Scanning the headlines?
One of the then-surprising findings from the bloom of empirical communications research (much done at the U of I) in the 1950s was that most people who read newspapers didn't really read them. They used them more to scan the world (as presented in the press) to make sure there was nothing particularly important occurring that they had to attend to. I suppose that effect is still more or less true, although anyone who believes a newspaper, particularly an American newspaper, and most particularly our local rag, presents anything approaching an accurate representation of the world is a sucker ripe for the plucking.
Even so, your modern common man or woman, lacking time, is rarely able to even scan the newspaper, and may experience a vague gnawing feeling of just not knowing what's going on of importance; being out of the loop as it were.
If this is you, let me put your mind at ease. There is almost never anything you need to read in the local newspaper. It will not help you make a more informed decision in case you are amongst the minority who votes. It is not a vigorous debate, or a marketplace of ideas. Nor is it much of a watchdog despite its pretensions to present itself as one; more often it appears as a lapdog petted by the rich and powerful in these climes.
All of which is to say I'm a little sick of reading the Gazette, let alone trying to convey its idiocy (and idiocy is the exact meaning of the bubble its owners and executors live in), so this is the last go around of this project for at least a little while. I need a little idiocy of rural life of my own.
You may have noticed a little to-do in The SPlog about an article on some condos for sale that read like an advertisement. Well, that happens. This sort of stuff is almost all partially advertising anyway, but this piece was a little careless. My guess is that the reporter's brain was fried from trying to untangle the tangled web of deception surrounding the UI research park (the editors get no such dispensation).
It seems that a bunch of presumptuous pinheads, i.e. the faculty, want an audit of the research park before the big U invests in Phase 2. How dare they question the harnessing of the university to the business model? The U of I is a going concern. It has a venture capital fund, it's a real estate developer, it markets itself as an economic development engine and jobs jobs jobs! The article's conclusion seems to be that no one really knows what the gains and losses are, who's getting the sugar, who's getting fleeced, or even how the whole thing got set up — old timers might remember the Chancellor's shredder. It will be interesting to see how the big players game this, although I expect little of substance, probably a prolonged Chief-type defense. Thirty years from now we might get the old passive-voice "mistakes were made," but the perps will be expiring in their luxurious digs in Florida.
A typical bleeding-heart sob story on the front page starts with some local middle class woman whose entire income is about to be wiped out by health insurance premiums. Well she should of thought of that earlier and invested properly. Does she think the rest of us owe her a living? Does she want to put our free market health insurance companies out of business? Are there no prisons? No poorhouses? Yes you've read this all before. Move along, there's nothing to see here, unless you like looking at train wrecks.
Rob Kanter has an article on a net zero energy house built in Urbana. (You can read about it here).
It's cutting edge. Except that it appears that most of the technology and know-how has been available since the 1980s. No cost data is provided, unfortunately, but my guess is energy savings over initial costs is a big net gain in money terms alone, but maybe not in the short term, individually advantageous but socially damaging terms of The Market (blessed be its name). A couple years ago I lived across Philo road from one of the new Build Urbana subdivisions getting thrown up. I had a heating contractor out to do some work. We got to talking about energy efficiency, and he said you would not believe the low-end inefficient crap that was going into those houses. Of course that shaves several thousand dollars off the cost, maybe even tens of dollars in monthly payments, so The Market (blessed be its name) says: buy cheap, use more gas, drill baby drill, invade the middle east. So I don't know what these guys building zero energy houses are trying to prove. It's probably a socialist plot. The next thing you know your freedom will be taken away by "the nanny state" and their energy efficient building codes.
A feature on our man Hogan, the perhaps unsound new UI President, focuses on his continuing work as a scholar of the cold war. He has a couple intriguing observations about the period, such as that the Soviet Union destroyed its economy by excessive military spending. That's interesting given last week's column by neocon militarist Max Boot on the American military empire, Tom Englehardt's recent column "Call the Politburo, We're in Trouble," and the quickly heating debate about the Afghanistan debacle.
That segues into this week's George Will column. As I noted last week, Will is often a good barometer of what the not-totally-crazy right is thinking and pushing. He details a couple of war front incidents, and appears to be heading toward saying our boys are hamstrung by those bleeding heart liberals back in Washington and that we should unleash the current incarnation of Chiang Kai-Shek or Curtis LeMay (you can Google him along with the words "war criminal"). To my surprise, Will then takes the position that this war is beyond foolish and it's time to leave. Well, I guess it is Obama's war now.
