Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
From the front page of the Palo Alto Daily Post:
TV show sorry about misfired cannonball
Zany experiments testing scientific theories in real-world settings have earned the TV show “MythBusters” a devoted following, but a stunt gone awry met with an unhappy audience when an errant cannonball went shooting through an Alameda County family’s bedroom.
Sheriff’s deputies are still measuring how, exactly, the cannonball felw from a bomb range in the folling hills flanking a Dublin neighborhood and rocketed into the front door of a home and through its masterbedroom before landing in a neighbor’s parked minivan.
There’s a long, boring essay in here—these days, I keep thinking I’ll write sometime, the only newspapers worth reading are national (The Wall Street Journal) and very, very local (the Palo Alto Daily News for me, and whatever paper reports on your kids sports teams for you). The L.A. Times? The San Francisco Chroncile? The Boston Globe? Gone.
But that’s for another day. Today let me just ask you this:
What’s the best story on the front page of your local paper?
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Jul '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
What's a "local paper[?]"
May '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
What's paper?
Mar '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
Here's the lead from this week's Woodstock Independent, which since 1987 has published a weekly paper with about 3,000 subscribers featuring hometown local-interest journalism while winning a raft of awards to boot.
Edited on Dec 8, 2011 at 4:39pmJan '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
Local news, on TV or on the web/print world, is almost always good for a laugh - not that they intended it, of course.
As I write this, there's a story in the Philly.com news rotator that gave me a "Wonka the Sane" moment. The headline is: "Pantone picks orange as 2012's top hue" When hues compete, you know that the end can't be far behind.
Or the other day when an obituary's headline was "[Name] Owned Vacuum, Cleaning Business." Now I realize that this is just an awkward comma, but I hope that when I die, they can come up with something better than that I owned a common household appliance.
May '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
In my local paper, it's not on the front page- it is on the inside, and it is Lileks' column.
Apr '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
"Debate rages: Mitten envy or matching pair?" Wisconsin's winter tourism campaign rubs some Michiganders the wrong way.
It's an article about which state looks more like a mitten. Wisconsin State Journal. The red mist descends.
Oct '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
The best here is La Revolution. Politics are just shade different hereabouts. Journalism can be bad for your heath, enjoy what you have.
May '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
Anatomy of dying industry:
May '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
My local "paper" is AnnArbor.com, the ghost of the now mostly defunct print edition. The one interesting piece of news there today is that Rich Rodriguez, the fired, failed former coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team, decided to open his mouth.
Specifically, he foolishly opined that, had he still been coach this year, he could have equaled or bettered the 10-2 record of his successor Brady Hoke, who managed to exceed, in his first year, Rodriguez' best record by three additional wins.
Put up or shut up, Rich Rod.
The rest of the stories are local trivia: see for yourself. Or better, don't.
Mar '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
The Peoria Journal Star has the news that the State of Illinois will not be publishing the list of people with FOID cards.
...which is exactly what smart people (i.e. conservatives) told them when they dreamed up this stupidity.
That is the good news, anyway.
May '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
No, hold on...
I can't find the news story right now, but there was a recent report that most newspapers are facing declining readership, with some exceptions: the Wall Street Journal, obviously, and some local newspapers. And these are holding their own or growing.
The reason for the local newspapers prospering is that they're able to serve local communities in ways that web-based news can't: letters to the editor, local stories, local businesses and shops, high school events, etc. And you don't need an iPad or computer to enjoy it.
Here in Palo Alto (wave to neighbor Peter!) we actually have three (yes, three) local newspapers. And as far as I can tell they're all doing well.
(I am not suggesting that Palo Alto is typical. Of anything.)
Dec '10
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
In my neighborhood, a headline gives a false impression.
Jun '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
You're probably looking for light-hearted, but the Evening Sun of Norwich, NY had more of the same ol' same ol' yesterday. The county Industrial Development Agency granted a $3.8 million sales tax exemption on a new construction project requested by the biggest (only?) growth company around, Agro Farma, makers of Chobani yogurt. The company is also looking for huge property tax abatement. True, property taxes are crazy, but what about the businesses that are already here? What about everybody plays by the same rules? I'm sadly pessimistic about whether they'll be around after 10 years when the tax abatement's over.
On the other hand it is a wonder and delight that we even have a local daily paper here in a sparsely populated and poor part of central New York.
Apr '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
Best one in today's Press Democrat:
Obama Insists No Christmas until Tax Vote
Apr '11
Re: Lead of the Day, Or Local Journalism Lives!
I love reading local papers when I travel. I came across a great one in a small town in North Dakota. It was 2004, the bicentennial year of the Lewis & Clark expedition. There was a front page story about a dispute between a group of Lewis & Clark re-enactors and an old Indian chief. The re-enactors were on a year long mission to cover every step taken by their favorite explorers. Their route, however, was scheduled to cross land considered sacred by the Indian chief. To the chief L & C were imperialist tools of the white man, and he warned that he and his small tribe would defend ground of his ancestors by any means necessary. Still, the re-enactors were equality adamant that the historical accuracy of their journey would not be compromised.
I was only in town for a quick meal, so I never found out what happened. Did they smoke the peace pipe ... or did it turn into an impromptu reenactment of Little Bighorn?