David Jordan’s Transportation Blog had to be abandoned, according to Mr. Jordan, due to spam issues and the loss of ability to post images. So he’s moved to Billy Dennis’s BlogPeoria Project. It’s called Peoria Station.
I think he’ll like the flexibility a WordPress interface provides. I don’t know how much storage space Billy gives him with a BlogPeoria account, but I hope it’s a lot because David takes a lot of pictures! I’m glad to see this excellent blog move to a better platform.
In the past, I’ve poked fun at Billy Dennis for the amount of advertising he has on his site. I once compared his ads-to-content ratio to WMBD Radio. But his site doesn’t hold a candle to Jen Christensen’s blog NewsAnchorMom. Holy mackerel, she has a ton of ads on that site!
After marveling at how many ads were squeezed into the header and sidebars, I thought I’d seen everything. But then, after reading a recent post, I spotted the pièce de résistance:
Methodist Medical Center’s new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post….
That’s right. Each individual post is sponsored! I went to her blog to read something about television and kids, but I got so distracted by all the ads, I couldn’t concentrate on her story.
Jonathan Ahl has revealed that he’s moving to Iowa, which means I lost a bet. I thought for sure he was going to work for NPR and would be moving to either Chicago or DC. No, he’s not going national yet, but he’s one step closer. He’ll be the news director for Iowa Public Radio. You can read all about it on Jonathan’s blog.
Congrats again to Mr. Ahl.
Intrepid news director at WCBU 89.9 FM, Jonathan Ahl, has announced he will be leaving WCBU and the Peoria area to pursue another job opportunity. He hasn’t revealed where he’s going yet, but will keep us all updated on his blog.
It’s an exciting time for the Ahl family, but a huge loss to Peoria. Jonathan’s experience and professionalism have earned him a lot of well-deserved respect, and his absence from the local news media will leave an awfully big hole. I also consider Jonathan a friend, and so I’m sad on a personal level that he won’t be in the area anymore, and yet excited for him as he takes this new opportunity. Of course, he waited until after I made my annual pledge to the station to tell me he was leaving.
All my best to Jonathan, Anita, Tommy, and Lily.
Do you have first-hand information that needs to get out to the public, but you’re afraid you’ll lose your job if your identity is revealed? If so, I have a suggestion for you: talk to a journalist.
I would specifically recommend talking to Jonathan Ahl. He’s a reputable, experienced journalist. He, unlike bloggers, has a lot of case law backing up his right as a journalist to protect anonymous sources. He has had professional training in protecting a source’s identity. He can help you get your information out (assuming it’s true and newsworthy) in a constructive way without compromising your identity. Naturally, you must have first-hand knowledge (not merely a rumor you heard) and be able to sufficiently prove your allegation to him.
Here’s what does absolutely no good: posting anonymous comments on blogs with no supporting evidence. First of all, if you talk to a blogger, there’s a pretty good chance we’re not going to be able to legally protect your identity if we get subpoenaed (short of going to jail for your sake). Secondly, no one has any reason to believe you because you’re just a pseudonym with an unfounded accusation, for all we know. Third, if what you post is libel, any reputable blogger will remove your statements anyway.
And I have another piece of advice: if you do contact a journalist, don’t do it from work. Don’t send a whisteblowing e-mail from a company computer. Even if you’re posting anonymously or from a Hotmail or Yahoo account, your company knows what was written from which computer in their network, and they know who was logged on that computer at what time. Trust me, you will be discovered. If you’re going to write an e-mail, at least write from home; a public computer at the library would be even better.
PeoriaIllinoisan has compiled a review of 2007 in the blogosphere. I was thinking of doing something similar, but he beat me to it, and I couldn’t have done it better myself anyway. Check it out!
Meghan Fisher, news director for WHOI-TV (channel 19), has started her own blog: Tales of a Peorian. She’s off to a good start, blogging about brazen, public drug use that takes place in some parts of Peoria.
I was part of a panel hosted by the League of Women Voters this morning. The topic was “the role of the media in a democracy.” Since I was a participant, I didn’t take notes or anything, but Elaine Hopkins did, and her report is here.
