News-Record.com

Respected media watchers from all over are writing obituaries of newspapers. I find a great deal of substance in what they say, particularly about the need for transparency and more voices and journalistic credibility. But -- and I hope I am not just thinking with my heart -- I happen to believe the reports premature. That's not my point here, however.

The most recent of these, a report for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, studies news consumption of 18-to-34-year-olds. And, amid all the dire predictions for newspapers is this nugget:

Despite these innovations, some experts still warn that the news business -- and with it, perhaps, the nation itself -- faces a troubled future. As David Mindich, author of Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News (Oxford University Press, 2004) concluded in a recent interview on an industry web site that today's young citizens "are still just as thoughtful, intelligent -- and I would argue, literate -- as ever before. What has changed is that young people no longer see a need to keep up with the news." Says Mindich in his recent book: "America is facing the greatest exodus of informed citizenship in its history."

We see it, too. In news stories in which a 20-year-old resident says she has never heard of the Truth and Reconciliation project. In letters, in which a resident learned about the Klan-Nazi shootings from a theatrical production.

Without question, this is a newspaper and a journalism problem. We're making some progress in addressing ways to reach new audiences in different, inviting ways. But it's also a societal problem that's frightening. I wish I had a good answer for that.

Between the Tar Heels and the Grasshoppers this weekend, we're going to have an extra dose of sports in the paper. Tomorrow features our reader's guide section on First Horizon Park. In it you'll find out just about everything you'll want to know about the new baseball stadium, from the field to the locker rooms to the luxury boxes to the cup holders in the seats. (By the way, the seats vary in widths to keep the rows aligned so if you want the extra room, go for a wider seat.)

We give you advice on where to park and where to sit. We even include photographs of the sight lines from home, first base and third. Plus, there's a page with photos and stats of the Marlins that includes space to collect player autographs.

Ed Hardin writes: We've never played a game on this field, but it's already part of our past, already part of what makes us Greensboro. We've been in the news a lot lately, mostly about events in our past, great events and sad events that people outside Greensboro use to color us one way or another. That's fine. We understand how it works. Our history is who we are. But there are those who believe Greensboro isn't a happy place, and nothing could be further from the truth. The story of this ballpark, from an idea to a reality, is one of the best we’ve ever told. We should all be happy we can still do big things like this and live to tell stories about it.

Special kudos go to staff writer Bill Hass, who did much of the research, writing and planning of the section, and sports editor Joe Sirera. The highlights of the section are the excellent graphics by staff artists Douglas Cox, Tim Rickard and Margaret Baxter. They make the stadium feel up close and personal. Here's Doug's cover of the section.

I was standing on the sidelines of a high school soccer game, and an attorney friend asked me a question: "Have you figured out what you're going to do after all the newspapers die out?"

I told him that I was swimming as fast as I could just to keep from swirling down the drain and into the legal field. We both laughed.

But it is no laughing matter.

People who care about newspapers have been in a period of soul-searching for the past few years. Industry-wide, circulation is in decline. Our credibility has been questioned. Readers seem to care more about a murder in California than news about their own city.
Other news media have proliferated to such an extent that the newspaper's cycle of one publication per day almost seems quaint. Quaint in the way that a horse-drawn buggy is quaint.

To see how newspapers from around the world played the pope's death, go here. For screen grabs of Web sites, go here. Some impressive coverage.

Doing justice to a big news story that happens in between edition deadlines is an exciting ride. UNC's battle for the national basketball title was just such a rocket ship. Like Roy Williams, we had a game plan, too: the staff was ready, the pages in hand. All we needed was, well, the game, a score, and a half a dozen stories and photos.

We wouldn't get any of that until after 11:30 p.m. Monday Not a lot of time. Here's a piece of what the discussion on the front page sounded like. (Sports has a whole bunch of other issues!):

At 5:15 p.m., several editors crowded around designer Nathan Stack's computer screen debating how today's front page should look. The game would be the main story on the page, but how big? Four columns across the top of the page, or five? Or six? Can we shoot a photo specifically to fit the space? How quickly can we get it? Say the game is over at 11:30 p.m., the photographer needs time to shoot a celebration and send the photo back. It needs to be edited and the designer needs to get it onto the page. A writer needs to give us some copy. Can we make our first edition?

