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…
Press
Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Daily Bread, Environment, Local Government, Nature, Plants, Press
Daily Bread for 10.24.21: The Otters of Singapore Offer a Lesson for Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Bad Ideas, City, Daily Bread, Environment, Nature, Open Government, Press, Water
Daily Bread for 10.22.21: Reporting About Artificial Herbicides in Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Housing, Local Government, Police, Press
Broken Policymaking Over a Voucher Program
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has a local government that taxes and legislates, and that hires officials who exercise authority over the city’s residents, in a nine-square-mile area. Our local government has its own municipal building, in which it holds regular public meetings, and in which officials can talk to each other and residents in person, by email, text,…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Politics, Poll, Press, Trump
Trump Asks, Pollster Answers
by JOHN ADAMS •
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…