Decline of newspapers

This past year we saw the Seattle PI shut down the press. Denver's Rocky Mountain news also shut down. I commented on some of those issues here.

As the summer approaches we see the continuing impact of the disappearance of newspapers.

Today I saw Alton Brown's Good Eats episode, "Tender is the Pork." Alton is of course, awesome. He is also nuts. But still awesome. Regardless, he grilled a pork tenderloin over charcoal. He used a chimney starter. And how did he get that chimney starter going?

Newspaper.

When I was a kid I got my mother a parakeet for her birthday one year. (The cat got a big kick out of that.) What lined the bottom of the cage?

Newspaper.

In 1998, I moved from Boise to Seattle. I boxed up my clothes, disassembled my electronics, and wrapped up my dishes (mainly Travel Lodge and Best Western glasses) in what else?

Newspaper.

Forget journalism.

Without newspaper, what else are we are going to use when we have to burn something, clean up animal waste, or keep other stuff from breaking?

We must stop reading news online and go back to the newspaper just so we have something we can use to line our boxes and refuse containers.

What choice do we have?

Replacing local newspapers

I have a copy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on top of my entertainment center. It's dated 2009-03-17. It was the last time I bought a copy of it.

It's the last time anyone bought a copy of it.

After that day, the Seattle PI became the first major newspaper in the country to go online only.

While the Seattle Times sill prints a daily edition, papers around the country -- from Boston to Denver to San Francisco -- are facing financial catastrophes. More papers will close in the coming years.

Neighborhood blogs are popping up in Seattle and doing some great work. My new favorite source for local news is the Capitol Hill Blog. The news stories are more relevant to my everyday life than most of the stories in the Seattle Times. They cover what's going on with my neighbors, and what's happening just down the street. It's a great source for information, and one of the few RSS feeds I read throughout the day.

Other neighborhood blogs have also popped up. Alki Point denizens have the West Seattle Blog at their finger tips, whereas residents of the Central District can surf over to the Central District News.

These bloggers don't just blather on like I do. They are doing real journalism. These neighborhood blogs fill an important niche and do a better job in the niche than the print PI ever could.

This allows an interesting model for the metropolitan newspaper website. With the proliferation of neighborhood blogs, the metro paper can take on the role of news agregator and mainly link to stories produced by the neighborhood blogs. With a limited reporting staff, that may be their only viable option. The SeattlePI.com is already moving in that direction.

And that wouldn't be too much of a change from the way many papers are already run. It seems the percentage of AP stories versus orignal content in local papers has already increased significantly over the past decade. They've already outsourced their national coverage, why not out source their hyper-local coverage?

There's a gap, though.

While the neigborhood blogs cover the neighborhood, and national media and wire services covers the national issues, what happens to coverage at the state and municipal level? The neighborhood blogs don't have the resources to do deep investigative work. Can we count on local TV news for that? The short format discourages indepth journalism.

As newspapers decline, I'm worried about coverage of the mid-size government and corporate entities.

But in the meantime, I'm glad to have found the Capitol Hill Blog. You can also follow them on Twitter @jseattle

How are the neighborhood blogs in your area?

Letterman on McCain

On Wednesday, McCain claimed he was suspending his campaign because of the challenges facing the economy. He felt he needed to go to DC to work on the issue. Of course, as the Obama campaign pointed out, their candidate can multitask, which is really what a President should be able to do.

But as part of this suspension, McCain decided to cancel his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. According to Letterman, McCain canceled so he could rush off to DC. Of course, he didn't do that. He went to an interview with Katie Couric instead.

But Dave's reaction to McCain Wednesday night made headlines. Dave went on one of the funniest rants I've seen in ages. You can see the video here.

Dave made two points. First, he showed how the McCain staff way lying to him about rushing off to the airport.

But on the bigger question of suspending the campaign, Dave pointed out that if McCain had to run off to DC that's fine, "but you put in your second string quarterback." You don't quit.

Why didn't Palin step in and campaign? Why didn't she take on the high profile McCain appearances?

It seems like McCain would rather suspend the campaign in this tight, important race than trust it to Palin. How can he claim to trust her to be President, if he won't even trust her to run the campaign in his absence?

This is from a Thursday article that appeared in the Seattle PI:

Letterman unloads on McCain for not showing up

Letterman called McCain "a true American hero" but told his viewers: "This is not the John McCain I know, by God. It makes me believe something is going haywire with the campaign."

