Why is there anger in the health care debate? My answer to Jennifer

On Facebook, a former colleague wondered why there was so much anger about the proposed health care plan. Seemingly she didn’t understand why people would be so angry about such a good idea.

I wanted to take time to respond thoughtfully, because I’m one of those who believes there is a need for health care reform, but not sure that I understand what is being proposed and secondly, I not sure those proposing the idea even understand what it is they are proposing.

Before he was running for President, Barack Obama was an unabashed supporter or a single-payer system. But now, trying to appease all sides, he now wants a hybrid reform bill that he neither wrote nor seems to know much about.

It is my belief that the current bills in Congress are simply a trap to bring us to a single payer system. It would be more honest and refreshing if both the President and the Congress would admit it.

In the bill Congress supports (the Senate is still working on a variety of approaches) there are about 1,200 pages and not one Congress representative admits to even reading the bill. If you plan to make fundamental and sweeping changes to something as important as health care, you owe it to your constituents to read the dang bill. Every rambling, lawyer inscribed page of it.

Secondly, when did angry protests become such a problem for Democrats or the left. Heck, they basically invented the organized protest. Which brings me to my next problem with the health care debate.

It is not a debate at all. President Obama said he just wants all those who oppose his bill to get out of the way. Democracy and a Republic simply don’t work that way. Did then Senator Obama or the Democrats get out of Bush’s way when he wanted to push his agenda?

Just because you get elected President doesn’t mean you own the football and can decide all by yourself who plays the game, who wins, who loses and whether the game is played at all. You would think Democrats, after the last eight years, would understand that better than most.

The greatest community organizer of recent times shouldn’t complain that someone is using community organizing to be heard on a matter of great importance.

Let’s not forget we have already seen trillions flushed down a drain on rushed legislation both before and after President Obama’s election. If you go back to my postings from September 2008 you will see that I was totally opposed to the first bail out and remain opposed to all those since.

The first Obama stimulus plan was supposed to arrest unemployment at 8 percent or below. How did that work out? People don't believe their President and they don't believe their representatives anymore. Who could blame them?

Lately, we’ve seen Congress drop another $3 billion so my neighbors can buy a new car, subsidized by me and you. The Cash for Clunkers ran out of money three months faster than Congress anticipated. Imagine if they miss the mark that much with health care.

Wanting to confront a congress representative is a time honored right and tradition in America. Angry mobs are what brought America into existence. So don’t get mad at the mobs, get mad that you can’t explain what you are trying to do. It’s not my style, but as long as it works, the left and right will continue to use it.

The fact that none of this even goes into effect for three or four years gives us time to debate and work on a real reform for health care. And not a plan that just pleases Congress and the President, but one that the majority of the people will be satisfied with as well. That only makes sense.

My political leanings are basically Libertarian. I have little use for Republican or Democrat hacks. They live where the air doesn’t move. They abuse corporate CEOs for flying on private jets at the same time they are ordering an 8-plane private fleet for themselves.

They have the world’s best health care. They have a choice of top private medical plans and access to their own clinic and doctors. When asked if they will scrap their plan and join the one they propose for us the answer is pretty vague.

So here’s my idea. I think health care reform is an extremely important issue, one that needs to be addressed sooner than later. Of course, Social Security and Medicare are other extremely important funding issues that also need addressing.

The Congressional races are coming up in 2010, I think both parties should come up with their best plans for dealing with health care reforms. They should also explain how much the plans will cost and who will pay for them and how. Then the folks running for office should choose which of the plans they support and run on that.

That will basically turn the 2010 mid-term elections into a referendum on health care reform. People can vote for the single-payer plan or a reform plan that stops short of that. Then based on the results of that election, then Congress will have a sense and maybe even a consensus of what people want.

But what we don’t need is Congressional representatives shutting down debate or maligning folks who are expressing their First Amendment Rights, organized or not.

So Jennifer, I don’t know if that explains why people are angry, but the lack of respect for dissent – on both sides – is a disturbing trend.

Competition in the news business fades

This is not a criticism of AnnArbor.com, just an observation. If there is any major change in the relationship between news competitors it is not better observed than an article on AnnArbor.com this morning, which simply links to a Detroit Free Press sports story.

In the previous model, the sports department would scramble to mine its sources and come up with a story of its own on such a major event. Now it appears the attitude is one of surrender. We got scooped, let's not waste time, we'll just admit we missed a story and run the competition's story.

It's hard for old journalism minds like mine to wrap around this kind of reporting, but I'm willing to believe with the staff shrinkage, probably inevitable.

Time.com: It's take on AnnArbor.com

Here's a Time.com story on the AnnArbor.com experiment.

Chevy XX

Thank our warriors, so great and so easy.

What a great idea and so easy to do.

Chevy XIX

"That's the way of that!" Sayings by Red Uleskey

In the month since my father-in-law's death, my sister-in-law, Patricia, has been going through one of the many journals kept by Red. While Red was a simple man, he was a deep thinker and often surprised us with his quips and wit.

So we are getting more of an appreciation of him by reading the daily notes he made in his journal. Not all are originals, but sayings that he decided were important enough to write in his book.

Patty hasn't gone very far through the books, but here are a sample of some of our favorites from his most recent writings. Some will require a paragraph or two of set-up so the reader will understand the context.

Some have a hint of poetry, some of great wisdom and some are just funny. Here's a partial early list. More to come.

In his last year, Red was mostly in his wheelchair. One day his three daughters were sitting around him talking with each other about household issues, shopping lists, etc. Suddenly after a long period of time of him listening to the conversation (and wanting to be wheeled into bed) Red, with a wry grin, said:

"Does anyone care about my problem?"

In discussing his future funeral plans Red was talking about the involvement in his plans of his nephew, Patrick, the funeral director.

"We want to see Patrick eye to eye"

In his last year there were many times that family, lots of them, converged on the small Uleskey household. A 900-square-foot tract home with one bathroom things could get crowded. At times groups would leave for shopping trips or to get away. One time Red said this and later wrote it in his book:

"I am glad they are all here but somewhere else."

During his last year, he had a "pic" line inserted into a vein for use in giving medicine and taking blood samples, or something like that. He offered this gem when told he was getting the line.

"We hope the pic line is not in 'vein'"

Sometimes Red took a break in a nice recliner chair in his Ham radio room, a spare bedroom on the first floor, which he called his "shack." One day his three daughters were searching for him and couldn't find him momentarily in the small home. The women were calling out to each other "Where's Dad?" A man's voice called out from the room:

"Where is your father? He's in the shack to be exact."

Red was undone about all the fuss that had to go on around him in his last year. You could tell he often tired of having people running around getting him things, helping him with his clothes, etc. This was what he wrote in his journal:

"There's only one of me and maybe that's one too many."

Another thing he got fed up with was the many pills and medicines he had to take. Thus this little note penned into the book:

"I am all pilled out."

Some of the items need little or no explanation.

"We're lost but we know where we are"

"There's no place like home"

"Mom's late for mammogram - I think we can squeeze it in"

"I can't afford to get frisky, I've got too much money in the bank"

"Only cry when it hurts"

"What's the difference between a yam and a sweet potato, who gives a yam!"

