Media

There are 262 posts filed in Media (this is page 18 of 27).

CharO unfairly slams Craigslist

The Charlotte Observer reported this week how a man was robbed of money after he posted an ad seeking a car on Craigslist:

Similar “robbery-by-appointments” have become a growing problem since classified ad websites like Craigslist have become popular online sources to buy or sell anything from pets to electronics and cars.

Of course, nowhere does the Observer mention that this is not a problem inherent to Craigslist. The same crime could’ve been set up from a flyer stapled to a neighborhood bulletin board, a notice posted in a library, or even (gasp) a classified ad placed in the Charlotte Observer! A commenter on the story also calls the paper out:

Did this type of activity just never occur with newspaper classified ads?

Sure it did, but you don’t think the paper would bash itself, do you?

Look, I get that the newspaper industry has an axe to grind against Craigslist, blaming it for the massive loss of classified advertising. The truth, though, is that the rise of the Internet killed classified advertising. If Craigslist hadn’t done it, some other company would have.

Ads are ads, no matter what the medium. They connect strangers seeking a transaction. Just because someone using Craigslist experienced a crime doesn’t imply that newspaper advertising (or any other kind of advertising) is any safer. Spinning this as a Craigslist-only problem is disingenuous.

AP Hires Worst CEO in Newspaper Industry

Ouch.

The Associated Press hired the worst CEO in the newspaper industry as its 13th chief executive. Its board of directors should be ashamed, as should anyone who works at the news company. Gary Pruitt, the head of McClatchy NYSE: MNI, will move to the AP after destroying the newspaper chain he has run. He will move on with his former firm still in tatters.

Pruitt became the CEO of McClatchy in 1996. The chain took on about $2 billion in debt, a great deal of it to buy rival Knight Ridder for $4.6 billion in 2006. In 2009, it teetered close to bankruptcy. A restructuring of obligations saved it, for a while at least. McClatchy is in financial trouble again. Pruitt leaves for the AP just in time to avoid leading McClatchy as it heads toward a new crisis.Pruitt has decided to leave his company, and its shareholders, at a time when they are in great peril, again.

After his AP appointment, Pruitt said, “The Associated Press is the most important news organization in the world and an essential force in democracy.’ That it true. As such, it deserves a better leader.

via AP Hires Worst CEO in Newspaper Industry – 24/7 Wall St..

All the Advertisers Who Are Sticking by Limbaugh

As the parent of a daughter I am furious with Rush Limbaugh’s slandering of women. Any company that still does business with him is on my official shit list (you listening, Netflix?)

Rush Limbaugh said he wasn’t motivated to apologize to Sandra Fluke by the number of companies pulling ads from his show. He insists he’s turned away “millions” in ads and he can always “replace” the ones who’ve left! But it made us wonder exactly who does advertise on Limbaugh’s show. We paid close attention to Limbaugh’s ad breaks on Monday’s broadcast on D.C.’s WMAL. Limbaugh’s sponsor base reveals a lot about how those angry white men of the 1990s are aging — they care a lot more about weight loss, teeth, and gold. So far seven advertisers have pledged to pull their ads: AOL, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Sleep Number beds, Sleep Train, Citrix Systems, LegalZoom. Here are all 31 advertisers we heard on Monday’s show.

via All the Advertisers Who Are Sticking by Limbaugh – Politics – The Atlantic Wire.

Update 6 March: Netflix says they don’t advertise on Limbaugh’s show. Good.

WRAL interview about recycling theft

Renee Chou rummages through my recycling


WRAL’s Renee Chou came by the house this afternoon to do a story tonight on Raleigh’s proposed recycling theft ordinance. As far as interviews go I was a bit uncomfortable as I was seated and I’m not used to doing interviews that way. I was also uncomfortable with having the contents of my recycling bin displayed for all the world to see. Then again, watching Renee rummaging through my recycling bin reminded me that this ordinance will actually help protect everyone’s privacy by keeping people out of bins. That’s a good thing, I think.

As typical, I though of my best talking point after the interview concluded, and that’s this: just like when I put a letter in my mailbox I expect that a postal employee will collect it, when I put something in my recycling bin I expect the city’s recycling crew will collect it.