Instead of suspending a campaign, Letterman said, a presidential candidate should go to Washington to deal with a crisis and let his running mate shoulder the burdens of politicking.

"That's what you do. You don't quit. ... Or is that really a good thing to do?" Letterman said, a reference to McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "What's the problem? Where is she? Why isn't she doing that?" he asked.

...

McCain told the CBS show that he was immediately flying back to Washington, Letterman told his audience. Then Letterman showed a TV feed of McCain being made-up for an appearance on news anchor Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News."

"Doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman said. "This just gets uglier and uglier."

... More

This whole campaign suspension was handled terribly by the McCain campaign.

Seattle PI Big Blog Meetup

I spent an entertaining evening at Verite Coffee/Cupcake Royale on Wednesday.

Monica Guzman, the Seattle PI on line reporter and blogger, organizes a weekly meetup for readers and followers of the Big Blog. While the announcement is right there on the PI, it seems most people attended based on Twitter announcements.

So I had coffee with Monica, Jason, and Hal. It was an interesting discussion spanning the Palin Yahoo! controversy, corporate blogging policies, technology, CES, and, of course, Twitter.

It also opened my eyes to the other technology centric events going on in Seattle, and open to the public. There are more than I expected, though, had I thought about it, I might not be surprised. I'll have to attend more of these events in the future.

These gatherings are weekly affairs, held at different locations in the Seattle area. If you live in Seattle and are interested in these topics, stop by one of the gatherings.

Hiring Tips in the Seattle PI

In a recent column in the Seattle PI, Maureen Moriarity offers 10 common mistakes when hiring people.

Many green managers simply don't prepare or spend enough time on the hiring process.

They often succumb to the short-term pressures of "needing to get someone in the chair" right away versus taking the time to determine what skills, talents and abilities they need and then finding the "right fit."

Seasoned managers, on the other hand, know the pain and cost firsthand of a bad hire (experts estimate that it can cost two to three times an employee's salary to rehire someone).

...More

One thing I would state a little more strongly is the importance of not hiring.

When reviewing candidates it's important to be positive, but it's more important avoid hiring the wrong person. When looking at candidates, give them the opportunity to show and explain how they can meet your needs and do the job. In doing so, look for all the reasons you shouldn't hire them.

If the reasons are serious enough, pass on the candidate. It may seem harsh, but a good manager must avoid a bad hire.

Hiring the wrong person means:

1. The work you are hiring to get completed will not be completed well.
2. You will have to spend excessive amounts of valuable time correcting the person.
3. You may have to spend more time in the disciplinary process than you want.
4. You may need to rehire that position again, soon, and start the interview process from scratch.
5. A bad hire can cost you head count if you have to fire them at a time of corporate layoffs.
6. A bad performer will make your effective performers have to work harder to pick up the slack.
7. A bad performer will have a negative impact on morale and encourage your star performers to seek greener pastures. After all, who wants to work with poor performers?

A bad hire is never worth a short hiring process. Spend the time and find the right person. It will be worth it in the long term.

Gunfire at Folk Life

This weekend is one of Seattle's two major music festivals of the summer. Northwest Folklife is often considered the hippie-er, more liberal of the two. It's also perpetually broke.

It's all about that whole peace, love and understanding thing, with heaping handfuls of "community," "empowerment," "diversity," and "second hand marijuana smoke" thrown in for good measure.

Not that there's anything wrong with those things. But like most good things, too much of it eventually becomes a humorless parody of itself.

The event is still a lot of fun though. I haven't made it there yet this year, but I may try over the next couple of days.

Apparently, this year's love-fest was interrupted by a fight that resulted in gunfire near a drum circle.

There are details of the incident in the PI. But this is my favorite part of the article.

Four people saw the suspected gunman running through the crowd, jumped him and held him until police arrived at what was by then a chaotic scene of screaming, fleeing people.

A band playing nearby, which had stopped when the gunfire erupted, picked up the music again, hoping to calm the crowd.

Seattle firefighters arrived to treat the wounded and officers handcuffed the suspected gunman, marching him through the throng of people. His face bloodied, the man was taunted by many in the crowd, some of them throwing trash at him.

One man got into the suspect's face, screaming, "This is a peaceful event!"

...More

I expect there will be some sort of "healing" ceremony added to the agenda before the end of the event.

Attack on the S.L.U.T

Last week, the new South Lake Union Trolley Streetcar began serving commuters, shoppers, and tourists along it $52 million, 1.3 mile route.

It was paid for by both business along the route and with tax money. It may not be terribly useful, yet, but it's a start. And Seattle may expand the line someday.

