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Friday, May 20, 2011
32 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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For Part 4 of this comment thread, please go here.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad about John Craig in Columbus, but that is so typical of the management in Cincinnati. They give his daughter a Gannett scholarship for $1,000 and then dump her father. That should go a long way to improving the wonderful morale in the Enquirer newsroom. One Wasburn faux paux after after another. She's had a hard five months on the job and done nothing but destroy morale.
ReplyDeleteNot to worry. The world comes to an end Saturday. You can read all about it in USAT.
ReplyDeleteWhat in God's name has gone wrong with the Enquirer? They won the long battle when the Cincy Post went under in 2007 and got a monopoply grip over local advertising, yet they are still trying to take out victory dividends. This is a fabulously wealthy area of Ohio where the Tafts put their fortune, yet the Enquirer is in such sad shape. Without any challenge, it doesn't even bother much with news anymore. This all just doesn't compute.
ReplyDelete5:48 USA has been flogging the hell out of this forecast. But they only do the Christian fundamentalist nutjobs. They neglect other cultures like the Mayans forecast Dec. 21, 2012. What, no interest in Hispanic readers?
ReplyDelete9:17 Hispanics don't need tanning salons or use tanning lotions.
ReplyDelete5/20/2011 7:37 AM
ReplyDeleteNot to worry. The world comes to an end Saturday. You can read all about it in USAT...on Monday
Re: 9:17AM:
ReplyDeleteThey'll write about the Mayans forecast on Dec 19, 2012.
Really though, they already wrote about it a little when the movie "2012" opened way back in 2009.
Your Life has been doing a series of stories on melanomas, which have all stressed the dangers to those with white skin and blond hair. But what about Bob Marley, who died of a melanoma? I think there is a distinct anti-Hispanic tilt in USA Today's coverage.
ReplyDeleteThis post may seem irrelevant, but you have to see the HORRIBLE command of the English language used by a columnist at the Courier Journal!!!! I was reading different articles about the iPad 2 and came across this article, read it to believe it..... "That’s what I’m wondering after a few days of exploring a newest chronicle of Apple’s tablet.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was launched, Steve Jobs pronounced a new iPad 2 would be lighter, thinner and faster than a strange iPad, and it is, yet a improvements are some-more pointed than obvious. The iPad 2 has a somewhat some-more plain feel to it, and programs bucket and duty with a small some-more zip.
Compared to a Motorola Xoom, a latest Android inscription that we reviewed Mar 12, a iPad 2 is a sports automobile parked subsequent to a family sedan.
Apple flattering good got it right a initial time. The iPad 1 had roughly all we would wish in a inscription computer, including a vast and appealing screen, a manageable on-screen keyboard and a outrageous library of applications.
Critics focused on a few blank elements: no camera for snapshots or video conferencing, no peep support for video and animations, and no slots for a USB connection, SD memory label or HDMI video link.
The upgraded chronicle meets those critics halfway. It has front and behind cameras that work good adequate for live video chats, though aren’t good for snapshots. And we can buy a $39 adapter to bond a iPad to a digital guard or TV.
But there’s still no flash, no customary USB pier and no support for outmost memory.
The faster processor in a iPad 2 creates it some-more serviceable for perfectionist module like a music-creation module Garage Band or video modifying with iMovie. iTunes has a whole new territory clinging to games and other apps that have been extended to take advantage of a some-more absolute iPad 2.
Apple also stretched a strech by creation a iPad accessible by Verizon Wireless as good as ATT. The bottom cost of $629 for a indication with 16GB is a same no matter where we buy it. ATT offers a information devise starting during $14.99 for 250MB of data. Verizon’s skeleton start during $20 a month for 1GB.
Wi-Fi-only versions cost even less, as do a few strange iPads that are still around. And for core activities like reading electronic books and magazines, personification song or movies, operative email or surfing a Web, a iPad 2 isn’t most opposite from a predecessor.
