Wednesday, April 22, 2009

This and that .. What I'm seeing and hearing ... and saying goodbye to Abby

Busy week so far ... but a few thoughts.

I have had a pleasant day covering the impact of President Obama's bill to add billions of $$ to service programs like Americorps. Think of it as a domestic Peace Corps where young adults (18-24) can serve a few years at low pay .. but with some college benefits .. while serving their country. Groups like Habitat For Humanity will benefit, and this should be a nice draw for young adults who can't get their lives jump started in this economy.

The backdoor whining from the recall folks is getting extreme .. and ridiculous. Several other journalists say they too are tired of receiving a constant barrage of emails and phone messages with out-of-context facts and challenges to do something about it. Bob Dyer's Monday column took aim at one part of the issue .. but several journalists in town say they too are tired of the personal attacks because the recall folks don't like the stories that are coming out .. or simply don't think the coverage is fast or complete enough.

Another of my colleagues is leaving. Morning Anchor Abby Hamm is returning to her home state of Tennessee as morning anchor at WBIR-TV, our Gannett station in Knoxville, TN. Abby is a great lady with a genuine heart. She's a lot of fun to be around. We didn't get to work together often, but I always enjoyed her company. She and her husband will be closer to their families and that means a lot in this business.

The General Motors summer shutdown is quite scary. The ripple effect of Lordstown shutting down for about nine weeks -- which is rumored -- would impact the entire region. We really need some good economic news.

My colleagues at the Plain Dealer are among those struggling too. As has been reported, the PD is asking the union to take significant cuts and to help trim $5 million from the budget or face more layoffs. I'm told that the cuts include a proposal for a whopping 15% pay cut across the board. That's the largest cut I've heard of any media group to date. Stay tuned.

Twitter is quickly becoming a constant in my daily news-gathering rhythm. It's not so much a way to tell people "hey I'm getting coffee", but it gives me a way to reach out and find contacts for stories on deadline. For example, for my story on families who have recently become homeless, I sent out a "tweet" that I was looking for families willing to talk . .and got responses within an hour. Things just never went this fast in traditional journalism, so computers are helping like never before.

OK .. off to the set .. we have a live audience tonight .. so I'll have to sit up straight during the commercials too :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go to www.lawyers.com, and look up Mendenhall in Akron. He's a member of Taxpayers Against Fraud! But he doesn't pay taxes...he should be a member of Fraud Against Taxpayers...

Anonymous said...

The recall has really lost any momentum of building any respectable campaign against the Mayor. Not one credible respectable Akronite has come forward to help Mendenhall with his plight to topple the mayor. What does that tell you?

Anonymous said...

It tells you the Mayor is very powerful and will do what he can to destroy anyone of stature who signs the petition. I bet many who would vote to recall the Mayor would refuse to sign the petition out of fear. Petitions are public record. The way you vote in the voting booth is private. There have been just as many "whiners" in the media. Steve Hoffman thinks the Mayor can do no wrong. I sometimes wonder if he doesn't have a mancrush for the mayor. The Mayor should just step down so the talented young politicians can take over. And I am not talking about Finley or Mendenhall or Sommerville. I am talking about people like Dan Horrigan or Michael Williams. Finley only lostby 1000 votes. Do any of you think if Dan Horrigan would have run in that primary against the Mayor the Mayor would have beaten him? Finley was never a viable candidate yet he almost pulled off the upset. And yet even after almost losing, in his state of the city address that year he was as cocky and arrogant as ever. Before anyone assumes anything, I have nothing to do with the recall effort nor do I know any of the players who are conducting the effort

Anonymous said...

"It tells you the Mayor is very powerful and will do what he can to destroy anyone of stature who signs the petition. I bet many who would vote to recall the Mayor would refuse to sign the petition out of fear."

If someone tries to get me fired for no good reason I would do the same thing!

Anonymous said...

Yea, sorta like a certain parking lot attendant!

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