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Do do Lambert and Rybak! Right in public?

In the spirit of Minnpost, I would like to announce that at 11 a.m. CST on November 8, 2007, I will be eating a ham & cheese sandwich. This event will be streamed live from my office, media kits may be downloaded online from my website.

I thought they were supposed to go live at 11:00. Did Kramer already miss his first deadline?

it was live by 10:53

man is it light on content... why not build up content the last week or two first?

that's what we did when we launched Reveille

site looks ok... needs something to fill the bottom right sidebar though

hey, I's got eyeballs.

Nice way of tracking down a rumor and turning it into a story. Partisan aspects aside, it's refreshing to see. So refreshing that it gave me my first evar nose bleed.

The link above isn't working for me. Yet I can type it in and it works fine.

Sorry to imply that Kramer & Co. are slackers that can't hit a deadline.

Hell with it. Where can I pick up one of those paper copies?

What do you mean, really? ?

What's a Typewriter?

JACC: "What's a Typewriter? "

If I recall correctly, it was sort of a laptop fueled on Tippex.

That was funny, Bob.

Not only is the logo ugly, but whoever made it made a real n00b mistake. That should be a .gif.

Ahh those things. I could never get into using them for writing. The talk bugs and Mugwumps were just too much.

That should be a .gif.
Don't you mean a .png?

png, now that's newfangled stuff. Back in my day...

But really, a lesson for web developers everywhere: unless it's a photograph, it should probably be a gif, which is designed for computer-created, low-color images like the ones typically used to construct web pages. JPGs will be bigger and leave that crappy aliasing around everything.

sorry, didn't see your post before i hit submit Jeff :)

but don't .gif's have licensing problems?
I'm doing all app development these days, but towards the end of my last heavy web development the buzz was stay away from .gif.

but don't .gif's have licensing problems?
Yep. I can't remember who -- Unisys (?) owns the patent for .gif and they were all about enforcing their licensing fees, but I don't know if they're still as militant as they were at one time. That's why the .png format was developed and from what I understand the .png format allows for more color spaces.
Animation is a problem with .png, but aren't they working on that?

Those patents that Unisys had expired in 2003 (ish), so GIF should be a free standard format...

I couldn't care less about .jpgs or .pngs or .gifs, but the "green graffiti" in the Website of the Day section is so cool and insanely adorable.

Yes, that header should be a GIF or a PNG and NOT a JPEG. And yes, whoever said it, it's a real n00b mistake. One of the first things I noticed about the design of the page too.

But really, that's just the icing on the cake. Has anyone tried actually subscribing to MinnPost? It's abysmal. They added the subscription page but it's clear they don't even know what they're talking about and it's clear that nobody actually tested the feeds.

Sad. They want to have journalism online and while they can bring on 50+ highly experienced journalists they haven't brought anyone on board that "gets it."

They must be too busy concentrating on their Control-P version.

What's wrong with the RSS feeds, Aaron?

What's wrong with the RSS feeds, Aaron?"

I commented a bunch about it over at the Daily Mole. What it boils down to is that you can't subscribe to MinnPost. You can only subscribe to certain sections or certain authors. Or, you can subscribe to the "front page," which only serves snippets of two front page stories only. If you subscribe to sections or authors, it only delivers a headline.

To compare this to the newspaper world, it's like subscribing to a newspaper but instead you have to subscribe to all the sections individually. Then, when there's new content, the paperboy drops off not the newspaper but individual 3x5 cards with a headline on them each which serves as a reminder for you to walk over to a newspaper box to pick your newspaper up.

That, and if you look at their subscription page it's like they copy/pasted it from other sources and don't really know what they're talking about:

To sign up for MinnPost RSS feeds, make your subscription selection(s) below and follow the instructions to add to your news reader or your personal My Yahoo! or My AOL page.

Huh? Then there's no instructions for my personal My Yahoo! or My AOL page. And there's no select boxes. Then the very next paragraph:

To sign up for an RSS feed, copy one of the content links below to your news reader.

Okay, that makes more sense, but have two different sets of instructions? They don't even know what they're talking about.

And as Ed Kohler points out, why don't they even mention Google Reader, which is free and also happens to be the most popular RSS reader out there?

content wise... it looks ok so far, bit light as i stated above. i would have hoped they'd built up a weeks or more worth of back content before they launched to be honest...

but yeah, certainly nicer than i expected. i don't see it taking the place of the Strib for up-to-date/up-to-the-minute news anytime soon, but certainly will read it.