I was part of a media panel at GTCC's President's Leadership Seminar this morning. I've always thought that GTCC is a hidden gem in Guilford County so I was happy to participate.

My part of the program was hardly worth remarking on. The most interesting section came when the 40 participants were asked to describe one defining media moment they had experienced in their lifetime. Many referred to watching national and international events unfold on television: JFK's funeral, Princess Di's death, the Oklahoma City bombing and, of course, 9/11.

But several people related intensely personal connections: one man singled out a newspaper story about his parent's 50th anniversary. Another cited a two- or three-paragraph story that inspired a career change. A third noted a classified ad that led him to a new job. Don Cameron, the president in question, brought down the house with his story. He was playing ball for Union Cross High School and his team won its first seven games. Then sports editor Smith Barrier of the Greensboro Daily News interviewed him about the team and his role. "We lost the next three games," Cameron said. That story caused -- forced? --him to go into education rather than professional sports.

No one mentioned politics, Terry Schiavo, local government affairs, college sports or any of those topics that we tend to talk about and worry over. Interesting.

Several people have asked why we continue to write about the people arrested in an immigration sting at TIMCO. It's a fair question. We've written more than a dozen stories about the case since the federal agents arrested 27 airplane mechanics and repair workers last month. We've played most of them on the front page, often above the fold.

I asked John Nagy, the editor in charge of our coverage to explain.

The Guilford County commissioners just administered yet another defeat to open government this evening, voting 6 to 5 along party lines -- Democrats win -- to meet behind closed doors to talk about Jenks Crayton, the county tax collector.

We wrote about it here, and editorialized on it here.

No less than the SBI has cleared Crayton of the Democrats' accusations that Crayton granted property tax favors to Republicans commissioners. So?

Here's what Chairman Bruce Davis told the editorial board: "We owe it to the citizens to get to the bottom of this."

I'd suggest that the citizens want to see and hear how the commissioners get to the bottom of it. How they can do that when it's done in private is beyond me. It's not as if politics hasn't routinely gotten in the way of good government on this board. But then conducting their business in secret has never stopped the commissioners. After all, why do something embarrassing in front of your constituents?

Update here.

The goal: Write a poem about baseball, the Grasshoppers and First Horizon Park

Prize: Tickets to the homeopener of the Grasshoppers

Number of submissions: 228

Look on the faces of the contest judges when they saw the stacks of poems: Priceless

We asked you to Take a Swing at Poetry and, boy, did you ever. 228 entries is by far more than any other contest we've sponsored recently. Decorate Martha Stewart's Cell attracted 125.

Features editor Susan Ladd: "People decorated their entries with stickers and drawings. One came scribbled on the back of an invoice. One did his poem in the shape of a baseball, another came in the shape of a baseball diamond. One woman sent in clippings of a long-ago Little League team, and others attached notes about their favorite baseball memories. In addition to Canterbury School, which produced two runners-up, classes at Stokesdale Elementary, Greensboro Academy, Kiser Middle School and B'Nai Shalom Day School were among the schools that submitted entries."

Because of the number, we haven't gotten them all online yet, but we're working on it.

We've hired Katie Reetz as a reporter in our features section. Katie, is a senior majoring in journalism and political science at the University of Georgia, reports for duty in June. She has been the editor-in-chief of the UGA student newspaper and has interned at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Daily Reflector in Greenville, N.C.

Here are some links to her work. To my fellow bloggers, don't worry about this column. She's seen the light.

Two new cross-platform experiments:

* Columnist Lorraine Ahearn not only writes like a dream, she's easy on the ears, too. She reads two of her columns here.

* The fun part of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners' meeting last night is here. The file from the video of the meeting is large and is not the entire meeting. But these are some of the good parts. Thanks to Channel 13 Government Television for the tape. (Be patient. It may take a little while to download.) Here's our reporter's story about the meeting.

Two different ways we're trying to add and aid the discussion. Let me know what you think.

Most of the teen correspondents we're gathering to create our weekly teen page met today with the editors planning the page. Features editor Susan Ladd gave this report after the meeting.

"Wow! The first meeting of the teen page correspondents promises great things to come. Teen page editor Amy Joyner chose 60 teens from the 200 applicants, and virtually all of them came to the first meeting, including one that has a prom tonight, and one who came after taking the SAT. That's dedication.

