April 25th, 2010 
joel How many people does it take to write a newspaper?
Well if the moment is a typical Sunday afternoon in Erie, apparently the answer is one.
For the last several Monday mornings I’ve noticed religion and general assignment reporter Dana Massing’s byline all over the local news stories in that day’s paper. Then Sunday, when seeking details on GoErie.com for a breaking story that the TV stations had aired, I found only the content that Ms. Massing had created on the website. It wasn’t until the normal night shift came in that the story hit the website, sometime after 8:00 PM.
I don’t write this as a criticism, but as a warning to everyone having an event or seeking coverage on the weekend: you better write a really good news release if you want some ink. There’s only so much one reporter, even a good reporter like Dana Massing, can do by herself.
We talk about the new realities of media on this open forum. Feel free to comment below, send me an e-mail, or tweet @pressandtower.
Embrace the chaos!
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Joel, I don’t believe any of the local media outlets are very good at updating content, especially on weekends. The same content is on their sites Sunday nights that was there on Friday night. The GoErie rss feed seems to have better updates. Perhaps we need an on-line full time news outlet people can go to for the LATEST updates. It would take a lot of work to establish contacts, but a worthwhile idea?
Dale,
Who is going to pay for it?
The region’s news outlets are running awfully thin on the employee side. At one time radio is what provided regular news updates, but that died decades ago.
I wish there was an answer, but I know of none.
It’s just a “perhaps”, John. Like a think tank, the ideas are tossed out for later discussion. Some sites (think ErieBlogs) have run a very successful news blog every weekday, many updates or recent releases, as well as giving plenty of cyberspace for promoting local events.
I know many locals who hit on this site every morning to get the latest news without having to waste time looking at each news site.
Pay for it? That’s the biggest problem, granted.
Dale,
I think the problem goes beyond posting updates, etc. At some point someone has to be doing the basic news gathering and reporting. As it is now on the blogs, etc., it is largely grabbing the stories from ETN or other traditional news media sources. It gets complicated, but with luck, maybe things will sort themselves out.
While I am not a fan of their politics and opinions, I do respect the way the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette updates their website at post-gazette.com. It appears to me that stories are released to the website as they are completed – without fear of losing newstand sales the next day. If newspapers are to grow the web they need to be as current and live as possible without worrying about the printed product. I believe they can actually compliment one another. Someone at TPC, other than just Dana, is working on stories for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday’s paper. They should post those stories to the web as soon as they are ready. Often the Post-Gazette will even release a brief version and mention that you can find more details in the print product. Newspapers have such a wealth of talent and resources… they just need to find the model that best fits their “local” public.
Why has Julie Coates been moved to weekend weather and weekday reporting?
Why don’t you call Channel 12 and ask them yourself?
Beacause Brian Lilly owns WICU and does what he wants. You don’t matter.
Julie was told she was doing weekends and would report during the week. A decision was made to only use 2 anchors in the morning and that the second anchor would also do weather. Economics, pure and simple.
Sounds like a move done at WYTV Youngstown where Stan Boney became both a co anchor and his previous duties as a meteorologist for the afternoon / evening newscasts.
There is a lot of action on Erie Blogs of late.
Lory’s “eyeball avatar” is everywhere, as she writes the news, and proclaims Erie Blogs is not just an aggregator of Erie Bloggers, but a news source.
In her words: ” I view ErieBlogs as not just a repository for blogs written by Erieites, but also a news source.”
—Erie Blogs, Lory says:
April 28, 2010 at 10:00 am
A flap is underway as Lory pushes “Erie Alerts” as an integral part of our lives. I guess if Erie Blogs is going that route, you can just skip Erie Blogs, and go to Erie Alerts for the news that EB will listen to, and post as “news”. Kinda redundant.
Then, Erie Blogs, meaning Lory, not Mike, wants Erie Alerts on Twitter feed for up to the moment news. A comment maker pointed out that it would likely lead to criminals listening to a Twitter app to see how near the police are…in real time.
Lory says the bad news must be disingenuosly reported as well as the good news, joining the ETN folks reporting which restaurants will kill you each week as indicative of Erie, PA.
[It is a Health Department job, and should only be reported when the Health Department fails, or has a major "Erie Alert" on some killer restaurant].
We are building visitors and it is wacko to advertise in the ETN that health care risks at restaurants are gonna getcha in Erie. But that is expected at ETN, for it is “free filler” for them….provided by the taxpayers.
But the commentator who points out Twitter in real time, informing criminals what Erie Alerts and cops are up to, may not be in our interest, is astute at observation.
