tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.comments2024-03-09T05:35:00.809-05:00The Rural BlogMelissa Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01558431327921705882noreply@blogger.comBlogger1544125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-80526348031606915072023-02-01T14:45:06.136-05:002023-02-01T14:45:06.136-05:00From Max Kabat, publisher, Big Bend Sentinel, Marf...From Max Kabat, publisher, Big Bend Sentinel, Marfa, Texas:<br /><br />What if you realized that we don’t just deliver news but we bring together community? Might that change the interaction between reader and journalism?<br /> <br />What if our office space didn’t just house some desk space and some empty rooms but provided a gathering space for our community to, well, commune?<br /> <br />This was how we answered those questions: https://www.thesentinelmarfa.com/<br />Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-60541408813876351832023-02-01T13:07:27.167-05:002023-02-01T13:07:27.167-05:00From Kathy Tretter, Editor and publisher, Ferdinan...From Kathy Tretter, Editor and publisher, Ferdinand News and Spencer County Leader, Indiana:<br />I am surrounded by Paxton properties and after the first local paper was purchased and that office shuttered we would get customers asking how to get in touch to submit a wedding announcement or even an ad. They went from over 10,000 subscribers to (last I heard) less than 3,000, and that is a daily. Others in the area are weeklies and they, too shuttered their offices. In one county where we also have a paper they were throwing away bound copies of papers that were not available any other way and a few of us swept in to rescue these valuable pieces of local history. At the daily the former owner heard they were going to pitch the bound copies so he took them to the county museum. It might be better if I don’t get started on Paxton but suffice to say I’ve told my family if I drop dead at my desk don’t sell to them. <br />As with many of you we get many walk-ins, maybe to pay a bill or submit an article and we also sell local history books, Christmas ornaments from the Historical Society, etc. (and don’t collect any of the proceeds). While we can’t claim to be the heartbeat of our community we still seem to be important to our readers and having access is important, but each of you know your own community and what sort of traffic you get, so I think it might be a personal choice.Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-6512646675007662332023-02-01T12:54:49.618-05:002023-02-01T12:54:49.618-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-45523444622650525542023-01-31T21:18:38.519-05:002023-01-31T21:18:38.519-05:00From Dan Thalman of the Washington County News in ...From Dan Thalman of the Washington County News in Kansas:<br /><br />I know nothing about the Paxton Media Group, so I’ll reserve judgment (though I imagine they are like any group owner who believes in bottom line over quality journalism).<br /> <br />That said, I’ve toyed with the idea of closing down my office and having my staff work remote. But I haven’t been able to figure out how that works for our bookkeeper. It’s deadline day today, but I’m working from home since my wife slipped on ice this morning and injured both wrists, so I’ll be assisting her while working on my home computer. Outside of not being able to yell questions down the hall, my location really doesn’t change much in today’s production schedule.<br /> <br />I used to think having an office was integral, but honestly, our foot traffic is extremely limited in our office, even though we are located downtown in a nice office. The only people who come in are generally folks who want to save the cost of a stamp. Does it add legitimacy to have the office? I would think so, but I’m a longtime subscriber to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and I imagine I’ll never step foot in their offices. Does that make them less professional?<br /> <br />People don’t come in to the office to give me news tips. They call or email or text.<br /> <br />In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with questioning our model as long as we continue to focus on our journalistic mission.Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-32366668505263398842023-01-31T18:27:27.132-05:002023-01-31T18:27:27.132-05:00From Chris Evans of The Crittenden Press in Marion...From Chris Evans of The Crittenden Press in Marion:<br /><br />A mystery to many is the model that has been deployed for rural newspapers PMG has acquired in our area. It seems to be a model of survival only. It is difficult to believe those newspapers will be able to remain viable conduits of news and pertinent information with their offices shuttered. In this climate, intentional and hyper-local news is key to sustained viability. Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-89988511831576919042023-01-31T15:40:08.087-05:002023-01-31T15:40:08.087-05:00I didn't think the traditional newspaper indus...I didn't think the traditional newspaper industry could do more than it was already doing to hasten its demise. But they just keep finding new ways to alienate their communities. Still, I feel confident that something better and more responsive to the public will rise to fill the void -- there are a lot of smart young people entering journalism who can figure this out.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13318100080771575048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-47849157443217038452023-01-31T13:56:42.096-05:002023-01-31T13:56:42.096-05:00Sometimes I feel like our office is the water cool...Sometimes I feel like our office is the water cooler of our community. We do get a steady stream of folks, even on days like yesterday when it was -20F. We serve as a drop off point for donation for our town's food shelf. We also serve as a drop off for community fundraisers. We sell tickets for community events. And yes, sometimes the interruptions are a bother, but it's an important part of being connected to your community.