How would you change the Post Register?
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Roger Plothow wrote about some changes coming to our local Post Register, spurred by an apparently frank discussion with their community advisory board. An immediate change is to stop publishing local opinion page writers, at least for the summer.
Roger said they are open to fresh ideas from the community, so I thought I would open this discussion thread here to anyone with improvement suggestions. We only have one local newspaper, so we all may as well help it to be the best it can.
I was glad someone told them they were running too much trivia instead of local news. I never like little factoids or gossip news or the little “wierd news” or the little jokes. The only time I have seen trivia done well is by Time magazine, where they do a short list of comparing two related numbers, usually to put them in perspective. An example would be the savings had by cutting a particular program vs. the costs of a larger problem that program helped to alleviate.
Besides giving fresh ideas on what to change, what are some things you enjoy and would like to see them continue? An example would be the restaurant health inspections that have been a bigger hit than when the crime reports started.
Here’s a fresh idea that incorporates user-generated content: a place on their website for people to submit their own local news pieces, which are vetted and published on a page of the West. The intake form on the website would prompt certain questions like who/ what/ why/ when/ where/ how etc., along with the person’s name and phone number. The PR staff could make a phone or two to verify the accuracy of the submitted report. This way we would have a section of “citizen-reported news” that would catch a wider net of local news that no one organization could possibly catch. The website intake form could also provide an upload script for folks to attach related image(s), which could also be published with the news story.
How about that idea?
What are your fresh ideas for changing our local Post Register, and what features would you like to see the PR keep?
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Comments
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0 i like the user submitted news ideas. some of the more interesting submissions could be followed up on by newpaper reporters and expanded into full news stories.
this idea gives some control to users, some feeling of ownership.
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0 0 I think that many people these days feel like I do — the news is so depressing! You read the news, and after 15 minutes you usually feel like packing all your stuff up and moving to the Alaskan bush. I think that the PR should consider a refreshing page that has only good news. Stories from all over, detailing nice events, good things, hopeful things and anything else that just makes a reader feel good. I believe that this page would become a local favorite for the people who read the PR on a daily basis, and help offset that feeling of udder hopelessness that you get when you read the news nowadays.
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0 0 The Internet version of this “Good News” idea can be found at this link:
http://www.goodnewsnow.com/?gclid=CPj74f6i3IsCFSJ-UAodISiyWQ
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0 0 The Post Register has battled with a controversial image for quite some time. Some people love it, other’s hate it. And although the Post Register has continued to tout growth in subscriptions, but has refused to compare the % of additional subscriptions to the % of population growth in the area. All in all, It appears as though the Post Register looking for a new direction may be a result of loss of previous subscribers.
The biggest issue with the Post Register is it does not take care of its customer base. The population in South East Idaho is typically conservative, family oriented, religiously based. The Post Register has continually taken a liberal slant on the majority of the articles they write. They seem more concerned about pushing their agendas than reporting the news. And this is probably a result of the influence of the leadership of the Post Register.
Lets take a look at who they’ve hired on their leadership staff. The key leadership of the Post Register appears very Liberal. The way I see it:
Jerry Brady - Owner - Liberal, so much so that he ran twice as Democratic Candidate for Idaho’s Governor
Roger Plothow - Publisher - Liberal
Dean Miller - Executive Editor - Liberal
Marty Trillhouse - Opinions Page Editor – Liberal
Etc, etc. etc.
You can probably fine a few of neutral viewpoints in the group, but if you were to take a cross-section of the leadership staff, I believe you will find overwhelmingly liberal.
And when you have the overwhelming majority of the senior staff with one viewpoint it is going to be near impossible to have neutral reporting in just about anything. Just reading their articles reveals the unfortunate result.
What the Post Register needs is a more neutral point of view and a renewed focus on reporting the news rather than pushing personal or political agendas.
So how do you get to an unbiased reporting of the news? If the Post Register truly wants to improve, the best way to accomplish this is to replace about half of the editorial staff with those who represent the opposing views. That’s tough to do… but it is the responsible thing to do. And the Post Register has a responsibility to the community to do the right thing in regards to having a balanced staff.
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0 0 besides firing everyone you don’t like or agree with, what would you suggest to improve the paper? who would you hire? what features would you change or add?