At this, Lory held her eye, er…ground,… and insists this is “news” and in the capacity of Erie Blogs, since they no longer just aggregate blogs.
Chiming in is commentor J. Mosur, who is upset today that in all this “news”, NO ONE has declared to us that Harrisburg has declared bankruptcy. He chides news sources and wonders why folks do not give them credibility, since they cover drivel, but not news.
That rang a bell with me, for at the Press and Tower, we (but not PR) had a discussion last FEBRUARY, on Harrisburg and bankruptcy. Some guy named John disputed my facts at P&T, but the story was reported accurately, and noted in Deep Background by me. Here:
http://www.pressandtower.com/2010/01/deep-background-for-january-31-february-6-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-13939
J. Mosur being upset in late April with Erie Blogs not reporting Harrisburg went bankrupt made me laugh for another reason. The news is NOT reporting this, for it ain’t true; Harrisburg has NOT declared bankruptcy. It is still in the option stage, and widely reported as such.
If Mosur has knowledge on it, I have seen this bankruptcy declaration nowhere as of 4/29/10 pushing 8:30 PM here.
But Twitter should not be informing our criminals the cops are coming via Lory’s plans at Erie Blogs.
Now we add a new feature.
Bryan and Marnie Oberle are BOTH writing at Erie Blogs (not in the aggregator section, but in the “news world” ala Lory posts).
One is still a clear ETN employee, and the other a former employee there, but significant family member.
Lo and behold. With these two on board at Erie Blogs, guess what ETN did?
Go to the homepage at ETN, and point all the way to the right of your screen. Click “Blogs”. Enter that maze and click “ALL Blogs”.
ETN is trying to become a blog aggregator and is adding new “outside blogs” from non-employees.
[This is Major Weird, after ditching Scott Bremner, and then ask for new bloggers!!!].
I remember long ago writing a story for ETN with their Lenten Inspiration series for every year….a community plus, so ETN stopped it.
Anyway, I wanted a copy of my post and requested one. $9.50 from me and ETN would send me a copy of what I wrote for them for free. I found a copy in a laundromat for free.
Get this…..ETN now has a LINK to Erie Blogs on that “ALL BLOGS” section.
This never occurred in the past, and I always wondered why EB linked to GoErie, but not vice versa.
I am sure it is only a coincidence that with two ETN biggies writing for EB now, a link from GoErie to Erie Blogs is needed….and done.
For you brave folks who choose to blog through ETN, perhaps you should get a clarification if your blog belongs to the paper, or you.
Keep in mind Panepento wrote “Inside Erie” as a blog for ETN, and upon mutual adios, Peter went on to greener pastures and the ETN gave official blessings, including “let’s do a Global Erie and as Lake Erie Lifestyles joint adventure, allowing Global Erie to be printed each month in the ETN owned, Lake Erie Lifestyle magazine”.
The blog “Inside Erie”, of course, stayed inside Erie with the ETN, and Pat Howard STILL pens it in HIS name.
Watch out you new bloggers at ETN.
Find out if you are giving away your talent at no charge, as well as a right to own your thoughts.
I was surprised I was to pay for my words….given freely as inspiration at ETN.
Which brings up the Erie Blogs aggregation.
Lotsa old, outdated in the right side list still.
And could we get a clarification if new bloggers in town should go with Erie Blogs (which is now a news source per Lory…the main page….or a blog in its own outright).
OR, should newbies enter writings at ETN “All Blogs” section?
Now that Lory has made EB a “news source”, somehow, I have a feeling ETN will be buying Erie Blogs one day……just to keep all the news in Erie under one roof.
That should make Mike smile.
Is Kara part-time? Why do her weather segments on the 12:30 show appear taped?
same reason the WSEE news at 6 & 11 appears taped…because it is! (the 6 PM newscast tapes at 4PM, which is why the other day there was no mention of the unfolding SWAT-standoff on the westside, which the other stations were covering live. the 11 PM newscast tapes at 10:30, which isn’t quite as bad.)
What’s the reason Kara can’t do weather live at 12:30? If they’re gonna run tape, they might as well rerack the taped WSEE forecast that runs at noon.
I remember a time when stations had to run a CG at the bottom of their screen that read…PRE-RECORDED. It was the honest thing to do, letting viewers know that the newscast was recorded earlier. This was done when FOX had the World Series and late newscasts would not air in some cases to well after midnight. I suppose nowadays with anemic FCC jurisdiction, stations can do whatever they like with no concern for integrity. It’s all about the money or in Erie broadcasting, the lack of it.