But it has its foes. The anti-tax people think it's a waste of money. The anti-Microsoft/Vulcan people oppose it because it helps Paul Allen. The environmentalists and transit activists oppose it because they want more buses instead. Drivers oppose it because it takes some parking spots and they fear it may make traffic worse. Bicyclists oppose it because someone riding along the track might slip, get their wheel stuck, and fall.

Which brings us to the events of last Thursday.

From the Seattle PI:

Police investigate streetcar sabotage attempt

King County sheriff's deputies were investigating a prank in which a golf-ball sized metal bearing was placed on the track of the city's new South Lake Union streetcar, possibly in an attempt to damage it during its inaugural run.

...More

This is just pathetic. I don't know what's worst.

• The best Seattle's radicals/protesters/terrorists (choose whichever one you want) could come up with was to lay a ball bearing on the track.
• The viscous attack could actually have worked.
• The Sheriff's Department now has to spend time and money investigating this assault.

This is why we can't have nice things, like infrastructure.

Can we now look forward to a nasty spit ball fight once light rail starts running?

Death notices just miss the bronze in Helena

You can't judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a city by what its citizens read?

Here are the most read stories from the Helena Independent Record on 2007-11-09:

Crosstown crossover (1086)
Reeder's Alley (620)
Talent search finalists to compete Saturday (397)
Funeral notices (373)
Veto override gives state water projects green light (371)
Kalispell-area woman fined in septic tank drowning (286)
Guard working to fill junior officer ranks (276)
State youth lead in wrong way (245)
Special Olympics, special friends (227)

For comparison, here are the most read stories from the Seattle PI:

· New details in grisly Italian slaying
· Roosevelt girls' coach Resler ousted
· Please hold: Businesses want to hear your order, not your call
· Amanda Knox and the Internet: Are we being fair?
· City looks too eager to scrap Memorial Stadium

And here are the most read stories from the NY Daily News:

1. I killed her with a yoga stick
2. Tejada third option for Yanks
3. Despite offer, Jorge plays hardball
4. JUST LET IT BE, CRIES PAUL EX
5. Mets to work on rotation
6. Maid stumbles in L.I. 'slave' trial
7. A-Rod ratings boost is remote chance
8. Saved from oncoming train
9. Bodega owner took slice outta crime
10. Murder in Manhattan jewelry store

Free Taco Tuesday

While I do enjoy my Taco bell, for some reason, I don't think it makes sense to hop in the car and drive down there for one free taco.

Now if it was two free tacos...

From the PI:

Taco Bell gives away free tacos on Tuesday

In case you're on the prowl for some free food today, Taco Bell is the place. Thanks to Jacoby Ellsbury's stolen base during the World Series last week, Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion takes place Tuesday between 2 and 5 p.m. at participating restaurants.

All you have to do is show up at a Taco Bell and ask for your free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. That's it. It's one free taco per person, according to the rules, but we won't tell if you decide to flit from Taco Bell to Taco Bell to eat your fill.

Think before you speak

Mitsubishi just announced a new line of commuter jets. The company president expects them to be successful:

"We feel strongly that we will be able to create an aircraft that will have an impact," he told reporters.

I thought the goal was to ensure your aircraft don't have any impacts.

Full article

Seattle Embarrased Again

Seattle has a history of embarrassing itself with transportation matters. After all this:

• the Kalackala refurb mess


• the monorail nightmare (if you hold 5 elections and the monorail wins 4 of the 5, then the monorail loses)


• the other monorail nightmare (crash and fire)


• the ongoing Viaduct disaster


• the pending political disaster of SR520

... you would think they could at least get something simple right. How hard can it be to name a trolley line? For Seattle planners, it's pretty challenging.

From the Seattle PI:

SLUT -- Streetcar's unfortunate acronym seems here to stay

By KERY MURAKAMI
P-I REPORTER

There's a story going around South Lake Union, but a spokeswoman for Vulcan, Paul Allen's development company, says it's just an urban legend.

That aside, the story that the neighborhood's streetcar line now under construction was called the South Lake Union Trolley until the powers that be realized the unfortunate acronym -- SLUT -- seems here to stay.

Officially, it's now the South Lake Union Streetcar. But the trolley name already has caught on, and in the old Cascade neighborhood in South Lake Union, they're waiting for the SLUT.

... More

Kudos to Horizon Air

For gounding nearly a quarter of their fleet following landing gear incidents in Europe. Horizon too their Q400s with more than 10,000 take off/landing cycles out of service for special inspections even though the FAA hasn't required it. It's nice to know they put safety first.