"Too late we get smart"

"Don't follow too close" a quote from a cemetery stone ("I'll live up to it")

"Iraq - frought for naught" (I believe the misspelling was deliberate - a combination of fraught and fought)

"I can fix anything that works"

"It's a women's prerogative to change her mind, that's why the asylums are 90% full of married men!!"

"That's the way of that"

"Love takes sincerity"

"Life is but a matter of time"

"Don't waste your time unless it improves your mind"

"Enjoy the moment, everyone"

"My body got so old it doesn't tell me anymore about aches and pains"

"No one is exempt from being polite"

Ken Doctor: 800,000 unwritten news stories this year

Paul Gillin over at Newspaper Death Watch has a 33-minute interview with Ken Doctor about the recent newspaper travails. The audio player is at the end of the story.

Much about the interview I have disagreements with, but there is also much that where he is right on. By his math, with the number of newsroom layoffs there have been 800,000 fewer news stories written in 2009 than in 2005 before the newspaper downturn began.

The fact that he cites Jeff Jarvis as some kind of guru, considering his work on the pathetic MLive.com site is troubling, but he has some decent thoughts about new online ventures.

About 13 minutes into the interview he admits that even with the downturn, 85 percent of a news organization's revenue still comes from the print product. This dirty little secret always gets a passing mention by the folks who tout the online product, but it is still significant that the cuts come in the print product to support the online product and the revenue support is exactly the opposite.

For all the support of online, Ken Doctor rightly points out that an online subscription model probably will not work either.

But he has some good points about how media must move forward. If you have a spare 33 minutes it might be worth your time, especially if you are a news junkie like me.

Chevy XVIII

Congress plans to spend $550 million for private jets

Are these Washington clowns serious? After making a huge issue over the auto execs flying into Washington, D.C. on corporate jets, comes this story in the Huffington Post.

So Congress wants to spend $550 million to upgrade their fleet of private jets so they can fly their pointless butts all over the country, on our dime while they tell us we need a health care system far less than what they currently enjoy.

The arrogance of Congress (Republicans and Democrats), in my humble opinion, is everything that is wrong with this country. Let these lawmakers fly sandwiched into coach class on a Northworst (Delta) flight and maybe, just maybe, they might get a taste of what it's like to live in the real world, the one they know nothing about.

We need to throw all the bums out. They defend legislation they haven't read and can't explain, and then criticize and demean the citizens who question them. This is Alice in Wonderland time.

And now another round of billions to help my neighbor buy a new car, also on my dime.

All this and they are surprised they are greeted by a tar and feathers mob at their meet and greet forums when they come home. What a bunch of toads.

I thought protest, organized or not, were a part of what we call the First Amendment. To paraphrase Harry Truman: "If you can't stand the heat, quit trying to burn down the house."

Here's the deal: People want you to explain to them clearly and honestly what it is you are proposing for health care. Until you have read the bills and can do that, don't vote on it.

Pendragon: Camelot - Booth version

A poster named Pendragon spent some time writing this version of "Camelot" for a comment. It was too good to keep buried.

CAMELOT (Booth Newspapers version)

Back then we never worked too late on Friday
At 37-and-a-half we stopped
The benefits and pay were sweet in my day
In Camelot.

All layoffs were forbidden till forever
They never had to fear a union shop
Our health-care would be paid for, ending never,
In Camelot

Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit naïve,
But in Camelot, Camelot
We wanted to believe…

Our pay came three-and-fifty times a year here
The other shoe, it seemed, would never drop
There never seemed a cause for anxious fear here
In Camelot.

Camelot! Camelot!
We always thought we were immune
But in Camelot, Camelot
It ended all too soon.

The pension, we were told, would keep on growing
We’d fill our dippers from the brimming pot
In short, we felt, there’s not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
in Camelot.

(Reprise, sung by last surviving Content Director to wide-eyed young intern:)
Each evening, from December to December,
Before your bedtime Twitter post you jot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask ev’ry person if he’s heard the story,
And Tweet it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
Now say it out with pride and joy!

“Camelot! Camelot!”
Yes, Camelot, my boy!

Where once we never worked too late on Friday
At 37-and-a-half we stopped…
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.
06 August, 2009 18:00

Chevy XVII

Tigers Win!

A couple old (emphasize old) friends from my Journal days - Kim and Dave - came up with tickets to today's Detroit Tigers game. So I left work after an hour and played hookey all day at the game. Dinner in Greektown and then home. Tigers beat Baltimore 7-3 and Kim caught a fly foul ball off Carlos Guillen's bat in the second inning.

The bare handed catch, which was a ricochet off a nearby patron's stone hands, came just 30 seconds after Dave said we should have brought a mitt because we were sitting along third base in box seats.

Then Kim, holding the ball for maybe 3-4 minutes tapped the young man (10-12) sitting in the seat in front of him and handed him the ball. The kid lit up and I'll bet he never forgets the old geezer who gave up his first and only foul ball he ever caught at a baseball game. Kim is that kind of guy.

That will explain the lack of blogging today.

The game and weather were great and the company was perfect. Somedays should have a frame around them. This was one.

More Advance news over at Inside Out

If you are starved for Advance/Booth news head over to Inside Out today for links that will easily keep you busy for an hour or more.

Chevy XVI

A New York Times mega correction

For my friends still laboring in the newspaper vineyard, here is a correction - out of the vaunted New York Times - that will make you feel like you should be working there and not the reporter who wrote the story. This was widely circulated so you may have already seen this.

The corrections were made July 22nd to a story written about Walter Cronkite's death. The mistakes are mind numbingly stupid.

Here's the text of the correction:

An appraisal on Saturday about Walter Cronkite’s career included a number of errors. In some copies, it misstated the date that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and referred incorrectly to Mr. Cronkite’s coverage of D-Day. Dr. King was killed on April 4, 1968, not April 30. Mr. Cronkite covered the D-Day landing from a warplane; he did not storm the beaches. In addition, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, not July 26. “The CBS Evening News” overtook “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” on NBC in the ratings during the 1967-68 television season, not after Chet Huntley retired in 1970. A communications satellite used to relay correspondents’ reports from around the world was Telstar, not Telestar. Howard K. Smith was not one of the CBS correspondents Mr. Cronkite would turn to for reports from the field after he became anchor of “The CBS Evening News” in 1962; he left CBS before Mr. Cronkite was the anchor. Because of an editing error, the appraisal also misstated the name of the news agency for which Mr. Cronkite was Moscow bureau chief after World War II. At that time it was United Press, not United Press International. (Go to Article)

Here's what the Ombudsman said.

(Hat tip to Newspaper Death Watch for the links)

Ann Arbor News alums check in about AnnArbor.com

A person who once worked for the Ann Arbor News checks in from California about AnnArbor.com.

The column captures what a lot of us have tried to express about the over-the-top expectations hyped by its management.

AnnArbor.com: Wringing hands over cheerleading

First time over at AnnArbor.com in a couple days. Lead story: Is Cheerleading too dangerous?

It's based on a U-M study.

Also the murdered swans? Turns out the investigation shows they were most likely hit by a car. No crime, unless the driver was intoxicated.

Editor and Publisher confirms end to lifetime job pledge

Thanks to Inside Out for posting this link to the Editor & Publisher article.

