A podcast from Richmond, Indiana about news and opinion from a different perspective.
In this episode: a new food and beverage tax proposal stirs some local blood, and highlights from Richmond's first 100-Mile Radius Potluck. Plus, the connections between our current day energy issues and celebrating the birthday of the Model T Ford. Enjoy!
In this abbreviated episode: under-reported stories from 2007, and a new local podcast. Plus, information about a chat room just for discussing local news and issues. Enjoy!
Palladium-Item Online Editor Jason Truitt has announced that as of today, the paper will be holding the comments posted in its online discussion forums to the same standard it uses for letters published in its print edition, at least when it comes to personal attacks:
"We've been having discussions at the P-I for a little while now about what changes we might want to make to the way we run these forums. We've heard the feedback from some of you as well as other people in the community about the level of conversation in the forums, and quite frankly, our own concerns have been growing...
Content for letters to the editor is held to a much higher standard in order to be published than forum posts have been. As of today, that will no longer be the case. From now on, whenever we have a question about whether a comment should be allowed to stand, the question we'll ask is, "Would we allow this to be printed in a letter to the editor?" If the answer is "no," the comment will be deleted from these forums. If the answer is "yes," the comment stays."
You can read Jason's full announcement and the discussion/reaction that follows. We interviewd Jason about this issue and others facing the paper in RNR Episode #22.
As a part of our end of year episode coming up in December, we're going to do a segment that looks back at the year's news coverage, and we need your help!
The topic is the city's Top 10 Most Under-reported or Under-covered News Stories in 2007.
In Sunday's paper, the Palladium-Item endorsed Sally Hutton as its candidate of choice for Mayor, saying that candidate Rick Thalls had "demonstrated an insufficient grasp of the issues most germane to Richmond's future." Later that same day, Rick Thalls` campaign apparently withdrew from the blogging experiment on the paper's website (discussed in our most recent episode), removing all of his postings from the blog without any explanation. When contacted about the withdrawal, "Thalls said he moved his posts to his Web site because of the conduct of one of our forums users," according to Online editor Jason Truitt. As yet, we have not been able to confirm that the text available on the Thalls campaign website is an unaltered version of what appeared on the Pal-Item site; such verification may be difficult without an archive for comparison.
Last week, regional NPR affiliate WMUB in Oxford, Ohio announced that the Miami University committee appointed by President David Hodge to make recommendations on WMUB's future has completed its report. Of the four options laid out in the report, the push seems to be toward "developing the regional connections with existing noncommercial radio stations and adding significant connections with appropriate Miami University academic programs." The subtext may be additional consolidation and merging of public radio resources in the area.
Also, Palladium-Item online editor Jason Truitt announced that several new features have been added to their online presence, allowing readers to submit stories and photos in a new way, subscribe to online news focused on a particular geographical area in town, and view state and national databases of various statistics.
In this episode: for everything there is a season, and it's about time one rolled around for an RNR podcast episode. We'll talk about changes in the air, changes in local media, and more. Read more below for links from this episode. Enjoy!
Palladium-Item Viewpoints Editor Dale McConnaughay announced today that the Pal-Item is ending its "open-invitation format" for the public to attend its editorial board meetings. McConnaughay cites the difficulty in keeping the group on track within an allotted time period when the meetings have to accommodate sometimes lengthy and unplanned discussions with those who happen to attend in a given week.
As a part of the announcement, McConnaughay clarifies that anyone who wishes to attend can still contact him to schedule a visit, and the group's agenda will still be sent out in advance as it has been. The board is also expanding the number of community members on the board to eight. Read McConnaughay's full announcement.
(April Fools) The Richmond News Review announced today that it has acquired ownership of both the Palladium-Item newspaper (previously owned by Gannett Co., Inc) and Kicks 96 Video News (previously owned by Brewer Broadcasting).
"As we talked about the possibilities for collaboration, we realized that it would be a natural fit to have the Pal-Item and Kicks 96 assets become a part of the RNR's organizational structure," said Chris Hardie, producer and host of the podcast. "Through anonymous community donations and funds received during our recent listener pledge drive, we were able to put together a buy-out package that made sense for the Gannett and Brewer stake-holders." (Read the rest of this entry...)
In this episode: an interview with the online editor at the Palladium-Item, new details emerge from the recent firing of their managing editor, and a local college is highlighted in the New York Times. Read more below for links from this episode. Enjoy!