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0 0 I would like to see more of the “story behind the story” especially pertaining to local news. What is the cause and what is the impact of the building boom in Bonneville County? Why did two Chubbuck teens take the life of a friend - just to see what murder feels like? How do families of high profile criminals (KM?) adjust from living the high life to a life of disgrace? I guess what I’m saying is I’d like to see more human interest stories featuring local people. We could also use more follow up when such stories are published. Whatever became of Brett Manwaring and the slumlord accusations?
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0 0 Special Code,
I admit after reading through some of your comments, it appears as though you are someone who would agree with the views of the senior staff of the PR. I’m only suggesting a balanced staff to keep the news neutral.
The overwhelming stats of the views of the senior staff speak for itself.
Do you disagree in the concept of a balanced staff to help avoid pushing agendas (even if you happen to be one who agrees with their agendas)?
Don’t you want news instead of propaganda? From ANY side of a political view.
It just kind of makes sense.
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0 0 Sometimes propaganda is in the eyes of the beholder. I don’t see any political leanings in the news coverage, only on the opinion page where it belongs. Please cite specific stories where the coverage was slanted, I can’t think of any.
SweetLove said: Jerry Brady - Owner - Liberal, so much so that he ran twice as Democratic Candidate for Idaho’s Governor.
That just sounds silly. You’re basically saying that he’s such a bad person that he ran for governor twice. Then you went on to plant the Liberal label on more PR senior staff. It’s black or white with you, isn’t it? Liberal against conservative. Me against you. With me or against me. Labels for everyone.
So please point out some of these articles you are citing as the “unfortunate result” of “near impossible to have neutral reporting.”
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0 0 way to attack me instead of answering a perfectly logical question.
way to throw out a loaded question where the only answer is to agree with you. typical republican, cannot ask a straight question because the answer may not dovetail with your own agenda.
oh no i want propoganda over news. of course i want news over propoganda, so must i agree with you?
of course i want balance. thats why i asked you who you would hire? what changes would you make?
try to answer this time without attacking me, [edited by site admin]
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0 0 Good news doesn’t sell!
I actually work in Journalism, In one town that I worked in, (much like IF) one of the local TV stations annouced that they were going to focus on the “good news” of course they still would do the bad stuff also, but put more of a focus into the happy stuff…..Well about a year later, their ratings went down, from 2nd place to 4th place, behind the Spanish station…managers were given the boot, and the usual news returned, this was about 2 years ago and that station is still trying to claw it’s way back up. I know that was TV and not the paper, But the message is the same.
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0 0 Special Code,
You sound angry. I’m sorry if you read things the wrong way. I certainly wasn’t intending to attack you.
Lets review the series of events:
I presented a simple idea: a balanced staff. It seems like a good idea, and one that would help reduce the apparent spin from the leaders of the local newspaper.
You responded with an implication that I want to get rid of everyone I don’t agree with. I never indicated that was the case. And although someone might view your statement as an attack, I’m giving the benefit of the doubt. I stated that it should be a balanced staff. That is all.
In answer to your second question – I’m not sure who the community would want to see on the staff. A good job search should probably take place before that’s decided.
From there I noted that your comments appear to agree with the philosophies of the current head staff at the Post Register. That was not meant to be an attack, only that it appeared that was the case. If you are offended by what Liberals typically support, I understand how you would view that as an attack and I apologize, just as I would understand if I had associated you with someone conservative and you were offended by conservatives.
BTW - I am not a Republican. I don’t view conservatives or liberals as good or bad, just all basically good people with differing views. I just think it is a good idea to have balance to avoid the slants (Liberal slants in this case due) that have been worked into the local newspaper in the past.
So don’t you think a balanced senior staff rather than a one sided staff is a good idea?
Completely off the subject: I hadn’t anticipated it before, but with this article being about the Post Register and the staff there, It wouldn’t supprise me if the PR staff chimed in on the discussion eventually (if they haven’t done so already)
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0 0 I like the “slimmed-down” feel of the paper since the press was in transition. It’s a quicker read and you don’t feel overwhelmed with the sheer bulk. Sunday’s paper seems of reasonable size now.
The PR did have a “Front Porch” page or two for awhile with those inspirational and feel-good stories. They quietly dropped it and, I have to admit, I didn’t miss it. While good news makes us smile briefly, it doesn’t make us stop in our tracks and take notice.
Frankly, the bad news gets noticed because it is 1) less common than good news and 2) more threatening. To have the same “stop-and-take-notice” effect, good news needs to be very sensational or very personal.
