In conditions of real injury, in which truth-telling is important, tale-weaving about irrelevant matters is worse than wasteful: it’s a misdirection from the significant to the insignificant. Three recent stories illustrate the critical difference between these approaches. As a truth-telling story, Hope Kirwan of Wisconsin Public Radio reports ‘Students Deserve To Be Heard’: UW-La Crosse…
Newspapers
Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records, School District
School Board, 9.16.19: Applicant Interviews and Reporting
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Monday night, the Whitewater Unified School District’s board met to interview four applicants for a vacancy on the board (following the resignation of board member Jean Linos). The agenda for the meeting, although posted online, listed none of the applicants: not by total number, let alone by name or with their accompanying letters of…
City, Conflicts of Interest, Ethics, Local Government, Newspapers, School District, Whitewater, WI Conflict of Interest Gallery™
The Whitewater, WI Conflict of Interest Gallery™
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ours is an era of conflicts of interest and self-dealing. Conflicts of interest sometimes begin with ignorance but they persist through arrogance. Simple principles of separation between roles that were once understood and respected (in the main) are now commonly rationalized away. If one bemoans degraded national ethics, one should be clear that local officials…
America, Blogging, History, Newspapers, Press, Press Release, Public Relations
Sullivan on Public Officials as Reporters
by JOHN ADAMS •
Editors of small-town newspapers sometimes lack the judgment (and self-respect) to remain independent of government. During these lapses of decision-making, one finds that elected or appointed officials become, themselves, reporters on their own stories. (For a case like this in Whitewater involving a school board member, see Public Officials Should Not Be Reporters.) Margaret Sullivan, of the…
Conflicts of Interest, Newspapers, School District
Public Officials Should Not Be Reporters
by JOHN ADAMS •
It is a simple principle that public officials should not be newspaper reporters on their own meetings and actions. For readers, reporters, editors, publishers, and public officials this should be obvious. Worse: public officials should not be newspaper reporters when their roles as public officials are not expressly identified. A Whitewater-area newspaper and a Whitewater school…
Blogging, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Politics, State Government
Into the Void
by JOHN ADAMS •
Across Wisconsin, newspapers have not distinguished themselves since the Great Recession. Most have descended into a cautious, center-right boosterism. They acted on their publishers’ own politics, and on the politics their elderly (but dwindling) readership. Doing so has only exacerbated their problems. The time to break from this was before – or even during –…
Blogging, Newspapers, Press
One Paywall to Rule Them All?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Two days ago, I wrote about another local newspaper becoming part of the APG chain. See Another Newspaper in the Shredder. It’s possible that these acquisitions will lead to an area-wide paywall, and perhaps even a strong paywall (hard to get around even with advances in incognito browsing). The theory, one supposes, is that the…
Newspapers, Press
Another Newspaper in the Shredder
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that APG has purchased another Wisconsin newspaper, the Beloit Daily News. A few reminders: 1. Advertising revenue won’t sustain most locals newspapers, in print or online. 2. Only desperate advertisers will pay for ads in local newspapers running mostly press releases. There aren’t enough of desperate advertisers. 3. Subscriptions (for newspapers or…
Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records 2
A Local Press Responsible for Its Own Decline
by JOHN ADAMS •
If it should be true that government sometimes overreaches – and it does – then part of the responsibility for that overreaching rests with a supine, wheedling press. One finds this locally as well as nationally: while one would expect an American publication to speak truth to power, instead one too often finds local publications…
Blogging, Law, Liberty, Litigation, Newspapers, Press, Public Records 2, Wisconsin
Public Records Requests as Pre-Litigation Actions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsinites submitting public records requests under the law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 et seq.) may do so for any number of reasons (and need not declare a motivation of any sort). Not everyone will have the same aims in mind. For someone who’s a publisher (newspaper, magazine, blogger), however, a sensible way to look at…
Babbittry, CDA, Culture, Economy, Fortitude, Local Government, Marketing, New Media, New Whitewater, Newspapers, Politics, Press, Social Media, Writing
What Can Be Done About Rural Newspapers (Even Though It Probably Won’t Be)?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday I wrote that Another Local Paper Changes Hands. With the failure of legacy publishing, what are rural communities to do? (Obvious point: FREE WHITEWATER is not an online newspaper – never aspired to be, never will be. This is a website of independent commentary: aligned with no faction, beholden to no faction.) A few…
City, Culture, Newspapers
Another Local Paper Changes Hands
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local newspapers are changing ownership quickly now. Knox gave up publishing the Jefferson County Daily Union in December, and now Bliss will sell the Janesville Gazette (and radio stations) this June. These changes of ownership are not coming because the papers are strong: these sales are halfway to fire sales. The new, common ownership (APG)…
Newspapers
Litter by Another Name
by JOHN ADAMS •
Education, Good Ideas, Law, Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
The Best Record is a Recording
by JOHN ADAMS •
A video recording of the 5.28.19 Whitewater Unified School Board meeting is now online. It is, truly, a genuine good without merely particular ends. (Every regular and special board session should be online, by the board’s own policies. See Public Records Request, 5.20.19.) A recording of the full session confirms yet again that the best…