On the totally crazy right, Cal Thomas continues his jihad against Islam. It's puerile garbage of course, but it's raw meat to the reactionaries that brought this piece of work to C-U this spring. It's dismaying that some of our "local leaders" actually give this guy credence and continue to foist his disease on us. Then again, one of the Gazoo righties recently reviewed a biography of LeMay and presented him in a favorable light. Send in the drones and bomb 'em back to the Stone Age.
Another piece of rightist drivel appears in a point-counterpoint bit about blame for the BP disaster in the Gulf. It's not really worth mentioning, and certainly not worth reading — either side of it, except to note that the author of the right side is a law professor at the U of I. It's not the same guy who wrote about Hollywood causing the financial crash, but he's in the same silly gang practicing the same religion (blessed be its name). This one is a similarly ludicrous and shallow piece of propaganda, but what's of note is that the Gazette does not identify him as a "player" working for oil industry front groups. It's not a big point, but it is one more in favor of simply ignoring your local newspaper, because it's not yours at all. It is a blight on the community and has to go.
11 comments
urbanajohn
I can’t wait until the News-Gazette goes under! Then Champaign-Urbana will have no local newspaper coverage whatsoever! Then we’ll be ever more relevant as a prominent region of East-Central Illinois! Yay!
Local Yocal
As a reader of The News-Gazette everyday, I find Mr. Tarr’s summaries very enjoyable. The call for the paper to be discontinued has a point, however, I subscribe to the axiom of “know thy enemy”. The arrogant social engineering The News-Gazette has attempted year after year (Blessed be the name of Countess Chinigo and her Catholic Board of Trustees) is tiresome; but I do like to track basic information of how much stuff is costing, when decisions are being made, and the excuses used later to explain why segregated sprawl continues. Also, The News-Gazette remains the last sword (regrettably) to open up this county’s secret criminal justice system (try to file a FOIA for a police report some time if you don’t believe what the police and prosecutors do is meant to be kept secret), and only when the N-G raises questions does the current law enforcement regimes open up the books.
The idea of The News-Gazette going away, being ignored, and becoming irrelevant seems a little hasty because current alternative media has not matured enough to fill the void of a News-Gazette-less C-U. I don’t see SmilePolitely, The Champaign Pundit, The Daily Illini, The Public I, WILL-580, WEFT, The Independent Media Center, WBCP, et al. having the access nor the resources to cover our area on a daily basis. These alternative media sources are great supplements to “official coverage”, even sometimes influencing N-G reporters’ vision of the world, but until a reporter like Joel Gillespie can get a one-on-one interview with a Chief Finney or a Clint Atkins, we are not ready, in my opinion, to be without the N-G quite yet. Like it or not, when Tom Kacich or Jim Dey call for an interview, they get access. As yet, no other media outlet can claim to have 100,000 readers every day, and ignoring the contents of the N-G will keep you “out of the loop” as to the next round of local follies to come.
The News-Gazette’s editorial positions and reporting perspectives may be laughable and biased, but it does give us the what, if not the why. The local alternative media outlets are unfortunately dependent on talented volunteers, who, like Mr. Tarr, run out of steam giving their efforts away for free. I will miss the weekly wraps, but I will keep reading the damn N-G, no matter how infuriating.
urbanajohn
Oh crap, you mean it takes MONEY to run a competent newspaper??? But we want it for FREE!!! The internet entitles us to at least that much…
I appreciate Ms. Yokel’s comments, and I will admit to a little bit of hyperbole and even silliness in my call for us to turn our backs on the Gazoo. What I’d like to see is regime change, where more humane and intelligent people took over the operation, rather than wiping it off the map. On the other hand, if papers like the Ann Arbor News are any indication, the latter is more likely.
As will be obvious in an article appearing tomorrow, I rely heavily on the Gazette’s local news reporting (as do all the other media you mention), and value it even when it’s confused and superficial. That is the *only* part of the Gazette that is valuable, and it’s a very small percentage of what fills the paper. I think that function can be taken up by some sort of other institutional arrangements in this town. I don’t think that’s going to happen though, given the various weaknesses of the other media you mention. But it could under the right conditions—and volunteerism is not one of them, at least as an ongoing operating condition.
On another point, I’m discouraged by your valorization of the Gazette’s power. Is it true that only it can get a FOIA request filled? I find that hard to believe. Likewise I’m not convinced that the big shots you mention can be interviewed only by Gazette employees. First of all, I haven’t seen any interviews of them, and I presume any that exist are puffball pieces, which might explain why they’d agree to such interviews and not to others. Plus interviews are rarely the best source of information of the sort we need local reporting for.
One final thing. I seriously doubt that 100,000 figure. I know how they get it, but it’s exaggerated. The Gazette’s circulation is about 40,000, and that’s over an area with a population exceeding 300,000. That’s pretty good penetration for a newspaper, but it’s no juggernaut and exposes large and increasing weaknesses.
