Thursday, April 09, 2009
New! Elmira Confidential: Debut Issue 04.09.09
In a trial offer: Introducing a new comments forum, exclusively for New York Group news. It's named for the central New York state community of Elmira -- where it all began in 1906.
33 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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A reader asked me to launch this new forum for New York State readers -- especially around Binghamton, Ithaca and Elmira.
ReplyDeleteAs with the Jersey Confidential forum, this string is for news and comments that a very specific to your state -- and so perhaps of less interest to a national audience.
But as always: I love you guys! You're welcome to comment here, there -- and everywhere! And, as always, I welcome your feedback.
Poughkeepsie here.
ReplyDeleteAnxiety levels are high, especially after the word came down our 11 page designer and copy editor jobs were being eliminated with the Westchester Journal News taking over the tasks.
Sure, the Journal News is going to have to create *some* new positions to make up for the extra work load, but how many? Who of the 11 will be offered those jobs?
These are a great bunch of really talented, experienced, hardworking people.
It's beyond sad. It's criminal Gannett is tearing apart a once great newspaper bit by bit.
And nobody thinks there won't be further layoffs.
Binghamton/Ithaca/Elmira here (we are all one big happy family).
ReplyDeletePoughkeepsie, keep your eye on the news published in our papers soon. You'll get a taste of what is probably in store for your group. If you post questions, maybe we can answer for you.
What about Rochester? It's awfully quiet up North. Or is the D&C going to take over the entire state soon since that is the company's favorite NY paper?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see how the readers in the Elmira-Corning area adapt to all the news from Ithaca and Binghamton. Think maybe they'll drop their subscriptions and stop buying single copy??
ReplyDelete"What about Rochester"
ReplyDeletePerhaps there are just enough Gannett family members still in Rochester that prevents McLean from gutting Rochester?
Poughkeepsie had a high-income distribution quarterly magazine called "Connoisseur", and that was discontinued, luckily the staff was retained- good people, seemed to have advertising, so why was the publication cut? Did other markets have these glossy cover upscale features publications targeted exclusively to high income zip codes- and have they been discontinued too?
ReplyDelete8:04,
ReplyDeleteKnow why it's quiet up north in Rochester?
Because the D&C only has about 12 people left in the building.
This includes a top photographer who recently had to capture a middle-school performance of The Passion of Christ in mime.
The only thing that paper will ever wind up taking over is its remaining staffers' staggering therapy bills.
Think the Christ/mime bit is a joke?
Go to democratandchronicle.com and scroll down to Explore Our Photo Galleries.
Click that baby open, and just TRY gazing at picture #4 without totally losing it.
Somewhere in Mt. Hope Cemetary, Frank Gannett is doing a topspin that would make Federer proud.
Re Hudson Valley Connoisseur, we were told that while it had 6 months worth of income, it had 12 months worth of expenses.
ReplyDeleteTechnically it has been suspended, and the editor and ad sales person have been kept on, though in what capacity is not known.
I love Elmira. I love the Star-Gazette. Hi Peggy!
ReplyDeleteRe: Poughkeepsie. As a former PoJo-ite, please tell me what's happening with the incredibly fabulous photo/graphics department there.
ReplyDeleteOne big happy family? Ha!
ReplyDeleteDysfunctional is more like it. Though I bet we would be a happier family if we could divorce DB.
(There are lots of DBs. I don't mean the good one in Ithaca.)
ReplyDeleteIn Neptune NJ we have a upscale magazine that looses money, yet they just as soon get rid of people and have furloughs then end publication.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I really can't get over how corpulent the Jesus people are... Not sure that obesity was really plaguing BCE eastern Mediteranean to the degree that was portrayed. Perhaps too many trips to Wegmans. Mmmm... Danny's Favorite, 14 inches of deli delight.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Binghamton's upscale glossy is gone. Turns out that people that have money don't need to find advice on how to spend it from a freebie rag. I know it sounded like a good idea to someone, but our crap really couldn't compete with any legitimate publications geared towards that market. Also, the shrinking market base in the Binghamton area wasn't fully realized by the higher-ups... Helluva marketing study they paid for though.
