In which I take credit for breaking the StreetWise story on Twitter

Not that it matters, but it was interesting to watch the development of stories about the potential demise of "StreetWise," a paper peddled by homeless Chicagoans.

And I submit that I was the first to say anything about it. Again, not that it matters.

I had a news release from Ald. Manny Flores this morning, discussing his plan to hold City Council hearings about StreetWise, which has suffered from the shoddy economy.

Soon after I read the release, I posted a note on Twitter:



















Shortly after that, a few people retweeted the note. And then the media got a hold of it. In fact, the story in on the front page of chicagotribune.com right now.

So this is the "who cares?" moment.

Nobody cares that I was the first to say anything, and they shouldn't. It's just kind of cool to know you're ahead of the curve, and that you were a catalyst in something that everyone's talking about.

I do hope that StreetWise finds the help it needs. It's vendors are part of the patchwork that makes up Chicago. Some are pushy, some are surly, but the best ones - the creative ones - leave an impression and make you want to buy that paper.

Constructive criticism for "The Printed Blog"

About two months ago, I was ruminating about the future of journalism and how I could capitalize off the industry's woes. I realized that I and many other journalists will have to keep plugging away towards something to tip the balance back in our favor, but not before I had a genius idea.

Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if you could take locally produced news and blog content from the Web and repurpose it in print to distribute for free as a commuter tabloid, relying on local advertising? You can imagine my shock and dismay when I read several weeks later about The Printed Blog, a commuter tabloid relying on local advertising that repurposes locally produced Web content for print. Naturally, I think entrepreneur Scott Karp has a good idea here, and it debuted to much fanfare from major media outlets.

I finally got my hands on a copy of the full color, glossy rag, which looks more like Rolling Stone than the Sun-Times (PDF here). I was looking forward to seeing how Karp and his team presented my brilliant idea (with a hat-tip to Karp for putting it in motion...oh, and coming up with the same idea). I am unimpressed, and here's why.

I will concede that The Printed Blog, which is also distributed in San Francisco, is in its infancy, and is still working to add contributors, and is not a final product (in searching for a tagline, its temporary tag reads "Tagline would actually be nice here").

The publication strives to be uber-local, adding advertisers that appeal to crowds at certain L stops in Chicago. That said, I was expecting similiarly local blog content. But when I read the Feb. 17 edition, given to me by a co-worker, I found only one story that even mentioned Chicago. It was written by a blogger that apparently lives in New York.

Only two stories appeared to be written by Chicagoans. One was from a blog called Second City Hockey, and talked about how the NHL should link up with Turner Sports. The other, from The Latest and Greatest, compared the live viewing experiences of Oprah vs. Bozo the Clown.

To recap: Chicago mentioned once in a publication aimed at Chicagoans. Other places mentioned include: Washington, D.C.; New York; Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Texas, in a story about states that have decent job markets; and Rhode Island. There's also a story written by what appears to be a British writer. A front-pager dealing with Proposition 8 was written by a New York blogger.

So this seems contrary to uber-localism. There's not one piece of content from some of the well-known local blogs, like Chicagoist or Gapers Block (which may not be signed on to contribute). Seems to me that if you're going to appeal to Chicagoans, your content should deal with issues and themes relevant to Chicago.

I also didn't like how TPB shared links to the blogs. Rather than showing readers they could visit a blog at say, www.webstainedwretch.blogspot.com, it directs to sites like tpburl.com/0rdnq3. If you go there, you'll somehow reach The Latest and Greatest. But tpburl.com is TPB's "link direction system," which I can only imagine leads to more clicks at TPB's Web site. It takes away from writers the opportunity for immediate recognition.

I don't know if it's because my 20s are waning, but I thought a lot of the content in this particular issue was lacking in substance. A rant about stupid band names (Wilco, Nirvana, the Beatles, apparently) by a guy who just discovered My Morning Jacket lacked passion. A Seattle blogger's story on foie gras is old news to Chicagoans. A lengthy detailing of a British girl's attempts at a one-night stand made me cringe. A slightly unpleasant story about kids trying anal sex would do little brighten a morning commute.

There's a lot of good blogging and reporting happening by indie outlets in Chicago. This could be a great place for them to be featured.