Maybe they should have called it a iPad 1½ .
Ric Manning’s record mainstay runs Saturdays. Call Ric during (502) 582-4240 or e-mail him during ricman@courier-journal.com."
That may well be an early draft that was posted inadvertently because of a CCI NewsGate mixup.
ReplyDeleteI saw that happen a couple weeks ago with a USA Today story; it was full of questions from editors, and other notes.
I think Your Life is tracking the stock market. CNBC has been reporting on how a number of drug companies are coming soon out with melanoma studies and new drugs to deal with them. So if the idea of the vertical is to track market trends does Your Life take the downs with the ups? Maybe it's circular, and Your Life is printing real cheap stories from shady groups loosely associated with the drug industry, which is trying to boost their stock prices. Dangerous approach to covering the news, I think.
ReplyDelete10:27 Jim may be right about Newsgate issues because when I read that story I thought it would take very simple editing fixes to make it read. Common sense says an editor didn't even look at it.
ReplyDeleteJim said...
ReplyDeleteThat may well be an early draft that was posted inadvertently because of a CCI NewsGate mixup.
I saw that happen a couple weeks ago with a USA Today story; it was full of questions from editors, and other notes.
5/20/2011 10:47 AM
What's a CCI Newsgate? So partially finished articles can be posted on the web? If so where is the quality control? Posting articles like that totally undermine the quality of the writer and publication. This article seems especially strange though (don't see error corrections). It's almost like the writer was stroking out while writing.
11:13 Oh, sure, errors happen. I my operation reporters could send out stories by themselves if they used the proper coding. Of course, it never happened because no reporter would commit suicide by doing it.
ReplyDeleteFrom a previous thread on Cincy Enquirer letting it statehouse reporter go:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
From now on, the Enquirer will require politicians to submit press releases with quotes if they want news coverage. The practice works in the business section. It was a logical time to extend it.
5/19/2011 10:17 PM
Is this really true? Geez, as a former reporter turned PR guy, I'd love it if I could just send in a news release with quotes to our paper here in Minneapolis.
The rapture is for the believers. I guess that means work as normal for Crystal Palace folks on Monday.
ReplyDeleteDeliberate sabotage is very rare in this business. I have only seen it once in my career involving a veteran milquetoast features editor nearing retirement who one day changed the text of a syndicated horoscope to warn people not to leave the house today. You would not believe the angry phone calls we got. It was clear who did it and the veteran was fired.
ReplyDeleteI have seen several folks talking about falsfying timesheets. Please explain why anyone would do this? You clock the hours you work. Period.
ReplyDelete5/20/2011 6:02 AM
This would happen in the classified department (not sure about retail) at the Arizona Republic. Employees had to fill out time sheets but were told to just put what their official start time was (not what they actually worked). If an employee's time card showed more than 8 hours in a day then it was changed to reflect 8 and the employee was told not to do that again (to keep things on the down low the employee's whole performance became under scrutiny and were basically bullied to mark their time cards no more than 40 per week. I was a manager there and witnessed this on several occasions because two managers were always required to be present during the employee bullying stage so a united front could be presented to HR if it went that far which it never did. I do feel bad that I was part of this standard process. No longer a Gannett employee.
12:01, nice to share. Somewhat of a soul cleansing before the inevitable Day of Rapture ... Anyway, good for you to remove yourself from that environment (voluntarily or not) as, like the rest of us have discover, it only eats at your soul, one day at a time.
ReplyDeleteAbout Ric Manning's column...
ReplyDeleteThe column that was posted earlier by 10:27 a.m was not what Ric wrote. His column (contained below)was cut and pasted by someone onto a bootleg Wordpress blog and in the process must have picked up extraneous verbiage. I work with Ric. He's careful and a good writer. Here's what appeared on courier-journal.com:
Gizmo | What's so great about the iPad 2?
That's what I'm wondering after a few days of exploring the newest version of Apple's tablet.