Also, Binghamton's upscale glossy is gone.
ReplyDeleteHas this been confirmed, 'cause I haven't heard a thing regarding "The Good Life" being axed.
Shouldn't this thread be called the "NY Confidential"? The personalities of all of the NY papers are being stripped away as departments are being combined, etc. Yes, we are becoming one big "dysfunctional" family. I guess that it was a good thing that Binghamton could call on resources from other NY Gannett papers since the newsroom staff, especially, photo, couldn't accurately cover a major event, the shootings last week.
ReplyDelete1:43 PM wrote: "I guess that it was a good thing that Binghamton could call on resources from other NY Gannett papers since the newsroom staff, especially, photo, couldn't accurately cover a major event, the shootings last week."
ReplyDeleteI'd say that any Gannett paper these days, apart from a few major metros, would be hard-pressed to cover a tragedy like Binghamton's without some kind of help from outside, especially in the first 3 days.
It's great that others lent a hand, and just hope that you will not find yourself in a similar situation somewhere down the road.
Also, don't know about your injection of the word "accurately." It'd be hard to cover it as completely as Binghamton did without outside help, but there were no questions about accuracy that I'm aware of. Just a poor choice of word on your part...?
1:34--- It is "Good Life", and yes it is on the chopping block. I'd post an e-mail concerning its fate, however I think I'd lose anonymity releasing that.
ReplyDelete3:11--- There certainly were accuracy issues: the shooter's name; number of dead victims; number of wounded victims; even the graphics and maps had errors.
These were all rectified, but the rush to get information on the web and out via Twittering led to many of these errors.
Sometimes in the rush to be "first", we lose out on being "right".
3:29 PM wrote: "There certainly were accuracy issues: the shooter's name; number of dead victims; number of wounded victims; even the graphics and maps had errors."
ReplyDeleteThis is why they call it "breaking news." Details like the number of victims were constantly changing as police figured out what was going on, and Binghamton reported those numbers as police gave them. As you can imagine, there was plenty of confusion on the scene.
As for the shooter's name, even the police were unsure of this in the first 24 hours, because the guy had changed it/spelled it 2 different ways. "Voong" vs. "Wong" - this is hardly the paper's fault.
Mistakes in maps and etc.? Again, as news broke quickly, you'd expect a few errors here and there. Anyone who works in a newsroom - sorry, Local Info Center - knows how this is, because everyone is human. As long as they got corrected, that's what's key.
The Binghamton paper sure had a hell of a lot fewer errors that the national media, especially TV. References to Binghamton as a "college town" and a "Mayberry-esque" place showed clueless news anchors just struggling to fill time.
I misspoke -- using "accurately" instead of adequately -- in my earlier post. Binghamton's coverage kept getting better once reinforcements arrived on the scene. My point was that staff at most Gannett non-metro dailies is now so thin that dependence on resources from other papers is becoming the norm.
ReplyDeleteA photog sent to cover a school production of the Passion of Christ in MIME? (9:58am)
ReplyDeleteDoes that scare no one? Or are we all just too dead to care any more.
Dear 3:29 PM
ReplyDeleteSorry... I absolutely disagree with you and find your justification of Binghamton's deplorable breaking news coverage hilarious.
It's a sad day for our newspaper industry when you have to go to CNN or MSNBC to get your local breaking news and that's exactly what happened here.
The ball was dropped, the goose was cooked, they were creamed, the list could go on forever.
For hours, pressconnects.com was reporting that four people were injured while CNN and MSNBC had the number of dead posted at 14. Come on, this is your hometown? Where are your connections? Get the story. It was laughable.
Perhaps if the top dogs spent less time with their noses stuck in spreadsheets and stabbing people in the back, their staff could spend more time focusing on building connections in the community. They should have won this one lock, stock and barrel.
