It's Time to Subscribe

[FredsSlacks]

dirk is the skip bayless of nebraska sports. 

[49r]

Scratch that...I *do* have a couple of thoughts I guess I feel I want to share.

 

What I don't understand is why Warren Buffett saw an investment opportunity when he bought the OWH and a number of other papers around the country.  He should be looking it as more of a philanthropic opportunity to keep independent print journalism alive in the country, because I'm afraid that may be what it takes.

[Art Vandalay]

56 minutes ago, TimSmiles said:

dirk is the skip bayless of nebraska sports. 

 

I still get the OWH daily and online but like the LJS better. I might give up the OWH and if I do it will be because of the likes of Dirk and Sam. I love to look at both sides of things so that is not a problem as long as it is fair and balanced. However Dirk especially and others on staff just went all shock jock just to get clicks. He took it personally with Bo and was really unprofessional and I believe they hurt the program. Too bad because Dirk could be a good writer. You could tell they are already on Frost's list as he is much friendlier to LJS. They do have some guys like Bland and Nataya who I think do a good job and provide a lot of coverage and that is why I stay for now.

[HuskerCager]

I didn't mean to be political in any way, nor did I consider this off topic.  I value the sports coverage we get from OWH and LJS.  It's been a long journey and yes, sometimes a love-hate relationship I've had with Barfknecht and Shatel in particular.  Can't tell you how angry those two made me in the 90s when they dared to focus on sliding attendance and controversial news items like team walk-outs, etc. during the Nee years.  How dare they!  It took me a few years to understand it's not their job to write only about the things I want to hear.  Now, I'm one of their biggest fans.

 

I hope we have these papers rolling off the press for years to come , whether it's in print or e-paper form.

Edited February 22, 2018 by HuskerCager

[AuroranHusker]

I've lived through a lot in my life but I certainly don't know enough. One thing I don't really understand is why news/sports reporters' work seems to make some people so upset. I usually enjoy gleaning for various viewpoints on the news of the day, even if I vehemently disagree with said commentary. It's one of the better ways to keep your mind sharp by stretching it on a daily basis. How/when/where you receive news is up to the individual. This is a great country so the possibilities are nearly limitless. Imagine if you lived somewhere in which the only source remained the State. Seek and find more than one voice. And, yes, I listen to and read local news. The most important news in a person's life is the local news.

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by AuroranHusker

[jimmykc]

LJS is worth reading for the book reviews alone.

[KZRider]

I do have a subscription to the OWH and appreciate the paper for lots of reasons. But even if everyone on this board followed suit, it would not change the systemic forces that are leading to the demise of print journalism. The internet is here to stay and many print outlets of all sorts -- not just newspapers -- will simply not survive.

[jayschool]

7 minutes ago, KZRider said:

I do have a subscription to the OWH and appreciate the paper for lots of reasons. But even if everyone on this board followed suit, it would not change the systemic forces that are leading to the demise of print journalism. The internet is here to stay and many print outlets of all sorts -- not just newspapers -- will simply not survive.

Agreed. The conundrum is that online advertising is fractions of a penny to dollars compared to print, so the advertising-supported model is outdated. Philanthropy-supported models (such as ProPublica and the Marshall Project) could be subject to political will of the funder. New funding models arise nearly every month, and it will test future generations, probably, to think of a European-style tax that allows for independent journalism (a constitutionally protected activity and, some would argue, a public utility) to exist whether it drives a profit or not. Interesting times ahead. I'm glad my most active reporting days were in the heyday of print journalism in South Florida (the 1980s).

Edited February 22, 2018 by jayschool

[jimmykc]

Glad I opted for the English major at KU instead of the journalism major at Mizzouri. ( We all have youthful follies).

[hhcmatt]

34 minutes ago, KZRider said:

I do have a subscription to the OWH and appreciate the paper for lots of reasons. But even if everyone on this board followed suit, it would not change the systemic forces that are leading to the demise of print journalism. The internet is here to stay and many print outlets of all sorts -- not just newspapers -- will simply not survive.