Lastly, I am not a big fan of the ultra-glossy paper. I was reading this issue at home and it was difficult to read, since the pages reflected the light in my apartment. I would suspect that newsprint would be easier on the eyes, easier to fold and read, and perhaps even cheaper to produce.

Now, this post is not meant as a slam on TPB, which I think has potential if it thinks more about its audience. And this is a non-scientific analysis of just one issue. If I looked through others, I might find differently. I hope so.

I wish the TPB the best of luck, but I think it needs to take a deep breath and think about how this publication can serve readers and survive.

BeatBlogging to connect with communities

I'm listening to Pat Thornton's interview with the Trib's Dan Honigman, the man behind Colonel Tribune (and a cool dude to boot), and he's talking about the importance of linking to connect people. And I realized that I didn't even blog about my interview with Pat. He talked to me and LJWorld.com's Jonathan Kealing a few weeks ago, and talked to us individually about the beat blogging going on at the Journal-World.

The news organization is doing a lot in terms of micro-reporting in order to a) expand coverage of Lawrence and b) further connect with our readers -- and beyond. Personally, I found writing my blog, Schoolhouse Talk, to be a great experience. How else would I report so much on mock elections at Free State High School?

Now I'm working the overnight shift (and anticipating not getting any sleep today...body clock is adjusting), and I'm hoping to install a graveyard shift blog. It would be great fodder for stories like this, that hold probably a limited interest for most of LJWorld's readers. Think a blotter/marketplace of random ideas. Who knows? It might be fun.

But, to be honest, Schoolhouse Talk has had limited success. Perhaps for two reasons. First, we don't update it enough. We're still trying to figure out what kind of news is blog-worthy. In a market like Lawrence, most school news is big enough for a full story, and we don't want to blog about the lunch menu at the high schools.

Second, I wonder if our audience is blog-savvy. Do they see blogs as a snark market, full of opinion? Do they take our blogs seriously? We've certainly had some success with story leads coming out of the blogs, and some of them, like our KU blog, do quite well. The opportunity is there...buffering, I guess.

Our audience knows a heck of a lot more about Lawrence than we do...we take that seriously...and we can use blogs, as an informal reporting base, to learn more from them. Now we just need to start talking back and forth.

School shooting, 20 years later

The Chicago Tribune has a really interesting story today about a school shooting that took place 20 years ago in the North Shore suburb of Winnetka. It recaps the heartwrenching event, which took place inside Hubbard Woods Elementary School. The story was hampered by the reluctance of those who lived the event to go on record.

For me, it was a must-read. I grew up for a time in Winnetka; my brother attended Hubbard Woods, just five years after the shooting. I knew kids who were there; I knew kids who were shot by the assailant. But we never talked about it. It was taboo. The pain that this community felt was masked by the grind of daily life, but it was there. Why else would nobody talk about it?

It's so sad to think of all the little children, whose lives were changed forever by this event.

Cubs Rule. Sox Drool. New RedEye blog proves it.

My friend, former co-worker, and current Chicago Tribune sports scribe Matt Lynch is setting the story straight in Chicago with his new blog, Oddballs. Hosted by RedEye, Matt will seek to let everyone know that the Cubs rool and the Sox drooool. His friend Ryan will ill-advisedly try to do the same for the Sox.

Check it out!

http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/oddballs/

A headline to beat

The Chicago Tribune has the greatest headline I've ever seen, from a story about haikus written on a CTA stop wall:

"Haiku for the walls/at Harrison stop inspire/CTA, students

2 schools in South Loop/turn subway station into/poetry canvas"

Now THIS is mulitmedia

Check this excellent multimedia presentation from the Chicago Tribune. "Inside the Surge" gives a look at a handful of soldiers and the families they left behind, while they ask questions for the reasons they're in Iraq. It's impressive, it's heart-wrenching and it's a great example of what newspapers can do to enhance their coverage. Well done, Tribsters.

Harry Potter, you beautiful bastard

This morning, at approximately 1:30 a.m., I finished “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” I freaking love Harry Potter, and I might just follow through with my delayed plan to be him for Halloween. So what if I’m 27?