My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones. May peace be with you.
When will Binghamton be taking over Rochester's Classifieds?
ReplyDeleteRE: A photog sent to cover a school production of the Passion of Christ in MIME?
ReplyDeleteI've been working in photo departments of newsrooms for going on 20 years. Have we not been covering these events every Easter? Local sections across the country are filled with these holiday feel-good photos. I looked at that gallery and they were great photos. And that's what veteran photographers give you. What I worry about is reporters shooting it.
I vote to keep the title "Elmira Confidential" in honor of Frank Gannett.
ReplyDelete8:02 PM wrote: "For hours, pressconnects.com was reporting that four people were injured while CNN and MSNBC had the number of dead posted at 14. Come on, this is your hometown? Where are your connections? Get the story. It was laughable."
ReplyDeleteSo, let me get this right: You want things to be fast AND accurate?
You're frustrated that details were wrong, and yet you want everything all as it happens?
Goddamn, you want your cake baked instantly AND correctly right out of the oven?
Maybe Binghamton's newsroom decided to wait to report 14 dead until they had it from 2 police sources instead of just a rumor from the scene, as was generally the case from TV reports.
Also, I believe saying that "hours" passed before the news of 14 dead appeared on pressconnects.com is a huge exaggeration. I watched it on TV when it Fox and the rest reported 14 dead, and it was up on the Binghamton paper's site pretty soon afterward. It may have seemed like "hours" to your ADD-addled mind, but it wasn't. Sorry.
And for the guy (and it has to be a guy) who said he gets his news from WKGB - that's, like, a rock station, dude, not a news station:
http://www.925kgb.com
Anything they were reporting was probably read from the Associated Press or from pressconnects.com. They do not have their own news staff, as far as I know.
"Your coverage sucked, it was lame, it was crap, it was garbage."
Well, that's your opinion.
By the way, I watched (TV and online) from a vantage point nowhere near any newsroom (or Local Info Center). I feel I can be objective here. Yes, in the chaos of the moment, some few details - which the police supplied and were reported by other media - were wrong, but those were corrected when things settled down.
Does anyone remember all the crazy shit reported in the opening hours of 9/11? State Department bombed, dozens of flights headed toward unsuspecting targets, etc.
Again, I hope and pray that those of you who do work in a newsroom never have anything like this happen in your town. As you can see, you're pretty much going to get shit no matter what you do.
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ReplyDeleteWe need to drop the ballast titles like Goodlife and focus on the core product. I hope goodlife does go away.
ReplyDeleteThe bing shoppers are dead, other ithaca and elmira extras are next.
Its about damn time.
2 more quick points before I leave the trolls to fight it out among themselves:
ReplyDelete- As news of the Columbine slayings unfolded, a much higher body count was originally given by police and reported by news outlets around the globe. Later, it was clear that fewer people had been killed. Why? It sounds stupid, but it's true: Police originally had counted some of the bodies twice.
Chaos happens in these kinds of situations.
- At one point in CNN's coverage of Binghamton's shootings last Friday, the anchor (Kyra Phillips?) had obviously conflicting info on the number of dead. A graphic at the bottom of the screen said 4 as she was reporting 13 or 14. She became frustrated and, to her credit, she stopped in the middle of her report to say to her producers something like: Can we please get these facts straight so we can report accurately?
Breaking news is often messy as chaos happens. Newspaper stories (in a printed product) generally allow for greater depth because there is more time for fact-gathering and reflection. Comparing them is like apples and oranges.
To want both the highest speed and 100% accuracy in the middle of a maelstrom shows an obvious lack of understanding about how breaking news on a big story is covered.
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ReplyDelete12:04 AM wrote: Jim has a maelstrom underneath his skirt."
ReplyDeleteUh oh, third-grader got to mom's computer again ...
wow...you guys are as nasty as your "friends" in Jersey
ReplyDelete