I should also stress that I do like the content a lot.

And whether you agree with minnpost's approach or style or content or whether the journalists are hip enough, I really like the fact that we have another "voice".
I'm old skool enough to like journalists and appreciate what they have to say.

I REALLY WANT more high quality journalism...

..especially during sweeps month.

High quality doesn't have to equal boring. I wish the writing-style was a little more breezy, a little less newspapery. It's weird to read a new media venture and have it feel like a paper.

I like the newspapery feel.
And what's "new media"? As it seems that a lot of people are defining new media as how advanced the technology they're using is.

I'm sure they'll find more younger voices to contribute, but don't discount them because they happen to have had careers in other media. It doesn't mean their writing is obsolete. It's an evolution and what it looks and feels like today may be very different in a few months... or not, but I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Plus, who is the audience they are actually trying to reach? My guess is that if they want people to "donate" they're speaking to an older audience than we're thinking. No?

I have more thoughts on the launch than I had time to write this morning, mostly relating to the DFL funding story.

First of all, I think it's a significant story by Doug Grow. It's not unheard of to end a campaign in debt and have to delay payments to vendors until you can raise more money. Vendors understand that and accept it. But folks, it's been one year. There is no mid-year report in an off year so we don't know for what kind of services they owe or exactly how much. It really shouldn't be more than a decent holiday fundraiser could net you. But to still not be able to get enough money to pay your bills one year after Election Day? An Election Day in which you come out smelling like roses? That to me says more than "Oops we're low on cash." It says major funding crisis. That's the political side of the story, and I think it's a big deal. There are many more questions that I would ask, but that's neither here nor there. Point is, it's a great story.

But the "new media" side of the story is just as telling. I don't know who Doug Grow's sources were or how he even got wind of the story. I am willing to bet that he wasn't the only person who might have heard rumors as such. I could be wrong, but I always considered Grow to be circling the very farthest rings of the political galaxy, even before he lost his job at the Tribune. Considering that all it would have taken is a phone call to Brian Melendez, I'm glad I don't have to explain to my boss tonight how I got scooped on a (I think) significant story by some guys with a website.

I'm young, but I've heard about a time when journalists would stab each other in the eye to get at a story that might ruff up some politicians. It does not seem that way anymore. Generally, I have tended to not discuss my job in great detail, but this will be an exception because I think it illustrates my point. Last week, MDE posted several entries about SoS Mark Ritchie and possible data practices violations. The Tribune picked up the story the next day, and KSTP television the day after. We have since asked for investigations and seen new details surface, yet we get barely a ho-hum from the media. I don't know if there are more damning details yet to be released or uncovered, but folks, it could be a powder keg waiting to explode. Yet, few in the "MSM" seem the slightest bit interested. Choosing to wait to see what happens next, rather than going out and finding it themselves. Since when does a story need to be boxed and wrapped before someone will touch it? If there is something more to the story, something that damages a constitutional officer, I would again not want to be someone who has to explain to my boss why some guy with a website beat me to the story. But that's the risk a person takes by choosing to wait and see rather than find out.

I relate this to MinnPost because maybe it will be the organization that is willing to pick up the phone. To do the real nitty-gritty reporting that so many other news organizations seem to be backing away from. If so, I think it will find its niche and fill it nicely. If not, add it on to the list of websites that just repeats what every other one says.

I wish MinnPost would keep the journalism mindset and drop the newspaper mindset.

I have a hunch they they already have and "newspaper mindset" is more about securing funding and getting some readers they might not otherwise find.

A real issue with competing in the newspaper realm is volume of content. I can scan 10 newspapers in 15 minutes and pick out the things I need to read. Where as Minnpost by it's very nature, a small stable of talented journalists, just can't produce the volume without writing 24/7 and killing themselves in the process.

I think most of us here want Minnpost and The Daily Mole to succeed and alot of us here know people that work at one or both, but they both may need to do some pandering to markets they haven't had to in the past in order to make it so.

As for file types for web display I really hope this becomes the new Liberal/Conservative Saint Paul/Minneapolis strife, because my .png will kick your gif in the jpg.

jpeg2000 4eva.

I'm sure they'll find more younger voices to contribute, but don't discount them because they happen to have had careers in other media. It doesn't mean their writing is obsolete.

It's not about being dismissive of the worthwhile contributions that old-ish reporters and editors are still able to offer. It's about the overly high proportion of MinnPost contributors who are in that category.