"After taking some time to get to know each other (and eat some pizza) they got to down the business of naming the page. There was no shortage of ideas (128 in all), and they ranged from "Because I Say So" and "Teenage Wasteland" to "(insert name here)." After a couple of votes to narrow down the choices, they settled on ImPRESSions.

"The next task: decide what features they want to put on the page. Suggestions included a teen advice column written by teens, reviews, a spotlight feature, and a "new rules" list. They're a bright, funny and diverse group, and I know they're going to come up with a page that lots of folks -- not just teens -- will enjoy reading."

We haven't settled on a debut date, but we're certainly looking forward to it. It will be some different content that will shake up things.

It has been nearly five months since I announced a commitment that at least a third of our new hires would be minorities. Since then, we've hired five people, two of them are African American. Incidentally, two of the hires are female.

The sky hasn't fallen.

As you might recall -- you can read it for yourself in comments here and here -- some suggested that we were violating federal law, others said that this meant that talent was taking a back seat to skin color, and still others encouraged me to adopt a similar program for conservative reporters.

We have been assured by our counsel that we haven't violated federal law. A candidate's skills, along with his or her organization fit, remain the most important characteristics for hiring. We have not launched a political litmus test.

The jury is out on whether we have improved our coverage of the community. Of the two African Americans hired, one isn't here yet. Of the three who are here, they are all good. We are interviewing for other positions so we can continue to make progress.

Meanwhile, I believe more than ever what I wrote last November: "A diverse staff broadens, deepens and enriches our coverage of the world. It helps us avoid the stereotypes and misunderstandings that come with a multicultural society.

"Minority journalists also bring a different energy to our reporting, simply because they see and understand stories in ways that white journalists don't. They also often connect with other minorities in ways that white journalists don't....

"The fact is, the world is different for white people and for people of color. A diverse staff provides an authenticity and robustness that can't be duplicated. And if readers don't see their worlds and voices in the newspaper, they won't see the newspaper as credible."

"Some newspaper people seem to regard beating the competition as the opposable thumb of journalism, an essential characteristic that distinguishes winners from losers. I think it's more like a tailbone, a vestigial remnant from the era when reporters were still swinging from the trees -- that distant time when New York had eight daily papers, and newsboys in knickers prowled the streets shouting "Extra!" whenever their papers had something the other guys didn't."

That's Dan Okrent, the public editor of The New York Times. He's writing about the newspaper tradition of rushing to publish scoops (registration required). The peg is another Times embarrassment in which the paper had been given a one-day lead on a story as long as it agreed not to "seek reaction from other interested parties."

Oops.

Okrent doesn't much like the scoop culture, and who can blame him when the media does so many goofy things? My favorite was week before last when a FoxNews anchor announced the death of the pope a day early.

We at the News & Record are not only interested in scoops, but we're proud of them. So proud, in fact, that we announce them with labels that read "News & Record exclusive." We "borrowed" the idea from The Charlotte Observer.

As Okrent points out, the electronic media has taken over the breaking news beat. But local enterprise reporting pretty much remains with print and the occasional tenacious blogger. And that's why we label our exclusives. We think it's important to signal to readers that they won't find the story elsewhere. As we emphasize investigative reporting more, these scoops differentiate us from our competitors. (That glow of a scoop only lasts for a few hours before television anchors pick it up and read it into the camera with such authority you'd think they reported it themselves. But I'm not bitter.:))

We occasionally get information from news sources early, with the sole restriction being an embargoed publication date. We don't accept any hindrance on our reporting. We make this deal rarely because it isn't offered that often and because we know there is a decent chance we can get the story on our own terms.

We get scooped, too. With three competing weeklies, four local television stations and a cadre of bloggers, it's a tough news environment out there. On the other hand, it's a big tent. The more scoops produced by everyone, the better. That means that more information is getting out before the public, information that probably someone somewhere would just as soon remain under a rock.

Of course, the scoop has to be right.

I could just update the post below on minority hiring, but I don't want this data to get lost in the mix. The American Society of Newspaper Editors, meeting this week in D.C., got its annual report on minorities in newsrooms yesterday. (Yes, I'm behind. No, I'm not there. Yes, I know they tend to talk about the wrong things.)

