February 07, 2006
Speaking Truth to Whine
Anil Dash, a smart guy who works for the blog software company Six Apart, responds to Tim Redmond's whine in the S.F Bay Guardian that Craig Newmark is destroying, not building, commmunities.
Dash's comments carry good advice for mainstream dailies as well as alternative weeklie. writes (emphasis added):
"My advice? If you have a newspaper, publish something that's unique to your community; Write something that nobody running a website on the other side of the country would have enough knowledge or information to create. Find a business model that makes your work seem valuable instead of worthless. Free the smart, creative people on your editorial staff to express themselves, especially online, without having to obey seniority rules or arbitrary limits. And realize that the reason Craig is eating your lunch is not merely because his information is better, or because he cares about being online and you don't, but because he's given people a place to connect with each other, instead of just being preached to by people too arrogant to stay curious."
Of course, Dash is echoing some of my favorite themes: Be Unique, Empower the Journalists, Create Community.
{Read: The Sunday Not-So-Funnies.}
(Thanks to Adrian Holovaty.)
UPDATE: Steve Outing prefers adapting to griping. He writes on Poynter's E-Media blog: "Craigslist has just done what was inevitable given the evolution of the Internet. If not Newmark and Co., someone else would have done the same thing. It's up to traditional media to adapt, not waste time on "woe-is-me" griping."
EARLIER: Jeff Jarvis on Redmond: "... the problem is that the internet kills middlemen and newspapers are middlemen, in terms of commerce, news, and community. The internet enables direct connections."
Tags: Journalism, Newspapers, Media
Posted by Tim Porter at February 7, 2006 08:22 AMPlease see what I've posted here. You all are missing the point.
Posted by: tim redmond on February 7, 2006 11:36 AMActually, tim redmond, you are missing several points.
First, your comment here is useless. Saying, "Reader, go back and read what I wrote," is offensive. Tell us again what you think your point was and how we missed it.
Second, I have to respond to you here, on Tim Porter's blog, because, there is no way of commenting on your editorial directly at sfbg.com.
Those two points lead me to believe that you aren't interested in a conversation. I'm supposed to be the reader and you are supposed to be the writer. Sorry, that not very interesting to me. It isn't a good way to communicate, it isn't a good way to learn, and it especially isn't a good way to build a community.
Buying, selling and trading a half-dozen items from actual members of the Bay Area community does more to enrich my understanding of my community than reading yet another article about the abuses of PG&E. "Hiring reporters and serving as a community watchdog" be damned.
Actually, tim redmond, you are missing several points.
First, your comment here is useless. Saying, "Reader, go back and read what I wrote," is offensive. Tell us again what you think your point was and how we missed it.
Second, I have to respond to you here, on Tim Porter's blog, because, there is no way of commenting on your editorial directly at sfbg.com.
Those two points lead me to believe that you aren't interested in a conversation. I'm supposed to be the reader and you are supposed to be the writer. Sorry, that not very interesting to me. It isn't a good way to communicate, it isn't a good way to learn, and it especially isn't a good way to build a community.
Buying, selling and trading a half-dozen items from actual members of the Bay Area community does more to enrich my understanding of my community than reading yet another article about the abuses of PG
Posted by: Ray Baxter on February 9, 2006 12:19 PM