I know I haven’t posted anything lately, but I’m researching a couple of things I hope to have up soon. In the meantime, feel free to comment on whatever you’d like.
19 thoughts on “No time to blog / Open Thread”
Comments are closed.
I know I haven’t posted anything lately, but I’m researching a couple of things I hope to have up soon. In the meantime, feel free to comment on whatever you’d like.
Comments are closed.
Does it strike anyone else that the Journal Star guild threats to potential new owners seem to be way over the top?
Maybe they’re trying to deter a sale?
I wondered about that, too. Is it the reaction to the rumor that Dave Ransburg is a potential buyer, if so, they must have very strong feelings about Dave. Do you suppose they are also worried about the way Copley is cutting costs with the early retirement incentives to senior staff? Doesn’t sound like they will be replaced very soon. So, if some our more senior reporters are gone and not replaced, what happens to local news coverage?
By the way, does anyone have an update on the petition drive by the pro-GOS site group? There’s been no big headline about their efforts, so didn’t it go as well as they hoped?
Funny – if that’s true about Ransburg. Because the Urinal sure was happy when Dave was mayor and was hacking away the city services and employees for the sake of the taxpayer. Now, when their jobs and future are at risk, they parade every politician and band member that will listen to profess about what will happen to the employees if someone takes over and cuts a few employees! WATCH OUT, THE CAR IS NOW CHASING THE DOG
I found a piece in Editor & Publisher, the top newspaper trade magazine, where Luciano is quote as saying, “we’re just trying to save our jobs.” They have something like 93 people in the newsroom with circulation around 75,000 or so. I worked at 3 papers in the ’70s with circulation between 50,000 and 85,000 and the biggest newsroom of the three had about 50 employees. As is, the Journal Star simply reacts to the news. There is no depth to their reporting. All of the issues on the various blogs are more in depth than what the PJS does. I think they got very fat and happy when the employees owned the paper and figured they really didn’t have to put much effort into it. Once that takes hold, it’s hard to turn it around.
On another topic, George Jacob was absent from last night’s city council meeting so no vote was recorded for him on the smoking referendum. Of course he would have to abstain since many of the restaurants and bars affected are his customers. But by being absent he avoids any vote at all prior to the primary next month. Gary Sandberg pointed this problem out when Jacob was appointed, saying that many of the sensitive neigghborhood and city issues revolve around alcohol and Jacob would never have to take a stand on them. Lets him off the hook big time. If Grayeb puts forth an ordinance April 24 as he indicates, I’ll bet Jacob is there but abstains since it will be after the election. I think he should be pressed throughout the campaign to state a position. But will the PJS and other media do that? Not likely.
Back to the PJS, rightly or wrongly, I’ve been told that Bailey and McDowell pretty much control what gets into the paper especially with investigative pieces. Some of their best investigative reporters have been sidelined to Sunday features and other low-profile content. So, what is the PJSEB really up to?
PC: It is highly inappropriate for the editorial board to be involved in any way in day-to-day news coverage or investigative pieces. If that’s the case, it’s a major problem. But there certainly has been a watering down effect in recent years on in-depth reporting. They did a very good series on the whole electric price issue, but that was something that was in the news on a regular basis. I think we’re missing the behind-the-scenes stuff that it seems like we got years ago, even on the TV side too. Luciano is interesting to read, but his stuff is all that relevant. One thing’s for sure, he’s no Rick Baker.
Observer, you’re right about Luciano and Baker – Luciano has nowhere near the depth Baker did. The PJS is beyond diluted – if it wasn’t for the obituaries and police beat there wouldn’t be much local news at all!
BTW – it is hard to escape notice that you can take $1 and purchase either a PJS or a New York Times, and $.75 will purchase a Chicago Tribune (and with the NYT &/or Trib you have a lot to read). We’re not getting very much for our $1 are we?
That plus their advertising rates being high are how they can afford to pay twice as many newsroom staff as they need! I was in a corporate position for many years and media spokesperson. We kept very close track of media contacts. In one year, we were contacted by 42 different reporters and editors from the Journal Star. That sounds impossible, and they didn’t believe it when I mentioned it during an editorial board briefing. I showed them our logs, and they too were amazed.
What on earth did 42 PJS reporters and editors find to write about in Peoria in a one-year time period?
Interesting that the PJS news room appears to be so overstaffed. This is an issue that they always fault governmental organizations for (not being lean, progressive, and making use of technology). Seems like they need a good housecleaning also… what on earth, can all those individuals in the newsroom be doing?…it will be interesting to see how the new structure looks after a purchase goes through.
Issues related to a major local employer and its products; this was 15 years ago.
The PJS lists 104 employees on their website in the newsroom; the State Journal-Register, a sister paper in the Copley chain, lists 53; the Bloomington Pantagraph, owned by Lee Enterprises, lists 33. With nearly twice as many employees as Springfield, I’d be worried about my job too.
justanobserver:
I believe councilman Jacob was out of state. I hope he is relaxing because of all the councilmen he is throughout the city’s many neighborhoods the most, meeting with residents, walking (not driving or riding by), attending meetings, tromping through creeks, picking up trash, etc. He returns his phone calls and email messages, which others should note and treats both staff and constituents with respect which also should be noted by observers.
No I am not on his payroll, but have watched carefully what he says and does. My intial concern was how can he show concerns about older neighborhoods from his socio-economic status and zip code. My intial concerns were shown to be unwarranted because of Councilman Jacob’s actions and committment to what I picture an at large councilman’s job to be. He has been in all five districts, gotten his hands dirty–literally by helping with various neighborhood projects, and devoted many hours including late night observations from residents porches and a walk with the Guardian Angels and taking on slumlords. Councilman Manning appears to be a close second in these activities. Most importantly, I believe his actions both in front of and with out the cameras are found to be consistent. Jacob recently spoke to neighborhood leaders regarding his thoughts about the expansion and economic growth possibilities for the city and other topics, which is another side of his job duties.
