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…
Newspapers
Daily Bread, Newspapers, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 11.24.21: Alden Global Capital Comes for Lee Newspapers
by JOHN ADAMS •
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 and Mercy, City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Police, Politics, Poverty
‘Communicate, Communicate, Communicate’ Isn’t So Easy in a Fractured Town
by JOHN ADAMS •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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…
Boosterism, Newspapers
Saving What’s Left of the Janesville Gazette
by JOHN ADAMS •
The nearby Janesville Gazette is ending its Saturday and Sunday print editions. See The Gazette to cease Saturday, Sunday print editions. The Saturday edition should have been canceled years ago; ending a Sunday edition, however, is a sign of a grave illness. For any paper, even one treading water, the Sunday edition should be a mainstay.…
Law, Litigation, Newspapers
Demand Letters
by JOHN ADAMS •
A demand letter is an attorney’s formal request on behalf of a client for either money or action from a third party. Demand letters can be sent before or after a lawsuit is filed. Although these letters typically demand an amount of money, they can also ask for actions including apologies or retractions for a…
Advertising, Business, Newspapers
That’s Not a ‘Community Grant’ – It’s Half-Off Advertising
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the saddest traits of local newspapers is how those publications condescend to readers. Another example of this comes from the Janesville Gazette, where that publication is contending that half-off advertising is somehow a community grant. Splashed all over the webpage of that paper yesterday, one found ads for the so-called community grant program.…
Conflicts of Interest, Local Government, Newspapers
APG Was Always Going to Play a Vulture’s Role
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that APG, the out-of-state newspaper chain that purchased two local family papers (Janesville Gazette, Daily Jefferson County Union) is slashing the salaries of those papers’ employees. A few remarks — I’m not a newspaperman, and have never aspired to be one. Bloggers are modern-day pamphleteers, reviving a tradition that was robust during our…
Babbittry, Boosterism, Coronavirus, Corporate Welfare, Disinformation, Economy, Mendacity, Newspapers, Opioids, Public Health
A Newspaper’s Boosterism During a Pandemic
by JOHN ADAMS •
A worthy person – a man or woman committed to reason, honesty, and seriousness of purpose – would have little respect for the Janesville Gazette. This critical view is not a new one, truly: the paper’s work has been inferior during the Great Recession, during an opioid crisis, during cheerleading for countless state and local…