free blog. But if you’re paying for content, you expect it to be professional and polished.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I think Billy’s plan can work. One person can do quite a bit of reporting if they have the time to commit to it. I think Billy could do $3/month’s worth of reporting easily. And if he gets more subscribers, he could pay freelancers to submit more original works and really build up the site. Having content behind a pay wall would allow him to offer syndicated comics and puzzles if he gets enough revenue to pay for it.

There are lots of possibilities, and I wish him the best of luck.идея за подарък

Blogosphere

Another successful Blogger Bash in the books

2 Comments

Every fifth Tuesday of the month, there’s a Blogger Bash, and this month was no exception. Everyone met at Kelleher’s Irish Pub on Water Street to eat, drink, and mingle. Attending were Chef Kevin (Chef Kevin’s Culinary Rants and Raves), friend-of-blog and frequent commenter Scott Hay, Willa Lucas (Ramble On), David P. Jordan (Peoria Station), Leslie (Walk of Shame), Lily (Peoria in Pictures), City Councilman Gary Sandberg, Peoria Election Commission Executive Director Tom Bride, and me. Kelleher’s proprietor and State Senate candidate Pat Sullivan even joined the fun. Here are some pictures:

David P. Jordan and Willa Lucas
Scott Hay and Chef Kevin
Lily and Leslie
Tom Bride and Gary Sandberg

Notably absent: Billy Dennis (Peoria Pundit) and Randy Emert (Peoria Anti-Pundit).

If you didn’t or couldn’t make it this time, mark your calendar now for the next Blogger Bash! It will be Tuesday, May 29, at Richard’s on Main, below the Apollo Theater. Hope to see you there!

Blogosphere, Museum Block

Rumors circulating on Peoria Dot Com about museum tax

14 Comments

I can find no verification of this rumor that was recently brought to my attention:

Just talked to a relative that is on a local developement [sic] company that helped push for the museum. He told me that there will be something coming through the pipeline that will change the wording on the tax bill they passed to pay for this museum. He said it will include a scheduled increase in the tax rate for the museum in years 1-8 of operations. They are now projecting a loss when they open up. Really. He also said that the wording will be changed allowing the tax rate to go up in the future without a vote. The problem with this is that it will only have to be approved through the city counsil [sic] and not by vote. So the vote probably will happen without hearing a word about it.

Whether or not this specific allegation is true, there’s no doubt that the museum will be sucking more money from the taxpayers one way or another. You can count on it. As Thomas Andrews said to White Star Line managing director Ismay about whether the Titanic would sink, “It is a mathematical certainty.”

Blogosphere

Blogger Bash tonight

6 Comments

From Peoria Pundit:

Blogger Bash is on Tuesday, March 29. …Traditionally, fifth Tuesdays are time for Blogger Bash, the informal get-together for Peoria-area bloggers, social media users and anyone who wants to come. Because the past three times have worked so well, we’ll be meeting at 6 p.m. at the Fieldhouse in the Campustown shopping center at the corner of West Main Street and University.

See you there!

Blogosphere, City of Peoria

PeoriaIllinoisan looks at Peoria then and now

8 Comments

Local blogger PeoriaIllinoisan has started a new series of posts he’s calling “Peoria Then & Now.”

Using old photographs and postcards, I will attempt to recreate the shot using as close to the same angle as possible to show how much things have change, and sometimes maybe even stayed the same.

It’s both interesting and disheartening to see a lot of these transformations. You’ll see plenty of public gathering places in the older pictures — retail stores, cafeterias, movie theaters, etc. The newer pictures show vacant buildings, private offices, assorted blank facades with greenery, and lots of parking lots/decks. Downtown has functionally turned into a suburban office park, for the most part.

The stark contrast between what Peoria was and what it has become, as so vividly portrayed by PeoriaIllinoisan, should spur us to question whether these changes were good or bad, inevitable or preventable, reversible or permanent.

Click here for the first Then & Now entry.

Blogosphere

What’s the use of blogging?

52 Comments

I don’t often think about the medium of blogging; I’m usually focused on the message. But tonight, I’ve been thinking about blogging itself, and thinking seriously about a question that many people have asked, dismissively for the most part: What good is blogging? Isn’t it a waste of time?

If you were to ask me after I read today’s news, I’d say, “no good,” and “yes, a colossal waste of time.”

Museum, Bel-Wood bonds may top $90M (PJS)
Hotel options keep expanding (PJS)
Mel’s Cafe closing soon to move to East Peoria (PJS)
Committee backs partial settlement of Firefly suit (PJS)
Central Illinois Railroad Co. to Cease Operations (Peoria Station)
Preview: Schock on Top Chef (Word on the Web)
Obama flops on Snooki? It’s an awkward situation… (Peoria Pundit)

These headlines illustrate that our elected leaders are going forward with additional bad investments even as they pay the price for previous poor decisions from which they should have learned something. Meanwhile, some of our highest elected officials are being treated like celebrities (and acting like them, sometimes) instead of adults with serious responsibilities.

I’d say our nation is pretty much doomed. What’s the use of blogging?

Blogosphere

Blogger Bash tonight

5 Comments

From the Peoria Pundit:

Blogger Bash [is] set for 6-10 p.m. Tuesday, June 29, at The Fieldhouse in Campustown, 1200 West Main St. Come as you are.

You don’t have to be a blogger to attend. If you read the blogs, whether you comment or not, you’re invited. Come hang out and get to know your friendly, neighborhood bloggers.