 

I'm used to rooting for things people consider to be lost causes 

[HB]

5 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

 

I'm used to rooting for things people consider to be lost causes 

 

Why we're all here.....

[BigTate]

13 hours ago, jayschool said:

Here's a story from a few months ago about why local journalism matters, and why it should be supported. It's a 45-minute listen from a local radio station in Boston.

 

And local journalism begins with the local newspaper and its website. TV journalists don't have the resources to follow the mundane stories that local papers historically have.

 

 

When it comes to news gathering, news organizations, the cutbacks have come all over in recent years. But local news may have taken the most dire hit. You want to know what happened at the town council meeting this week? Or the zoning commission? Or just around the block? Good luck to you in too many communities now. This hour, On Point: Saving local news. And we’ll talk with Bob Schieffer of CBS about how to sort fake news from fact. -- Tom Ashbrook.

On Point is the best radio program out there! It is on NPR which is a great source for news as well!!! 

[Norm Peterson]

15 hours ago, TimSmiles said:

no thanks. if they want more subscribers they should not let you read most of them for free.

 

and the LJS lets you read every article for free if you press cntrl shift n on the chrome browser. maybe LJS should fix that? 

 

it's a dying industry. there are so many free outlets to get news on the internet.

 

I didn't upvote this post because I agree with it; I upvoted it because I think it's stupid to clobber a guy with downvotes just for expressing a fairly innocuous, on-topic opinion.

[uneblinstu]

I've never understood the hate for Dirk and Sam.

[Norm Peterson]

14 hours ago, hhcdimes said:

I have a subscription to the Journal Star delivered to my doorstep every day. I know it's an organization that has journalistic standards and applies them. I'd subscribe to the OWH if I lived in Omaha or elsewhere

 

Do they?  I haven't seen evidence of it.

 

A topical example:  A couple of years ago, the LJS printed an article about the Connie Yori situation.  At the time, I was just trying to read up about what happened and hadn't formed opinions.  The article was incredibly one-sided and really pissed me off, so I went through and fisked the article and pointed out at least half a dozen ways in which their reporting failed to source assertions of fact, quoted a biased source without revealing the bias, printed a source's opinion as though it was fact, etc. etc. etc.  I sent it to the writer and copied the editor, and the response I got back was sort of a dismissive "Thanks for the note; this is obviously an issue you feel passionately about" as though I'm the one who's biased.  At that point, I hadn't taken sides, but that story made me really try to see things from Yori's point of view because it was clear to me the Urinal Star had thrown in with the AD.

 

That's just one example.  I find their reporting generally wanting, and more so their hard news content than their sports content.  And I'm a subscriber even!

Edited February 22, 2018 by Norm Peterson

[Norm Peterson]

In fairness, I should add to my above post that I do like the sports writers at both the LJS and the OWH.  I have no problem with Sipple or Basnett or McKeon or Chatelain or Barfknecht or any of the rest of them on the sports side.

 

On the news side, however, I'm disappointed more often than not.

[hhcmatt]

51 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Do they?  I haven't seen evidence of it.

 

 

BTW I'm as guilty as anyone for liking to read what I like to read and not liking to read what I don't want to read.

[Norm Peterson]

11 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

 

 

BTW I'm as guilty as anyone for liking to read what I like to read and not liking to read what I don't want to read.

 

That's not the article I'm talking about.

[demone]

2 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

I didn't upvote this post because I agree with it; I upvoted it because I think it's stupid to clobber a guy with downvotes just for expressing a fairly innocuous, on-topic opinion.

 

You know what Norm? You called me out and I appreciate it - I shouldn't have made that judgment. I come from a business point of view and I don't believe in taking advantage of anyone. Value deserves compensation. Now, if you don't find it valuable, feel free not to pay for it. Just don't consume it, either.

[hhcmatt]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

That's not the article I'm talking about.