This is an interesting contradiction as I just heard that the Flint Journal recently hired a new reporter with a familial link to its former editor. So, at the same time they are lining up targets for layoffs, they hire back a FOB. (Friend of Booth)

Trust me, they need more reporters, but what message does it send to the many people you just sent out the door that you hire back someone who lives in Lansing for a job you just had to give up because you were no longer needed.

I'd love to know what the diversity of the various Booth staffs are right now?

Jack Lessenberry chimes in on AnnArbor.com

Jack Lessenberry has his own thoughts on the new AnnArbor.com website and print product at this Detroit Metro Times article.

Job for Life pledge: Either the pledge, or your life, just got shorter

This morning I've been inundated with a series of comments and off-line tips about the announcement of the end of the lifetime job pledge at Booth papers. That would be the papers who haven't already flushed the pledge through more draconian measures.

Word from Grand Rapids is that it was announced that the job pledge would end in February 2010 and reportedly the publisher of the Kalamazoo Gazette, in a surprise employee meeting, announced the same thing.

If those two papers have dumped the job pledge, you can bet it has ended for the Muskegon Chronicle and Jackson Cit-Pat as well.

This has to be a precursor of more layoffs and salary cuts.

Not really a big surprise. We were always "at will" employees anyway and there have been firings of a questionable nature. In one case the Flint Journal didn't defend a firing of a colleague on its merits, but on the basis that all employees were "at will" and could be let go at any time.

The "lifetime job pledge" was never worth more than the paper it was written on anyway. It was worth something in those years when you could believe "the word" of the people running the company. Today, not so much.

How to fix the deficit: The Onion

U.S. Government Stages Fake Coup To Wipe Out National Debt

Journalism prof gives sneak peek at the next semester

The professor in the next term is teaching the Seven Laws of Journalism.

He doesn't mention the 8th law of Booth journalism: To get hired without any competitive process be related to someone at or near the top of leadership.

Chevy XV

Inside Out: More inside stuff

Inside Out has several new posts worth looking at, including the news that Newhouse has again appointed the son of a former leader to take over his late father's CEO position at the company.

Newhouse/Advance/Booth have become a glorified employment agency for the children of its leaders. Ever wonder why their fortunes have sunk?

Chevy XIV

More on the online universe and copyright

A debate is ongoing about the use of reprinting large parts of articles (versus simply linking to them) on Internet sites.

This article has plenty of links and information about the present controversy.

This response to the above from Atlantic Monthly.

David Simon: Newspapers must charge for online content

A frequent reader sent along a link to a column by famed cop reporter David Simon about the future of newspapers, journalism and the need to charge for online content.

A brief review AnnArbor.com

It's been a little over a week since AnnArbor.com made its entrance online. Late last week a friend dropped off copies of the first two print editions and I had a chance over the weekend to go through them.

The print product is graphically very attractive (except for the stupid Frenchman with a beret logo that is supposed to be an acorn). The layout is pleasing and the photos and graphics very nicely displayed. It is a much more attractive product than the Flint Journal, in my opinion.

Where it suffers is that its content is much the same as what we've already read on the online version of AnnArbor. com. But at least in the print product it's all in one place and easier to find.

Anything I say about the online version of AnnArbor.com will likely be discounted by my comments in the run up to its debut. The product is weak, I don't think any reasonable analysis could conclude otherwise.

There have been breaking news stories, but I have yet to see a decent follow up (interviews with victims or their families, etc.) to any of them. The news stories disappear rapidly and unless you get out you mining tools to dig into the site you won't see them again.

The killing of two swans had the potentially to light up the website, but the original story disappeared off the blog roll quickly. It did reappear later again, but if I were in charge, that swan story would have been up front for a day or two. Like any animal abuse story it was attracting a lot of attention and comments. It has rolled off the top of the page (above the fold in dead tree talk) again this morning.

Many of the stories appear to be rewrites or expansions of press releases from the City of Ann Arbor or the University. That may change as time goes on, but for the first week, the one where you are trying to convince people you are the real deal, it looked pretty trite.

If there is a strong point for AnnArbor.com it is in the sports department. The sports writing seems good and they are covering the run up to Michigan football pretty well. I have enjoyed the articles and if anything helps the online traffic, it will likely be sports.

As for the site itself, it has a boring appearance and looks much like my Facebook page or any number of feeds, except it has a lot more wasted space. Again, my perspective is from one who likes a newspaper format where the best story is on top and the rest is inside.

I tried linking to a quirky video produced by Jordan Miller and got flak from her about not giving her an additional written credit (Her name was already listed in the credits for the You Tube video posted). I won't make that mistake again. In the world where bringing traffic to your site is the name of the game, a simple "thank you" for posting something that brings people to your site is sufficient. You will not see any more links to items on AnnArbor.com here at Free From Editors.

So I like the print product appearance and am kind of 'meh' about the online product. It certainly was not the ground-breaking site promised by the chief content czar. I'll check in there from time-to-time to see if they have improved. But for now, I'm not going there on a regular basis anymore.

You don't have to take my word for it, just look at the comments about the site at the site.

Chevy XIII

Chevy XII

Something fun for a Saturday

How would you ever recover from this?

An interesting perspective on reporting and reporters

This LA Times column did a nice job of talking about an issue not usually discussed.

Chevy XI

Another journalism jobs site

Thanks to Inside Out for yet another link for folks looking for journalism jobs.

Reporter John Clark and gangster Mickey Cohen a story from the "Front Page"

My father, no slouch in the writing department, sent along a newspaper related story from his past. His father and mother (my grandfather and grandmother) rented a small apartment in Los Angeles to John Clark, a newspaperman.

Most of what follows is in my father’s words. (photo at left is Mickey Cohen)

“John Clark and Mickey Cohen”

Location: A small downtown office at the Los Angeles Daily News.

The time: Early to middle 1950s.

John Clark: John was an excellent newspaper man who had at times, held positions of city editor, but his hard drinking would get him fired or demoted from time-to-time. He would dry out and get his job back. At the time of this incident John was a rewrite man at the Daily News and a feature writer. Don’t imagine newspapers hire rewrite men any more. A good rewrite man could take the basic five W’s from a reporter in the field calling from a public pay phone (are any of those left?) and create a major front page story continued on inside pages. As I already said, he was an excellent writer. John was assigned to create a week’s feature on local mobster, Mickey Cohen.

Mickey Cohen: Mickey was a well known mobster with close ties to the Mafia. As a front Cohen operated a men’s clothing store on the Sunset Strip just east of Beverly Hills. His office was in the back of the store (never heard of anyone actually buying men’s clothes there) where he took care of his business. At one time while leaving a Sunset Strip night club, a sniper from across the street took a shot at him with a rifle. The shot missed Cohen but blew away a body guard. Cohen always insisted he was simply a small business man selling men’s clothes. Right, a small businessman who needed a body guard. Another time his armored Cadillac had been ambushed and there were five or more bullet holes in the driver’s door. None of the projectiles got through the outer steel. Another question, why would a simple small business man need an armored car? Anyway, when asked about the holes in his car door, Cohen shrugged and speculated that the damage was the result of vandals with a drill.

OK, so now you know the players – or almost all of them in this saga. The series on Cohen began in the Daily News on a Monday and continued each day through Friday. In the articles that were anything but flattering to Cohen, John Clark made reference to Cohen’s age and almost each time there was a different age published as no one actually knew his real age.