Just as in any traditional print newsroom there will be a legitimate concern if the staff is too male, too white, too suburban rather than inner-city, too Ivy-League/elite-private-college vs. public-university-trainged, too lacking in younger and hipper folks . . . . The same should apply here.

A problem that developed at the Strib, and maybe the Pi-Press too, was that the place became a career-destination workplace, where those who acheived success there stayed, and stayed and stayed. Such that the place became imbalanced with an excess of very-veteran staff. Then during the rounds of cuts, so many of those folks became displaced former staff. And now a high percentage of those displaced folks have wound up at MinnPost, repeating the same age-imbalance problem. (One might argue that some of that same thing has occured with many of the newer arrivals at other local media outlets, such as the Rake, and others, which have absorbed a number of displaced veteran journalists. Like Lambert, Rybak, Iggers. . . . )

The print and online versions of the Strib and Pi-Press still own the older-demographic audience. So it seems foolish for MinnPost or any other online outlet not to consciously try hard to be plenty appealing to the younger-demographic audience, which the Old-Media Strib and Pi-Press have been failing to win over.

not that it matters that much.
When it comes to Eric Black? Don't make bust a png in your uncompressed proprietary bmp.

and others, which have absorbed a number of displaced veteran journalists. Like Lambert, Rybak, Iggers. . . . )

You didn't add Marsh? Because he's like 4000 years old and totally doesn't wax, or so I've heard.

those who achieved success there stayed, and stayed and stayed. Such that the place became imbalanced with an excess of very-veteran staff

I guess I just don't agree with this point at all. Veteran journalists are like veteran musicians; they hone their craft their whole life and are usually much better as they age.
Though, it's said, in order to be a good writer someone has to be hungry and I think maybe that's your point. Sometimes "veteran" can fairly equate to complacent.

As for the things that can make a writers work stagnant. Just take a look at where the paycheck is coming from; some environments encourage creativity and others not so much.

I understand Anon's point about Strib and PPress journalists staying for a long time as, with anything, staying in one place for too long can lead to stagnation. Or buying into what's being put down and becoming insular.

But, I don't think that will happen at MinnPost as it's a completely different environment.

It seems as if Mr. Kramer has hired people that know more than he does when it comes to the internets and is allowing them to do their jobs. A lot more than what's going on at Strib & PPress.

Also, I'm not sure what is meant by younger audiences? Twenty-somethings? Because the average age of the startribune.com is 34ish, but the print piece is mid-upper fifties.

Good point naturally. For any organization, the more equally you treat your best and worst, the more you atrophy. Eventually, you die off.

Erick Black and TC Daily Planet...good one! My morning juice almost ran out my nose.

In light of my earlier rant, I should give credit to the two Tribune reporters who did today's story on the MnDOT woman who, from what's in the article, could turn out to be quite a criminal.

This is a good lesson to stop thinking of your blog/site as the only destination where people will consume your content. Go to where your target audience is currently living online, and interact with them there. That's how you build readership.

Exactly.

I am wondering what counts for stagnation and atrophy. The flip side, it seems, is the current City Pages, where some "brand-builder" is looking for younger, "hipper" writers and churns out a paper that results in readers fleeing. (As proven by the comments here.)

Stagnation seems like a euphemism for "old." Is it?

I mean that an organization will eventually find itself over populated with people who do what's comfortable or just enough to get by, which hinders the progress made by people who strive to do better, of whom the numbers decrease or remain the same. At that point, improvement slows to a crawl or even a dead stop. Once that happens, it dies on the vine as other more motivated competitors pass it by. My drive-by opinion is that such a fate befalls the quality of journalism in the newspaper industry right now. Whether or not the staff cuts made at our dalies is the answer, well that remains to be seen. I'm guessing it is not.

That being said, I find this story to be good. And this one to be pathetic.

As for CP, there's nothing in it anymore. No passion. It seems like only a few pages turned and I'm in the entertainment listings.

Yeah, Solace: I was thinking about the number of journalists at both MinnPost and The Daily Mole and, well, I totally effed up.

Now if I say Reveille a thousand times, will I be forgiven for my oversight?

Solace said: yeah, no offense to Clockwork, i know people who work there, but between this design/site and The Daily Mole, i'm wanting to quit my job and just do freelancing gigs...

Um, I'd be cautious with the criticism. The Reveille site design stanks pretty heavily itself.