As I wrote the other day, I’ve avoided all things Potter before I finished the book. Now, I might just skip class and catch up on the stuff I’ve been missing. OK, maybe not, but I came across a cool story from last week’s Chicago Tribune about how the media handled an information embargo of Hallows.

I was one of many who was worried that I would come across spoilers, leaving me pissed and frustrated that I knew the outcome of the book before I read it. It happened to me before I read “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and it almost happened before I cracked open Hallows. With so much speculation about who would die and who would live and the media circus prefacing the book’s released, I was seriously concerned. So like a thestral in flight, I put on blinders and avoided Potter news like mandrakes.

The Trib’s Patrick Reardon gives kudos to the media for keeping the lid on. I do, too (though this kid seems to not care so much. Must be a Slytherin). And Reardon goes a step further, calling for a “Harry Potter check” (PotterWatch?) in the news.

He is fed up with news stories bursting with lurid details on the lives of public figures, when really, no news would suffice. Color me bored, uninterested, and less interesting when I read about Evan Vitter’s diaper fetish, a Florida statesman’s gay bathroom escapades and Anna freaking Nicole, Paris freaking Hilton, Lindsday freaking Lohan (though I’m probably her knight in shining armor), etc., etc. I’ve ranted on this before over at Spin Sucks.

Sometimes these stories are valuable. We learned that a member of Congress was a perv. We learned that close-minded evangelists were really hypocritical. But by discerning what is really news, what matters, what will inform the reader about the issues, we can help turn the tables on muckracking and other undesirable practices. Rita Skeeter would be devastated.

In terms of Harry Potter, however, journos did the public a service by giving us the pleasure of finishing the last book. Muggles, while however complicated, performed like Gryiffindors in this instance.

Design: Key to harnessing the power of the Internets

The Bivings Report had a cool blog entry on the top 10 newspaper designs in all of the land. I’ve gotta say, the list looks pretty spot on. It gives props to the New York Times, Washington Post, USAT (I disagree on this one. It’s got a lot of social networking, but have you ever tried using the archive? Blah) and a number of smaller circ papers in major cities. Conspicuously absent: The Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times (I like the Bright One’s design), as well as the AJC, Miami Herald, and LAT. Wouldn’t you think these power players would be on the forefront of excellent design?

Many moons ago, I was inspired to start a blog all about newspaper Web design, something I know absolutely nothing about (it didn’t happen). But I know what looks good to me, and I know what I like as a reader. This was after a shooter went on a rampage in Kansas City, but I could hardly find any content on the Kansas City Star’s site. There was a quick write up, but no pictures or video; the TV sites did a pretty good job of providing updates, and Aaron Barnhardt, TV critic at the Star, was very complimentary of his news rivals. (NOTE: I can’t even find the story in a quick archive search)

I was flabbergasted that a paper like the Star was falling down on breaking the biggest story that had hit the area in years. Admittedly, the coverage in the following days was fantastic and will probably win some awards around here. But still, it confounded the problem of getting to content on the Star’s page (NOTE: MT has rolled out a new service, so maybe I can embed images…stay tuned). If you want to find what’s going in today’s paper, you’ve got to scroll about 3/4 down the page.

The top of the page is cluttered with ads and other content, including breaking news and blogs. But it’s not separated. It’s a blur of stuff, and it’s totally confusing. I know they could do much better job with the site, which has hardly changed since I started reading it online in 1999.

Now the Tribune’s new design is a step in the wrong direction, says the reader in me. Others wiser than I have blogged about this already. It’s got more interactive content, which is cool, but I think it’s hard to navigate. It’s a mirror image of the Orlando Sentinel’s site (and maybe other Tribune company papers?); I think it’s a step back from the stately, signature site that the Tribune formerly called its own. I still can’t stop reading it though.

Now that I’m fully entrenched in Lawrence, I’ve got to give props to the local Journal-World,
which has a great looking site that’s easy to navigate. The University Daily Kansan has a good site too, and one that trumps my beloved Miami Student (potential new topic: College media?). The paper is a quality one too. I picked up first copy today and was impressed at the breadth of stories in the 100-plus page edition. Nicely done for a college paper.