November 4th, 2008 
joel We’ve brought the important news feeds together so you can get all the breaking news this Election Day in one place…here on The Press and Tower.
And don’t forget to vote…the polls are open 7 AM to 8 PM. Get polling place info here. Exercise your franchise.
November 3rd, 2008 joel There was a strong discussion last week about media bias in their presidential coverage. 3 out of 4 respondents thought that the media was biased toward Barack Obama. Less than 10% saw media bias toward McCain.
On Tuesday, the Erie Times-News ran a story about the feud between Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly. One of points made in the article was that consumers of news want to see it through their own ideological filters. This phenomenon has caused much hand-wringing, with some claiming that it contributes to the polarization of our society.
Really? How about you?
On a scale from one to four, how diverse are the news outlets where you consume your news?
Total Voters: 22
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Posted in Polls 
Tags: Bill O'Reilly, cable news, Erie Times-News, Keith Olbermann, media bias, news anchors 
No Comments » September 29th, 2008 joel The financial crisis has dominated the news the past few weeks, and last week we asked the question how you felt the media was doing in explaining the problems with our economy. The overwhelming majority felt that the media helped them achieve at least a basic understanding of the issues at hand.
This week we’re interested on how pervasive wireless technology is with our readership. Just how “tethered” are you?
How connected are you "on the go"?
Total Voters: 31
Loading ... Posted in Polls Tags: cable news, CNBC, financial crisis, Fox Business Channel, wireless No Comments » September 22nd, 2008 joel Last week we posed the question whether or not Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott should hire a Communications Director to better manage the public relations priorities of City Hall. A majority of respondents voted yes, he should have someone manage his message better. However, the low amount of those answering the poll speaks volumes about the ambivalence over the issue, and perhaps city policy…which again, speaks to the need for someone to communicate the city’s relevance! Oh well, next question:
This week was an unprecedented one in the financial markets. One investment bank goes bankrupt, another swallowed up, the government takes over Fannie, Freddie and AIG. And the stock market moves 1500 points in both directions. The general media providers leaned heavily on their financial specialists to explain all the complexity. How do you think they did?
On a scale from 1 to 5, how well are you being informed by the coverage of the current financial crisis?
Total Voters: 19
Loading ... Posted in Polls Tags: cable news, CNBC, Erie, Fox Business Channel, Joe Sinnott, news anchors, Wall Street Journal, Washington 12 Comments » September 15th, 2008 joel Participants in last week’s poll about the best cable news coverage of the party conventions favored Fox News Channel followed by CNN.
This week’s poll keys off of a discussion that took place a month ago on Peter Panepento’s blog, Outside Erie. In the comments of the post, “Erie’s Flawed Thinking,” George Vietze gives his account of meeting with the City of Erie’s economic development team and learning first hand the accomplishments of various authorities and bureaus at the city that are making progress toward their goals of creating a better community. The discussion led to the opinion that there are many initatives going on at the city level that are never covered by the Erie media, and that someone in the administration skilled in public relations could help the city better get their message out.
Which leads us to this week’s poll. I hope that many reporters on the street are willing to give us their opinions.
Does Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott need a Communications Director?
Total Voters: 23
Loading ... Posted in Polls Tags: cable news, CNN, Erie, Fox News Channel, Joe Sinnott, media, Outside Erie, Peter Panepento 2 Comments » September 12th, 2008 joel Editor’s note: Sound off, give a shout out on “Deep Background,” our totally-random open discussion of all things Erie media.
The GMA train is coming to Erie: As part of ABCNews’s campaign to visit 50 states in 50 days before the Presidential election, the Good Morning America train, complete with restored antque rail cars, will be rolling into Erie’s Union Station on Tuesday. They’ll be riding at least in our neck of the woods on the route of the famed 20th Century Limited (think North By Northwest), and spend about 15 minutes at the Brewerie at Union Station talking to an invited group of Erie voters, before moving on. The taped segment will be aired later. (more…) Posted in The Feed Tags: ABC, Apple, cable news, Chris Matthews, Cleveland Browns, David Gregory, Erie, ESPN, Good Morning America, HDTV, iTunes, Jeff Zucker, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, NBC, NBC Universal, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Steve Jobs, Time Warner Cable, Tom Brokaw, WFXP, WICU, WJAC, WSEE No Comments » September 8th, 2008 joel Last week we asked about your Olympic viewing habits. Two-thirds of respondents said that they watched at least the same amount of coverage as the Athens Olympics, with almost 25% admitting that they were totally-addicted to the Beijing Games.
This week, let’s go from the quantitative to the qualitative:
Which cable news channel had the best coverage of the national party conventions?
Total Voters: 35
Loading ... Posted in Polls Tags: C-SPAN, cable news, CNN, Democratic National Convention, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Republican National Convention No Comments » Loading ...
