Some thoughts on the panel discussion graciously hosted by Buffalo Spree Magazine:

• Journalism itself is NOT on the brink, content delivery mechanisms are changing and old paradigms are sunsetting.  Interestingly, it seems that people in the newspaper industry conflate the newsprint on which journalism is delivered with the journalism itself.  They have trouble seeing a way in which news will continue to be reported without the support of the print product.

• We need to stop thinking that online media and journalism is an evolution of the newspaper industry.  They are completely different animals.  Applying the same methodologies for monetizing print publications to web journalism is a ticket to failure.

• Niche players will report; large outlets will curate and distribute.  That’s the new paradigm.  Reporters must take input from multiple sources, including bloggers, subject matter experts and the readership in order to produce content that people want to consume and share.  Once upon a time, editors at print and broadcast outlets were able to determine what information was important, how it was reported, when it was reported and to whom it was reported.  That’s all over now.  Open the process and be inclusive to make a better product.

• Stop worrying about how many people come to your website.  It just doesn’t matter.  Make your content ubiquitous, place it in as many places as possible, remove barriers to entry.  Build a community and advocates first, monetize later.

If you were in attendance at the panel and have questions or thoughts, please leave them here.  I’ll add more thoughts when I have a bit more time.

Alright, so it’s not actually a showdown, it’s more of a panel discussion with liquor.  I just needed a catchy title and “Journalism On The Brink” just isn’t cutting it for me.

Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc. presents a special panel discussion “Journalism on the brink: When the daily paper becomes the daily blog, who wins and who loses?” at 7 p.m. in the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium at the Burchfield Penney Art Center (1300 Elmwood Avenue) on November 5.  The event is free and open to the public.

The evening will feature a rousing dialogue between some of Western New York’s most notable and important online news figures.

Confirmed panelists include:

Brian Connolly, web editor for the Buffalo News

Jim Heaney, blogger and columnist for the Buffalo News

Geoff Kelly, editor and blogger for Artvoice

Newell Nussbaumer, EStudent Network

Ben Siegel, editor for Block Club

Elena Buscarino, Buffalo Rising

Alan Bedenko, Marc Odien and Chris Smith of WNYMedia.net

The discussion ties in with an article in Buffalo Spree’s November 2009 issue titled “WNY’s churning urn of online news and comment: good, bad, or just confusing?” by Spree associate editor Christopher Schobert.  Unedited interviews with us can be found in the Buffalo Spree Web Extras Section.

The issues presented in the article and the panel reach far beyond Western New York. Should online content be free? Are news blogs “fair and balanced,” and is that even desirable? What do blogs and online news sites mean for both the reader, and the writer?  Can local news sites complement each other, or are they invariably opposed?

Newspapers may be on the brink, but journalism itself is not.  In fact, journalism itself may never have been healthier than it is today.  An influx of subject matter experts in online media now compete with  journalism school generalists working for print and broadcast media outlets.

For the second time, Warren Buffett, owner of The Buffalo News has publicly stated that the newspaper industry is dying.  The relevance of the print product and the accompanying business model are rapidly ceasing to be profitable.  He must have seen the latest numbers on daily newspaper circulation which paint a not so rosy picture for our friends at the local paper of record.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations says average daily circulation was down 4.6 percent in the April-September period, compared with last year. Last year’s drop was 2.6 percent among papers reporting comparable circulation totals.

The Buffalo News reported a circulation loss of 2.7 percent on Sunday, dropping to 255,369 from 262,509. Weekday circulation declined 3.3 percent to 175,984 from 181,805. Figures are for the period ended in September of this year and compared to a year ago.

This is a continuing trend and combined with rapidly declining advertising revenues, a moribund classified advertising section and a readership that is slowly dying off, the future is not bright for the newspaper.  Of course, Margaret Sullivan, Editor of The Buffalo News, greets this information with the Officer Barbrady treatment, “Move along, nothing to see here”

I’ve been writing off and on about the future of the daily newspaper for some time and I’ll probably cover some of that ground tonight at the event.  A few key terms about the future of journalism that I’ll explain on the panel are:  curation, experts, accuracy, collaboration, multi-platform, the ethic of the link, the sphere of deviance and community funded news.