Anyway, the headline is this: "The number of full-time journalists working at daily newspapers continues to fall while the number of minority journalists inched up nearly a half of a percentage point to 13.42 percent in 2004."

We're not alone. More detail here. How the News & Record compares with other papers around the country here.

Other commentary here, here and here.

And while I'm not there, our friend Dan Gillmor is.

We awarded our annual in-house journalism awards yesterday. The ceremony is my favorite 30 minutes of the year because we get to honor -- to say nothing of give cash to -- journalists who bust their butts for us throughout the year.

This year was particularly fun because there are some journalists who've been here before -- Stan Swofford won his first in 1975 -- and often -- Jerry Wolford has won 11 times. There is also a newcomer to the paper -- Melissa Umbarger has been here a year.

The contest judges an entrant's body of work for the year so consistent quality and versatility is a must. All of the judges -- who came from papers and magazines around the country -- expressed admiration for the submitted entries.

Here's the story that ran in the newspaper today:

For the record, I would have recognized Craig Newmark. Unfortunately. :)

Jeff Jarvis envisions a newspaper without sports, without business, without stocks and without a national and international wire report. Oh, and without editorial columnists, although I think he means syndicated, non-local ones, so you're safe, Ed.

His bottom line: Make it totally local.

"I'd argue that you could cut all that stuff out of the old, one-size-fits-all paper and even raise your price because it would be unique and valuable."

We're making the paper much more local -- particularly in sports -- although obviously we haven't gone quite as far as Jarvis suggests. I can tell you by the calls I get asking for more on this Bush speech or that battle in Iraq or this NBA game or that specific stock that some people are still using us as a one-stop-shop. But intensely local news and information is the way we're going.

Let's all agree to this: The success of the International Home Funishings Market is vital to the region and state. It provides business and jobs and a marketplace.

So why, I've been asked, do we write stories now that reflect poorly on it? Why would we quote now an industry analyst as saying that the furniture "business has been lackluster."? Why would we write now about price gouging by hotels?

Notice that I used the word "now" in each of those questions. The issue isn't so much that we write the stories but that we write them while the 70,000 industry folks are in town. Judy Mendenhall, president of the High Point International Home Furnishings Market Authority, first raised the point to me in a phone call. Since then, I've discussed it with an e-mail group that includes Mendenhall and Perry Keziah, a prominent High Point lawyer (and newspaper enjoyer and provocateur).

They acknowledge that visitors know that room rates go up during market week. But they believe that publicizing that fact rubs salt in the wounds. Personally, I think the salt gets rubbed when the visitors check-in and check-out. (We haven't posted this story because we haven't written it yet.)

But the larger point is the desire to manage the flow of news and information. It's not an unusual request. But for us to write about hotel rates after they have gone up and are back to normal is silly. Imagine if we decided not to write about $2.25 per gallon gas prices until they dropped back below $2. Readers not only wouldn't be served, they'd think we were idiots. (To save you the comment time, I know where some of you are on this issue already.)

The other suggestion is that by printing stories that might reflect negatively on the market, we're against High Point and we're hurting the region. Hardly. Readers expect us to print relevant information when we know it. They expect us to let the chips fall where they may. It isn't our business to make a determination on how we can help or hurt an institution. It's our business to write what we know. When citizens are informed, they can make intelligent judgments.

Enough with the high-church rhetoric. We're not the only ones talking about these sorts of issues. The business editor of Furniture/Today wrote a blog post last month about price gouging, although it ran before the visitors arrived. And the irrepressible Ivan Cutler of Inside Furniture says: "An excited sales representative declaring his productive market tells a colleague that his first day was "fantastic," with a detailed explanation of all the liquidators buying his company's merchandise. What does this say about the state of the industry?"

None of this is new. The mayor of High Point wrote protesting our reporting of the Las Vegas market back in 2001 during High Point market week. And Perry Keziah sent me a photocopy of the May 3, 1981, letters to the editor column in the Greensboro Daily News, which was filled with letter protesting stories about an effort by Dallas to start a market. Here's what the editor said at that time:

"The Daily News covers furniture for its regular subscribers and for others in the industry, and it commonly publishes major articles of interest during the market. It is the time when people -- ordinary citizens as well as buyers -- are most interested in the subject. The Dallas threat was perceived and widely discussed at the market well before the Daily News wrote about it."

