There’s post-election consternation about the amount of bogus news sites on social media. This concern pairs with the worry that fact-checking from major news organizations doesn’t work well when candidates simply lie and refuse either correction or apology. This may be a recent national development – at least on this scale – but local news for…
Newspapers
City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, School District, University
Whitewater’s Mentoring Gap
by JOHN ADAMS •
Looking back ten years (or nine in the case of UW-Whitewater), one finds at the helm of Whitewater’s public institutions leaders who so very much embodied Old Whitewater: Steinhaus, Brunner, Coan, Telfer (beginning in ’07). They were the perfect representatives of Old Whitewater, where Old Whitewater is an attitude, not an age: narrow, grandiose, mediocre, producing…
Blogging, City, Culture, New Media, Newspapers, Press, School District, University
Revisiting Kozloff’s ‘Dark, Futile Dream’
by JOHN ADAMS •
About a year ago, I wrote a post on an off-campus meeting at which local notables and a search consultant (Jessica Kozloff) discussed a replacement for Richard Telfer. A story on that meeting, published in the Daily Union, is one of the best accounts of insiders’ thinking. See, from that newspaper, UW-Whitewater chancellor session held, http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f042575e-a63a-11e4-bcd8-939679ffcc09.html.…
Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records
The Newspaper-Caused Public Records Problem
by JOHN ADAMS •
Not far from Whitewater, Janesville’s local newspaper finds itself in an access-to-information conflict with the Janesville School District. There’s no surprise in any of this. (Quick note: I’m using that paper as an example because it’s close-at-hand. One could find other examples easily enough.) For years that paper has ridiculed citizens’ petition efforts, toadied to business…
New Media, Newspapers
Henry Blodget on Where Digital’s Headed
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the latest Ignition conference, Henry Blodget of Business Insider gave his most recent assessment of where digital media are headed. It’s a sound appraisal. It’s worth noting that while he sees media’s direction as predominantly digital (true enough), he leaves unstated (because it must seem so obvious to him) that successful digital media are…
Conservation, Newspapers
Wasted Paper
by JOHN ADAMS •
Week after week, people who don’t ask for rolled-up newspapers find those dead-tree publications on their porches. Wasted paper, each week, of each month, of each season, of each year. The distribution comes close to lawful littering. Publishers should be required to obtain consent before dumping these papers on homeowners’ lawns. That prior consent would be burdensome for publishers,…
CDA, Development, Economy, Gluttony, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Newspapers, Poverty, Press
Theranos as a Cautionary Tale
by JOHN ADAMS •
Theranos is a much-hyped biomedical start-up that’s fallen in valuation and reputation (not always the same thing) following published doubts (e.g., @ Wall Street Journal, Fortune) about its supposedly revolutionary technology. Here’s the meaning of this story for Whitewater: Theranos had the participation (and attention) of some of the most gifted men and women in America,…
Blogging, Law, Liberty, Local Government, New Media, Newspapers, Public Records, Wisconsin
4 Points About Public Records Requests
by JOHN ADAMS •
So a local paper complains that a local school superintendent won’t comply with a public records request, won’t put the paper on a media contact list, and simply ‘must’ improve communications. A few points — 1. Compliance with a public records request isn’t a ‘communications’ issue; it’s a legal issue, of rights of residents…
Newspapers, Press, Radio, Social Media, Television
Brookings on ‘7 trends in old and new media’
by JOHN ADAMS •
The liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, in a paper from Elaine Kamarck and Ashley Gabriele, offers insight into 7 trends in old and new media. Their seven observations are solid, and broadly similar to the assessments of Clay Shirky, in Last call: the end of the printed newspaper. Brookings summarizes their work: The following are seven essential truths about the news today…
Culture, Newspapers, Politics, Press
Sadly, Milwaukee Will Catch Up to Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
In our small and beautiful city, what passes for professionally-produced news is poorly written, poorly reasoned, and fawning of authority. That’s been true for years in Whitewater, much to the delight of local officials, who’d prefer a good headline at the Gazette, Daily Union, Register (or even the Banner) to actually doing a good job.…