As a reference point for people in attendance, I am a big believer that the future of journalism looks something like this:

You see, we are all empowered as reporters.  In the “new” news process, we would be using a shared online outlet as a distribution point for journalism that reflects the community, writ large.  We can create a product that is less about agenda and is richer in content than what is offered today.  And that is journalism in the new media ecosystem.

I hope to see you tonight

That’s the common refrain from teabaggers, quasi-libertarians, and the conservative movement since the election of Barack Obama in 2008.  The thing is, most of the members of that movement don’t seem to understand that America and the demographics of the voting class in this country have forever changed.

In 2008, 90% of those who cast a vote for John McCain and his VP nominee, Crazypants McGee, were white.  As a percentage of the overall voting populace, McCain captured a total of 55% of the white vote while Obama took 45% of the vote.

Yes, a candidate won a race for President in the United States without carrying a majority of white male voters.  The 45% of white American men who cast a vote for Obama were not necessarily spread out around the country in an orderly fashion.  Here’s a handy map reflecting the national distribution of white male votes for Obama.

Unsurprisingly, you’ll note that Obama did poorly in the southern states as well as other traditional red states which now make up the national dixie belt.  Obama did surprisingly well in some of the least diverse states in the North like Wisconsin, Vermont, Oregon, Washington and Maine.  There is something to that data point that I hope to get to in the future.  However, Obama didn’t need the white male vote because he took 59% of the vote for non-white men.  This chart shows Obama’s non-white male vote distribution around the country.

Looks a lot different, doesn’t it?

Combined with data which shows the GOP fares very poorly with the expanding hispanic and african-american demographics, the strategy for the GOP and the conservative movement is clear.  Foment a feeling that America is being taken over by radical minorities and radical “leftists” with their unamerican “urban” agenda.

Over the next couple of years, we’ll watch this strategy grow and see all new sorts of Lee Atwater style tactics and buzzwords used to covertly describe how the black man wants to take away the white man’s rights and privileges.  It’s really the only chance the GOP has to regain national power in the face of massively and rapidly changing voter demographics.  Fire people up, get them to throw tea bags at each other; compare Obama to Mao, Stalin, Hitler…whatever it takes to motivate the angry white guy who lost his job at the plant due to globalization to get off his ass and get to the polls and maximize turnout.  Demonize gays, blame job losses on unions (not shareholder demands and CEO priorities), turn hopelessness into anger and blame.

Will it work?  Can this short-term strategy effectuate a return to power for the GOP?  Long term, what is the GOP plan to reach out to these changing voter constituencies.  I’ll dig into all of that more in the next few weeks as time allows.

Think about this chart until we meet again, it’s probably the most telling of all.  It’s a difference between the vote totals of George H.W. Bush in 1988 and the vote totals of John McCain in 2008.  It’s stark to see how the GOP base has shrunk so drastically into the dixie belt in just 20 short years.

Volker isn't running, I just love this picture at election time.

As Alan noted yesterday, it’s obligatory that the columnists at WNYMedia issue our annual slate of endorsed candidates in local races.  Unlike Alan, I think our endorsements matter, not necessarily as a means to effect votes, but as a part of the continuing development of alternative media in WNY.  30,000 people consume our content on our page or on numerous other aggregators, partner sites, radio shows, news readers and social networks each day.  We’re an informed part of the voting populace and we represent a growing constituency in this region, one that doesn’t regularly read Bob McCarthy’s column in The Buffalo News or watch the half-assed product of our local television news teams.  Politicians need to start working with us, not against us.

So, as a means to continue defining our presence, these endorsements matter.  Take ‘em or leave ‘em.

I’m only issuing endorsements on races I have been watching.  If I leave anything out it’s either because the race is non-competitive or I am not knowledgeable enough about the candidates to make an informed statement.

Erie County Comptroller

Mark Poloncarz.  Yes, he advertises on our site, but Mark is a big boy who gets new media and understands that reaching our readers and expecting our endorsement are two completely different things.  I’d gladly accept advertising money from Phil Kadet, but his campaign manager kept asking us to interview Phil for our “magazine”, so I don’t think they really understand the whole Internet thing.  I digress…

Mark has proven himself to be competent, professional and diligent in his role as County Comptroller and he has been a nice counterbalance to both County Executive Collins and the Erie County Legislature.  Much has been made by Kadet’s campaign that Mark is too political, but Kadet sure didn’t have any problem taking $10K from Collins’ Taxpayers First PAC which is funded by the BNP as well as associates of Steve Pigeon and Joel Giambra, did he?  He sure didn’t have a problem holding fundraisers in the living room of Chris Collins or having Chris pull money in from the Associated Building Contractor lobby or asking Collins to show up at his fundraisers as a special guest or pay for his advertisements with Greener and Hook, did he?  Yeah, Kadet is non-political, my ass.

