By Ralph Schwartz
In the wake of the shooting deaths of 20 little schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., a newspaper in New York City’s north suburbs has posted the addresses of all gun license holders in two counties.
As a tit-for-tat retaliation, a lawyer has posted the names and addresses of some of the journalists involved in the project.
“Targeting gun owners by publishing their home addresses is pretty dangerous,” the lawyer said. He meant dangerous for the gun owners themselves, or their neighbors without guns, both of whom could be targeted for crimes.
Dangerous too for the journalists, I have to figure. Glad I’m not answering the phones in that newsroom today.
(Minutes after I posted this, I found that N.Y. newspaper’s defense of the gun-permit article and map.)
***
There’s an active political blog scene in Whatcom County — which of course if you’re reading this, you already know.
Riley Sweeney and Shane Roth teamed up for an end-of-the-year video presenting tongue-in-cheek politically themed awards for 2012, many of them with a local flavor. It’s a spoof of the major entertainment awards shows, and their “Laptop Award” is called the “Lappy.” Sweeney and Roth make a good team: Sweeney the buttoned-up liberal, Roth the Eddie Vedder of progressive commentary.
On the right, just to pick two, are Whatcom Excavator and the Antikakistocracy blog. (Anyone who visits the latter site will find out right away, “kakistocracy” means rule by the least qualified or least principled.)
In recent posts, Whatcom Excavator, or “WE,” has tackled at length issues such as the reconveyance of state land around Lake Whatcom for a county park, wind power and global sustainability efforts impinging on local governments.
Karl Uppiano in the Antikakistocracy blog recently posted something in praise of Rush Limbaugh.
In Sweeney and Roth’s end-of-year video, Sweeney mentions that the authors of WE are county Republican officer Greg Brown and Whatcom Tea Party officer Ellen Baker. I asked Baker about this, and she denied it. She said she’s only a contributor, and she doesn’t know who runs the blog.
(Roth, by the way, contributes to another blog — Latte Republic — owned by Elisabeth Britt.)
After working on a longer piece about the Whatcom Tea Party, which ran on Sunday, I’m inclined to find a similar community of progressives/leftists to write about. Past efforts to interview the local “Occupy” group have failed, but maybe I’ll give it another try.
Final notes on my tea party story:
Yes, I know the 8,844 acres proposed for reconveyance from the Department of Natural Resources to the county is all state land. I regret that the structure of the story led people to believe I thought otherwise.
To repeat again, the Whatcom Tea Party does not endorse the views of two of its officers, Baker and Uppiano, about Agenda 21. I only intended to report that at least two people in the tea party’s leadership endorse that anti-Agenda 21 stance.
Finally, Uppiano wrote a very good response to my treatment of the tea party’s pre-November election poll. Time and space constraints didn’t allow me to go as deeply into the matter as Uppiano did.
***
Today should be Day 9 of The Bellingham Herald’s new paywall. How is it working for you readers of this blog? Are you still clicking? Are you subscribed or counting stories to stay below the threshold of 15?
This post was corrected on Dec. 31, 2012, to name Elisabeth Britt as owner of the blog Latte Republic.
Paywall?
The traffic and visits of we, the readers, is itself the commodity that media and entertainment providers can sell to advertizers. If I am paying, I am paying for media and entertainment that is much more certain to meet my needs. Newspapers with paywalls may find themselves pretty lonely. There is so much free information and entertainment available, very few people are foolish enough to pay for one source’s potentially flawed or even biased take.
Nice smorgasbord of items- on the publishing of gun owners’ info, while this will press a lot of buttons for some of those folks- some really fear what the faux commies in the original Red Dawn movie did to those folks in occupied Colorado- it is not a bad idea. Although I can relate, as a public employee whose salary info ends up online, to the privacy and to a lesser extent the safety concerns. The agenda 21 bit is also good- personally, mention of this sort of one world conspiracy is one litmus test regarding whether anything a person says should be taken seriously. Arguments that this is a real issue simply cannot stand the light of day. Finally, the new pop-up, sign up or pay thing- again, mixed feelings. I gave up my print subscription several years ago due to the relentless shrinkage of the Herald, and am not now inclined to subscribe, as I do not yet see much bang for the buck. There are also easy ways to view the articles even after your limit is up. On the other hand, I do value a good local paper for many reasons, so perhaps my mind will change. It would be helpful to know whether we will see improved coverage of the local news with the new system, or if this is a bandage…
There’s an article in the NY Times today about the (national) tea party’s lessening clout. Says that one of their main foci at the moment is indeed Agenda 21. Their other two main issues are exposing “fraud” among local elections boards and encouraging states to “nullify” Obamacare. If the Whatcom County tea party is actually distancing itself from what tea partiers are doing on a national level, I’d say that’s noteworthy.