Local Yocal
I agree I overestimate The News-Gazette’s circulation at 100,000. I will maintain however, that even at 40,000, it remains the most looked-at media in the county, and has the most leverage (rightly or wrongly) over local political-wanna-be’s. Voters have second-guessed The News-Gazette’s election endorsements often enough, but most local politicians and big-time developers seek to gain favorable publicity through The News-Gazette first and foremost.
“... interviews are rarely the best source of information of the sort we need local reporting for.” Amen to that. I completely agree. I prefer investigative reporting myself, and when The News-
Gazette does it, (if only rarely), it has been quite effective. I agree with you that The News-Gazette’s access-power is rooted in their good-ol boy/landed gentry perspective (I liken their editorial attitude to a bunch of fraternity boys from the 40’s) and the conservative elite U of I administrators, law enforcement, and developers usually have little to fear from a friendly conversation with staff from the N-G. That reality has made your weekly analysis spot on more often than not.
But every now and then, N-G reporting has been the catalyst to some real change or at least exposed a real problem. I cite examples like: The METCAD Skirt Check Scandal of ‘95, The 2001 Brady Smith Plea Bargain, The MTD Tram-Scam Boondoggle of 2002, The 2004 Eavesdropping Case, The 2006 Larry Martin Shooting, The Local FOIA Non-Compliance Scandal of 2000, County Auditor Tony Fabri’s Attendance Record, The 2002 $1 Auction of Courthouse Furniture to County Employees Only Scandal, and most recently their local coverage of the U of I I-Catagory Scandal. In addition, year in and year out, the non-profit charity organizations have been able to pay bills by publicizing their needs through the N-G. That may change as the economy continues its decline, but Restoration Urban Ministries, The Center for Women in Transition, Salt n Light, ect. have stayed open thanks partly to News-Gazette reporting.
If you think you can FOIA a police report from this county’s circuit clerk’s office, as was the case from 1972-2007, you are ignorant to recent developments. Try it sometime. Let us know how you do. Pick any criminal case (besides the Carrington shooting) and see if you can get the narrative investigative report authored by the arresting officers. The State’s Attorney won’t let you have it. Even after the case is decided.
I would also offer that private citizens, the public media outlets and the grassroots media movements don’t have a staff of lawyers to enforce a FOIA request. It was not uncommon for bureaucracy’s to stonewall a FOIA request coming from a private citizen or The Daily Illini. They are less inclined to play that with the “mighty” N-G. N-G lawyers will follow up on FOIA’s until it gets resolved in court if necessary.
I sure don’t mean to valorize the N-G. I only suggest their money, distribution infrastructure, and perceived status in most of the community’s mind, gives them access to the stories, a paid staff to chase them down, and whether they trip over their own biases or not, the information is widely disseminated.
I wish a N-G enlightened take-over possible, and with owner Chinigo’s death and Publisher Hirshfeld’s firing, there was a hope things would change for the better. The News-Gazette however, has been cutting costs in the new media world and many of the more inquisitive reporters left for political jobs- leaving too much of The Catholic Cabal to chirp their “Conservative Common Sense”. To this day, there is not one black reporter on the N-G staff. (They can’t keep a minority journalist on staff, since talented minorities usually leave for better opportunities in less segregated environs.)
All that to say, I acknowledge a certain degree of established “power” the N-G possesses, even if it is rarely used for the good. Recent media miracles like this website, however, offer citizens a chance to do their own media, and hopefully, keep dinosaurs like the N-G a little more on their toes. I may be too naive and idealistic for such a thing to be true.
Yocal’s comments are appreciated. But I have slight quibbles with them. But first a couple of minor corrections. I wasn’t saying you exaggerated circulation. I’m sure the N-G claims 100k or more readership, based on the multiplier (I think it’s around 2.5) used to account for multiple readers of the same copy and to boost the number they present to advertisers. It’s that multiplier figure that I think is exaggerated. Also, if you subscribe to the dubious notion that sportswriters are journalists, then the N-G does have one black journalist currently on staff.
I appreciate the information about the FOIA situation. I can only say that when I was questioning the notion that only the N-G can get one through, I was assuming that others would need and have a pit bull lawyer too. That community groups don’t have access to such is a problem that needs redressing. I’m a little surprised (but only a little) that the DI was successfully stonewalled.