I’m sure Phil Kadet is a nice guy, but he’s been suckling from the public teat as an adviser to the County for nearly two decades and was recruited by Collins to be a rubber stamp for his budgets, forecasts and policies.  I’ll stick with Mark and his cadre of bookish nerds in the Comptroller’s office, thank you very much.

Erie County Sheriff

John Glascott is my pick.  Did Glascott do enough to define himself as a candidate?  Who knows and who cares?  This election is a referendum on Tim Howard and his inability to perform the basic duties expected of a County Sheriff.  He has failed, epically.   His failures have been recounted on these pages regularly and it’s seems repetitive to mention them yet again.  If you were to make a documentary of Howard’s tenure as Erie County Sheriff, the soundtrack would undoubtedly be Yakety Sax.  At this point, I’d vote for Mike Hudson and his diseased liver over Tim Howard for Sheriff.

Erie County Legislature – 9th District

Christina Wleklinski Bove is my pick.  If you’ve driven through West Seneca at election time in the past few years, you’re familiar with the ubiquitous signs for Bove littered around the district.  She is a tireless campaigner and has a solid track record of finding efficiencies and implementing cost cutting strategies in West Seneca.  She’s innovative, dramatic, interesting and will certainly spice up the legislative chambers.  Her opponent Brian Wirth’s primary qualification appears to be that he is the grandson of longtime politician Sandra Lee Wirth.  He’s taken a few classes at ECC and has worked as a roofer for his Uncle and as a realtor for his Grandma.  He’s also endorsed by the local teabaggers, who are evidently not concerned with credentials, skills, education or anything like that…

Erie County Legislature – 10th District

I endorsed Kevin Hardwick shortly after he announced his candidacy and I stand by that endorsement today.  He’s a good man and will do a quality job serving the residents of his district.

Erie County Legislature – 12th District

Bob Reynolds has done a quality job as a county legislator and deserves to keep his seat.  Unfortunately, he opposed Chris Collins on several issues in the last year and thus earned a Collins sponsored challenge from former Channel 2 reporter Lynne Dixon.  Reynolds has 30 years under his belt as an employee of Ford and understands that there are benefits to implementing Six Sigma as an efficiency tool.  However, he has been outspoken in his criticism of how Collins has implemented Sigma as Collins is yet to demonstrate meaningful savings with his program.  Reynolds has been an advocate for the Distressed Property Task Force and a leader on labor and efficiency issues.  He’s a good government legislator and Dixon doesn’t have an edge in experience, qualifications or unique legislative proposals which would provide reason to replace Reynolds.

Erie County Legislature – 14th District

Tom Loughran might be the least dynamic man to ever hold office in the Erie County Legislature.  He’s a smart businessman and an effective legislator, but he is not a gifted retail politician or fundraiser.  Contrast with his opponent, Shelly Schratz, whose primary claim to fame is unpaid taxes, “stirring the pot”, and being shrill.  The Amherst Town Board is a model of inefficient governance and immaturity and she has been a major instigator of that silliness.  Do we really want to promote her to higher office?  Sure, she can impress a room of teabaggers with her small government buzzwords, but when it comes down to doing the business of a legislator, Schratz has proven ineffective. Loughran might not be interesting, but he has done good work in the legislature as a budget skeptic and advocate for sensitive environmental policy.

Orchard Park Town Supervisor

Patrick Keem is a lifelong Orchard Park resident and Chairman of the Erie County Citizens Budget Review Commission.  He has tirelessly campaigned for the office and has a detailed strategic plan for the Town of Orchard Park.   His opponent, Town Clerk Janis Colarusso, fought Kevin Gaughan every step of the way in regards to the vote to downsize town government and has spent 30 years working in the public sector as a party apparatchik.  She traffics in the sort of doubleplus ungood, non-committal reform speak of middle rung politicos.  You wouldn’t know any of this based on the tenor of the campaign, which has been professional, polite and focused on issues in the town, a refreshing rarity in the local political wars.

