Our local newspaper as well as the main TV station have websites that are fairly up-to-date. In addition, the local cable company has a news bureau and a website. In fact, they're often first up with local news stories.
We also have a local "news aggregator." The site does a bit of "reporting," but virtually everything they have on the site is from other sites. Oddly, much of the national news comes not from US news sites, but from the UK...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
My own newspaper has a website too, Ulrich. I often use it. In fact, I've posted many links to Sandy related stories on Henry's thread. But I still want to hold a physical paper in my hand when I have my morning coffee.
Clearly, you value local news because you read your newspaper on the web. I think that is important.
John
I get my local news via the internet.. the local newspaper here have websites that report on all the local goings on.
Joe the Photognewspapers are dying a horrible and slow death.
That occurs to me too, Joe. They are being replaced by the internet but there are problems.
One problem is that the internet is a river a mile wide and an inch deep.
Another problem is that for all of us local news is most important but the internet doesn't give us local news.
My favorite example was in my hometown newspaper who broke the story that the Lancaster and Chester Railway had been bought by Gulf Oil. This was on the web site prior to the next printing and I'm sure they wanted to be first. By the time the story was on the front page of the actual paper, they had corrected it -- after I sent the reporter an e-mail -- that the L&C had actually been bought by Gulf & Ohio Railways.
That's not true to my expirience. Newspapers do use freelancers from time to time, but most reporters are hired by the paper they work for. Not paid much at all either since newspapers are dying a horrible and slow death.
You cite zero evidence for such extreme opinions which you state as though they were facts. Source?
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
The media business is greatly fragmented and highly competitive. As has been discussed in the context of railroads and model railroads, traditional fan magazines are having a tough time. Newspapers have been failing for years, major radio companies are highly leveraged at a time when many stations struggle to find a niche. Over-the-air television has to compete with hundreds of channels of cable and satellite that offer advertising.
Meanwhile, Internet advertising keeps growing as people shift to smart phones, tablets, etc. for their media content. If anyone could raise rates in this environment--and especially in a weak economic recovery--they would have done so already.
That said, nothing excuses sloppy reporting or fact checking.
John Timm
This ignorant railroad reporting is especially painful and inexcusable in towns that wouldn't even be on the map if not for their railroad ... Cheyenne, Wyoming, being a prominent example. And my present Bismarck, N.D., another. Especially when that railroad is still a big local employer and taxpayer.
In such a town, the first thing a newspaper or TV station should do with a new reporter is sit him down for a one or two-hour class on railroad basics. So he doesn't make his employer look like a monkey (if for no better reason, such as serving up an intelligent story to the reader or viewer). This wouldn't even cost much money.
Trouble is, the supervisors at these media probably don't realize how ignorant they, themselves, are on the subject ... and don't see the need.
Everyone at the local market Newspaper-Radio Station-TV station is being spread out with too many assignments in order to "save" money that they do not have to time to fully finish anything. They are most likely charging too little for advertising to attract advertisers to pay for the production of the news.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Ulrich Deggesty And, recently, there was in the local paper an article which had a picture in which a man was described as drinking a tanker of beer--it looked to me that he was holding a stein, which perhaps could have been called a tankard. It seems that the caption writer had little education. Must be the same guy who wrote a recent article about "navel" officer training..
Deggesty And, recently, there was in the local paper an article which had a picture in which a man was described as drinking a tanker of beer--it looked to me that he was holding a stein, which perhaps could have been called a tankard. It seems that the caption writer had little education.
And, recently, there was in the local paper an article which had a picture in which a man was described as drinking a tanker of beer--it looked to me that he was holding a stein, which perhaps could have been called a tankard. It seems that the caption writer had little education.
Must be the same guy who wrote a recent article about "navel" officer training..
Johnny
They do produce a quality product--a low quality product.
When I worked in a lumber yard, grading fencing boards, "quality" grade boards had knotholes and could have strips where bark had been (wane) on the edges; warped, bent, bowed, crooked, or twisted boards were rejected, though. "Number 2 or better" boards were were of higher quality than "quality" boards.
I am continually amused by the use of the description "quality" without any qualification as to its being high, medium, or low quality.
Yes they save money...American business is in business to save money. Not produce an honest and quality product, not to be of service to the public or provide accurate, timely, factual, information as in this case, but just make money.