As to the N-G’s investigative journalism record. I don’t remember most of the issues listed, which probably has more to do with me than anything, but of the ones I do remember, it’s a pretty thin gruel. Of the reporters who’ve left, some were good, some were cut from the same cloth as the editorial board. Currently they have a couple of decent reporters, several mediocre ones, and a few I would say are a bit below mediocre—to be charitable. But I don’t think this is something particular to the N-G. I think it’s a more generic problem stemming from the poor training journalists get, the faulty methodology of mainstream journalism, and the way reporters are misused as cheap assembly line labor along a speed-up line by management.
I’m not willing to get into the charity thing—my view are more of the “poisoned well of charity” variety—except to say that whatever good the N-G might do in this regard is a drop in the bucket compared to the bad they do.
Local Yocal
No. I don’t subscribe to “sportswriters are journalists”, because sports is not news- a complete heresy to hold in today’s alcohol/sports culture.
The N-G investigative work is very thin gruel, and what I listed might be all there is. I should add there was a long piece by Phil Bloomer who tried, just before he left, to make some sort of financial controversy out of the U of I’s Research Park, but I couldn’t tell you what Bloomer’s argument was, public tax money being used to invest in private enterprise, I think it was. But we both agree- an investigative inquiry by the N-G is the exception- and in no way the rule over there. Too bad since they have the means to do it.
This “bad they do” over the long haul was what what attracted me to your cyber column in the first place. Few have been willing to seriously consider The News-Gazette’s daily damage.
As for the training of today’s journalists, “Like, oh my god, in journalism you get to, like, talk to mayors and congressmen and stuff. It’s, like, totally awesome!”
ryan jackson aka the reluctant townie
Someone just sent me an email about all these articles. Stuart, consider yourself “on blast”.
Robert Knilands
Ryan, you lost your fast ball some time ago. I remember the days, years ago, when The Reluctant Townie was a fun read. Aside from the column about Eminem, though, it’s been a snoozer for months.
Now, to this piece: It hits the N-G in a lot of its weak spots. The best point being made is in the comments, and that’s the reference to the daily damage the N-G does. Do not underestimate what a negative force the paper has become. It’s an agent for the worst of the “profit at all costs” folks in the community.
Regarding the health care centerpiece: You should give Debra Pressey some credit for developing her writing. Not long ago, that article would have mentioned the main subject briefly, and then we would have gotten 5-6 paragraphs of some health industry fatcat talking about how the patients are the problem. Of course, the N-G news processors might have been forcing that angle to appear. The paper is firmly in the back pocket of Carle.
If you are really this frustrated with the N-G, my suggestion would be to make a list of the things that are clearly wrong. Keep it concise and specific to the point. Then present it to the paper. Make it a public event and try to get the TV cameras show up.
Extreme? Perhaps. But you would draw some attention to your valid points. After all, you already have The Reluctant Townie nipping at your heels.
Okay, I’ll bite.
I looked up “on blast” in the Urban Dictionary.
I think it would be wise for Ryan to avoid it, and return to stealth mode. On the other hand, it might be entertaining to watch the ensuing bile storm. I suppose he’s always hankered for some kind of reaction.
sandra ahten
The Reluctant Townie putting S Tarr on blast, now that’s rich.
Most Recent Opinion Comments
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
And that, my friend, is love. Bob, I think I still owe you for my wedding cake, served in 1998. But nevermind.
I believe the kiss between Rob and I was documented on low-quality videotape in the mid-ninties porn classic, Dirty Harry…and Sticky.
“Do I have to sign some forms, or am I just considered ‘in.’” You’re in!
Got damn, Coulter. You are the greatest.
I have no specific memory of it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d kissed Mike, too—once we’d both drunk ourselves gay. And earlier this week I gave Clarence Shelley a back rub. Do I have to sign some forms, or am I just considered “in.”
FWIW, I got a copy of the letter in question. It was written in a way that would be plausible to a casual reader who didn’t scrutinize it too carefully. It announced the formation of an organization called G.L.A.B.A. (which actually exists), and had discussion about typical…
Most Popular Opinion Articles (60 days)
- Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!
- “Opposite” marriage includes fun, love, and drinking in the day
- I bet you wish you had a hat
- Politics and poker may or may not mix
- Priest suing N-G is part of Catholic splinter group
- Opening day brings drinks to the table
- Off the rails
- The desert
- Double trouble in Coulter’s dog prison
- A Modest-ish Proposal
Most Recent Comments
Oh nice! I’d totally vote for Matt Campbell!
“Smile Politely sports writer announces candidacy for city government.”
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
Actually, it’s kind of nice, the quiet. John Heoffleur’s engaging commentary/dialogue is sorely missed, however. In lieu of someone intelligent saying something, I’ve compiled a list of Honourable Mentions: BEST ROCK BAND: Take Care ::these gentlemen have four completely different sets at their disposal right now (which…
What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
Facebook
Twitter
Full Site
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.