When it was launched, Steve Jobs said the new iPad 2 would be lighter, thinner and faster than the original iPad, and it is, though the improvements are more subtle than obvious. The iPad 2 has a slightly more solid feel to it, and programs load and function with a little more zip.
Compared to the Motorola Xoom, the latest Android tablet that I reviewed March 12, the iPad 2 is a sports car parked next to the family sedan.
Apple pretty well got it right the first time. The iPad 1 had almost everything you would want in a tablet computer, including a large and attractive screen, a responsive on-screen keyboard and a huge library of applications.
Critics focused on a few missing elements: no camera for snapshots or video conferencing, no flash support for video and animations, and no slots for a USB connection, SD memory card or HDMI video link.
The upgraded version meets those critics halfway. It has front and back cameras that work well enough for live video chats, but aren't great for snapshots. And you can buy a $39 adapter to connect the iPad to a digital monitor or TV.
But there's still no flash, no standard USB port and no support for external memory.
The faster processor in the iPad 2 makes it more usable for demanding software like the music-creation program Garage Band or video editing with iMovie. iTunes has a whole new section devoted to games and other apps that have been enhanced to take advantage of the more powerful iPad 2.
Apple also expanded its reach by making the iPad available through Verizon Wireless as well as AT&T. The base price of $629 for a model with 16GB is the same no matter where you buy it. AT&T offers a data plan starting at $14.99 for 250MB of data. Verizon's plans start at $20 a month for 1GB.
Wi-Fi-only versions cost even less, as do the few original iPads that are still around. And for core activities like reading electronic books and magazines, playing music or movies, working email or surfing the Web, the iPad 2 isn't much different from its predecessor.
Maybe they should have called it the iPad 1½ .
1:17 Thanks. I thought it was too easy an edit to fix, and so it was.
ReplyDelete@10:06 What? Bob Marley was not Hispanic. He was Jamaican, mon.
ReplyDelete"Money can't buy life."
I enjoyed the stroked out version of Ric's article better :)
ReplyDeleteDoomsday idiocy: from within a generation of Christ's crucifixion? Nope, strike that. Make that 1806. Nope, make that 1843. Umm... 1891,then. 1910? 1982! 1997, 1999, 2000 (twice!), 2008? Oh, O.K., 2011 it is, then! Finally!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Gannett isn't hawking a story about what the properly sloshed Metromix girl should be wearing.
The Mayans were Christians?
ReplyDeleteThank God the sinner Metromix girls will be left behind with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteWaiting to see how many NASCAR drivers are left in Charlotte for the Showdown at 7pm.....
2:32, no, the Mayans weren't Christians but -- seriously not to slam anyone's faith -- the fringe folks who swallow this repeated FoxNews-like drama do so in its name!
ReplyDelete3:04, the Metromix girls will be left behind? Well, all righty then!
Anyone keeping track of how many have left USA Today voluntarily since the beginning of the year?
ReplyDeleteTwo are leaving today that I know of.
An exodus is not as dramatic as a shove off the mountaintop. But because people aren't being replaced, the end result -- fewer people doing more and doing it less well -- is the same.
My county gets an early printed edition of USA Today without late sports. For today's weekend issue, the sports front on page C-1 gave big space to the Preakness Stakes and the Indianapolis 500. That would have been an exciting sports section ... in 1961.
ReplyDeleteYes, I picked up a USAT yesterday and noticed that it had no baseball game summaries. Instead of game summaries, it was all previews of the *previous night's* games: "The Reds were set to play the Cardinals last night" and "The Yankees and Rays faced off last night with each team starting their ace," and others along those lines.
ReplyDeleteI live in Minneapolis. I don't know if this is standard practice, because I'm not sure I had read USAT since before the baseball season started.
My paper had the Red Sox beating the Lightning the other day. Now that would be an interesting game to watch! Did they play hockey or baseball?
ReplyDelete