Having lost all interest in annarbor.com (I still visit there every six weeks or so to see if it's still there) I received a message from Ruth, a blogger who has done a look back at the site after one year. She looks at the good and the bad, and it's in three parts.
Part I
Part II
Part III
As for me, the site, which promised to be this revolutionary "new" way to deliver online news was just warmed over MLive.com without all creativity. That was a joke. For me the site from its inception was boring, and has remained so. But they do have a well furnished lobby. But if it is providing a high paid living for some working journalists then I'm all for it. For sure it is probably providing a high paid living for a few non-working, non-journalists who run the place.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
What a thoughtful story. I read every word. And while it was directed at annarbor.com, the thoughts and feelings she evokes are similar for those of us in Genesee County, and I assume, every other place in Michigan serviced by a Booth/Advance newspaper. The loss of the newspaper as a major source of news is palpable in this county. I have missed the newspaper for a year, but in recent months I, like Ruth, am over it. I occasionally look at the journal online, but only if someone posts a link or sends me a note. I started taking the Detroit Free Press and love not only the print version, but their online presence, too. I read the New York Times and occasionally USA Today. I am less informed about what is going on in Flint and the surrounding county and it makes me sad. I miss my favorite columnists, I miss obituaries and I really miss those wonderful Sunday pieces that took a whole cup of coffee to get through. I think someone should provide a Web site where organizations, businesses and nonprofits can post their press releases for a minimum charge. Call it the Community Billboard. Cost of the site could be maintained by a minimum charge of $5 or $10 for every press release submitted. Done digitally it would only require one person to monitor each post before being published. Hire three people, 1 each shift for a 24/ news cycle and pay them $15 an hour, without benefits. It's about what The Journal pays starting writers these days. A copy editor type, who can verify a few facts and make sure nothing is published with obscenities. then all the former journalists can go to work for organizations who will want their story told their way (PR) and there you have it.
I'd read it. I'd sure as heck read it before I'd go back to buying the Flint Journal, Bay City Times or Saginaw News, ever again.
Post a Comment