One of the most interesting discussions to me came about when one of the audience members asked why TV and radio news broadcasts do not air editorials. I’ve long wondered the same thing. At the Journal Star, of course, they have an editorial page, and the writers give the viewpoint of the paper itself. But television and radio news broadcasters don’t do that. Why not? Wouldn’t it be helpful to know the position of the news editors at all the media outlets?
The answer each of the participants gave was pretty much the same: editorials hurt ratings and lower the credibility of the newscasts. If they posit their opinion on the news of the day, they at worst alienate some viewers/listeners, and at best make their viewers/listeners suspicious of their news coverage. As a follow-up, I asked if they thought that was the case at the Journal Star — did the fact that they give an editorial viewpoint hurt their credibility, in the TV and radio panelists’ view. Answer: yes.
Jonathan Ahl from WCBU-FM stated that it also limits their ability to do their jobs. He told of how he had sat next to four successive Journal Star reporters at City Hall over the years and had witnessed all of them get shunned by mayors and council members — not because of their reporting, but because of the newspaper’s editorial positions. In the end, he said, it’s the reader who gets short-changed. He said he wasn’t willing to limit his ability to get a story by including editorials on the station. He would rather present the information as fair and balanced as possible and let the listeners form their own opinions.
Jody Davis, news director of WMBD-TV, gave examples of how ratings dipped on Sinclair Broadcasting-owned channels when they used to carry right-wing editorial comments from Sinclair officials. Even the bosses at Sinclair recognized the trend and quietly discontinued the editorials. Thus, broadcasters see a lot of potential for editorials to hurt ratings, and little if any value in them.
The morning ended on a somewhat depressing note for me, as I hung around after the meeting and heard about how low morale is at the Journal Star now that Gatehouse has taken over. Many seasoned reporters have left, benefits have been cut, and staff positions are going unfilled. Basically, the newsroom is being slashed through attrition. Jenni Davis moved from the City Hall beat to Lifestyles editor, and they’re not hiring anyone to fill her position. Instead, they’re going to replace her with one of the business reporters. Now there will be two instead of three business reporters; one more position eliminated.
Gatehouse is cutting costs on little things, too. They won’t buy antibacterial liquid soap for the bathrooms anymore, nor will they buy Post-It Notes. That kind of nitpicking at the budget is the sign of a company in serious financial trouble. They’ve overextended themselves by buying so many newspapers, and now they’re trying to cover the cost of their debt any way they can, from cutting staff to business supplies. There is no joy at the paper right now. And that’s sad.
The blogger bash was very well attended this time around, and was a lot of fun. I got to meet a few new people, including Ms. Pointlessly Hypertechnical, “Cory,” and Karen Carter (Brad’s better half). Although I got there late, there were still a lot of people there. They couldn’t watch the Cubs on TV for some reason, but the eating and drinking went on as planned.
Also, we did discuss “organizing” to some degree, but the more we talked about it, the more complicated (and expensive) the proposition became. So we won’t be starting an Illinois News Bloggers Association any time soon. But we will be starting a Yahoo Group for sharing news releases, press conference announcements, etc., among Peoria’s news bloggers. So that’s a start.
Oh, and I met Elaine Hopkins. I was polite and cordial, but unfortunately she never apologized for publishing misleading statements about me regarding the Kellar Branch issue, despite having ample opportunity to do so. Until she does, there will be no “set[ting] aside [our] differences,” as she suggested in a comment to another post. I’m not amused by yellow journalism, especially when it’s directed at me. However, if and when I receive a public apology from her, I’ll be happy to set aside the whole matter and not bring it up again.
There’s a blogger bash tonight (7 p.m.) at Donnelly’s, 4908 N Renwood Ave, near the corner Glen and War Memorial Drive. More info is available here.
It’s my understanding the agenda is as follows:
I. Call to Order
II. Eat/Drink
III. Discuss organizing a “blogger journalist” advocacy group
IV. Eat/Drink
V. Watch “lovable losers” (Cubs) game on TV
VI. Eat/Drink
VII. Adjourn
I’ll be late. There’s a parent/teacher conference at my daughter’s school, so I’ll be arriving a little after 8, hopefully.