Look for the interview to air at 6 tonight.

Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts

The N&O’s Matt Garfield wrote up a story in the Midtown Raleigh News about the city’s response to recycling thefts. My blog got a shout out, too.

Mark Turner thought it was odd when a blue pickup truck stopped in his neighborhood one recent morning. A man hopped out, collected aluminum cans from a curbside recycling bin and continued down the street.

When Turner returned home later in the day, he spotted a man in a different truck doing the same thing.

The banditry was unusual for its brazenness. But city officials say recycling theft is becoming more common as marauders seek an easy, if time-consuming, way to make money.

via Raleigh might criminalize recycling thefts – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Update 8:55 PM: My friend Mitchell in Santa Cruz, CA tells me the City of Santa Cruz has had a big problem with recycling theft. The city passed an ordinance similar to Raleigh’s proposed ordinance, making anything put in city bins city property and a misdemeanor to remove anything. Mitchell sent a link to a recent City of Santa Cruz newsletter which discusses the problem (PDF).

I think some of the dire warnings by the Santa Cruz police chief are way overblown (“gateway crime?” Come on.) but it is absolutely true that pilfering aluminum cans jeopardizes the entire recycling program.

Water system bills, revisited

Remember how I said that John Carman, Raleigh’s Public Utilities Director, has been going around telling anyone who’ll listen that Raleigh’s water infrastructure is aging rapidly and will soon need major maintenance? The Raleigh Public Record looked at the report put out by the city’s Water Utility Transition Advisory Task Force (WUTAT):

Raleigh’s underground water infrastructure, mainly pipes in the ground, needs more than $7 billion in repairs, according to City Public Utilities Director John Carman. These are not immediate costs, he said, but now is when Raleigh should be planning to replace pipes that will age out during the coming decades.

Carman told the Record the current financial model for the system does not put away any money to pay for replacing pipes that have a lifespan of anywhere from 60 to 100 years.

“We have $500 million worth of pipe that was installed before World War II,” Carman said.

Kudos to the Raleigh Public Record for raising awareness about this issue.

N&O’s editorial covers nuke plant mistake

I was happy to see today’s News and Observer editorial on the November mishap at Progress Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant. This time the hand-tight bolts part made it into print, unlike the previous article by John Murawski which left that part out of the print edition for brevity’s sake, apparently.

I’ve got another blog post pending on this topic, based on the report that NRC released. I hope this incident is a reminder to Progress Energy that when one deals with nuclear energy, “close enough” isn’t good enough.

The Nov. 16 shutdown at Brunswick’s Unit 2 was caused by a coolant leak from a pressurized vessel that produces steam. Mildly radioactive water flowed out of the chamber rather than boiling inside. At one point, according to an N&O account, “the water was flowing out at a rate of over 10 gallons a minute, about 100 times more volume than would flow out under normal circumstances.”

As a result, according to the NRC, “instead of pressurizing the tensioning device to 13,000 psi, the team actually pressurized the device to 1,300 psi.” Later, Progress Energy personnel were “able to rotate 8 nuts by hand, 10 nuts by wrench with no agitation, 31 nuts by wrench and agitation, and 15 nuts by wrench with additional agitation,” the NRC said.

Got that? Those investigating the leak were able to turn some of the nuts on a reactor pressure vessel by hand. That’s not tight enough for a tire change.

via Tighten up – Editorials – NewsObserver.com.

Sports pic of the year?

Ethan Hyman - ehyman@newsobserver.com - N.C. State Ethan Hyman - ehyman@newsobserver.com - N.C. State's Mark Gottfried can't believe a foul was called on the Wolfpack during the second half of N.C. State's 61-60 loss to Virginia on Saturday in Raleigh.


I love this photo Ethan Hyman of the News and Observer took of N.C. State basketball coach Mark Gottfried reacting to a foul call during yesterday’s loss to Virginia. In capturing Coach Gottfried’s acrobatics, Ethan’s photo conveyed the thrilling nature of ACC basketball in a nutshell.

Nice work, Ethan!