SotC ISoaJ [CORRECTION]

I need to make a little correction to my last column. I do have a job, it's just not really my dream job. (And that's not really even true because I technically have two jobs.) I start today at my old job in Urbana. Before I moved to Chicago the second time, I worked for about a year as a Barista at Strawberry Fields. It's were I learned how to love coffee and it's part of why I'm obsessed with food. Such interesting people shop their and the atmosphere is very relaxed. It will be nice to work there again, although it does feel like one giant step back. Like the last five years never happened.

But that's not what's important. My important job, the job that will keep me sort of sane for the next however long, is my stringer job. I'm writing for my home town newspaper, the Piatt County Journal-Republican. Don't try to find it online, because it's not there. I've been writing a column for them for the last year or more, but now I'm writing actual news stories. And it's wonderful.

At first I scoffed at the idea of writing for such a small paper so close to where I grew up. I came at it with a fairly arrogant and impertinent attitude about the whole thing. "Why should I bother with crop yield?"Aren't I better than this story?" [Actual story I just wrote: Piatt county corn and beans count.] But what I found their was amazing. Crop yield deeply and profoundly effects the whole town. Without a good corn crop the town economy would plummet and the world would starve. But not only that, these people are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They genuinely care about growing food and feeding the world. The meeting shifted toward the worlds natural disasters effecting crops, Russian drought, Pakistani flooding. An old man spoke up. "Who's going to feed those people?" It was a very touching question that woke me up out of my urban ego. This is why I'm doing this, to tell stories about people like this, sometimes it's important to be reminded of that.

Please Pardon my Absence.

I have been away for a while finishing up my hell-storm of a semester. Several different aspects of my life came together to make things very busy. Not so much complaining about it; I'm pretty much completely free now, and I'm already getting kind of board.

I'm starting an internship soon, maybe now I'm not really sure, at The Urban Coaster. I'm going to be a reporter for them. My beat is Uptown and Edgewater. Kind of crazy, I know, to put some random intern on to two huge beats like that. But that's what I'm going to do.

I am a little worried. My first story, or at least news gathering event is some green thing at Uncommon Ground tonight. So that will be fun.

Two Things

My blog tracker informs me that over the past week, my blog has had over 100 visitors on three different days. And one day over 90. That makes me feel pretty good. keep it up, visitors.

Also,

A few words I have heard a lot in the last few weeks, and I am tired of hearing: Earmarks and Pork. These words have no meaning. They are buzz words and do not belong in journalism. They are very biased words for excessive spending. One person might think it's ridiculous to spend a million dolors on broccoli research and call it pork. While someone else might think it's important for farmers to understand broccoli and the million dolors will be made back ten fold with a better understanding of broccoli.

Just stop saying those words.

Silver Sears Tower

The Sun-Times reported that the owners of the Sears Tower are thinking about recovering it with reflective stainless steal in this mornings paper. The article made it seem like this was a fairly sure bet. but the Chicago Triune wrote up an article online calling the Sun-Times out.

"The Sun-Times story puts the bill for the silver makeover at $50 million and (deep down in the story) quotes an anonymous source familiar with the tower as saying: 'Right now there's not enough money in the universe for that.'"

The idea behind the new Sears Tower skin is to save money and be more green. The Tribune doesn't seem to think so. They even go as far as to link back to the original Sun-Times article in, what I think looks like, an attempt to show the Sun-Times Spotty reporting.

The article is a bit misleading. It does sound like the owners are considering the change, but I don't think that means the Tribune should so blatantly call the Sun-Times out. Or maybe it does. As I write this I'm beginning to wain. Misleading articles and half-truths should be outed so people think twice about doing it themselves. Shotty journalism does hurt everyone. I don't know. Discuss.

Here are the two articles in question:
Sun-Times
Tribune

A bit of . . . I guess they call it Navel Gazing.

As the second week of my semester comes to completion . . .

I wanted to get another quick post done. I fear my life will become too hectic and busy to keep much of a regular schedule going. Perhaps only the odd "View from the Second City" and torch article will be posted over the next few months. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some time for a cute picture. But I don't think I will be able to write a huge amount, which is a shame because I need all the practice I can get.

Why is it that when I tell anyone my choses educational path and future profession, they all tell me how bad the media is? Does this happen with any other job. Doctors I guess. People are always telling them why they are wrong. Why they know better. Who else?

I've been considering where I want to end up. One of my classes, War and Media, has me intrigued. I'm reading "The First Casualty," for the class. An historical look at war correspondence. I've never really considered that, but I don't know. The book talks about the "first" war correspondence, William Howard Russell. He really wasn't the first, he is just remembered better. "Russell covered teh war between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Paris Commune, and the Zulu War of 1879. He helped to topple the British government, was indirectly responsible for the employment of the first war photographer, and helped keep Britain from intervening in the American Civil War. He was appointed a Knight of the Iron Cross, an Officer of the Legion of Honour . . ." and on and on and on. If I got 1% of what he did done, I would be very happy with myself.