paywall?
two or three times over the last 20 years independent newspapers have been founded to compete with the Herald.. a couple almost made it… maybe it’s time for someone to try again… Realistically, the only way a daily could start in Whatcom County today is if it was launched by a billionaire or as a nonprofit with huge foundation grants. Starting from scratch as an ordinary businessperson would be Quixotic. RS
Ralph,
I don’t see your email address, but if you want info on Occupy Bellingham, it’s at dhttp://www.occupybellinghamwa.org. We are working on ALEC, and have assembled a group of 40 people in that working group. We’re planning more video events and a lobby day in January, and continue to meet Fridays from 1-3 at our education table, (currently at the Food Coop, as it was previously outside of the library), and from 5:30 to 7pm at the General Assembly in Terra Organica. I can give you a list of primary organizers if you like, once I check with them. BTW, I don’t see the “Political Junkie” in your blogroll.
My blog used to (three years ago) be called “Armies of Compassion” but since then I bought a new domain name, renamed it and work on it more steadily. The link that says “Armies of Compassion” should be updated to “The Political Junkie” and point towards “www.sweeneypolitics.com” I’ll ask our IT guy to make that change. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. RS
Is clicking on a blog going to cost money? Not exactly. First of all, the blogs have not been part of the paywall since it was put up on Dec. 18. That’s about to change. As early as tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 28, clicking on the blog will be part of your count. Remember, every click doesn’t cost. You get your first 15 free over a 30-day period. If you go over that, you’ll be asked to subscribe to the new digital offering. RS
I’m thrilled to find out at the end of my subscription I’ll be asked to renew the subscription and then get to pay to look at the electronic version when it is more convenient… I think I’ve made the firm decision not to renew and, probably, not to buy the electronic version either but that is open…
Disagree with you re: starting a new paper… maybe not a daily but, twice a week could work… the Cascadia Weekly seems to do well but I do understand the issues involved in having a real news effort, even one as truncated as the Herald’s.
start charging beyond some level and the blogs will become irrelevant…
Ah, well… times change
I don’t understand the resistance to paying for the local newspaper. If you read it, pay for it. What is your problem? Nothing is free now. To view t.v., you must buy cable service. To listen to radio, you must buy a radio and listen to inane commercials or pleas for NPR donations.
I suppose you could go down to Starbucks–or some such–and read the hard copy there, but with the price of gas and coffee, are you really saving anything?
And the ads here? You can bet that the advertisers would rather target paying viewers than casual surfers who can’t afford $7.00 a month.
shard
Don’t mind paying for the local paper at all but do object to paying, as I do, and then having to pay extra to read the thing electronically when it is more convenient for me… a hard copy subscription should come with electronic rights… and, maybe I am overlooking something… $7 per month? My wife just wrote a check for $175 for the next year… or did we miss a special offer of some kind?
Jack, I don’t know. It could very well be that the e-edition is a separate charge, as the overhead to e-publish is separate from publishing the hard copy. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.
If you have both, it would be like having Netfix and HBO, wouldn’t it. Or an extra car. Or any other redundant expense we accumulate.
As the world changes, it has gotten more expensive. I remember a time when the only cost for entertainment was buying a t.v., radio and stereo.
For home entertainment, I pay for
ultra-high speed cable (NO t.v.),
Netflix (got Roku, too),
I-phone (it’s a luxury),
Kindle e-reader (books),
RIFT (online game),
NPR,
Bellingham Herald,
motorcycles (non-negotiable expense)
That list is tiny compared to some, but for me who remembers a cheaper lifestyle, it is huge. So…….is the Herald asking too much? No. If the community doesn’t support it, the Herald crew won’t have a hard time finding employment elsewhere and I wouldn’t blame them at all.