Here's the notice from the Alaska Air website:

SEATTLE — Today, in response to a Transport Canada airworthiness directive (AD), Horizon Air initiated the inspection of the landing gear of its Bombardier Aerospace Q400 turboprops. To allow sufficient time for the inspection process and the reaccommodation of customers whose travels are being affected, Horizon announced it will be making additional flight cancellations through Friday.

The AD was produced in the wake of two landing gear failure incidents involving SAS-affiliated airlines in Europe. Horizon, which has operated the Canadian-manufactured Q400 since 2001 and now has 33 in its fleet, has never experienced any issues like those SAS recently encountered.

Horizon today canceled 120 flights out of its daily average of 500. Horizon is canceling 127 flights on Thursday, and those will appear in central reservations systems by 5:30 p.m. today.

However, I think the Seattle PI owes them an apology for this article.

The headline is "Horizon flights thrown into chaos." The article actually says:

Each Q-400 airplane holds 74 to 76 passengers. Because of the planes' relatively small size, a Sea-Tac spokesman said, the cancellations did not create mass confusion at the airport.

It seems like the reporter worked really hard to find some upset passengers, but most satisfied with the airline's response. The found only one person who was really upset.

But the 23-year-old, who visited Seattle on vacation, voiced concern that her Horizon ticket agent told her only that flights were canceled -- without giving a reason. Reporters at the airport gave her details.

"Now they're having flight problems?" she said, asking if other Horizon Q-400 aircraft would fly on Wednesday.

"I don't feel comfortable. I think they should explain it to people."

Of course, the other passengers did say the ticket agent explained it.

MSFT Expanding in Seattle

One reason I like to get first class upgrades when I fly is that I work up there. I usually can't type on my notebook when I'm in coach. There's simply no room. Then I am left to reading a book or watching a movie.

That seems like a good deal because I get some extra leisure time on the plane in coach. But the problem is, I still need to do the work, and may have to stay up late to get everything done once I reach my destination.

In other words, if I can work on the plane for 3 hours, I can go to bed 3 hours earlier that night.

It seems Microsoft understands this concept. They made two major announcements in Seattle today. They are expanding in the city of Seattle (as opposed to Redmond), and they are introducing their own bus service for employees.

I find this interesting. Microsoft is expanding in the downtown Seattle area. They will have 1400 jobs to the area over the next few months.

In addition to the new jobs, they are adding space to accommodate Redmond workers who find themselves on this side of the lake.

One goal is to better accommodate Microsoft employees who live in Seattle, Liddell said. In addition to the traditional office space, the company is creating 150 "touch down" spaces in the Westlake/Terry building -- small spots where employees who work in Redmond can sit down, plug in a laptop and work in Seattle for a couple of hours when they have a meeting in the city or want to avoid rush hour.

"The spaces are temporary -- they won't be second offices," Liddell explained. "But they will help relieve some of the pressures and unnecessary back-and-forths currently taking place."

Since much work these days requires simply a notebook computer and an internet connection, workers can have more flexibility.

The main campus is several miles east of Seattle, but it can take anywhere from 25 to 105 minutes to get there depending on traffic. And with Seattle's inability to make any decisions on infrastructure, I don't see that changing.

And MSFT doesn't want employees squandering hours sitting in a stopped car on the SR520 floating bridge. So they are also starting their own bus service.

The 14-bus Microsoft "Connector" system, to debut later this month, was announced as the company unveiled plans to open new offices in Seattle's South Lake Union and Pioneer Square neighborhoods.

At launch, the bus system will handle no more than 1,000 employees a day. That's only a slice of Microsoft's more than 35,000 employees in the region.

But the fact that Microsoft would find it necessary to take such a step added new fuel to the debate over comprehensive regional transportation reform.
...

The pilot program will include 14 buses, including seven large coaches with bike storage, and electrical outlets at each seat, in addition to Wi-Fi. Seven midsize coaches will be used for neighborhood pickups. There will be multiple runs in the morning and afternoon, Smith said.

...
Besides reducing traffic congestion and minimizing air pollution, keeping employees out of bumper-to-bumper traffic also keeps them happy.

And with those amenities on the bus, it looks like transit time can more effectively be used as work time. And maybe someone can get to bed an hour or two earlier

For more information about the downtown expansion, click here.

For more information about the new bus service, click here.

Remember how that smoking ban was going to force all those bars and restaurants out of business?

