Blogging’s been around for a while, but it’s still new to some people. The unfamiliarity of it likely disturbs a few people in Whitewater. The best example of an overwrought media reaction to blogging can be found in the Register’s March 28th issue, in Register editor Carrie Dampier’s proffer defense of her newspaper. My reply to her defense can be found at my post entitled, “Register Watch™ for the March 28, 2008 Issue (Part 2)”
No one should really be shocked by blogging — I’ve contended that blogging is just a modern form of the long American tradition of pamphleteering. See, for example, “Blogging: Once and Future American Tradition.”
Many blogs and websites comment on the media without causing any kind of embarrassing, ill-argued reply. There’s Times Watch, a blog that covers and critiques the New York Times; alternatively, one could read Fox Attacks, a website that critiques Fox News.
If there are blogs that critique sports figures, television stars, politicians, books, films, cars, and musicians, then no one should really be surprised that bloggers will take a look at how the press functions.
Our small town could use a vigorous press, as I believe that a vigorous press keeps government honest.
I’ll take a look at the April 17th issue of the Register and see how our local paper — 152 years old — is doing.
The front page offers up three stories — the dedication of the Cravath Lakefront Arch on Sunday, the new Common Council, and the continuing, multi-part series on the Police Department. (I have waited to comment on the police series, and after three stories in print I feel there’s enough to assess what’s the series. I will do so early next week.)
The most prominent of the stories, accompanied by a color photograph, is on the Cravath Lakefront Arch to be dedicated Sunday. The story describes the sections of the arch, its principal donors, and the date and time of the formal dedication ceremony (Sunday, April 20th at 2 p.m.)
There’s one odd bit to the story, though: the description of a design that commemorates “Whitewater’s rich past, present, and future.” I hope very much that our future is rich, but I know of no way to commemorate what has yet to happen.
Editor Dampier writes on the new member of the Common Council (Lynn Binnie), the Council election of a president (Patrick Singer), and which Council members will have places on various boards and committees. The story involves not a single quotation from anyone (1) reflecting on his or her election, (2) the possible direction of the Council, or (3) assignment to any board or committee.
That seems like the very least one should expect from a newspaper that proudly proclaims it’s Whitewater’s community paper. This is about as incurious as a story could be. Most reporters would like to ask a few questions, get reactions, etc. There’s none of that in this story from any of the elected officials. It’s just a dull recitation without any insight into how any of these politicians might feel about the year ahead.
(There is an accompanying photograph of Binnie taking his oath of office, printed in overly rich colors, and shot from an angle that captures one of the two people in the photograph only from the back.)
Ten — yes, ten — relatively brief stories inside the paper list no author: DWI Receives 2008 National Main Street Program Accreditation, Siren’s Warning, Stimulus Payment Help for Seniors, Public Information Meeting Scheduled for Highway 12 Project, Whitewater Chamber Welcomes New Members, Gateway Offers Forklift Training, EF Homestay Program Looking for Host Families, ‘Help is Here Express’ Bus Tour Comes to Whitewater, Fort Health Care Supports “List it, Don’t Risk It” Campaign, and Top 10 Problems with the American Diet.
Who wrote these pieces? I don’t know. Not one has a byline. Not one says “By Register Staff’, etc. Some of them read like barely re-worked press releases. They take up a lot of space, but they’re without any sort of inquisitive angle, etc.
One wonders if anyone at the Register has any curiosity at all. A local paper should be more than an attempt to fill space between out-of-town advertisements. (Most ads in the April 17th section of the Register are still for concerns located beyond Whitewater.)