Some how politics keeps pulling on me and peaking my interest. I've always said I don't want to go near that crap hole. To much heartache and not enough gratitude. But it's interesting. The stories can be epic. And I think the public needs to know the secret--the whole things is a game. Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided on merit between the hours of 9 and 5. More like 10 and 3 Monday-Thursday. Then at the bar no body cares. Same thing with Journalists. The job is just a job and everyone is a friend with a beer in your hand. I once told Chris that maybe I wanted to be "a corespondent to the insane." They are the ones who most need understanding and have the biggest obstacle--a different language of the mind.

Politics is the ultimate in insanity and maybe they need me to translate. (I don't often get so high on myself. Maybe I'm just tired. Please don't judge me for this.)

I don't really know anything that I want to do beyond go to bed right now.

Good night all.

One of those Heavy Issues I Teased Earlier or 100 Post!!

I've been thinking about where the media is heading. That Publish2 contest was part of it. (I think I lost that by the way. Oh Well.) But even before that I've been a little concerned about the future.

I'm definitely not part of the old media who is scared of change, but I'm also not part of the opposite side of the spectrum. I don't worship at the alter of the Internet. I see it's problems and I see how to fix it. Not to stroke my own ego, but I think that might have lost me the contest. Publish2 is 100% into the internet, and I wrote about how that's not necessarily the best thing to do. (Please don't take this as me bashing on the website or upset about loosing.)

But, like everything else good in the world, the internet is far more complicated than most people like to think.

A lot of people often argue about the use of advertising in the media. The argument is that advertising will effect the news. Meaning: If a company advertises in a newspaper, the newspaper is less likely to report on bad news about that company.

This is a flawed argument by people who don't know the inter-workings of a newspaper office. Advertising and Reporting are two separate sections of the office. Reporters don't know what ads will be used and advertisers have no idea what the news will be. And no one knows what the finished product looks like until they read there newspaper. There are moments in history where this balance was corrupted, but too few to be anything but exceptions.

The interesting part of new media is also what I have the biggest problem with. A lot of these podcasts and what-not are produced by one person or at most a small group. This destroys the balance perfected by years and years of the old media. Now the reporter, director, writer, and advertiser are all the same person.

A few podcasts I listen to do advertising like early television. When they would stop in between stories to talk about cigarettes, "Ohhh-that smooth flavor." And then go back to the show.

The biggest problem I see with new media is that the internet wants to forget the lessens old media learned long ago. Maybe like a teenager, the internet needs to learn the lessons for its self. And old media needs to let go and hope the growing-pains doesn't kill it.

View from the Second City: Beginnings

I've got a column in a paper.

It's a monthly column in the Journal Republican, my hometown weekly newspaper. I'm calling it "View from the Second City." Most people live in a small town because they don't like big cities and I'm trying to literarlaraly (*made up word) show the similarities between Chicago and Piatt county.

I'm pretty excited about it. I'll post them after they are printed so everyone can see.

Publish2 Contest and Other News . . . um . . . news

Above is a badge with a link to my entry in the Publish2 contest. I think it's pretty good and I am pretty proud of myself. If you would please read it and rate it, I would be much obliged. (That's something people say, right?) While I would love it if you agreed with me and rated it high, please don't feel like you have to. If something doesn't look right tell me. I would like to have a discussion on this topic.

Also besides holding contests, Publish2 is a pretty cool social networking/news aggregator/something-something new media. I have been trying it out for a week or so and I still don't have it all figured out. It seems pretty big and a little confusing. Let me know what you think about that, too.

Comment. Comment. Comment. Please.

Hell of a Day to be in Newspapers

Update: The first run of Chicago Tribune's paper yesterday was at 690,000 copies, with a rerun of 410,000 extra copies, said the Tribune. Today, they will sell more copies at convenience stores. Here's the link.

I don't think there is an unclaimed copy of the Tribune, Sun-Times or Red Eye left in the city. And I wanted to read today's paper. Ok ok and maybe I wanted to keep something as a memento.

I heard that they were selling reprinted copies downtown at the Tribune Tower. I went down and ran into this . . .

They said they were selling posters of the front page for $3 and something just came over me. Money exchanged hands and I was told there would be a 10 minute wait for the actual paper. I waited with about 50 other people inside what can only be called the Gothic Cathedral of my kind. A huge room with high ceilings and notable quotes of famous journalists written into the walls.

After a 15 or 20 minute wait a woman came in calling out that the truck was on the bridge. Her declaration met with applause. The truck rolled up and a few burly men ran in with papers in hand.

Really I just wanted to read the newspaper.