Mayor Of Buffalo

Unfortunately, the Erie County GOP has given up on the City of Buffalo and decided to depress urban turnout to benefit their countywide candidates by not running a candidate in this year’s Mayoral contest.  I’m advising everyone I know to write in “None Of The Above” in the Mayor’s race as a statement of dissatisfaction with both the middling performance of Byron Brown and the lack of choice in this year’s election.  If I had a choice between Byron Brown and Random Republican Guy with a pulse, I’d pull the lever for the Republican.  Since I don’t, it’s “None of the above”.

]]> http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/smith/2009/11/endorsements-5/feed/ 5 http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/smith/2009/10/michael-gainer-back-in-at-buffalo-reuse/ http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/smith/2009/10/michael-gainer-back-in-at-buffalo-reuse/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:41:33 +0000 Christopher Smith http://wnymedia.net/?p=34723

The Board of Directors of Buffalo ReUse announced this evening that Michael Gainer has accepted a position with the organization as the Program Director.

The responsibilities of the position of Program Director were agreed by the Board and are as follows:

Program Director, Buffalo ReUse:

• Provides monthly deconstruction and salvage report, and program status. This is to include what jobs have been completed, in-progress, signed and prospects. All jobs discussed are to include estimated costs and revenue expected.
• Directs field operations for deconstruction and salvage activities.
• Coordinates subcontracted services such as utility cuts, asbestos surveys, abatements, excavators and other as needed.
• Follows up on job leads, responsible for job estimates and providing estimates for financial review prior to contract execution.
• Directs staff training of deconstruction and salvage activities.
• Coordinate safety and environmental compliance training for staff members.
• Pursue funding opportunities.
• Instrumental in strategic development and implementation of existing and future community programs. Member of the Strategic Community Development Committee.

Michael’s effective hire date is 10/19/09.

This brings to a close a summer of discontent at ReUse which included Gainer’s unexpected firing, the ascension of Harvey Garrett to Interim Executive Director, membership actions, the resignation of Harvey Garrett as Interim Executive Director, the election of a completely new Board of Directors, and the re-hiring of Michael Gainer to do what he does best; focus on deconstruction, training and evangelizing.  The Board is putting in place a new staff structure and policies to manage operations, financial records, and legal compliance.

Buffalo ReUse has its work cut out for it over the next several months as they work to earn back the confidence of the local foundational community and other grant makers, but these appear to have been growing pains for a vital and dynamic organization which fills such a critical need in the City of Buffalo.

At its annual meeting October 7, the members of Buffalo ReUse elected a Board of Directors to lead the organization through the next phase of its growth. Newly elected members are Vincent Kuntz, Keith James, Alison Mueller, David Laguerre and Daniel Ash. Michele Johnson was elected to her second two-year term. Vincent Kuntz was elected Board President.

Kuntz said “We wish to thank outgoing Board President Stephanie Simeon, Board Members Jessica Biegaj, Katie Biggie, Darren Kempner, Kirstin Lowry Sommers, Adam Wilson and Trevor Torcello for their dedicated service to our organization. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors and expect to maintain a productive relationship as we all work to improve neighborhoods in the City of Buffalo.”

Also announced at the meeting was the transition of Interim Executive Director Harvey Garrett to a short-term consulting position. Alison Mueller, Board Secretary, said “We thank him for his service as we navigated through a challenging period of our growth.”

Brief Bios of New Board Members

Daniel Ash

Daniel is an Information Security Specialist with experience in planning, deploying and supporting information systems, including IT policy and compliance, as well as audit and risk management. As a member of the Buffalo ReUse’s Board, Daniel’s skills will further the development of its asset and risk management policies and operations and also strengthen ReUse’s information security systems. As a longtime customer and volunteer of ReUse, Daniel is committed and ready to serve the organization’s mission, vision and values.

Keith James

Keith is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community and has spent many years volunteering in public service for his community and the greater City of Buffalo. Keith is also a Fire Fighter for the City of Buffalo. With Board of Directors experience, Keith first became interested in ReUse because of its concept and vision, which is to serve and strengthen an under-served community from within.

Michele Johnson

Michele is a founding Member of the organization and also an original member of the Board of Directors for Buffalo ReUse. In addition to her longtime service and commitment to Buffalo ReUse, Michele is also a co-founder of both the Mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task Force and Broadway Fillmore Alive. She served as a Housing Court Liaison in the Fillmore District, was Producer of the local documentary “Flipped”, is a mother of four, and a longtime East Side resident.