<br /> <br />We do get folks coming in with news tips, or bringing in announcements and photos, as well as paying their subscription or advertising bills. And it is nice to put faces to the names of our local subscribers. We cannot afford to staff our front office full-time, so on our two less busy days, we take turns dealing with the foot/phone traffic.<br /> <br />Jodi Summit<br />General Manager<br />The Timberjay<br />Tower, Minnesota<br />(218) 753-2950<br />editor@timberjay.com<br />Al Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359789093150390148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-42507853808895967602023-01-23T13:30:52.376-05:002023-01-23T13:30:52.376-05:00If gov'ts want to limit genuine access to publ...If gov'ts want to limit genuine access to public notices, then go back to simply posting them on a bulletin board somewhere in some public building.LeeThomason.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042622122005706743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-44495224926165209882023-01-10T13:30:03.158-05:002023-01-10T13:30:03.158-05:00Sigh and amen. Thanks for sharing your painful tru...Sigh and amen. Thanks for sharing your painful truth. As much as I'd like to believe we can be better...sooner, I fear it will take a generation or two to bring back civility. I hope I'm wrong.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05282277129877514982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-36363144549465333402023-01-10T09:59:48.051-05:002023-01-10T09:59:48.051-05:00Thank you. this makes me want to cry.Thank you. this makes me want to cry.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17261660708948452490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-3231229790394881342022-12-30T15:28:15.880-05:002022-12-30T15:28:15.880-05:00Amen. Amen. Amen.Amen. Amen. Amen.ezzellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09537187318802283408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-3918812519137867442022-12-16T13:26:50.094-05:002022-12-16T13:26:50.094-05:00Props to Heather Close for the "Holiday Hits....Props to Heather Close for the "Holiday Hits."<br />-- Jennifer P. Brown, Hoptown ChronicleAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15124923393468293674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-22020402832550220612022-12-06T22:40:11.556-05:002022-12-06T22:40:11.556-05:00John Adam McLendon has received more than $2.5 mil...John Adam McLendon has received more than $2.5 million in direct USDA subsidies! Let him pay to eradicate his own darned pigs! https://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?custnumber=A11765272Mike Darganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04095124472847250067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-69884795979212464402022-12-02T12:28:49.270-05:002022-12-02T12:28:49.270-05:00Methane capture needs to be part of our energy use...Methane capture needs to be part of our energy use plan. This new regulation is essential for curbing waste on public lands. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16236489889078404435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-83363786563674874752022-12-01T11:10:57.502-05:002022-12-01T11:10:57.502-05:00Why not show pictures of Antifa/BLM packing guns a...Why not show pictures of Antifa/BLM packing guns and using intimidation at right-leaning rallies? Why not use those examples instead of your normal "it's the right that always uses these tactics"? Do you think that readers can't recognize your constant bias against rural conservatives hidden behind the false-moniker "rural blog"?Shaunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16096732400815043107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-52278327629371043182022-12-01T09:53:46.141-05:002022-12-01T09:53:46.141-05:00I know Dick Yarmy as a friend and neighbor. I know...I know Dick Yarmy as a friend and neighbor. I know of his sensitivity expressed in conversation on a regular basis over coffee, breakfast, or a morning walk in our neighborhood. When he mentioned his visit to this little town, hovering on the edge of the past, I asked him to further the link to me. I am reminded of my own birth and early childhood in a similar town in Alabama. Roanoke did not survive the bypass to speed the passing travelers headed for Panama City, Florida or even the south Alabama beaches. What had been a busy town with a Main Street full of businesses, cafes, drug stores, hardware, the Alabama Power Company offices, and the Martin Theater and others is now empty of most. Not just 'most', but almost all. I recall Saturdays where no parking spaces were easily found, farmer families in town for supplies and socializing, and a line of children of all ages, hands clutching a dime to get into the Saturday double feature. It was a normal life for me at age 10 and no one was worried about violence or a kidnapping. I never felt anything but being safe in my town. I am an octogenarian now and relish my memories and recognize my good fortune in my childhood. Thanks to The Rural Blog and to Dick Army for my mindful visitation this morning.<br /><br />Mike Stevenson, Black Mountain, NCMike Stevensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10797907060656214083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-8307601083658318012022-11-14T20:25:46.963-05:002022-11-14T20:25:46.963-05:00I think I have referred to "mac 'n' c...I think I have referred to "mac 'n' cheese journalism" as "chicken dinner journalism." It serves a purpose because as a former editor said about ribbon-cutting photos: "Make them (readers) happy."Ken Hedlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422509934928988197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-65798641641107214082022-10-25T09:47:17.521-04:002022-10-25T09:47:17.521-04:00No shit. Perhaps it's the 200 mile limit on an...No shit. Perhaps it's the 200 mile limit on an $80,000 electric car. Tesla offers an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty. How much to replace a battery once it is gone? Lexus says an average of $47,000. None of the other car companies will tell you a price. Who lives in the rural areas? It's not all the wealthy people though they are trying to buy up all the land. We are killing coal and not replacing the generation with reliable electricity. Why are we manufacturing