After three installments, John received a personal call from Cohen who complimented John on the “excellent” feature, but complained about the incorrect references to his age. Cohen told John he would send a couple associates over to show the reporter his birth certificate to clear up the confusion.

That afternoon, two guys straight out of central casting, for gangsters and hit men entered John’s small office at the paper. These were the days when anyone could walk off the street and enter any office or department in a newspaper. Heck, when I was a young “tub thumper” (Note from Jim: A public relations person in the old days, it's meaning today is quite different) I would enter the offices and deliver my stories directly to the city editor.

Back to the story, the two men sat across the desk from John, said nothing for a long pause, then one leaned across the desk and with his face close to John’s said, and these are the actual words, “Mickey wants you should take a vacation to Bermuda!” At that they rose and walked out of his office and the newspaper. One of the two never said a word. Oh, by the way, John never did see a birth certificate.

John lived in a small apartment in Los Angeles owned by my mother and father (Note from Jim: My grandfather and grandmother) where my brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Mona, also lived. We had become friends with John and heard all this first hand from him. At the time he was divorced from his wife due to his drinking.

Epilogue: Not too long after this “event” John drowned in a fishing accident, falling from his boat in a lake up in the Sierras. It was considered simply a case of a drunken fisherman falling out of his boat and never connected to Mickey Cohen.

Jim’s Note: Found the following in a clip that I googled from another reporter at the Daily News who also interviewed Mickey Cohen:

“JONES: People used to cook stuff on a hotplate back there, their lunches and stuff like that. And there was always coffee going. When I was first there, I used to have to come in at 4 o'clock in the morning and start the coffee. Well, there one guy, a great rewrite man named John Clark, but he was a drinker. And you'd have to call him and wake him up, because you couldn't depend on is alarm clock to wake him up. You'd have to call him and be sure he was alert and on his feet so he could get to work. That was part of my job, to start the coffee and get a hold of John Clark, so he could come in on the early shift. He was due in at 5 on the early morning rewrite.”

There’s another long Los Angeles Times story that mentions the above and includes this great description of the Daily News. (Sounds like a place me and a lot of my friends in the business would have loved to work at):

"There were five papers," says Joe Saltzman, a journalism professor at USC. "At that time, you would get drunk and screw up and get fired, but it wasn't a big deal because you would go to another newspaper. But to get to the Daily News was what everybody wanted to do. Everybody who wanted to be a hard-drinking, tough newspaperman--and that included women--would go to the Daily News. It was a newspaperman's paper. These people were in the mold of the 'Front Page' kind of reporters. They drank a lot, they cursed a lot, they worked all kinds of hours. They didn't care about any authority. They were out to get the L.A. Times, which they considered the conservative enemy of newspapers."

Any paper of the era could have made the "Front Page" claim, but few were a self-styled champion of the downtrodden, the irreverent enemy of blunderbuss authority.

"The Daily News loved to find ways to make fun of the Los Angeles elite, the power brokers," Wagner says. "I don't mean bring someone down with investigative journalism or a big expose. It was almost as if there was a competition among reporters and staff--'How can we embarrass so-and-so today? What can we do to humble this arrogant person?' So if they caught some city official picking his nose, I can assure you that that photograph would be in the paper."

On another search I found the following short segment in a story about the history of the Daily News:
RINGER: Have you heard of John Clark?
...
RINGER: He was a rewrite man, and absolutely wrote the cleanest copy you ever saw. He drowned himself in MacArthur Park, in about four feet of water, falling out of one of those little boats. He was a very strange guy. (A little different story than what my Dad recalled).

From another website on Mickey Cohen: Mickey Cohen, head of Los Angeles gambling rackets, maintained a host of powerful friends, including Frank Sinatra - who once appealed to him to get mobster Johnny Stompanato to stop dating Ava Gardner. Depicted by Harvey Keitel in the 1991 film "Bugsy" and by Paul Guilfoyle in 1997's "L.A. Confidential."

Nieman Journalism Lab checks in on AnnArbor.com

Turns out we all misunderstood the content czar when he said that the new site would be "something we had never seen before."

He didn't mean it would be spectacular or ground-breaking, he actually meant it would be the opposite of that.

I think he was successful then.

Second job gets sports reporter in trouble

A New England newspaper sports writer is facing charges for allegedly running a prostitution ring.

His bosses will no doubt be upset that he used "Craig's List" for advertising his services. See how Craig's List is killing newspapers. Even newspaper employees use the free online services.

This morning at AnnArbor.com

When you try to access AnnArbor.com this morning this is what you get:

"AnnArbor.com is temporarily unavailable.
AnnArbor.com is temporarily unavailable. During routine maintenance, we experienced a problem with our servers that we're working to resolve as quickly as possible. Please check back for additional updates. For those of you who have signed up for the newsletter, we'll send you an email as soon as the site is back up. We apologize for any inconvenience."

A wise person once said you only get one chance to make a first impression. This first impression is not good. You have to wonder if anyone at Advance or Booth is now regretting the choices of who they put in charge of this endeavor.

Don't say we didn't warn you. (Update: 10:20 a.m. - AnnArbor.com back up)

Chevy X

This child has been raised right!

Notice how the child laughs and enjoys "Mary Had a Little Lamb" but cries when she hears the University of Michigan fight song. These parents are doing a great job. Found this on Facebook.

Some journalism job resources

A hat tip to Inside Out for the following journalism job sites. An answer to a poster's recent plea.

The Write Job
Paid Content
Media Jobs Daily
Michigan Press Association
Media jobs
Media pro
Use Twitter for next job
Journalism crossing
Journalism jobs on Career Builder
Inside Out

Some AnnArbor.com notes

Some problems over at AnnArbor.com has readers concerned. Also there is a little dissatisfaction with the comment moderation policy, which seems to be in flux.

First they said they would simply delete comments without notice, but now appear to be leaving behind a bunny trail of notes where comments were removed.

It's beginning to look like we have a premature launch.

On break-ins and professors

Yesterday, someone who knows that I worked for a California police department back in the 1970s asked me what my thoughts were on the whole Professor Gates business in Cambridge.

I have no clue what happened in Cambridge last week between Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates. Yes, it sounds like police may have over reacted, but on hearing the 911 tapes there may be more to the story.

Our President stepped into the controversy with both feet, even though, 1, he was not there, and 2, he probably has no idea of what police procedures are when one is sent to a breaking and entering in progress call.

So, while I'm not going to weigh in on the Cambridge controversy, let me give you a real life example of why police may have done what they did, from my own experience and those of my former officer colleagues.

When I worked in Atherton* (California) we worked in a very rich environment. Million dollar homes, and remember this was the 1970s, were the norm and the residents were primarily multi-millionaires or even a couple billionaires.

During absences, the residents would leave a "vacation check" at the police department which required officers to check the homes on each shift to make sure they were secure. Early one morning (about 1 a.m.) I was riding with a sergeant and we pulled into a "vacation check" driveway and noticed a side door open that had not been noted as open during the last shift.

We radioed the dispatcher to make sure no one had arrived home early and learned no one had called. Walking through the door with our flashlights we were almost immediately confronted by a man coming down the hall in the dark. The sergeant pulled his weapon and ordered the man to the floor while I radioed for additional help.