Vince Kuntz

Vince is a building contractor, specializing in preservation, and as such, he has been salvaging, reusing, and recycling building materials since the 1980′s. Vince is also a certified Carpentry Instructor at the Construction Training Center of WNY. A supporter of ReUse’s business and mission since its inception, Vince looks forward to the challenge of making ReUse’s work even safer and more cost effective in addition to helping ReUse grow its educational outreach programs and training activities.

David Laguerre

David is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community. He has spent the majority of his professional career working for one local company and has served in several capacities, including maintenance, collections, billing, and accounts receivable. David is looking forward to serving as a personal link between Buffalo ReUse and the people and community ReUse serves.

Alison Mueller

Alison is Director of Merchant Supply Systems for a worldwide industrial gas and equipment technology company and has served as an officer in the Air National Guard. Having moved to Buffalo three years ago, Alison is excited by the renewal underfoot in this city. As a volunteer for ReUse, she believes in its mission and programs that offer opportunities and skill sets to those who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn them. Alison also looks forward to bringing her corporate experience to ReUse, linking hands-on operations to defined business goals and objectives.

After Dick Jauron stoically led the Buffalo Bills to yet another embarrassing loss, this time to the Miami Dolphins, my thoughts are best summed up by giving a listen to the classic “Dick Jauron Song”.

If the Bills are only going to be around for another couple of years, why not ask Ralph to dump this chump and let Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley, Kent Hull and Jim Kelly have a go at coaching this team?  It can’t hurt and we’d at least get straight answers at press conferences and LIKE our team again.

His statement on the floor of Congress which caused a controversy:

It’s important to remember that he isn’t necessarily making blind accusations here.  Several Republicans have taken to the floor and made statements which informed Grayson’s speech yesterday.

His non-apology apology:

Doubling down on his non-apology apology in front of corporate media enablers at CNN:

As a dedicated C-SPAN nerd, I’ve been a fan of Alan Grayson’s antics on the floor for about a year.  He spices up floor debates with gimmicks, but he also kicks a whole lot of ass in the House Financial Services Committee.

I’d like to pull a few of my favorite Alan Grayson videos featuring his tough questioning of Federal Reserve personnel.  Plain and simple, he is a YouTube All-Star for politinerds and he asks tough questions in an attempt to figure out exactly what the Fed has done with $1,200,000,000,000.

Who did the money go to?

Who the hell is in charge at the Federal Reserve?

This one is my favorite.  He asks if the Federal Reserve has engaged in market frontrunning.  The general counsel for the Federal Reserve is totally flummoxed.

Is he a grandstanding muckraker?  Probably, but he’s one of the few guys in Congress asking tough questions, regardless of his reasons for doing so.  After all, we are talking about $1.2 Trillion in money which has been lent/spent on the bailout of our financial industry and a healthcare system in horrible disrepair.  It would be nice if more Congresspeople spent their time on these two issues rather than worrying about fucking ACORN and birth certificates.

Last year, I read a great book titled “The Back Of The Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures“.  The premise is that through our reliance on words, industry terminology and buzzword slang, we have made complex business problems more difficult to solve.  He encourages a new approach, visual thinking.  Simply taking ideas and sketching them out in order to create a simplistic view of the problem which promotes creative discussion and solutions.

I generally loathe business books, especially those written by anyone in the marketing industry, but I found this one to be a powerful tool as I go about my day-to-day trudge through the creative wasteland of corporate information technology organizations.

The author of the book, Dan Roam, partnered up with a healthcare marketing strategist to create what has been call, un-ironically enough, as the “best presentation in the world for 2009“.

They decided to take a step back from the constant stream of purposeful disinformation presented in the ongoing healthcare debate to lay out a simple set of facts and describe the problem set.  I might quibble with some of their statements and conclusions, but this is one of the clearest presentations on healthcare that I have seen.  If President Obama had started out the summer with something simple like this in a televised address to the American people, we’d be much closer to a solution to this multi-generational problem.

I think the visual thinking method helps smart people talk to the vast majority of dummies in our society by boiling complex issues down to the intelligence level of your average Oklahoma house frau who thinks Sarah Palin is just like her, dagnabbit!.  Let me know what you make of the presentation.