I was surprised to hear feedback, to the podcast I just published, so quickly. It just reassures me that bloggers stand beside each other. Because I got some much feedback I have decided to fill in everyone on the details about the situation that I didn’t mention in the podcast. Although I will be leaving out names.
Upon reading a Facebook status that a fellow bloggers posted about how they would be in the Wednesdays edition of the local paper with their blog, I left he/she the comment “neat”. I love it when any NWT/Yk blogger gets traditional media attention, to me it says “we’re not totally ignoring you” or so I thought.
After I had made the comment I received a message from said person. They explained to me why they had been contacted, which was because of the NWT Blog Awards. I thought great but that wasn’t all. They proceeded to tell me how they suggested to the local paper to call me because I am the one with the. passion for blogging and the north. Which makes sense, although I don’t want to be to big headed, because as a journalist are you not suppose to try and find the person with the most information? Anyways the reporter replied with no, they’re not allowed. Their reasoning is because one of my other blog is media related and as this paper is also media, they do not want to promote the competition. Which again makes sense to me, if we were more comparable. I certainly compare my blog to them. I rarely report any facts and when I do it is not very detailed at all. I find it funny that a company that is well established and has many staff working all the time, sees a blog by one person who is not very old a threat.
Before this paper gets offended that I wrote about this, I want them to know that I respect them. I read the paper every time it comes out and I get information from it. I use it as a resource on occasion. Keep in mind that this blog of mine is not some much about reporting the facts but more creating the discussion around the issue. It about promoting Yellowknife and spreading the work about what is going on,
UPDATE: Read what Jason and Megan have said so far.
UPDATE: I have written a follow up post, please check it out.
Note* I will be back to edit and add more to this post later. Need to clear my head.
“Media-related”, eh? I suppose that also explains why I was not contacted. I mean, any of us would be great — heck, we’re all writers — but I’m actually RUNNING the awards.
I would have referred them to you first as you’re organizing it.
But don’t you have history with said paper as well? hehe.
I hear a lot about the challenges of reporting the news when there is so much information available on-line within minutes that by the time the real newspaper comes upon it its already gone and happened.
Photographers often have the debate of the fact that there are too many hobbyists and “weekend warriors” taking the jobs these days and doing them for very cheap. Essentially because they do a similar job to what the professionals are doing..though of course that’s not absolute.
People who run mom-and-pop stores or small department stores often get kicked around by Walmart or Sears.
Large newspaper networks compete with independent newspapers, though, is it fair to say that the NWT news is competition to an internet blog? Do they have a blog? I’ve never seen one before. If they don’t have a blog, then essentially the argument is they’re competing against every media channel out there..which is pretty difficult because now you’re not only limited to blogs, but facebook, twitter and other person-to-person social networking sites. You’re competing with radio, with youtube, with TV networks.
Why not work it to their advantage? Why not promote you too and in turn you can promote them? Network together, learn from each other, compliment each other.
There are still many pro photographers making full time livings alongside the weekenders. Plenty of mom and pop stores despite hundreds of Walmart related chain stores. I don’t see this blog as a competitor to any other blog out there, much less a large newspaper.
The dynamics around the media industry are changing… If you’re a true professional journalist, writer, photographer or whatever, you’ll still be able find a niche and have a job. There will always be an appetite for high quality journalism. The economics of how we all get paid are in transition at this moment but within the the next 5 years, a model will emerge.
If you’re protective, close minded and imperialistic about your “profession”, you’re going to fail, and you’re going to be intimidated by the very partnerships and mediums that could save your bacon. No one can deny that the future of journalism is not in dead trees and national network news.
Nothing scares big media like online indie media with 10x the viewers and 1/1000th of the overhead.
The lesson at the end of this all is, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Karl, great comment. I think you say it all. I’m sure the company is interpreting one of its own policies wrongly. It seems that they are much more interested in power and control than networking for the greater good.
None of the NWT bloggers are doing what I would consider journalism. If anything, we are columnists or critics.
Any journalist who thinks he or she is competing with a community blog is not a very good journalist. It really tells you something about how they feel about their product.
I think it also says something about how they feel in terms of their competancy. To be afraid of little old me and my opinions is just silly, really.
Can’t them make up their own opinions?
The “news”paper is so paranoid about ONE guy (during his spare time) showing up the newspaper’s what, 30 staffers? and doing the web thing so much better than they do and grabbing advertisers away from the paper’s website… not surprising that this only come us after YKOnline started to get GNWT advertising revenue… (note the GNWT Summer Student ads on YkOnline)
“I am already so popular that anyone who vilifies me becomes more popular than I am.”
Karl Kraus
Hi folks. I’ll respond to all this at the end of the business day. I haven’t read it all over and am only marginally informed of this fun controversy and goofy allegation.
Suffice it to say… All references to NNSL and Yellowknifer in the above thread and subsequent threads should more accurately be replaced with my name “Daron Letts”.
What is being impugned is my journalistic judgment and not a business policy – and I’m sincerely tickled to be implicated in a blog thread!!!
Keep up the cool work everyone!!! Blogs are beautiful.
Daron Letts
Arts Editor/NNSL
766-8223
Great comment by Karl.
Daron — props to coming on here and leaving a comment.
Anyway … hope to see more traditional and new forms of media working together.