Jack:
I’ve heard second hand there has been some confusion about the rates with the new digital subscription. If you or anyone has questions, please do contact customer service, circulation (at) bellinghamherald.com. Also, there’s an FAQ at bellinghamherald.com/plus.
Didn’t hear about this new fee based system until today.
Question for Ralph and Stark – with the paid subscription, we are no longer force fed the ads, correct? With other fee based websites that is the advantage – no annoying blinking/popup or banner ads. I assume this is the case here?
Clayton:
I’m only familiar with one newspaper (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, if you’re curious) that puts no ads behind its pay wall. The standard is increasingly to erect a paywall around what is essentially the same site, ads included, that readers had been getting for free. It’s simple economics and business survival. As people turn more and more to the Web, and less to print, it makes less sense to give the product away for free online. As our publisher stated in his message to readers two weeks ago (I’m paraphrasing), no company that gives its product away for free should expect to last very long.
Newspapers have been fumbling around for a business model for the past few years, as Internet and mobile use has grown rapidly. Many in the industry are settling on the “metered paywall” solution — charging for clicks after a certain threshold is reached. (Everyone cites the New York Times as an example of a paper that has started making money off this model.)
We are having conversations about what we can add to the website, to make it more appealing to readers and give them something extra for the extra they are paying. The focus of these conversations thus far has been on multimedia.
I’d be happy to continue this conversation for those who are interested. I might need to be poked via email, as I check these comments less often. I’m at ralph.schwartz (at) bellinghamherald.com.
That would likely be the only incentive for me. Advertising is where you would make your money. I would only be interested in paying if it’s ad-free like when you subscribe to Pandora or Accuweather or (fill in the blank). It’s not my newspaper though so feel free to charge and do what you like. Happy New Year!
@ Clayton,
To avoid the pop-ups, simply download a free app called ‘AdPlus’; I’ve used it for years and have never had a problem.
Pop-ups and blinking ads annoy the heck out of me, and I would never pay for that annoyance.
Newspapers and advertisers need to catch up with the 21st century and become more creative about how they manage their business, rather than charge potential customers for what is so readily available only a mere click away.
That’s really all there is to it.
@ Ralph,
Your disdain for running this blog couldn’t be more apparent.
I’d hate to be you and have to go to work every day at a job I could barely tolerate.
Popups? Somebody has to pay the bills and I don’t care if the Herald makes a few bux. Theres no free lunch in the real world.
If I understand BH’s system, it seems very fair to me. Access to 15 items per month without a subscription. That may be only during the transition, but I believe some plan like that should be the norm (even 5 items would be nice). I just paid for my combo home delivery/online subscription for the year with no issues. But it does irk me to go to other websites like Northern Light when an article has popped up in my online research, only to find out I must subscribe to read the single article. Here’s a model for the industry, but it would require some organization: have a single-payer way to accept a small charge to read a single article at sites for other than primary sources. I’m waiting for the New Yorker to set up such a system. I don’t want access to their articles often, but when I do….
@ Camille,
I may email you directly, too, but I thought I’d put in a few words here for all to see. I’m honest when I say I have no idea why you would say I am disdainful over running this blog — and even beyond that, to say that disdain couldn’t be more apparent.
I put a lot of time into this blog. Most mornings, I scan the national news, or go over in my head what’s happening locally, in order to come up with a decent post. I check comments regularly and strive to provide thoughtful, informative responses when appropriate.
I’m not asking you to explain yourself or to change your mind. I just wanted others reading these comments to know that your statement is false.
Sorry for the harsh words, Ralph, you didn’t deserve them.
I like the pay wall and it should have happened sooner, the only thing thy got me worked up was the language used in print to explain the costs. It felt misleading. I shared my concerns with the publisher and appreciate his explanation.
I fully intend on doing the digital subscription. $7 a month for my local news is well worth it.
I totally haven’t noticed any difference.
I might be willing to pay for a subscription if there were some good news once in awhile.
I am so sick of John Boehner.