If all local newspapers were gone, could bloggers fill the void?

I came across this new report  — The New News — rather randomly today. It explores the changing media landscape specifically within the context of the Chicago area. Namely, the report discusses the future of journalism as a policy issue –proclaiming that despite the rapid rise in Web 2.0 media, platforms like blogs and Facebook are not uniquely poised to usurp true investigative journalism that focuses on local news.

The report makes several valid arguments for the need to preserve traditional forms of  journalism. One of the primary quotes in the study says:

“There’s no reason to assume that online news publications will do a better job of local news coverage than their counterparts in print and broadcast.”

This idea stems from something that is consistently reinforced in the findings: most bloggers simply synthesize information obtained from primary news sources, such as the local paper.

While revenues at papers across the nation are falling, it seems as though some citizen journalists would have little to thrive on if newspapers across the nation suddenly came undone all at once. I’ll agree on this point. 100 percent.

In an effort to highlight blogs and Web sites that are truly changing the way Chicagoans receive their news (meaning that these blogs, for the most part, have original content that goes beyond simply regurgitating local news stories, or aggregate news in a truly innovative way, perhaps helping to fill a void that does or may soon exist in the locally-based traditional media market), the study ranks the top 6o emergencing news sources online in the area. In case you’re curious, Chi Town Daily News tops the list.

There’s much more to share, but long story short, the study is definitely worth a read, or at least a skim.

Expansion of “Real Housewives” Series Sheds Light on American Values

Those who know me best know that I am a reality TV junky to the core. While the truthfulness of reality TV is always up for dispute, I just can’t seem to help myself. Of course, the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures is the “Real Housewives of…” – well, every city in the nation apparently.

Yesterday, I got 3 messages (via text, Facebook and e-mail) from friends telling me that there was going to be a new DC version of the show. For some reason, I thought I’d be more excited than I was, but then it hit me: there’s something about brand loyalty that I really respect – and when you’re slapping your brand on every city in America – the show loses its unique appeal. Orange County and New York represent widely-known pockets of wealth within our nation. In fact, I’d presume that nearly every young person has at one time in their life desired to abandon their roots for a chance to make it in the big apple or head out West to sunny California.

When Bravo made the decision to create an Atlanta series, followed by shows in New Jersey and now reportedly DC, the storylines presented are no longer those of opulence – they merely serve as a metaphor for the greed that persists in our nation, despite the economic struggles many in our country are currently facing.

The “Real Housewives” name is no longer one of distinction – it is, at its base, a reflection of the American values that got us here in the first place: the need to “Keep up with the Joneses.”

When I get married…

Sunflowers

I’ll be holding sunflowers 🙂 I saw the most gorgeous ones at Eastern Market this morning, which I finally went to! I bought fresh apples, peaches and green beans. I made the green beans tonight and they were delicious, better than any I’ve had before.

I don’t know if I’d want to when I’m older, but…

So aisde from the fact that I work in housing, I thought this article was really cool, mostly because most of the people Julie & I met off Craigslist lived in group houses, and because I’ve met so many 30 year olds in DC who still don’t know what they’re doing with their lives 🙂

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091804076.html

Boys who like flowers

So every day on my way to work, I pass a flower shop that plays “the name game” – that is, a free flower for the lady (well, lady I thought) who’s name appears on the marquee outside. As you can imagine, I pray daily that my name will appear. Today I was surprised to see a little deviation from the norm. But hell, if a woman can become VP, then I guess it’s only fitting that men should start taking to flowers 🙂

William?

So DC is pretty hip, I guess.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/source/media-mix/092108.html

To my delight, Jenny Lewis has a new CD 🙂

3 cups of coffee a day…can’t be good?

Currently Living off caffeine. Seriously, the double shot of espresso has become my new best friend.

Yawwwnnnn….

My old boss once said that when you get older, sleep is more valuable than water. I’m starting to think that’s oh-so-true. I am fading fast and cannot wait until the weekend…so I can sleep!

Ignorance At Its Best

I meant to post this article from The Washington Post earlier this week. It’s something I read while I was on the metro – something that made me a little bit embarrassed to be a woman…

A Speech in Minnesota, a Mind Changed in Michigan

Thursday, September 4, 2008; A17

The response to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the convention hall was raucous and supportive — and it was only slightly less enthusiastic in the living room of one undecided voter in the Midwest.

Linda Beebe, 59, a voter in Michigan, had been leaning toward Sen. Barack Obama before Palin’s speech on Wednesday night. Before the Alaska governor had even finished speaking, though, Beebe had changed her mind.

“Could we drop off McCain and just have her?” Beebe said in a telephone interview. “She’s talking about the things that concern myself and people I know. I know there’s a big world out there, but if we’re not healthy at home, how can we help outside home? She sounds pretty good.”

Beebe said she did not like the negative attacks on Obama; she also said she did not particularly like McCain. “But I kind of like her,” Beebe said. “She sounds like she wants to help Americans bring home the type of lifestyle we’ve had and help build up America.”

But in the home of another independent voter, Laura Bates, 45, of Madison, Conn., the reaction was more muted. “She gives a good speech, and she’s talking to the people in her audience — but she seems antagonistic, and I’m not impressed,” said Bates, who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries. “I’d say it’s about 100 percent I’d vote for Obama at this point. She hasn’t really said anything constructive . . . and she’s been a little negative and smug.”

Donna Lang, a food services employee in Massachusetts, said before Palin‘s speech that she would be supporting the Republican ticket — and did not even need to watch the speech to know it.

After supporting Clinton in the primary, Lang said, she had been undecided until last week.

“Today I’m voting for McCain,” Lang said. “I think it’s a smart move for him to pick a woman, because all of us who have voted for Hillary Clinton have no one to vote for.”

——–

REALLY? I MEAN, REALLY? You’d vote for a woman, just because she’s a woman? I mean, nevermind the fact that these two women stand for COMPLETELY different things…

BTW, Sarah Palin makes me want to vom.

Wasted Wisdom

“Last time I checked, if a guy says ‘Fuck You’ – as long as he’s not carrying a 44 – you can say ‘Fuck You’ right back. That’s what living in New York taught me.”

-Alex Nelson, on his 25th birthday