Hey Daron,
Thanks for the comment. I’m glad to hear that you are “tickled” to be talked about. It’s great, isn’t it?
Keeping in mind that I only speak for myself, I do not believe for one second that it was solely your choice or decision to not interview Kyle based on the reason that his blog is “competition.” I am convinced this directive from comes the top/down.
The reasons are: the people you work for do not give that type of power and/or control to its employees; editors or not. It’s not in their nature.
Another reason I say that editors do not have sole discretion is because that’s what the editors of the paper have said in the past when certain editorials were criticised.
It’s been made VERY clear that when an opinion, news story, editorial, or business decision is made, it is made as a group. There is no one individual behind the scenes but rather a whole team or committee.
Also, I do not see how anyone is vilifying you or NNSL. Although I do hear a tone of frustration in the blog posts, the message I read is: NNSL should do their job in providing high quality journalism so that they will not percieve bloggers as competition.
Personally, what I want NNSL to be is what they say they are: a news company.
I think Daron is a top-notch fellow who’s got guts and my respect. I also think he’s in a tough situation here. Finally, I think he does not deserve to be the face of the company’s ridiculous policies (informal as this one appears to be).
Hi folks!
Here is a timeline. Please, Kyle and Jason, feel free to correct me if I misrepresent the sequence of events or the facts.
On Monday afternoon I became aware that the deadline for the Best NWT Blogs was Tuesday and not Christmas Eve as it was last year.
(Please see here re: last year’s coverage —- contrary to Jason’s post, I was familiar with the NWT Blog Awards)
http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2008-12/dec24_08xma-arts.html
I was preparing Wednesday’s Yellowknifer arts section and felt I should acknowledge the efforts and activities of the blog community, though I clearly missed the chance to give readers a heads-up before polls close. (If I and my colleagues were not so busy I would have asked the online people to post a link ASAP). My mistake. I regret it. It’s a busy time of year and stuff slips, you know?
I consulted the Best NWT Blogs website and found a prominently displayed contact number. I called it, believing I would reach Megan – whose blog I follow loyally every week.
http://www.snowcoveredhills.com/
Rather, Jason answered. He informed me that he is responsible for a blog called the Gay White North – but insisted that better folk to speak with would be the main organizers – Megan, who I recall him saying was in Los Angeles… or Los Vegas… or Los Alamos or some other place south of 60… or Kyle – who is responsible for a blog I’d heard of but never encountered before called Yk Online – which I mistook at the time for the online version of Yk Trader – or some variation thereof – because of my blog ignorance.
Rather than hang up and call Kyle about his site, I asked Jason about his indy blog because I was interested and felt my readers would be, too. I won’t tell you what he said about it, except that it sounded really cool. And it is! Check it out.
http://thegaywhitenorth.blogspot.com/
I’ve always been keen to write about LBGT issues…
http://www.brokenpencil.com/reviews/reviews.php?reviewid=2251
http://www.rabble.ca/news/hate-crimes-put-vote
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/canadian_news/2003/09/27/antihate_l.html
http://www.samesexmarriage.ca/advocacy/elsie_wayne.htm
http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2009-03/mar11_09rev-arts.html
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=03/09/24/1860097
…so naturally I was interested to dedicate a page of the arts section to a review of the site so people could visit it and the other NWT blogs during their free time over the holidays.
It seemed that Jason felt comfortable with me reviewing his blog in the paper after I asked him for permission. I told him if I didn’t enjoy the site I wouldn’t review it.
Later in the afternoon I called Kyle to ask about the awards from his perspective as an organizer – because Jason had chosen not to go on record. Kyle told me about the Best NWT Blogs and I quoted him in a short article – to inform people about the blogging community’s energy and activities – and to encourage readers to link on the website. I ended the interview, as I always do, by asking something like:
“Is there anything that wasn’t mentioned that should be said?”
or
“Is there anything else you wanted to add?”
Or something like that – which is how I end my interviews.
Kyle said “no.”
And then I invited Kyle to call me in the new year to do something on his blog and he seemed keen.
After listening to folks play guitar at the drop-in shelter in the late afternoon I finished this article:
http://www.nnsl.com/arts/stories/dec22_09fid-arts.html
And then I ran out of time before deadline to properly read and review Gay White North – so I decided I would run a review of it in the new year, instead. I hope Jason is still open to letting me do that.
And the next morning someone showed me this:
http://www.snowcoveredhills.com/?p=4266
and then this:
http://kylewith.com/2009/12/clarification-of-the-issue/
…and then the Twitters (which I don’t have access to because I don’t Tweet)
…etc. etc.
All I wanted was to inform readers before the holidays that the blog community is active and doing fun stuff – what Jason calls a “fluff” piece.
Then, I learned about Gay White North and expressed interest in focusing on it on a whim – and eschewed encouragement to review Yk Online because it had advertising and was, I thought, akin to Yk Trader and Coffee News. It’s not quite like that I subsequently discovered.
But, I was not intending to set out to prepare a blog review that afternoon at all, anyway – I just wanted to review Gay White North because it sounded cool and unique and I thought I could make time to complete it. I ran out of time.
I’ll be happy to review, interview or acknowledge anyone doing anything artistic or entertaining in 2010. Just drop me a note and we’ll do that.
Hope you enjoy Wednesday’s Yker!