Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:30 AM and sunset 5:43 PM for 11h 12m 50s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 61.2% of its visible disk illuminated. There will be a primary election canvass for the Whitewater Unified School District at 8:30 AM. On…
Newspapers
Blogging, City, Daily Bread, Newspapers
Daily Bread for 12.11.22: A Bad News Practice Lingers Where It Shouldn’t
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 38. Sunrise is 7:16 AM and sunset 4:20 PM for 9h 04m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 89.8% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1901, the Morris Pratt Institute is incorporated: On this date spiritual leader Morris…
Daily Bread, Newspapers
Daily Bread for 9.3.22: Misunderstanding Production and Productivity
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will see scattered thundershowers with high of 80. Sunrise is 6:22 AM and sunset 7:25 PM for 13h 02m 20s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 48% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1939, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on…
City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Newspapers, Open Government, Police, University
Daily Bread for 6.14.22: When (Local) Government Treats Abnormal as Normal
by JOHN ADAMS • • 11 Comments
Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 97. Sunrise is 5:15 AM and sunset 8:34 PM for 15h 19m 13s of daytime. The moon is full with 100% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 6 PM. On this day in 1775, the Continental Army is established by…
City, Daily Bread, Newspapers, Open Government, Police
Daily Bread for 6.13.22: Wisconsin Examiner Reports ‘Complaints mount over conduct of Whitewater PD’
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will see afternoon thundershowers with a high of 87. Sunrise is 5:15 AM and sunset 8:34 PM for 15h 18m 47s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.5% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6 PM. On this day in 1777, Gilbert du Motier,…
Conservative Populism, Daily Bread, Libertarians, Newspapers, Populists, Press
Daily Bread for 5.11.22: The Neediness of Conservative Populists
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 84. Sunrise is 5:35 AM and sunset 8:07 PM for 14h 32m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 74% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1997 Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last…
Daily Bread, Newspapers, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 11.24.21: Alden Global Capital Comes for Lee Newspapers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:59 AM and sunset 4:24 PM for 9h 25m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1863, at the Battle of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Union forces under General…
Charity, City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Police, Politics, Poverty
‘Communicate, Communicate, Communicate’ Isn’t So Easy in a Fractured Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Some years ago, an administrator (no longer with the school district) told others that a good practice for leaders was to ‘communicate, communicate, communicate’ with the community. The concept makes sense: craft a message and then make sure it’s heard by repeating it. In a small town, how hard could that be? As it turns…
Newspapers
Why People Still Get Print Newspapers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In Whitewater – like other small places across America – there may still be nearby newspapers, but none of any merit. If one thought only of quality as the measure of survival, then for the Whitewater area the Gazette, Daily Union, and Register would long ago have vanished. (Indeed, I have underestimated the longevity of…
Newspapers, Politics, Press, Sen. Ron Johnson
The Journal Sentinel’s Footnoted Reply to Ron Johnson’s Op-Ed
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Last week, the Journal Sentinel called on Sen. Ron Johnson to resign or be expelled over his repeated election-related lies and conspiracy theories. Johnson wrote in reply to the paper. In response to his reply, the Journal Sentinel footnoted Johnson’s reply with 19 specific refutations. A few remarks: If Johnson runs again, the Journal Sentinel won’t decide…
Conflicts of Interest, Elections, Local Government, Newspapers, Politics, Press, Press Release, School District
Campaign Conflicts of Interest at a Self-Described Local News Source
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
The Whitewater Unified School District’s board will see a contested February primary and a contested April general election. Regrettably, Whitewater has no professional newspaper, print or electronic, to cover that race. A post from today at the Whitewater Banner, entitled “Whitewater Unified School District Returns to In-Person Learning; Tom Ganser Photos Show the Excitement at…
Blogging, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Politics, Press
After a News Desert
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
A news desert is a community without coverage from a daily newspaper. If coverage means timely newspaper reporting on a city’s principal public meetings and events, then Whitewater has been a news desert since the nearby Daily Jefferson County Union stopped reporting on Whitewater’s common council & school board meetings. If coverage means timely, insightful,…
Babbittry, Boosterism, Culture, Newspapers, Public Relations
Public Relations v. Journalism
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Anyone familiar with a proper newspaper should be able to tell the difference between public relations and journalism: the former advances a corporate or government perspective, the latter reports and assesses that perspective. There are public relations outfits (often called media relations) in big and small communities, with this obvious difference: small communities have few…
Advertising, Bad Ideas, Business, Marketing, Newspapers
The Janesville Gazette‘s Time-Share Stage of Decline
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A nearby newspaper, the Janesville Gazette, part of an out-of-state chain (APG) owned by a family that made billions in billboard advertising, recently tried to position half-off advertising as a ‘community grant‘ program. See That’s Not a ‘Community Grant’ – It’s Half-Off Advertising. It’s an old – often true – adage that bad goes to…