Now for suggestions:
Are there really that many NASCAR fans here that it warrants a full page in the sports section? In contrast, Idaho Falls has the best youth hockey program in the state. That would suggest some significant hockey interest in the community as well. So there should be more hockey news in the sports section.
I would like to see Shop Talk expanded to cover more local business news.
Without going into other criticisms, that’s what I can think of at the moment.
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0 0 After reading some of these comments, it’s pretty clear some people already have very rigid ideas about how a newspaper is put together, how we pick which stories to cover and where they play on section fronts.
My best advice is to spend an afternoon in the newsroom to see how it all comes together. I’ve made this offer several times and will continue to do so until people understand that what we do isn’t a conspiracy.
The person who labeled some of the people I work with as “liberal” without ever having spent any real time with them made me laugh. I work with those people every day and in no way would I call them that.
People often read newspaper editorial pages and assume since they are slanted the whole staff is biased.
I’ve often talked to people who believe that and give them the same advice I included earlier - spend some time at the paper to understand how it works.
As far as the points about positive news, that’s also something we hear a lot. But in my 13-plus years in this business, I’ve found that a lot of people tend to gloss over “good news” or complain after a while that they aren’t getting any “real” news.
What I know is that we try to cover as much of a huge geographical region that we can with a small staff. And people will always be disappointed because we can’t cover everything everyone wants exactly how they want it.
Kortny Rolston
City Editor
Post Register
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0 0 I used to work at the Post Register and can affirm what Kortny says about the staff. You should get to know these people before you slap on any labels. Berke Breathed coined a word “shmiberal,” to describe people “who are assumed liberal because they work for a newspaper.” Don’t assume.
I look at Marty Trilhaase as more of a contrarian than anything else. He likes to take conventional wisdom and turn it on its head. Conventional wisdom around here tends to the Republican side. So he turns that on his head. But he’s not above doing the same to Democrats, few in number they be around here.
Take Kortny up on her offer to visit the newsroom, if you have doubts. Get to know the people who work there as people, not as shmiberals.
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0 0 i’d like to see a local reality series where some of these local complainers of the PR get put through some of the PR jobs. walk a mile in their shoes kind of thing
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0 0 I’d say the Op Ed page of the PR is pretty diverse. The fact that they have folks like Ray Swenson and Tom Walsh says a lot.
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0 0 I’d like to them put more limits on the letters to the editor. I’m sick of seeing the same names over and over and over again. Henry Morton, Dolores Casella, Bill Craig, and a slew of others who have reached a point to where they are no longer talking about anything but instead are bashing one another. Don’t they know thats what the internet and sites like this are for :))) (well after porn anyway since thats how the song goes).
Since some won’t understand that last reference you need to watch this. Don’t worry about the visual content as that part is very G rated in appearance and the song is actually a joke song with only two or three PG-13 level sexual references.
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0 0 Even Neal Larson limits his regular callers to one call per week, to give others a chance and so people are not hearing the same voices and opinions all the time.
I would like to see stronger standards in their LTE policy, specifically regarding people personally attacking and name-calling other people.
I read one LTE recently accusing some other LTE writer of smoking dope, and was reminded of a similar comment on IFz that I edited, making me smirk to myself that for all the criticism against IFz, we actually carry more stringent conversation rules than the PR in their LTE policies. (Well okay now we do but we didn’t use to.)
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0 0 About the only thing I don’t see the editorial bias of the PR seeping into is the obituaries–and thank goodness for those. Next to page 1 of The West, I get more news from the obituaries than the rest of the PR.
Marty: run for the state senate, serve a term, walk in their shoes, see how many tomatoes get thrown at you. Then with that perspective maybe we’ll take you more seriously.
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0 0 I agree the PostRegister seems to have a strong bias. Clean that up and you’ve got a good start at a good small-town newspaper.
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0 0 I hate to break the bad news, folks. If my fifteen years in the media taught me anything, it showed me there is no such thing as objective reporting. The reporter’s and editor’s worldviews will always seep into a story despite their best efforts at objectivity.
In fact, here’s a big grain of salt with which you can season anything you read and hear: its all one part fact to nine parts opinion.
Learn to read and hear discriminatingly, picking out the facts and developing your own conclusions.
Most people read and hear passively. They simply open their minds and dump stuff in. Do it actively - evaluate and look for the facts as well as seeing what hasn’t been said - and any biases won’t be so much of an issue.
