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Media cluelessness

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Illinois

* Sunday’s Chicago Tribune editorial praised Republican gubernatorial candidates for their “businesslike understanding” of government because they all want to slash costs. They even included a candidate in their list who wants to cut income taxes in half.

Today, we learn that the Tribune, in a deep financial hole, is raising its newsstand price…

The Chicago Tribune is raising the price of its newsstand editions by a third, to $1.

A letter sent to store owners and obtained by the Sun-Times said the increase from 75 cents will take effect Jan. 18. The increase does not apply to the paper’s Sunday edition.

What the business side understands that the editorial side obviously doesn’t is that sometimes businesses have no choice but to raise prices You can only cut so far.

And, yes, I know that business price increases aren’t exactly akin to government tax hikes. One you can avoid, the other you can’t - unless you’re a genious at tax avoidance like Trib owner Sam Zell. But, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? You can’t really directly compare business to government, unless you’re a newspaper editorial board that works for a newspaper which just raised its rates.

Whatever.

* Right before the New Year’s holiday, the Pantagraph suspended reader comments. In an open letter to readers, editor Mark Pickering wrote…

Reader comments on Pantagraph.com often are informative, sparking serious dialogue on an issue of local or national interest. At other times, they are offensive and devoid of civility, the worst of which include personal attacks and/or assertions that have nothing to do with the story.

In recent weeks, we have seen too much of the latter on some local stories. Far too much. So, effective immediately and through the New Year’s holiday weekend, no comments will be allowed on new local content posted on Pantagraph.com.

This “cooling off” period is meant as a strong reminder to our online readers: that the reason comments are allowed in the first place is to foster a “spirit of community involvement and conversation.”

For whatever reason, comments were ironically left open on that post. Here’s my favorite…

I think the Pantagraph is largely responsible for letting things get out of hand. The Pantagraph allowed the posts, already unacceptable according to its guidelines, to be posted on its boards. If the Pantagraph had been diligent in enforcing its own rules, it wouldn’t have needed to take this action.

That’s exactly right. If you just let people post whatever they want, they’re gonna run amuck. You have to police comments, challenge the borderline people to improve themselves, and outright ban the loser morons. Newspapers just don’t bother with this task and it’s hurting them. Who would want to advertise on a site that allows such mind-bogglingly awful content? Yes, comments are content. Make no mistake about it. They reflect directly on the publication.

The Peoria Chronicle blog weighs in…

This once again begs the question: Should newspapers allow comments in the first place? The argument has been made by many that they shouldn’t… I tend to agree. Let blogs be blogs, and newspapers be newspapers. The comments on the Journal Star’s website are often just as bad as the Pantagraph’s; I don’t believe it would be any kind of loss if they removed the comments section entirely.

Agreed. Policing comments is hard work. Newspapers either aren’t equipped for that hard work or don’t care. And this is just another nail in the coffin.

* Speaking of coffins…

The Bears ended their lackluster season by acknowledging the team’s failure in a full-page ad to fans in both major Chicago newspapers.

While the Bears defeated the Detroit Lions 37-23 on Sunday, they ended the season with a record of 7-9, and questions about Coach Lovie Smith’s future are overshadowing the victory.

View the ad here.

The ad gave fans credit for sticking with the team.

I’d rather they spend the money on a new coaching team.

See any other media cluelessness lately?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:03 pm

Comments

wttw firing rich samuels. the guy was a real pro and really got it. what was once a great program continues to dumb down and now is barely worth watching. hopefully he’ll catch on somewhere else.

one day news organizations will wake up and learn that when you cut your best people you are destroying your product.

for those of you that don’t watch the guy this is him

http://www.richsamuels.com/

agreed on the bears.

they can get an intern to sit there and monitor comments. #journalismfail.

Comment by shore Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:23 pm
I buy the NY Times, The Chicago Sun Times, and the Wall St. Journal everyday. I havent purchased a Chicago Tribune in over a year, and have no plans to EVER buy one again. It is a terrible paper, with a bullying attitude, they deserved to be shook down by Blago and Harris. I cant wait for them to go out of business.

Comment by ivoted4judy Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:27 pm
– What the business side understands that the editorial side obviously doesn’t is that sometimes businesses have no choice but to raise prices –

What real business people know is that sometimes you *can’t* raise prices because your competitors have figured out how to do things cheaper and more efficiently.

Competitors like Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, etc.

Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:32 pm
The Pantagraph’s comments section has always been appalling, in large part because they allowed comments on nearly ALL stories, including those about named local residents who had been killed or injured in accidents, who had been victims of a crime, or who had been charged with committing crimes.

Other papers such as the SJ-R don’t even open comments on those kind of stories. Comments on those stories, 99 percent of the time, degenerate into rants about who was to blame and what idiots or scumbags they are.

Supposedly the “last straw” that prompted the Pantagraph to stop comments was a story on a local man who was killed in a construction accident on Christmas Day (it was an emergency job on the ISU campus, I think); the commenters immediately started bashing the deceased worker and the company he worked for. If newspapers were simply more judicious or selective about WHICH stories they open up for comments it would help a lot.

Comment by Secret Square Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:35 pm
The Tribune lost its credibility long ago. Its silly series on reforming government looks ridiculous and no one pays attention to them anymore. Its actually a sad state of affairs for what used to be such an important paper. I’m sure they’ll have some new screed about Todd Stroger at any moment now…

Comment by mike Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:38 pm
Leroy… You get what you pay for.

Seriously? Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama?

Comment by George Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:40 pm
George - How many auto manufacturing plants have opened up in Alabama in the last ten years? And how many in Chicago?

I noticed Chicago based Boeing has decided South Carolina will be its second assembly line for the brand new 787. That should provide manufacturing jobs and a tax base there for decades.

Guess the residents of those states got some hi-tech manufacturing skills learning how to build outhouses and stills…..

Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:47 pm
**Competitors like Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, etc.**

Except for those households making very low incomes, don’t SC and AL both have higher income tax rates than IL?

Comment by dave Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:51 pm
but at least our economy is going to get better because we are getting 4 minimum wage jobs at a gas station selling twinkies to gitmo prison guards at thomson!

Comment by shore Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:52 pm
Hey, you gotta do something to get people to move to Alabama and South Carolina. They should get hazard pay.

And when those plants close in 5 years, all those people will be outta there before you can say “Moral Obligation Bond”.

Comment by George Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 12:53 pm
Dave is right -

In Alabama, if you make more than $6,000, you are looking at a 5% tax rate.

South Carolina - 7% rate on income over $12,000.

Leroy is right - we gotta keep up!

Comment by George Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:01 pm
Regarding the Tribune, its publisher (apparently a graduate of Ding Dong Journalism School) claimed his newspaper “is priced according to its marketplace value.” What a joke!

Comment by fedup dem Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:30 pm
Season ticket renewals soft? Spare us the “true fan” nonsense. Time and money are limited but entertainment choices are myriad.

You didn’t have to be Hub Arkush to see the Bears would stumble through a .500 season, and where they’re headed next year.

The Phillips/Angelo/Smith nexus just isn’t sharp enough to find the right players at the right prices.

Comment by HappyToaster Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:31 pm
Haha great point about the Trib raising their prices- very ironic, very funny

Comment by Bring Back Boone's Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:33 pm
I wish the Bears’ problems were only coaching (which is a big problem). It goes to the top with Phillips and Angelo. They are bad judges of talent.

There are many examples, but here’s two:

They burned a second round pick on Gaines Adams — the guy can’t even get on the field. They drafted Garrett Wolfe, out of Holy Cross and NIU, in the third round. I like Garrett, but no one, and I mean no one, thought he was going to get drafted. Angelo reached for him and then he couldn’t get on the field either. Very confused.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:46 pm
**Season ticket renewals soft? **

There is a waiting list for season tickets for the Bears. I am pretty sure that there is little/no worry about the Bears’ season tickets selling out.

Comment by dave Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:46 pm
By the way, did you know Gravedancer Zell shut down the Freedom Museum in Trib Tower? How do you shut down a Freedom Museum? That’s just so disturbing to me. Do they need more room to peddle the overstock Milton Bradley jerseys?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:48 pm
Rich, among the issues of allowing or forbidding comments is that the act of policing comments makes a publisher, such as yourself, more liable for damages. For those who don’t understand, publishers who attempt to do good, for example by policing comments, can end up creating more issues for themselves.

The law needs to be reconsidered in such cases.

Speaking of snark, can we start a line about the Bears, or did I miss it?

Comment by Lou Grant Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:51 pm
Bears need to make some changes. On the bright side, the Hawks are beating up opponents left and right.