self-infliction when we attribute 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions? Perhaps if the government was making declarations on replacing coal fired EGUs with Nuclear plants I wouldn't be so concerned. But our future looks like some dystopia where we face rolling blackouts due to grid overload, are limited to a given amount of GHG and once we reach that limit our toaster no longer operates (until the next week). Government has failed at pretty much everything they've touched since the end of WWII and the rise of the military industrial complex. Education, pharma/drugs, economy, finance, homeland security. The bigger it gets the bigger it's failures. The push for globalism only weakens the American government and the will of the people. Why does the UN, Davos, WEF, WHO, NATO tell America what to do when to do it and how much money it will cost the taxpayers? All these issues are interrelated. It's time for regular everyday Americans to get off their butts and go out and vote every one of these globalists out of office. The WEF and the likes will be the downfall of freethinking Americans. Why is it that we know exactly how much money united states' taxpayers have given to Ukraine but we don't know how much any other member of NATO has contributed? I can guarantee you the answer is close to zero. Stop relying on billionaires to solve problems. All they're actually trying to do is enrich themselves or gain some influence. No one that you think of is trying to make the world a better place. They are trying to put themselves in a better place. If you want to be an indentured servant, then keep doing exactly what you've been doing. I assure you that if you are not, then your children will be. If you want to know if a candidate is a member of the WEF it's pretty easy to research who is who. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14280297114904492054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-26839070485764675512022-10-19T14:20:55.508-04:002022-10-19T14:20:55.508-04:00The root cause still is a mystery. Local TV websit...The root cause still is a mystery. Local TV websites give away local news because the TV broadcasts are ad-supported. But, local newspapers which were ad-supported struggle to not fail, and print fewer pages of news. Is the readership either uninterested or ignorant or apathetic? Many of these local papers were family-owned so it is fair to assume they were not debt-laden. Their distribution models - paperboys & newstands - are antiquated, but why doesn't their content and reporting translate readily into online formats, which are ad-supported? I grew up watching giant rolls of papers glide through large format printers, then be folded into fourths and compressed into stacks. A news deadline every week, and readers waiting for the paper to be delivered. Hate how that's all changed, or lost irretrievably especially from the standpoint of folks just not having or caring to have a reliable source of news.LeeThomason.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042622122005706743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-922729540732993682022-10-11T09:58:18.960-04:002022-10-11T09:58:18.960-04:00Earlier this year, several Republican gubernatoria...Earlier this year, several Republican gubernatorial candidates in New York were promising that if elected, they would fire elected district attorneys who did not adequately (whatever that means) enforce the laws of the land. They have all been either silent about or supportive of these sheriffs.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08797243971179303040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-76042730014271046192022-10-03T09:36:10.366-04:002022-10-03T09:36:10.366-04:00Fully agree. I subscribe to our county newspaper f...Fully agree. I subscribe to our county newspaper for all the reasons you state. More people need to. We cannot lose that voice.<br />Anita Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17859301205536150778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-25283938178238719332022-07-26T18:24:13.457-04:002022-07-26T18:24:13.457-04:00I hope there was no intent to imply that school e...I hope there was no intent to imply that school employees, at this point, have an iota of complacency left toward their jobs or proper protocol. What is surely needed is outside agencies taking full charge of retraining all concerned, school employees and most especially local police agencies...and rehiring where needed. Maybe a lot of the latter, as difficult as it will be in small departments.J. Mineohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16104347747621531147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-78152684167894172002022-07-18T17:38:52.159-04:002022-07-18T17:38:52.159-04:00Be careful doing this. My paper in Ohio published ...Be careful doing this. My paper in Ohio published a poem brought in by a local resident who said they wrote it. Turns out they didn't and the acutal author threatened a $50,000 suit if we didn't settle. Obviously they were working in tandem on the grift. We dodged a lawsuit with a 4-figure settlement.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07291671992612579906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-64827093706381546912022-07-11T22:01:17.530-04:002022-07-11T22:01:17.530-04:00How can we see more of Julia Walkup's wonderfu...How can we see more of Julia Walkup's wonderful work?Thomas N.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01608905752134006856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13520324.post-79268681513711619332022-06-25T06:04:25.839-04:002022-06-25T06:04:25.839-04:00I was a freshman at Vanderbilt University in the s...I was a freshman at Vanderbilt University in the summer of 1971. I didn't do well at the University as I was suffering from depression and self-medicating with alcohol and illicit substances. I got to know Dean Potter while I was there and there is no better man to be found anywhere. I am glad to know he is still alive and well and happily ensconced in a farm in rural Tennessee.<br /><br />James Russell GivenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15267024490437071342noreply@blogger.com