Once the lights were turned on we quickly learned that the man we had just spread eagled on the floor at gunpoint was the CEO of a very successful company that if I used the name you would know.

"I was going to call first thing in the morning to tell you I was home," the man said sheepishly. Then he said something about how he really didn't believe that we closely checked the homes.

In the end he learned a lesson and the sergeant and I later shook our heads at how close we came to a more serious situation. Like what if the homeowner mistook us for a burglar and picked up his gun and we saw that first thing as we walked through the door.

So stuff happens.

Also, there were many times in my police career where officers confronted someone in a house where they supposedly lived only to learn that a wife or girlfriend had a restraining order keeping them away due to domestic violence. All that has to be checked out before you simply dismiss a breaking and entering call and move on to the next call.

So when Professor Gates went off about being questioned in his own home, that is understandable. But when Sgt. Crowley insisted on investigating further before dismissing the call as unfounded, to me and other police officers that is also clearly understandable.

Life behind a police windshield or badge, looks much different than it does from the outside.

The best advice I always give people is that when a police officer asks you to do something, even if you think it is outrageous, just go with the flow and deal with the outrageous later.

*Sorry about the wikipedia reference, but only source I could find in a hurry today.

I love it when Congressmen are honest

Rep. John Conyers (about 2:30 into this video) admits he not only hasn't read the health care bill, but doesn't want to because not even two lawyers could make sense of it. Wow! (This speech has a very Sarah Palinesque quality to it). This will make you very glad you didn't have a ticket to the Press Club yesterday.

Chevy IX

Little help for an unemployed journalist

Tonight I received the following comment:

"I have a question. Where is a good place to go to look for journalism jobs - the few there are? I know about journalismjobs.com and MPA. Are there any other good places to look? Jim, since you have a lot of followers here who are looking for work, maybe a post suggesting some places to look? That would be great for everyone."

The temptation for many will be to dismiss this comment and encourage this person to consider a career at Applebee's, but if you know some way to help or can offer some direction to this person it might help more than just one person.

I haven't been looking for journalism work, frankly that fired has been extinguished, but my first bit of advice would be to look outside of Michigan, if possible. The market here for anything, especially newspapers, is poor and will be for a long, long time. But journalism now covers more than just newspapers, so if you have a suggestion, please leave one.

Sarah Palin: A poet

I think Conan and Shatner are on to something. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's speech was poetry. You'll have to suffer through a 30-second commercial first.

Chevy VIII

Inside Out: Interesting post

Maybe I'm just becoming a link list for Inside Out, but there is a pretty good post over there this morning on the tale of a newly hired journalist who replaced a popular veteran one.

Also a story about another newsman who was "laid-off" but the paper was vague in its announcement leaving the impression he had "retired."

Read them both here.

From my Dad: A new computer virus

I think he may have gotten this from someone else.

Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born before 1955.
SYMPTOMS:
1.. Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. (Done that.)
2 Causes you to send a blank e-mail. (Done that too!)
3. Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. (Yep.)
4. Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. (Duh!)
5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. (Darn!)
6. Causes you to hit SEND before you've finished. (Oh no, not again.)
7. Causes you to hit DELETE instead of SEND. (I really hate when that happens.)
8. Causes you to hit SEND when you should DELETE. (Rats!)
IT'S CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS".

(Have I already sent this to you?)

With love,
Dad

AnnArbor.com draws good, bad comments

Still reserving my own opinion of the new AnnArbor.com site, but here are the mixed reviews, so far, from folks who have checked in.

Some AnnArbor.com salary and staff info received over the weekend. FJ odds and ends

Early Friday I asked for some info about who were full and part-time staff members at AnnArbor.com

So far it appears that three of the sports writers are full-time, two are part-time and I’m still unsure on the other two.

As for pay, it sounds like the going rate for part-timers is between $16.50 and $17.50 an hour. The ex-Ann Arbor News folks come to AnnArbor.com with significant trims to their former salaries. One or two of the employees may actually be making more based on their move from part-time status at the News to full-time status at AA.com.

One of the lucky ones, is probably the sports writer who came from my former newspaper home, The Oakland Press, because it would be hard to pay lower than the Press does.

Remember top salaries at my Booth paper and others for reporters were in the $55,000 to $60,000 range. I can personally attest to that. Sources say the new highest salaries are in the high 30s or low 40s based on a couple sources.

As I have blogged about before, Booth and Advance were able to attract good talent in the past by offering top wages and benefits to hand-picked reporters from other news organizations. When I came to the Journal in 1989 I got a $100 a week raise from my pathetic OP salary. It also kept the Newspaper Guild at arm’s length.

Back at the Flint Journal, after the paper scaled back to three days and ended its long-standing job pledge, several reporters were offered positions at the paper, but with pay cuts in the range of 25 to 60 percent. The 60 percent is not an exaggeration.

To their credit, most of those folks told Booth/Advance to shove the insulting salaries and opted for unemployment benefits instead. We’re all still waiting for Booth to announce the cuts and reductions for top managers, who continue to hang on. It would be nice for the troops under them to know that their captains and lieutenants are also sharing in the sacrifice. But don’t hold your breath.

One of those laid off reporters, now apparently back as a free lance writer owned the July 26 Sunday paper. As soon as I arrived home from Buffalo I picked up the Sunday paper and found four bylines by this freelancer in one newspaper. One is the lead story on Page 1, two others lead the front page of the Sports section and there is another inside feature.

Update: Just finished going through the 2009 Buick Open supplement in the Sunday Flint Journal and found three more bylines by the former FJ golf writer, now back as a freelancer. That's seven bylines in one newspaper. For a freelancer.

Yeah, they didn't need that guy. I thought Sunday's paper was the strongest effort so far, since the three-day-a-week thing started.

Also, for those of you hankering to weigh in on the new "Flint Journal" you can talk to a group of the paper's editors from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the front page article, current (but soon to be departed) editor John Foren, Community Editor (and future editor) Marjory Raymer, Assistant Community Editor Katie Bach, Features Editor Carol Zedaker and Community Voices Editor Clark Hughes, will take your calls at (810) 766-6280 (I think this was the old circulation number) or toll-free at (800) 875-6300.

Executive Editor John Hiner, who signed the article, apparently won't be on hand. It did say the discussion would focus on the features mix, but heck what are they going to do, hang up on you if you ask about something else.

I know one former copy editor who has been trying to get delivery of the FJ stopped, so this might be a chance to get some help doing that.

Ann Arbor News laid off employees make video

A few employees used their last day(s) to make a video documenting their departure from the newspaper. Tom Gantert is a sometime contributor here. Found this on AnnArbor.com.

Update: As per the comments attached Jordan Miller asked that I also credit her on this work of art I found on AnnArbor.com. My apologies, I thought the Jordan Miller credit at the end of the video was sufficient, but apparently not.

Inside Out: All things Flint Journal

Inside Out has an extensive look at the changes, some delayed, at the Flint Journal. There are links and photos.

Just back from Buffalo so it'll be a day or two before I get back to serious blogging.

Chevy VII

Chevy VI

FJ laid-off golf writer makes a timely return

In recent months I've been critical of the Flint Journal's rather weak coverage of local golf, but it appears that a writer that the FJ thought they didn't need during the downsizing has been brought back, at least on a part-time or freelance basis to bail them out.