Comment by Rudy Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:54 pm
There are a lot of businessmen in government, as elected officials, especially at the municipal and county levels. You’d think with their understanding of how business works vigorously to avoid paying taxes, and how government works at least as vigorously to spend taxes, that there would be a severe internal conflict with these people. Maybe it’s not that they have to change hats whether attending a board of directors meeting or a county board meeting, but they actually have two heads (metaphorically or psychologically speaking) capable of independent motivations. It’s goofy.

Comment by Captain Flume Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 1:55 pm
I planned to get a Hawks package at the beginning of the season last year, but blew it. Tickets now are way hard to get.

What a bright story in a cold, dark time. Did you see those kids kill a seven-minute power play against the St. Louis Goons over the weekend? Then they pasted them with five goals.

Get to the United Center if you can. The experience is worth every penny.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 2:12 pm
Well, the Bears cleaned house on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, the dysfunctional defensive coaches are still there (I mean really, who fears the Bears D anymore?) as are the enablers in chief (Lovie and Jerry).

Still, it’s a start, and there’s plenty of offseason for the Bears to set things right.

Comment by South Side Mike Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 2:43 pm
LOL. Ron Turner was the problem? Who knew?

You win in the pits, and the Bears talent on the offensive and defensive lines is terrible. That’s on Angelo and Lovie.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 2:54 pm
word,

I actually think Turner could run a decent offense if he had 1) a line could hold blocks and not just hold for more than a half-second; 2) a decent quarterback (and yes, either Orton or Cutler would suffice) and 3) at least 2 decent WRs, one decent TE, and an average RB.

For number 3, I’m not looking for all-stars, but guys who can make plays from time to time- and Knox is the only WR are showing flashes of that. Unfortunately, the Bears for the last decade have rarely had #1, #2, or a full #3.

There’s only so much you can do as offensive coordinator if your line can’t open holes or block, your QB can’t hit targets, or if your hands guys are slow, can’t catch, and run poor routes. The onus for that is on the GM and head coach, just like the O and D lines.

Comment by South Side Mike Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 3:15 pm
Capt Fax
This will probably get added above, but the Champaign Snooze Gazette has reporters racing around today as if they just discovered the state was $5 billion (yeah B) down in revenue..apparently Big Ike thought he had the clout to get his cash. Suprise! Maybe BlueFieldBob will do better when gets the prexy post.

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 3:30 pm
Let’s be honest, no newspaper in Illinois provides good news coverage and other sources are just giving opinions. It’s tough out there to get good news.

Comment by Jackson Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 8:10 pm
Nothing stirs my bile more than when some fool prattles on about “running government like a business”. Such people have no idea what they are suggesting, and it has been tried and failed many, many times.

They are not the same thing, nor should they be. Government is there to handle and do the necessary things private enterprise is not good at doing in the first place. Private enterprise is first and last about making a profit, not about delivering a needed service as widely as possible. Where that does happen with for-profit business, it is more by accident than on purpose.

While we want government to run as efficiently and effectively as possible, it is always going to run at a “loss” because it is supporting those that cannot support themselves. That’s okay, because we decided with our tax dollars that we WANTED pensions for seniors, health care for infants, schools for all, clean air and water for all, roads and public transportation, libraries, etc. etc.

We set the priorities, and we decided thru democratic process what was in the best interest of all, not just a few. A profit-centered approach to governing must by nature disenfranchise many and cut services to many, because it responds only to what is profitable, what is “easy”. It works great for the rich and powerful, who can drive it where they want it to go, stop delivering services when it suits their quarterly report, and the heck with the rest of you.

Government is not “easy”. But it is necessary. And it is for everybody. It is the *counterweight* to private for-profit business, not something to be *replaced* by “business”.

The guys that want to “run government like a business” will run it like Enron.

Comment by Oh please Tuesday, Jan 5, 10 @ 10:22 pm
Sorry about your bile, “Oh please”!
Governments issue unfunded mandates, businesses recognize that passing the buck only acerbates the problems.
Governments maked decisions based upon what is politically expedient. Businesses work to make a profit (or at least not to lose money)
Governments feel that they have unlimited capital resources because they can tax to get more. Businesses recognize the value of capital and the need to prioritize the expenditures. (See Balance Budgets)
Governments have no competition. Businesses recognize that if they don’t do it right, the customer goes elsewhere.
Your interpretation of government vs business is flawed and your comment about ending up like enron is just and attempt to scare and shows a seeming inability to understand logical processes.

Comment by LisleMike Wednesday, Jan 6, 10 @ 10:49 am