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henry6 The problem today Erik, are multi-investor owned and operated multiple ownership of stations in given markets and across the country. They often have "centralized" or "borrowed" talent. All programming or news operations from a central station or designated stations or newspaper offices or printing plants. A friend of mine did morning news live on a station in Rochester, NY and at nine in the morning was required to record the afternoon news casts on a sister station in Providence, RI. Another problem is when they do have people working in any given market, they are not given the tools...one of the tools being time...to do nothing more than accept what is given them either via internet, email or fax and pass it on without checking for facts or rewriting. So for that kind of journalism, media will not pay wages a professional should be getting and non trained but starry eyed candidates need only apply...and that is the last application they will do in that job until they apply for another.
The problem today Erik, are multi-investor owned and operated multiple ownership of stations in given markets and across the country. They often have "centralized" or "borrowed" talent. All programming or news operations from a central station or designated stations or newspaper offices or printing plants. A friend of mine did morning news live on a station in Rochester, NY and at nine in the morning was required to record the afternoon news casts on a sister station in Providence, RI. Another problem is when they do have people working in any given market, they are not given the tools...one of the tools being time...to do nothing more than accept what is given them either via internet, email or fax and pass it on without checking for facts or rewriting. So for that kind of journalism, media will not pay wages a professional should be getting and non trained but starry eyed candidates need only apply...and that is the last application they will do in that job until they apply for another.
And look at all the money they save!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I don't think the problem of inadequate checking of sources is anything new - a great example of wildly inaccurate reporting from the 1930's was Walter Duranty.
What is also not new in journalism is not even paying attention to the facts that are basic to the story. While a bit OT, the 1978 PSA crash was almost invariably described as the Cessna colliding with the Boeing, when the reality was that the faster Boeing hit the Cessna from behind.
- Erik
WE are a NOW society. We want our 'news' now, the facts be damned. It takes time to uncover and develop a factual trail to any event, as a society we don't want to wait for a factual, truthful reporting - we want a sorid reporting and we want it NOW. The internet age, isn't it wonderful.
We eschew the factual and integrity of a practiced and schooled media for the mobility and abundant sources freely expounding information without supervision or caution.
May as well get this off'n me chest while we are at it... I started using a News & Weather "app" on my cell phone to catch up on the days news and I am finding that way too many of the "NEWS" items are actually links to personal BLOGS wherein the writer gives only his opinion of what he/she wants me to believe... no facts at all, just opinion. I guess opinion has its place, but BLOGS are "editorials" wherein the writer only expresses their opinion of the days events, but do not contain "the whole story" so I can make up my own mind. I know "newspapers" and TV news have often done the same, but they usually expressed the majority of their "opinions" in a limited "Editorial" section and the rest of the storys were presentations of the facts of the events of the day (albeit sometimes slanted in the direction of the Owner's/Editor's personal opinion). Not having seen a real paper newspaper in several years I don't know if that is true anymore or not. But I am seeing more and more television "news" programs that are just biased "BLOGS" of the station owner's/operator's opinion and I can tell that they are not reporting all the facts.
But I guess that is not much different than our judicial system where facts are supressed at the whim of the lawyers and judges out of bias and personal opinions.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Semper Vaporo Andrew Falconer A count of the number of freight trains would not be impossible to verify. There just have to be 3 or 4 people who take turns at the tracks recording the number of freight trains that pass over 24 hours. Is that too much work to stop and observe what is actually happening in the world? Observe before reporting. Andrew That would be okay if there was enough time to do that sort of verification, but it would require more than 24 hours to do, since you would need to line up a half dozen people to do the sitting and watching (eats and bathroom breaks could possibly screwup the count if trains passed during that time). Is the editor chompin' at the bit to get the story in the evening edition? Do you even have 4 hours to get that 24 hour count done? Then there is the need to select a place where the count would be meaningful for the task at hand. If counting trains that pass a particular spot were the need, then parking at that spot would suffice, but if the number of trains through town were the required value and the town is of any good size, then the point the count was taken from would need to be selected properly so that locals in and out of a nearby yard could be accounted for. But would the people doing the counting have any idea what the difference is between a through freight and a local to the cannery or grainery? Would it be necessary to even know that? Then there is selecting the day of the week properly to get a correct count. Are some days busier than others? What about track work confusing the schedule? Do you count the work train that ties up the mainline for 8 hours? Be a whole lot easier to just CALL THE RAILROAD and ask how many trains there are per day. Granted, the RR might fudge the numbers a bit one way or the other, depending on whether you present yourself as pro- or anti- RR or whether your story is to promote or denigrate railroading in general, but at least your article could state, "CMBY RY CEO Mr. S. Vaporo said there are an average of 4 trains servicing the Unobtanium mines, 13 through freights and 4 passenger limiteds per day." Then the onus of truthfulness is on that scoundrel Vaporo if the Unobtanium mines were closed 120 years ago, the through freights only went to the edge of town and the passenger limiteds were limited to 4 mumified passenger pigeons on the circus train 75 years ago.