Sounds familiar.

Saturday update: Here's the story on hotel room rates.

I've spent a lot of time here pondering the future of newspapers and attempting to signal where we're going. Our thinking evolves as we watch others in the industry do new and interesting things, as the research gets smarter and as technology opens new doors.

This is where we're headed. It has been our path for nearly a year, and Minneapolis has done much of the spadework for us.

"It's the question on every newspaper person's mind: can you reinvent your core newspaper -- especially its hard news content -- to attract younger adult readers, or is the "mother ship" a lost cause? Based on results from two Readership Institute studies at the Star Tribune in Minnesota, we urge you not to succumb to the doomsday scenario. You can engage this group -- if you're prepared to fundamentally rethink your news choices and the way you present news and advertising content. We call this approach 'editing for experience.'"

The Minneapolis experiment tooks three different approaches to the front page of the newspaper. Here's what they did, as described by a reporter at the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention last week:

"The Readership Institute, surveyed 340 young adults last month, asking what they thought of the news and advertising content of three Star Tribune front pages: the original Feb. 22 front page; an improved page, where editors kept the same front-page articles but changed the design and focus of the articles; and an "Experience" page, where editors chose articles from the original front page or that day's budget."

Not surprisingly, attendees at ASNE, were less than thrilled. Some editors feared the proposal dumbs down the paper. But the tendency to look at content changes as "either/or" is flawed. Newspapers can be serious-minded, civic-oriented and appealing at the same time. In fact, the changes preferred by younger adults also appeal to older ones.

We're pushing on with changes on the Web site; we're pushing on with changes to the newspaper. They don't come quickly or without mistakes. But we push on. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Ted Vaden, public editor at the N&O, writes about a possible advertising windfall in the lottery for newspapers. "It will be interesting to see, should lottery advertising come to pass, whether newspapers opposed to the lottery accept the advertising."

Of course, they -- we -- would. Because advertising and editorial are separate and independent of each other, the position of one doesn't affect the other. I guarantee the advertising department would just as soon editorial didn't take some of the positions it takes, and the company has canceled advertising contracts to show for it.

"Partisans on both extremes of the political divide aim at the media these days. Sometimes fomented by cable TV talk shows, talk radio and Internet blogs, this has all been in overdrive since the 2004 election season.

I think the answer is that democracies need a free, vigorous press to flourish. A weakened press -- whether it's weakened from within or without -- endangers democracy."

I've written about this topic, but Kate Parry, reader rep at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, writes about it better. (Registration required.)

I don't venture into Rhino-land often, but John Hammer wrote an article about newspapers and, eventually, blogs in the most recent edition that the self-correcting blogosphere needs to go to work on.

A lot of fodder there, but I'll make only two points, one factual and the other an interesting omission.

He states as fact that the News & Record makes a 30 percent to 40 percent profit, a guess that is wildly off the mark. He doesn't cite any supporting data, which suggests to me that he simply made the numbers up.

He bashes out-of-town newspaper ownership for a while in his piece, ignoring the fact that he, too, is part of a newspaper chain. "It is one of the problems that cities with chain dailies have: a huge chunk of money that, when the newspapers were locally owned, stayed in the community, is now being sent to some corporate headquarters. It is a drain on the economy of the community." Money spent by advertisers in the Charlotte edition of The Rhinoceros Times stays in Charlotte?

Many people are weighing in now on the Greensboro City Council's action not to endorse the Truth and Reconciliation Project. If this isn't an example of the benefits of the blogosphere and citizen journalism, I don't know what is. On her blog, a council member articulates her position and some of the background maneuvering. A citizen who attended the meeting posts his thoughts with promises of more commentary to come. The newspaper's editorial page editor does the same. It's particularly effective because our newspaper coverage was constrained because the late hour the council addressed the subject ran smack dab against our deadlines. Beyond that, the meeting itself also made compelling television if you stayed up to watch (or watched it at 5:30 a.m., as I did on Channel 13.)

On a related topic, reporter Jim Schlosser has been asked to give a statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He's declined, with my support. Jim was not a witness to the events that November day in 1979. He did report on some of the events afterward as did scores of reporters over the years.