 

You'd have to post the article you're talking about. That happens to a topical example of your trust in their journalistic standards.

[Norm Peterson]

53 minutes ago, demone said:

 

You know what Norm? You called me out and I appreciate it - I shouldn't have made that judgment. I come from a business point of view and I don't believe in taking advantage of anyone. Value deserves compensation. Now, if you don't find it valuable, feel free not to pay for it. Just don't consume it, either.

 

demone, thanks for the reply.  IMOO, I find your response here much more constructive than a down vote.  But that's just me.

[hhctony]

My first job out of college was in the print business at the Clay County News in Sutton. I now work in banking full time and do some preps writing on the side as well as help with a tech start-up that streams high school games and tells stories about coaches and players. To be the newspaper model is broken, but still needed if that makes sense. Here in Grand Island at The Independent they just booted three employees this week as well and our shrinking the paper again. We are coming to a time where we'll get our newspaper digitally and stop printing it all together, to be honest. I know that bothers some, but it doesn't bother me. I still fight back and forth about paying for the content (because of this thread, I subscribed to the OWH this morning digitally). In my opinion, we should be getting the OWH and LJS digitally in front of kids. They should go out to schools and offer unlimited access for whatever $250 a year to every school in the state or something. At 300 schools/year, that'd pay someone's salary at both of our big state papers. I fear the day that #nebpreps game story is me tweeting, clicking "add to thread" and then at the end of the game, I "quote tweet" my thread and that's the story. And, while I fear, I almost think it makes sense even.

[cipsucks]

1 hour ago, demone said:

 

You know what Norm? You called me out and I appreciate it - I shouldn't have made that judgment. I come from a business point of view and I don't believe in taking advantage of anyone. Value deserves compensation. Now, if you don't find it valuable, feel free not to pay for it. Just don't consume it, either.

 

Great point, Demone.  Don't know if anyone has noticed, but once you get to the forums sight here, there is a yellow donate button on the right hand side.  Super easy to donate money to HHC to keep this fine sight going.  I did so a couple weeks ago.

[HB]

I have been a newspaper addict since I went to kindergarten.   Some of my earliest memories are being at the breakfast table and seeing dad read the paper and not converse much (I chuckle when I hear people talk about their kids paying attention to nothing but their phone or Ipad; we just changed the way we tune out others).    At my age I've seen a lot of days, and there haven't been many which I haven't started by reading the morning paper.   The newsprint model.   Unlike some of the others on here, I will really miss the traditional newspaper.   I'm not much for change anyway, and this one is going to hurt.   I realize many can't understand why it would matter whether one gets content on a screen or with newsprint in hand, but to me, there's just something about the traditional newspaper.  Oh well, like with most things, the world will go on, and no one will care that one cranky old holdout still wants his morning newspaper in hand. 

[HB]

45 minutes ago, hhctony said:

My first job out of college was in the print business at the Clay County News in Sutton. I now work in banking full time and do some preps writing on the side as well as help with a tech start-up that streams high school games and tells stories about coaches and players. To be the newspaper model is broken, but still needed if that makes sense. Here in Grand Island at The Independent they just booted three employees this week as well and our shrinking the paper again. We are coming to a time where we'll get our newspaper digitally and stop printing it all together, to be honest. I know that bothers some, but it doesn't bother me. I still fight back and forth about paying for the content (because of this thread, I subscribed to the OWH this morning digitally). In my opinion, we should be getting the OWH and LJS digitally in front of kids. They should go out to schools and offer unlimited access for whatever $250 a year to every school in the state or something. At 300 schools/year, that'd pay someone's salary at both of our big state papers. I fear the day that #nebpreps game story is me tweeting, clicking "add to thread" and then at the end of the game, I "quote tweet" my thread and that's the story. And, while I fear, I almost think it makes sense even.

 

I have donated for years to the "Newspaper in Education Fund" at the Journal Star.   This puts newspapers in school libraries across the state.  To me that is important.   I'm sure it will morph into providing digital content in schools.