Yeah. Not so much.

Eateries, bars doing fine after smoking ban

P-I NEWS SERVICES

OLYMPIA -- Gambling declined while beer and food sales rose slightly in bars, restaurants and gambling establishments across Washington last year, the first full year under a smoking ban, state figures indicate.

Alcohol and food sales were 3.6 percent higher in 2006, compared to a 2.1 percent average annual growth rate in 2002-05. Gross income at non-tribal gambling businesses was down by 9.8 percent in 2006, according to Revenue Department figures issued Monday.

"The numbers suggest that bars and taverns may have lost some smokers but gained customers drawn to a smoke-free environment," department spokesman Mike Gowrylow said.

... More

Presumed Missing

Two climbers are missing, but since the searchers aren't sure the missing climbers are missing, they will only list them as "presumed" missing.

Apparently they haven't ruled out random invisibility.

Climbing team believed missing
Seasoned pair didn't return from China trip
By MIKE LEWISP-I REPORTER

The owner of the Seattle-based guide service Mountain Madness Inc. and another elite climber are presumed missing after they failed to return from an expedition to a remote mountainous region of southwestern China near Tibet.
...
"The fact that no one knows where they are is consistent with climbing without a permit," said Eric Simonson, owner of International Mountain Guides.

Now That's a Big Plane

An A380 visits Vancouver
Airbus' new behemoth was on proving flight

By JAMES WALLACE
P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Steven Halinen was supposed to be in school Wednesday, but instead he abandoned his college classes to brave lousy weather and watch what will soon be the world's biggest commercial jetliner make a brief stop at the Vancouver International Airport.
...

Dawn was breaking as the double-decker A380, which will carry about 100 more passengers than a 747 in most airline configurations, approached the airport from the north over the Strait of Georgia after a flight of 14 hours and 25 minutes across the Pacific from Sydney, Australia.

"Oh, man, just look at that thing. It's huge," said Halinen, an airplane buff and would-be pilot who hopes to make a career in aviation management after he graduates from University College of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C.

The A380 left around 4:30 p.m. for its return via the North Pole to Toulouse, France, the home of Airbus.

...

This was the first time an A380 -- five have been built for the test flight program -- visited an international airport in North America, and the event attracted a lot of local interest, despite the weather.

The A380 has been to Canada before. Last winter, it landed in Iqaluit, the territorial capital of Nunavut, for cold-weather testing.

No word on the Straphangers.

Step 1: Heckle a famous comic. Step 2: Be on the receiving end of a racist rant. Step 3: Profit?

Any residual sympathy I may have felt for the hecklers is now gone.

They should go bankrupt paying Richards' legal fees if this gets to court.

Men seek apology from ex-'Seinfeld' star

By ROBERT JABLON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


LOS ANGELES -- Two men who say they were insulted by actor-comedian Michael Richards during his racist rant at a comedy club want a personal apology and maybe some money, one of the men and their lawyer said Friday.
...

This Just Seems Like a Really Bad Idea

Look, no signs: 'Naked roads' are safer, Europeans believe
Drivers appear to behave better without the clutter

By SUE LEEMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

IPSWICH, England -- Tear down the traffic lights, remove the road markings and sell off the signs: Less is definitely more when it comes to traffic management, some European engineers believe.

They say drivers tend to proceed more cautiously on roads that are stripped of all but the most essential markings -- and that helps cut the number of accidents in congested areas.

...

A Bolex?

I'm not sure what I find stranger -- the brevity, the lack of pictures, or the fact that is made the online edition of the paper at all.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Need a cool business-card holder?

It's a box ... no, it's a Rolodex ... no, wait, it's a bolex!

When it's inverted, Josef Ziesler's design transforms from a mild-mannered maple box into super business-card holder. The accordion shape can even hold pens and pencils.

The Accordion Card/Pen Holder is $35 from the Museum of Modern Art, 800-447-6662; moma.org. (Frances Somers)

Great Spin, Mr. President

Congratulations to the Bush administration.

After last night's election -- the most successful election for the Democratic party since 1992, we all thought we'd be focused on the party's agenda today. The news would be interviewing winners and devoting the entire day's and evening's reports to what went wrong with the Republicans.

Instead, the Bush administration's made sure all media outlets were talking about him and his decisions. They are talking about Rumsfeld, and who Bush will replace him with, and what Bush will do in Iraq now.

Not the Democrat's new agenda. The Republican's new agenda.

Congratulations on taking the story back.