By not participating, we are not expressing an opinion on the commission's work one way or the other. We simply avoid getting personally involved with an ongoing news story. By submitting a statement, Jim would -- presumably -- be asked to express opinions and feelings about what led up to Nov. 3 and what came after. While there is much debate about the value of reporters letting their opinions be known, we still prefer to pursue stories with objectivity and fairness, and to put any personal feelings we have on a controversial subject aside.

So, I'm checking in at Ed Cone's last night and he asks: "N&R reporter Jeffrey Hahne interviews Tommy Lee...with all respect to the estimable Lorraine Ahearn, wouldn't an interview with a rock star make for a better podcast than a columnist reading her work? Why not put this up on GoRadio?"

Like, duh. Jeff doesn't actually work in the newsroom; he is working to put together a publication serving Eastern Guilford and Western Alamance. But I sent Ed's post to Jeff and his boss, and, sure enough, they agreed that we should share with listeners the interviews with Tommy Lee, Gene Simmons, Ashlee Simpson and others. They'll be up on Go Radio ASAP.

Thanks for the suggestion, Ed.

Staff writer Matt Williams has sliced and diced the comments of each council member during last night's Truth and Reconciliation discussion last night. Chose a council member to listen to here. Other information here. Other commentary here.

Every successful organization needs a go-to person, someone who can take a tough job, complete it, take another job, complete it, take another job and so on. They make good things happen.

Ed Williams, who has been here for more than 20 years, has been one of those folks for us. For the past three years, he has been our city editor in High Point, leading our reporting efforts there and developing our intensely local community coverage. To many he's best known as our wine columnist, having built a reputation as a trusted source on the grape.

Now, dang it all, he's being called upon to be our go-to guy in marketing. He was named the News & Record's Brand Marketing Manager today. That means he's moving out of news.

Managing Editor Ann Morris said: "Ed was a newsroom pioneer in taking a reader-focused approach to newsgathering and storytelling, pushing his staff to tell stories in new and fresh ways. He built a strong team that knows how to work hard and have fun. We'll miss Ed's creativity, drive and passion for excellence."

Ed came here as a reporter, has filled several news and features editing positions, and worked a stint in Human Resources as a recruiter. He has excelled everywhere. While we'll miss him in news, we desperately need him to promote and market the paper. I look forward to working with him in his new role.

And he'll continue with the wine column, thank goodness.

I wasn't fortunate enough to know Chuck Hauser, who died Sunday in Chapel Hill. Hauser was managing editor of the Greensboro Daily News in 1965 and 1966 and then served as executive news editor of the Daily News and the Greensboro Record for two more years. An awful lot of journalists here who did know him speak highly of him.

After stints at other papers, he landed the position of executive editor at the Providence Journal-Bulletin where the paper won a Pulitzer Prize under his stewardship.

The alt-weekly Providence Phoenix has an insightful take on his time there (thanks to Romenesko). "So it was a shock, after he was forced out of the paper in 1989, after (Publisher) Metcalf's mysterious death in a bicycle accident, to realize what Hauser had accomplished in his 16 years.

"A transformed Journal was not only the trusted "paper of record" that it had long been, but now it was also lively, deep, adventurous on its best days, and seemed to crackle with excitement."

Hauser retired to Chapel Hill and taught at the journalism school. His influence will continue to be felt through his former students at newspapers across the country.

Reporting live local news accurately and fairly is tough.

Which makes the transparency here even more admirable.

A "statement taker" for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission e-mailed staff writer Jim Schlosser earlier this month asking if he would offer his "viewpoint on this episode in Greensboro's history."

Jim talked with me about it, and we agreed he should decline.

By opting out, we are not expressing an opinion on the commission's work. There are plenty of those to go around, and the newspaper's belongs on its editorial page.

Instead, our reluctance stems from the long-standing principle that journalists do not get personally involved in ongoing news coverage.

"Dr." Michael Fuchs, our online content editor, has finally come out from behind his computer screen to be on the computer screen with our newest blog, the Bargain Blog. As Michael says, it is "devoted to finding mind-blowing deals in the Triad."

Today, movie tickets.

I've already gotten one e-mail saying that this is free advertising. Well, not exactly. No one pays us for it. No one but a journalist who likes bargains controls the content. That and readers who have their own takes. We prefer it as being a place where you can get reliable consumer information.