With recent announcements about the Buick Open at Warwick Hills (this is the last year for the event, a victim of GM's economic woes) and the return of Tiger Woods to the event, it appears the paper now needs their former golf writer back.

In just the past few days I've noticed the former FJ reporter's byline on several stories (he used to cover the Flint Generals hockey team, so maybe he'll get some more work when that season fires up again).

Writers: Can't live with them, but apparently can't live without them either. Hope the paper is paying him well for those stories.

Chevy V

In journalism a found body is assumed to be dead

Knowing the reporter that wrote this story, I can't imagine this is anything but an editing error.

Also it was my understanding this reporter, a former colleague at the Flint Journal, was a staff member at AnnArbor.com but there is no AnnArbor.com staff designation on his byline, so I'm not sure.

In Journalism 101 you are taught that when writing a news story about a death when you write "body" that means it was dead.

"Dead body" is always redundant and should never be used. On AnnArbor.com this morning there is a story that (at least as of 7:40 a.m.) uses that term. (Update: Checked back at 1:10 p.m. and the "dead body" is now just a "body" and the AnnArbor.com label is included with the writer, so all is well. Guess I am now a "citizen editor").

The story also uses a phrase I always found troubling. A body is found along a trail and the story includes the phrase "detectives are investigating." Boy, you would hope so, wouldn't you?

Another cop story pet peeve of mine is one you hear all the time on television and radio broadcasts about drunken drivers involved in serious crashes.

"The driver's blood alcohol was .20, more than twice the legal limit." No, it's not the legal limit, it's technically the illegal limit. I always preferred the more direct and correct phrase, that indicated that the driver's blood alcohol was above the limit that presumed intoxication.

Let's get this straight, there is no "legal" limit for getting drunk.

Inside Out: On "Life After Journalism"

Some good stuff over on Inside Out about "Life after journalism." As always plenty of great links and insights.

AnnArbor.com staff listed on site

During the run-up to the AnnArbor.com launch, the Chief Content Czar told us there would be 30-35 editorial employees.

The new staff list shows 31, which includes the President & CEO (which beat does he cover?); the Chief Content Czar (which beat does he cover?); the Executive Vice President (which beat does she cover?); and a shared administrative assistant for the President & CEO and Executive Vice President and the Chief Content Czar has his own administrative assistant.

There are seven news reporters and seven sports reporters. The site doesn't tell us if they are all full-time or part-time and I don't know. We already know that full, or part-time they are making less than former staff members at the Ann Arbor News were making.

The staff list has 22 people involved in ad sales or production. On the old AnnArbor.com site there was little information about who was getting those jobs. It would be interesting to know how many of those ad sales or production people came from the Ann Arbor News. Please help if you can.

AnnArbor.com: Not a criticism, just a question

On Tuesday, AnnArbor.com posted a You Tube video of a woman singing her public comment about a controversial development. Several commenters at the old AnnArbor.com site (and me at this one) were critical of the poor coverage of the issue, as compared to the extensive report over on Ann Arbor Chronicle.

The Chief Content Czar told everyone, just wait until Friday that's when the real coverage starts and that the You Tube was just a place holder until the new reporter's story could appear in the real AnnArbor.com.

So when I pulled up the new AnnArbor.com (all the links to the the old site included here on FFE will take you to the site, but the old item will not come up) I looked for the reporter's story on the meeting. It may just be me, but it is not in the news feed for the day.

There are links to a story much older than a Monday City Council meeting and there are other stories about items at the Monday City Council meeting (written by another reporter) but no report on the building controversy.

Again, it may just be I can't find the story, but while I am withholding judgment on the site overall until a week or so goes by, I didn't see a story on there that made me say "Wow, they are really on to something here." I was expecting to have my socks blown off at least with the first edition, but my socks are still on.

In the "News" feed there is a story about a pre-Art Fair bash that was written on July 14th. It would have made sense to have really breaking news in the first news feed. There is some of that, but most of the stuff there is soft features or news features.

There was a news feature on the cuts to the police department that talked about the police chief who was a deputy at the Oakland County Sheriff's Department back in the day when I covered cops for the Oakland Press. Barnett Jones was a great deputy, sergeant during the time I knew him. So that was a story that did interest me.

The offerings, especially for a first edition three months in the planning stages, was pretty average.

Chevy portrait IV

AnnArbor.com is up and running

See it here.

I haven't taken the "tutorial" on how to use the site, but the outward appearance is underwhelming when I was told it would be "something like I had never seen before."

I'm going to reserve judgment until it has been up for a week or so. Feel free to offer your own opinions until then.

Bye-bye Ann Arbor News

Instead of trying to redo what Inside Out has already done, drop over and follow the links there for news about the final days of the 174-year-old Ann Arbor News.

Chevy portrait III

A wake up call to the New York Times, Washington Post

A long, but interesting read. The comments are pretty instructive too. Thanks to a long time FFE reader for the link.

Someone at the State News was having fun with a news story

As a former State News editor I am a frequent visitor to their site. Someone on Facebook put up a link to this gem this morning.

I probably would have stopped the fun tampon and period references in the second paragraph, but Brittany (not sure a male reporter would have been able to get away with this) laced her pun fun all the way through the story.

Michigan Wine columnists discusses ethics, Ann Arbor Chronicle wins first round of coverage battle

Another writer, this time a wine columnist for the Ann Arbor Chronicle, has weighed in on the issue raised here about AnnArbor.com's new wine columnist.

Hat tip to Inside Out for her post as well.

Also it was interesting to compare and contrast the coverage of a Monday City Council meeting by the now competing online newspapers in Ann Arbor.

Over at Ann Arbor Chronicle was a complete piece on the discussion and results of a controversial development in the city.

At AnnArbor.com the writer mentioned the controversy, but the site's coverage basically was a You Tube video of a woman singing her public comment about the development. No further information was given about the results of the meeting or the controversy. The AnnArbor.com reporter spent five hours at a City Council meeting and comes back with a video of one public comment.

The AA.com reporter also mentioned a conversation he had with a resident during a break.

Style over substance. Ann Arbor Chronicle wins round 1.

Chevy Portrait II

Making fun of cable news, my favorite

Anything that mocks cable news broadcasts gets my vote. Put an "x" in this box.


Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot

How not to respond to a TV news interview

Taryn Asher, a former ABC-12 reporter now working in Detroit, was always a formidable competitor locally. She tied into a good one with the arrest of an Oxford councilman recently.

Trust me, television reporters love a good confrontation and boy does the councilman's wife give Taryn one. I do have a little sympathy for the wife who, for some reason, felt it necessary to come out and get in the face of the television crew.

The husband should have faced the music himself rather than put his wife and family in the front lines.

Here's the report:

Video removed

I removed the video of the Arizona investigation into Social Security because of its annoying auto play feature. Sorry for the distraction. It's gone.

Barbara Boxer knocked down for the count

Boy do I love it when those inflated windbags in Washington, D.C. get a taste of their own medicine live and on television. In this case Sen. Barbara Boxer stepped into the racial minefield with the head of group that represents black business people.

I especially love at the end of the video when some aid is whispering in Boxer's ear, perhaps trying to get her to stop her battle of wits, while she is yet unarmed.