Personally, I’d rather read reporting with unabashed bias than that from an “objective” reporter. The facts are easier to pick out in the first case because there is no attempt to disguise the part which is opinion.
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0 0 Great points. We are all human and so imperfect, how can we expect any human endeavor (such as a newspaper) to be perfect?
I’m glad you mentioned that we all need to develop media-savvy and information-savvy. I think those two are separating the people that “get it” technologically from those that don’t.
“Drop your liberal bias” is probably not a workable thing.
What are some of the workable suggestions so far?
*user-submitted news, via their website then the best are published on a daily page
*keep the 100/75/50/25 years ago column, and add a pic from each week 100/75/50/25 years ago.
*add a one-year ago today column that summarizes three news items, provides some pictures, and provides follow-ups to what happened
*”story behind the story” or “followup to that story”, which actually I just realized could dovetail with the previous suggestion
*decrease NASCAR racing coverage
*increase hockey coverage
*expand Shop Talk
*limit some folks’ publishing frequency of letters to the editor
*stronger standards for not allowing attacks or personal put-downs of other people expressing their opinions
Now these are some workable ideas.
What are some other workable ideas to improve our local newspaper?
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0 0 Ace ODale makes a good point. So perhaps the best attempt is Point/Counterpoint approach, as they had on 60 Minutes in the ’70s, USA Today uses on a topic each day on its opinion page, and Hannity & Colmes do on the Fox News Network.
So, Joe, add another to your lise: the PR ought to solicit and print a counterpoint in the same issue, on the same page, of each editorial–including Marty’s Cheers & Jeers.
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0 0 I haven’t read the Post Register in years - except for an occasional Sunday paper.
I hope it has improved in these areas, if not these are my suggestions:
*Spell-check & grammatical check.
*Include the complete article (I used to read the articles to find the end was cut off - leaving me hanging.)
[These top two reasons are why I decided not to take the paper any longer.]
*Put national news on the front page.
*Emphasize the things we have in common, and try to diversify the news to the demographics. (I think they were doing a pretty good job of trying to balance religious topics, various occupations, and racial groups, but need to realize that there exists a highly educated population that goes online, because the news is often inane.)
*Because the area is growing, the Post Register needs to grow also. They could include some articles that stretch one’s thoughts (not controversial or political thoughts, but elevated thinking.) [For example: thought provoking quotes, poetry, artful photos which could be suggested or submitted by "guest" writers.]
*There’s a need to include fresh and local writing, from interesting people with character and/or a good sense of humor - rather than articles from AP newswire or other newspapers who are finding interesting writers.
My biggest suggestion is to find someone to write a column similar to The Spokesman-Review’s “Slice” (Spokane, Wa. paper. Of all the places I have lived, and all the papers I have read. . .The Spokesman-Review is still my favorite for news, articles, features, etc.
I am sure the editors of the Post Register realize that they are competing with the free press of the Internet, yet one cannot read their articles online without a subscription. Don’t their advertisers realize they could reach a world-wide audience if the PR was free?
How many others are there like my spouse and I who do not read local news or watch local channels - who might embrace the local news if they would become a bit more sophisticated?
I hope this is helpful.
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0 0 I’d like to see more local news and less national. The simple truth is that if I want national news I’m going to go to the internet where I can browse CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or a host of other national news sites. The last and I’m mean LAST place I’m going to look is the Post Register.
I wouldn’t care if they dropped the A section entirely and just stuck with the West section. Except for the local TV news sites there I generally can’t get local news online so I’m dependent on the paper. And there is so much more they could be reporting on than they are.
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0 0 I’d like to see them ease up on the “anonymous source” policy they have right now. Currently they for all intents and purposes don’t allow anonymous sources. They say they do under very limited circumstances but basically its next to impossible to meet their requirements.
I know, because I personally have experience in this. Once several years ago I approached a PR reporter concerning a pretty serious issue involving corruption (not Kimball Mason). This reporter also knew who I was and personally knew what my position was. But I was only willing to come forward anonymously since I had no doubt that coming forward publicly would eventually cost me my job. They would have found another reason to fire me but have no doubt this would have been the real reason. And maybe after a lengthy legal battle and tens of thousands of dollards in legal fees I might have got my job back. But I wasn’t willing to take that chance, I have a family to feed. I flat out said - anonymous or not at all. They chose not to run with it because they didn’t feel my need for anonymity was serious enough.