Regarding the masterful switch of a local referrendum to now a state issue, gosh, politics crafted at its best and certainly allows the freedom to avoid any sense of contraversy. Other recent referrendums did not receive any of the same scrutiny.
There are many, many items which need to be brought forth into the realm of public debate. This referrendum is one of them. Messy things like parental responsiblity, ligitmate race concerns–racism abounds and in all sects and communities; the sub-culture of violence which drives the murder rates and assaults on cops, and child abuse rates, the education system, and so on. Without raising the level of public discourse AND resolution, we remain mired in a stagnat state of apathy and inaction.
PW: All of the issues you raise that need more debate are the types of things the Journal Star should be initiating in depth coverage on, particularly with their big staff. But I believe there is a great deal of apathy because people who can simply relocate, putting more pressure on older neigborhoods. Consider Knoxville Ave. and how it connects downtown with the wealtier neighborhoods and on out to Dunlap. Thousands of cars travel that road everyday, but few, if any, people give thought to what the conditions that exist just a few blocks on either side of Knoxville as it nears the downtown area. People are literally driving through the center of some of our most problematic areas, but are unaware. It takes a concentrated focus on an issue to get people engaged. That is difficult to do without a high-profile champion of the issue. Perhaps Councilman Jacob could spearhead efforts independent of the council to tie together all of the activities that are on-going aimed at addressing the many problems we have. It seems there is a lack of coordination and that results in less efficient use of time and resources.
For those that don’t realize it, the Lake of the Woods area, Hickory Grove, etc. off of North Knoxville is NOT Dunlap. They are approximately 5 miles away from the actual Village of Dunlap. Parts of the Lake of the Woods and Hickory Grove areas are IVC (Chillicothe) school district as well. Some portions of these newer neighbohoods may have a Dunlap mailing address as they are served by the Dunlap Post Office and be in the Dunlap school district but they are far from Dunlap.
A large portion of Lake of the Woods was built in the early to mid 70’s and was originally designed with it’s own water and sewage systems.
Mr. Wilkinson is correct when he stated that there are many issues that need to be brought into the realm of public debate, including the education system. The recent series of articles in the PJS about Manual High School have been quite interesting. We had the initial article commenting on the WMBD report that Hinton had met with some BOE members to poll them about closing MHS. Then we had the unequivocal Hinton denial of it. Monday, Hinton disclosed they were discussing restructuring an unidentified high school. And now, in today’s paper, Stowell says that he, Alicia Butler, and Hinton met two weeks ago and had some discussion about “restructuring†MHS. The way this ball is bouncing around in an attempt to get the best “spin†on the issue from the BOE/Administration’s perspective is dizzying to watch.
It is also interesting that suddenly we are talking about restructuring MHS, possibly with a vocational training program, when the AYP report was just released for grades K-8. Either the high school report isn’t in yet or the administration has not released the data.
The article in today’s paper stated that . . . “it was learned Wednesday that Manual is supposed to enter into state-mandated “restructuring†next school year because test scores have been low for multiple years.“ This is NCLB parlance for the district’s two-year plan to turn the school around has failed, and MHS is now subject to corrective action and restructuring, which can include a takeover or complete reorganization of the school.
After MHS failed to meet AYP for two consecutive years, MHS had to be defined as needing school improvement, the school was required to develop a two-year plan to turn the school around, and the district was obligated to offer parents “choice†– every student in the school had to be given the option to transfer to another school in the district (one not identified as in need of improvement) with transportation provided by the district.
After MHS failed to make AYP for three consecutive years, the school had to remain in school improvement status. Not only did the district have to offer the parents school choice, but students from low-income families also had to be offered supplemental educational services – free tutoring or additional academic help – provided outside of the regular school day.
Restructuring is very serious. A district can be required to remove all the administrative and teaching staff (involuntarily transferring them to other district schools), and replace them with new staff (transfers, new hires, etc.) and basically start over with a clean slate. Or, the state can elect to takeover the school.
When Blaine and White were about to enter into restructuring, the administration, instead of pursuing an aggressive restructuring plan, simply closed the schools and dispersed the students among other district middle schools.
Is Hinton trying to do the same thing again with Manual? It makes you suspicious, doesn’t it? What happened with Blaine and White was a deliberate avoidance of the provisions of NCLB. Instead of focusing more intently on fixing the problems, they closed the doors and declared the problems gone.
The kids from Blaine and White were sent to other district schools, ones that were meeting AYP standards. So you add an influx of kids from failing schools to schools that were succeeding. What do you suppose might happen to the schools that were succeeding? Could this have anything to do with why Columbia and Roosevelt saw their AYP results decline since last year? Very possibly it is a factor.
It could be that Hinton’s “plan†for improving student achievement at Manual High School is to close the school (as it has traditionally been structured) and call the problem over. Then he can reassign the MHS students to other district high schools that have not been identified as needing improvement, and watch what happens to their adequate yearly progress.
Hinton is working within a finite environment – there are only so many schools in the district. How long can he continue playing this game of musical schools? Even though what Hinton is doing may not be a technical violation of NCLB, he certainly is playing fast and loose with the spirit and intent of the act, and is not acting in the best interests of Peoria‘s children.
Yes, it is way past time to move the issue of our failing school system into the realm of public debate.