Andrew Falconer A count of the number of freight trains would not be impossible to verify. There just have to be 3 or 4 people who take turns at the tracks recording the number of freight trains that pass over 24 hours. Is that too much work to stop and observe what is actually happening in the world? Observe before reporting. Andrew
A count of the number of freight trains would not be impossible to verify. There just have to be 3 or 4 people who take turns at the tracks recording the number of freight trains that pass over 24 hours. Is that too much work to stop and observe what is actually happening in the world? Observe before reporting.
That would be okay if there was enough time to do that sort of verification, but it would require more than 24 hours to do, since you would need to line up a half dozen people to do the sitting and watching (eats and bathroom breaks could possibly screwup the count if trains passed during that time).
Is the editor chompin' at the bit to get the story in the evening edition? Do you even have 4 hours to get that 24 hour count done?
Then there is the need to select a place where the count would be meaningful for the task at hand. If counting trains that pass a particular spot were the need, then parking at that spot would suffice, but if the number of trains through town were the required value and the town is of any good size, then the point the count was taken from would need to be selected properly so that locals in and out of a nearby yard could be accounted for. But would the people doing the counting have any idea what the difference is between a through freight and a local to the cannery or grainery? Would it be necessary to even know that?
Then there is selecting the day of the week properly to get a correct count. Are some days busier than others? What about track work confusing the schedule? Do you count the work train that ties up the mainline for 8 hours?
Be a whole lot easier to just CALL THE RAILROAD and ask how many trains there are per day. Granted, the RR might fudge the numbers a bit one way or the other, depending on whether you present yourself as pro- or anti- RR or whether your story is to promote or denigrate railroading in general, but at least your article could state, "CMBY RY CEO Mr. S. Vaporo said there are an average of 4 trains servicing the Unobtanium mines, 13 through freights and 4 passenger limiteds per day." Then the onus of truthfulness is on that scoundrel Vaporo if the Unobtanium mines were closed 120 years ago, the through freights only went to the edge of town and the passenger limiteds were limited to 4 mumified passenger pigeons on the circus train 75 years ago.
What you're talking about here Semper, is journalism, real journalism, whereby the reporter and/or Editor dig for facts, have contacts and friends who can confirm the right answers or send them to those who do have the answers. They are not curious, inquisitive, enterprising, intelligent, hungry, enough to go find out.
DAKOTAFRED; bingo ~~~ right on the mark. The event of yesterdays reports are a classic example of what you speak of. It is not only railroads , it is anything else that happens. Mr.Cronkite is still turning over in his grave. No further comment as it could be censored. ~~ No train derailment yet today or auto crash.
Cannonball
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
Semper: "Be a whole lot easier to just CALL THE RAILROAD ... "
Exactly right, and not too complicated. Then the monkey for error or falsification is right where it belongs, on the source's back. It's the media's job to have the phone number of that official spokesman -- often the only one who will talk to you -- handy.
If the official source refuses to give you what you need, then you do something like count the trains for yourself. (No time to do that for your deadline story, but it'll work for a followup story.) One time, as a reporter, I asked the flak for our railroad about some work being done on a prominent bridge. He wouldn't tell me anything ... for whatever stupid reason ... so I just called up a trustworthy locomotive-engineer friend who told me what I needed for my story.
The capper is: Before the story could even run, the flak who had stiffed me -- I won't tell you his name, because he's still out there, but his initials are Gus Melonas -- e-mailed and asked if I would send him a copy of whatever I wrote.
Guess who got stiffed back!
Say you are the glue when you have not a clue.
Victrola1 Often journalists must cover people who have no idea what they are talking about. Those so covered who have not a glue will offer solutions for the railroad industry. In 1979 the Midwest rail network was melting down. The Rock Island was broke and so was the Milwaukee Road. Candidates for president were stumping Iowa. One candidate for president vowed to save the Wabash Railroad. Once that gaffe was exposed, the candidate who would save the Wabash was hammered. The candidate who would save the Wabash was thrown from the train. That candidate did not receive their party's nomination in 1980.
Often journalists must cover people who have no idea what they are talking about. Those so covered who have not a glue will offer solutions for the railroad industry.
In 1979 the Midwest rail network was melting down. The Rock Island was broke and so was the Milwaukee Road. Candidates for president were stumping Iowa.
One candidate for president vowed to save the Wabash Railroad. Once that gaffe was exposed, the candidate who would save the Wabash was hammered. The candidate who would save the Wabash was thrown from the train. That candidate did not receive their party's nomination in 1980.
Maybe they should have used the "glue" to put it back together?
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