So the corruption was never exposed. And now many years later its water under the bridge for me. Exposing it now would do nothing. The most guilty party is retired and untouchable as the statue of limitations is up.
But had it been exposed at the time you would have seen some fireworks, probably some arrests, and a major shakeup in the leadership an important local entity.
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0 0 I think the PR has kept relatively up-to-date with the times, however I also feel their anonymity philosophies are rooted in an old irrelevant era.
I have developed a strong recognition of Google-ability in our lifetimes, and the important need to control one’s own publicly-available information. I’m not doing anything wrong in the least, but I just don’t want my name and likeness splashed nilly-willy where it can be dredged up later by anyone.
I see allowing anonymity as simply respecting folks’ right to keep themselves to themselves.
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0 0 I agree with Joe’s post #28. I think we have to be realistic and realize we live in an area that awards many government contracts. A lot of people have to have deep and thorough security clearances to work on certain projects. So I like the idea of not having to use one’s name for the very reason Joe mentioned.
Google scans this site often. I check using my Ok4Now (please feel free to do the same) to see what Google is showing I last wrote or said, including “fluff” comments in the chatbox. Also, with how Google pairs findings, it may look like I said something, when I didn’t. But until one opens the link and reads it all, one won’t see my Ok4Now and maybe a buzz word like “Marriott” since I wrote that article, will produce the thoughts of someone else with my user name.
So in addition to retaining a username and not being forced to use our real names (which will decrease comments in Post Talk, IMHO), I would like to see the PR change their emphasis in a few areas things.
A few ideas I had have already been mentioned. Additionally, I’d like to see FULL and DETAILED articles of our City Council and County Meetings. I might be wrong about this, but it seems like whichever journalist is covering the City Councils (as Ammon is starting to get included and should be, for the population) and Comminssioners Meetings, is extract the “what’s planned” from what is on the IF City Website.
I’m often tempted to add a Post Talk comment that says, you left off they anticipate talking about x,y,z. But, I don’t.
I look at what we’ve written about on IFz.Com, and be the subject why there is such a pay difference for I.F. City Officers to Bonneville County Sheriff Deputies, or newest sources of power, or planning for new construction and development, in some ways, I can’t think of ANYTHING more important to print than detailed reports from the City Council Meetings.
It does me no good to read the City Council passed all annexation proposals or resolved the airport issues etc. in a two paragraph summary of a meeting that produced 27 pages of the Clerk’s notes. I read the 20-30 pages of City Council minutes, as there is a LOT of information in them. I’m the loser if I don’t know it.
The PR could just make it easier for me, and others, if they would do that work. And I actually think more people would become more involved with civic issues.
It’s almost like “Scouts Honor” followed by Kimball Mason (which didn’t win any awards, if I remember reading that correctly), fried the PR staff of City Gov’t. (”Scouts Honor” only in dealing with the judicial end of things, not the City Council or Mayor).
And speaking of the Mayor, would it be nice to have a column monthly from our local leaders (must include Ammon too) as what they saw as the most important city issues addressed the past month, what they are continuing to work on? I think so.
I believe many more would be empowered to read how the public has presented their letters or own statements at several City Council Meetings or to department heads and changed previous plans the City Council would have passed had local residents not gotten involved.
So I would encourage adding:
1. Much more in-depth reporting about the City Council meetings, especially with so much growth occurring. Key decisions are being made that many may not know about - and that just shouldn’t be.
2. Perhaps a monthly Mayor’s “blog” or column so citizens have a feel for day to day work being accomplished with tax dollars, the long range plans and how the average citizen can testify or write a letter about a specific action occurring in City Gov’t (or County).
3. Kortny, I think there needs to be a webcam in the newsroom. I couldn’t agree more with what you said here about people needing to attend an afternoon to see what really happens. Unfortunately, we can’t all get the time away from work and I doubt even with the printing presses moved we could all fit in the same room. But, it might be nice to have a webcam that allows us to see how decisions are made.
For example, do the editors meet in a conference room and decide about the next day’s assignments based on what reporters learned that day? Or how do two reporters work together etc.?
I don’t know how the logistics would work, but maybe there is a way that at 3:00 p.m. daily a webcam goes live for 15-30 minutes and those who want to watch how the news for tomorrow and beyond is being planned today, could do so.