"I am hoping the blog will be seen as a way folks in the Triad can learn about great deals and share them with each other," Michael says.

Share on, everyone.

And another blog is up and running. This one is on North High Point and Jamestown and is the charge of staff writer Justin Cord Hayes. "It will contain information and conversation about issues of interest to those of us in the Jamestown/High Point area: development, sprawl, schools, entertainment, etc."

Both the Bargain Blog and the North High Point and Jamestown blogs are departures of a sort for us. Good departures. We're expanding beyond the traditional newspaper beat topics into areas of general interest -- shopping and saving money! -- and into areas of geography -- where people live, shop and gossip. Expect more of both.

Not. Jay Rosen rounds up the soul-searching that many newspaper journalists are doing about the future of news on paper. I hear that. It is a daunting time. Some say we're at a tipping point. Maybe. That's not bad.

As an industry, we don't lack the talent or vision to redirect the ship, as one letter writer suggests. We lack the will. The data is clear; the status quo is not an option. What are we waiting for? The changes in store should be embraced if we can reach new audiences with our journalism. No one is suggesting we abandon our core principles. Truth telling remains the key. And everything I read challenges us to make that principle stronger.

The top editors here are meeting on Friday to begin putting to work the lessons of the Readership Institute, Merrill Brown, our own Town Square and the "revolutionaries."

Who will carry the torches for us? Tim Porter guides us with his New Values for a New Age of Journalism. Jeff Jarvis with A new model for LOCAL NEWSpapers. Jay Rosen with many posts, most recently this one. Mark Glaser with the Media Company I want to work for.

It may take us a while to reach our destination, and we'll almost certainly go down a few deadends and take the long way around. But we know where we're going.

The chain weekly has an impact on The Charlotte Observer's coverage this morning. On the Observer's front page is a story (registration required) about what the paper calls a "longtime Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board renegade" leaking details of a sensitive closed school board meeting to a reporter.

The topic? The retirement details of Superintendent James Pughsley and the leadership transition.
The reporter? Someone with The Rhinoceros Times in Charlotte.
The "renegade" school board member? The new publisher of The Rhinoceros Times in Charlotte.

Not surprisingly, other school board members are aghast. Rhino publisher Larry Gauvreau's explanation, from the Observer: "Instead, he said he doesn't believe Pughsley's retirement negotiations or the board's transition plans should be discussed in private, and he'll answer anyone's questions about closed-door talks on those topics. 'Our board schemes this way, and it's wrong,' said Gauvreau, who then discussed the same issues with the Observer."

Willie Hammer for school board, anyone?

Important thread of conversation about pseudonymous bloggers and anonymous commenters at Allen Johnson's place. You can help guide us.

At the newspaper, we don't like anonymity or pseudonymity. We think readers should know who is making statements in the paper. We use anonymous sources on occasion, but we hold those sources to a high standard. First, we know who they are; we're just protecting their identity. Second, they must have first-hand knowledge of a story or event. Third, the information they provide is critical to understanding the story. Fourth, we have to understand what, if any reasons they have for speaking anonymously, including what motivations, if any, they may have to mislead us.

But the Web is a different medium. Bloggers use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons. Blog commenters often don't even bother with pen names; they post namelessly. And, sometimes, blamelessly.

It's distasteful to those of us who believe everyone should have the courage of their convictions and stand by their voiced opinions. We want discourse to be civil and constructive, rather than hurtful and filled with invective. Putting your name on your comments places the responsibility directly on your head. Yet, because editors are few and far between on the Web, open discourse of both sorts is enabled and encouraged. In addition, the medium's speed means a conversation can be conducted close to real-time if participants want to. Compare that with the daily newspaper, where the constraints of space, publishing schedules, and editorial oversight means that participants can debate a single issue over a period of months.

We know that some commenters on our blogs use fake addresses. We know that some post regularly under a variety of names, suggesting to casual readers that many people support an opinion, when, perhaps, only one person does. The philosophy -- and practice -- is that readers quickly challenge and fact-check weak and bogus arguments. Does it work the way it should?

Pseudonymous bloggers and anonymous commenters -- along with those who sign their own names -- please weigh in. How do you build community, respect free speech and participate in constructive discussion, when trolls and detractors abound?

Update: Sue, GIT and Ed post. As does a Bizweek blog.