It is always surprising that when these bags of hot air assemble that they don't lift off into the sky like some Hot Air balloon festival.

It's the roar of an engine, not the roar of a crowd

My sister sent me an e-mail with a number of great sayings about cars. Admittedly, my affection for beautiful, rumble-throated engines under the hood of magnificent, gas-guzzling machines is out-of-date and not politically correct.

Here's one of my favorites. I'll put up more later. Bring on the rpms. (Click on the photo to enlarge and read).

AnnArbor.com: A preview look

Today was supposed to the launch of the all-new AnnArbor.com. But as was reported last week, didn't happen, but they did put up a preview of the page.

As one commenter already said, the statement that "this will be something that you have never seen before" is a lot of hyperbole, unless they are holding back on something we can't see here.

It has the look and feel of "Facebook" at least at first glance, but we'll withhold judgement until Friday.

First AIG and now Social Security: Lavish parties on our dime

Some of you may have seen this investigative report out of Arizona, but Social Security officials turned aside an Internet conference and met at a nice Arizona resort to charge their batteries at our expense.

In today's world $700,000 is probably not much, but it's a lot of money to people on fixed incomes and out of work.

So while our legislators grip and complain about private companies and their expenses, maybe it's time to begin the charity at home. I had another thought yesterday while weeding the yard: With all the people in the country out-of-work, or making major concessions on salary and benefits, isn't it time for our government to feel the pinch as well. Maybe a 10-20 percent pay cut for legislators and their staffs.

And here's an idea, any health care benefits that Congress decides that we should all have, they should be required to live under those same benefits and not the Lexus, lifetime benefits they enjoy now. Are you with me? Can I get a witness?

Here's the report on the Social Security conference (You'll have to suffer through a 15-second solar panel commercial first also notice that the time is 5:03 and the local temperature there was 111):

Video removed, because its auto play feature is annoying.

To be honest, I go both ways on these private and government conferences. On the one hand it's an outrage that the money is spent so frivolously in hard times, but these conferences also supply a lot of jobs for local service and hotel employees, not to mention airline companies.

Aside: Back in 1995 a group of Flint Journal employees, including me, found a writer's conference that was meeting in St. Louis. With the emphasis at the Journal on new, punchy writing, we approached management about sending a few of us to the conference to hone these techniques. The answer was that the company would pay our registration (I think about $200) for the weekend conference, but we would have to pay our own travel and lodging, which many of us did.

I think the most extravagant thing we did was ride the tram cars to the top of the arch. Also at our own expense.

Walter Cronkite, RIP

Walter Cronkite died today. One of my recollections of Walter Cronkite was the tears of relief and joy he shed the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

New AnnArbor.com wine blog to premiere

When AnnArbor.com talked about bringing bloggers into the fold of its new (now delayed) launch, most of us assumed they were talking about experienced (well, as experienced as the new technology allows) bloggers.

The first A2 blog I've found - a wine blog - appears to be a local Ann Arbor wine expert who is apparently going to learn how to write as the site comes on line.

"It's Just Grape Juice," created in July 2009, appears to be the "wine blog" for AnnArbor.com. Clearly the author is a wine expert, but the long rambling sentences and large blocks of type don't bode well for a very readable blog.

It's hard to criticize this because this is not someone I know or have ever read before, but a good editor would have been helpful in this effort. Although my blog criticizes editors, it is not because editors are not important, but because they are crucial parts of the process. That's why good editors are so important.

To be clear, it is not my intention to run down this blog or the expertise of the writer, it is clear that he knows his stuff. My point is that he has been thrust into a position of writing about it, and despite what most people think, there is a certain amount of skill and expertise involved in written communication, just as there must be in selecting a fine wine.

A competent editor would have punched up the lead of this blog, shortened the sentences and paragraphs and tried to focus the wine column in a crisp, precise way. When there is a worry about what "new journalism" will bring, it is precisely this kind of writing most of us are talking about.

Personal pronouns become troublesome in writing and there are plenty of "I's" in the wine column. Before AnnArbor.com gives the keys to the car to these bloggers, maybe they should hold a few Journalism 101 classes.

Communication, even in the new age of technology, is going to require decent writing skills.

And one other part of this new blog raises another concern. Apparently the author of this blog is a principal in a company that owns or operates a series of restaurants. Not saying he will, but will the writer slant columns to favor or benefit his own company and who at AnnArbor.com will monitor that?

Crain's on AnnArbor.com delay

Crain's put up a story on the last minute launch delay for AnnArbor.com.

A more positive view of AnnArbor.com

Here's a more positive view of AnnArbor.com presented by a Poynter columnist. But he also points out that the online news organization will enter a pretty crowded field in Ann Arbor.

This was written before the effort was given the yellow caution flag today and the Monday launch delayed.

Not so fast on AnnArbor.com

Looks like a squirrel took a bite out of the acorn.

Three months ago, AnnArbor.com announced its bold new venture. Today, it announced, not quite so fast. The big day, Monday, July 20th, has now been moved to Friday, July 24th.

This can't be good. You've been hyping this thing for months and now on the verge of the launch, you announce that the weather forecast is no good and you'll have to delay.

Probably better not launch if it was going to be a disaster, but you have to wonder what they have been doing for the past three months that leaves them unable to go. I'm blaming the captain of the ship.

The stages of newspaper grief

Thanks to a reader found a new online site - Unfittimes.com - with some interesting stuff. Found this item about the stages of newspaper grief right off the bat.

You might enjoy their Declaration of Principles.

Colorado Springs newspaper outs plagiarist

This is really sad. A journalism intern, no doubt trying to make a good first impression, draws on the best to spice up her coverage.

A few years ago the Journal caught a reporter making up sources for a series of feature stories and quietly let him resign. It never did bother to tell its readers that they had been duped. As I recall, that happened during the editorship of the current chief content leader of AnnArbor.com.

So kudos to the Colorado Springs paper for doing the right thing.

Latest installment from Detroitmakeithere.com on AnnArbor.com

Former FJ editor Tony Dearing defends the new AnnArbor.com model in the ongoing "new media" series at Detroitmakeithere.com.

A quote from me is also included at the end of the story:

Retired reporter Jim Smith, 61, of Lapeer, questions the wisdom of using “old newspaper people, from failed newspapers at that,” to create a new sort of journalism. Smith was a reporter and columnist at The Flint Journal from 1989 to 2007. He has followed the development of AnnArbor.com on his blog about journalism, “Free from Editors: Editors, and how bad ones are ruining the newspaper business.”

“Do you think the captain of the Valdez gets a new ship after he runs the old one aground?” he asked rhetorically, referring to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, a devastating human-caused environmental disaster.

The latest from AnnArbor.com

Training for the bloggers for the new AnnArbor.com site that goes up Monday got its own post there today. Check out the hand held video interviews with two bloggers. Hint: Buy a tripod!

Also, if anyone knows how much they are paying the bloggers who will be contributing to the site, please post it here. I'm curious how much these folks will be making for their efforts.

The great oracle: My initiation at the Pontiac State Police Post

In my previous post on sources, I forgot one of the funny recollections of my career at The Oakland Press.

