Front Page. The Register’s main story, above the fold in prominent font, is “Zoned Out?” The story is about the decision of the Common Council to refer to the Planning Commission consideration of whether to recommend a time limit for commercial concerns to wait before submitting a re-zoning petition if denied initially. The waiting period in Whitewater is now eighteen months.
The headline is set in type so prominent that it makes we wonder if the Register’s just looking to fill front page space. It’s the kind of prominent headline that one would expect if tragedy struck the town:
One of the best parts about blogging on public meetings, documents, and published accounts is that others can check the original source for their own assessment. Dampier’s story on the Council’s action omits needed context, in two ways:
First, the Council agreed to repeal the eighteen-month waiting period on commercial re-petitioning, and send the matter to the Planning Commission for the Planning Commission’s recommendation.
That’s not the same as repealing the waiting period, recommending that there be no waiting period, and sending the matter to the planning commission. There was no recommendation – borne of consensus – that there be no waiting period.
Second, the front page copy highlights the City Manager’s conviction that eighteen months is too long, but only after the jump inside do we learn that the administration’s proposal was for a six month waiting period. (This is despite the lack of a waiting period for re-petitioning in other communities nearby.) Unless readers delve into the final paragraphs of the article, they wouldn’t know that our city manager has no opinion on whether the wait should be eliminated altogether.
How could City Manager Brunner have no opinion, as Register Editor Carrier Dampier recounts his position? His administration proposed a six-month waiting period, for goodness’ sake. If he proposed six months, then he must think that six months’ time is preferable to no waiting period at all. Otherwise, why propose that specific time limit?
(For an email that someone sent me, asking why I posted on re-petition issue at the Council meeting the way I did, and my reply, see, “Common Council Meeting for April 15, 2008“)
Dampier might have asked Brunner that question, if she felt inclined to a reporter’s inquiry.
(Unless, by chance, Brunner has no concept of integers lower than six. Possible, I suppose, but unlikely.)
The front page also offers a human interest story on Whitewater’s Wall Crawler’s gym, and a story about Walworth County’s program to eliminate repeated drunk driving offenses. The story on Whitewater’s climbing gym is interesting, and would have been better if the reporter had focused more on Whitewater climbers, rather than those from Pewaukee, Hubertus, Hoffman Estates, and Downers Grove. (A UW Whitewater senior doesn’t make the story until the final paragraphs after the jump.)
Inside. There’s a huge, banner headline inside for a story entitled, “Going Green.” It’s even bigger than the front page headline. Why so big? Again, I don’t know, if taking up space is discounted as an answer. If you really want to go green, then you need to go to Elkhorn, because that’s where the seminar on ‘earthy-friendly’ tips was held.
When Al Gore won his Nobel Prize for environmental activism, even the most favorable coverage in the world didn’t include a headline this big. It’s not even Al Gore — it’s former Senator, former Vice President Albert Gore, Jr., and still no headline as big as “Going Green” at an out-of-town bank.
There are stories without bylines, and a few are suspiciously similar to reworked press releases. I have no idea if they ever were press releases – it’s just that they read like press releases.
Insert. There’s a glossy, full-color insert in the Register this week, called, “Whitewater, Wisconsin: It’s Our Town.”
Well, yes it is.
There are more local ads in this insert than in the main paper, this week or any other week. Because the insert is a small directory, that readers might save to consult for summer events, etc., it’s likely more attractive than the weekly Register.
That is, the weekly local paper attracts local advertisers only if it runs an every-so-often glossy insert. Isn’t the weekly local paper supposed to be the spot for local, print advertising, week after week?
I’m remiss — Whitewater does have a weekly paper that’s a popular source for local print advertisements.
It’s called the Good Morning Advertiser.