When I started at the OP in early 1984, one of my jobs was to drive around the county checking in with various police departments every morning. One of those stops was the state police post in Pontiac.

The desk sergeant would sometimes send my up the short flight of stairs to ask two detectives if anything happened overnight. At first these were quick little visits with polite, short answers.

As the detectives (Garrison and Bower, I believe) got to know me the conversations got longer and sometimes I even left with a little news. About six months into the visits, one of the detectives glanced at the other and said, "Do you think Mr. Smith is ready to be introduced to the oracle?"

Now I was confused and ready for a joke. One of the detectives stood on a chair and looked out a high window onto the roof of the building. "The oracle says, 'yes,' " the detective said. In the days and weeks that followed the detectives would stand on a chair and consult the 'oracle' before giving me the latest news.

Finally, I asked what the heck they were looking at out the window. One of the detectives invited me to stand on the chair and look out. What was on the roof was the skeleton of one of the biggest catfish I had ever seen. Apparently thrown on the roof, it had rotted away but became the "oracle" of Telegraph Road.

Not hilarious, but perhaps the way a couple detectives dealt with their stress and a way to find a connection to a then young reporter.

Sources: The good, the bad and the ugly

If an old school reporter had such a thing as a tool box, in it you would find a notebook, a good pen and a Rolodex full of sources. Today, you would also have a computer, a cell phone, a camera and maybe a Flip video camera.

But of all my tools, I always valued my Rolodex files most. Over the years, I developed hundreds of solid sources. It happened through hard work, luck and a lot of patience.

A few years ago, the editors at the Flint Journal asked all members of the staff to throw their source numbers into a common Rolodex so other reporters could access them. They demanded we give up all our inside and cell phone numbers for our sources.

Fat chance. Most of the veteran reporters picked up a phone book and entered phone numbers that anyone could already look up on their own. I never even kept my best source numbers on my desk or computer. They were at home or in my car.

Give up my best tools, not on your life. One time, an intern (the same one that didn't want to bring me and a photographer coffee when we were freezing our tushes off at an armed standoff) asked me to give her an introduction to one of my prime homicide sources.

Letting down my guard just a little, I told her to call and tell the detective I asked her to help the intern. Biggest mistake of my career. What this intern did was violate the trust of the homicide detective and printed personal information on a case that was not yet public information, which got the detective in serious trouble with her chief.

When the detective called me, she was not a happy camper and asked that I step in and get a correction or clarification on how the information was obtained. The editor in charge of the intern refused and incredibly backed up a green-behind-the-ears intern who I knew had disregarded the warnings of the detective and printed information she wasn't supposed to.

All of this was my fault for giving the detective the impression that she could trust the intern. It was the first, and only time, that happened. After that I never vouched for anyone that I really didn't know. Certainly, not an intern. That one incident closed off a great source that had provided me and the newspaper with inside information on serious crimes in the city for years.

One of the things I tried not to do was become drinking buddies with my sources. First, I don't drink. Second, when you are in a bar setting, or informal setting, guards are let down and, in my situation anyway, I didn't feel it was very professional.

Only on rare occasions did I visit with sources in anything other than a professional setting. As I described to others, I am friendly with my sources, but not really friends. Now that I am out of the business, I have reconnected with some of those folks and we are now friends.

The reason for the separation was that I never wanted to be in a position where I knew some negative information about a "friend" and then had to make the uncomfortable decision how to report it.

One of the people I was friendly with was a former prosecutor in Genesee County. I was working on a case involving a drunk driver who had his case mysteriously "lost" on the prosecutor's desk. This after the drunk driver told police he was good friends with the prosecutor and that the case would never see the light of day.

Insiders gave me plenty of ammunition and through my efforts the case was revived, but in my questioning of the prosecutor he became so angry he never would return my calls after that. Especially after the critical story ran on the missing drunken driving case. Another television reporter, who had a close, social relationship with the former prosecutor, wouldn't touch the story with a 10-foot pole. That's why I tried not to get too close.

There's a give and take in the news gathering business that involves delicate negotiations and compromises, even if journalism professors like to pretend it can never happen. Especially in police coverage, there is the balance between what I want to publish and what cops want to release for publication.

My sources knew if I was writing in my notepad, they were on the way to being quoted. If they asked me to put down my pen for a minute to give me some "off-the-record" or background information they could be assured that it would not show up in print until the reason for keeping it off-the-record or background had evaporated.

I never wanted "off-the-record" information that I could never use. I wanted background information that could give context to a story and that, at some future time, could be released to the public. My job, I used to tell police officers, is to tell stories to our readers, not just know them myself.

Often through negotiations, you could get the information you needed on the record simply by explaining how you were going to present it.

One of the toughest "Off-the-record" stories I ever worked on was the 1980s case of a man who threatened to blow up Oakland County public buildings if he didn't received $60 million from the county. Operating under the name "Shiva" the man negotiated with the county through classified ads in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.

An Oakland County Sheriff's detective took me into his confidence because he knew that reporters from the Free Press and News were already tracking the case. Before he gave me the information he said I had to promise not to report anything until they had a chance to track down the suspect.

Before I made such a promise, I called my editor, who said if there was no other way to get the information, make the promise. The detective laid out the case, how it was progressing and kept me up-to-date on when the ads would be appearing in the classfied sections.

This went on for six months. My editor at the Oakland Press told me to stay on top of it, and that he didn't want to get beat by the Free Press or News. So every few days, I would check in with the detective to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I even called during a vacation just to make sure.

Finally, one day I called (on a Friday) and the detective said they had pretty much wrapped up the case and were ready to charge a postal worker with the terrorist extortion plot. I appealed to him to let us run the story. "Check with the prosecutor, if he doesn't care, go ahead," the detective said.

So I called the assistant prosecutor, but waited until late on Friday afternoon to hopefully keep my competition from finding out in the event the prosecutor agreed to let me publish the information.

To my surprise, the prosecutor was agreeable to letting us publish the information as long as we didn't identify by name, the suspect until he was arraigned on Monday. Then my heart sank when he said, of course I'll have to call the other reporters at the Free Press and News to let them know also.

My hope was that they wouldn't be in on a late Friday afternoon. So I worked well into the night polishing a piece I had been writing for six months for a big Sunday splash (this was back in the day when you could actually write a Sunday story on a Friday and not plan it three weeks or a month in advance).

A final read through, a final editing and the story was ready for publication on Sunday. Now, I just had to sweat out the weekend to see if the prosecutor had made contact with my counterparts at the Free Press and News. He didn't. I kind of felt bad for them, but not much.

One of the reporters put a line in their follow story the next week that said "the Oakland Press violated an agreement not to publish information on the story...." which was a crock.

That story happened because I had a good source in the sheriff's department who was looking out for me and our paper. Any reporter will tell you that source development is about relationship building and trust.

Burn a source once and you'll not get a chance to burn them again.

News organizations have gotten nervous about unnamed sources, for good reason, but sometimes sources have a lot to lose by exposing themselves and so often good news stories and tips come from inside whistleblowers who would be fired if they were found out.

To all those great sources I interacted with for 30 years. Thank you. Your secrets are forever safe with me.

Interesting reflections over on Inside Out

For your morning reading pleasure there is a good column (post) about the changes at the Muskegon Chronicle over on Inside Out. Lots of good links to follow as well.