I KNOW it is not accurate to say all Sr. Mgt. or employees at the PR are liberal. But, for others to know this, perhaps there has to be a way to see the day in day out work, without compromising stories and interfering with journalists getting their work done.
4. I do realize many don’t understand why the PR online, as an Internet subscription only (not receiving the printed copy) is a paid subscription. I went through those arguments with Roger Plothow probably 5-6 years ago and it despite everything he wrote to me, his arguments still didn’t make sense to me.
Then, one day I found something on line which I hope Roger won’t mind me writing here. The Post Register provides us with information. I second Chiasm’s point about opting for more local news and scrubbing more national news as I look for it elsewhere as well.
The Post Register provides us with information, be it from City Council Meetings, or Weddings/Obits, or Shoptalk and other familiar columns/features.
Had we not had the Post Register take on “Scouts Honor,” how many of us would learned what we’ve learned, gotten involved in whatever ways we’ve had and been more vigilent in protecting our children?
Think of what each of you, or someone in your home, does to bring home a paycheck. Should you do that work for free? Why should we ask the PR to give away their work, compiling stories and information for free?
Many larger city newspapers do not charge for basic access, but that is an entirely different situation and not one I want to discuss here.
I don’t think the amount charged for the PR Ads would cover a free PR for all who would subscribe. Maybe in 5-10 years, but that depends on the total circulation and other factors.
I’m not willing to work and share my years of knowledge and the expertise I’ve acquired for free, with those who want me to devote my time to them or their work. How can I expect the PR to provide me what they sell, information - factual news - for free? In my mind I can’t.
The PR has added a tremendous number of links that are free that didn’t use to even be available. I give the organization a lot of credit for that.
Since it’s times for me to renew my PR subscription. Please correct me, Kortny or others if I am wrong, but my online subscriptions has NOT increased a dime in 6 years.
To me, that is value and I will pay $72.00/year for what I get from the Post Register. I say props to the PR for not raising the fee! Other smaller papers have.
The Idaho State Journal held out being by suscription paper longer. But, about 3-4 years ago, they got on board too. Their annual fee is $66.00 as of today. I’ll pay the extra $6.00 for the extra content!
The ISJ does have one good idea I want to pass along as my last recommendation for the PR. Active Duty Military deployed do not pay for an online subscription. I would like to see the PR extend the same support to our deployed military members.
The biggest thing is to keep asking questions of how to improve and change as readers do have a wealth of experience reading different papers and good ideas.
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0 0 The free papers for deployed Idaho service members (who want it) is a great suggestion. It would be a great bridge to home for those folks, and the PR would be that familiar bridge.
The webcam idea is interesting, perhaps actually a video with sound, during that meeting where the next day’s news priorities are discussed and decided. Have someone record it all then you can cut out the boring spots with any consumer-grade video software (even windows movie maker will work for this simple scope), then upload it to the pr website.
We’ll get hints of the next day news ahead of time (giving us a warm fuzzy special insider feel) without giving away the whole story, plus we will see the decision process that keeps getting referenced.
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0 0 Looks like my next comment was lost, but that is ok.
Thanks Joe for suggesting a functional way to make the webcam work at Post Register meetings. I’m not really sure what term we should use, Kortny, maybe you could educate me (at least) what the name of the meetings are.
I truly think if there is an afternoon/noon meeting to plan on the news for the next day or the remainder of the week etc., I believe there are ways to handle public access with electronics which benefit the PR while answering readers questions.
Perhaps, the staff wouldn’t be able to freely talk about all issues they are use to doing, and sensitive stories and/or or others issues, I realize this idea could be challenging. Nonetheless, as trained journalists and editorial staff, I’m sure the PR staff has training to manage what might be a challenging situation.
Joe’s idea of video access as kind of letting us know what to look for in tomorrow’s news, could be very positive. How often do readers greatly anticipate a routine daily edition? (Not a special like “Scouts Honor” or “Kimball Mason”)?
It could be very exciting to see a chef with a Jaker’s restaurant apron on, or someone sitting at a table with a model of a future building, or a clown sitting at the table making us all wonder if tomorrow’s edition will focus on jokes, the War Bonnet Rodeo using more talent in their revamped presentation of the rodeo, or whehter a professional clown was now available for hire for kids birthday parties etc. A tremendous amount of interest can be created by seeing someone at the PR and wondering what story will follow.
A video would allow readers to see how decisions are made and the resulting story/stories from those discussions.
Also, I think MP3 is a real option. In either a video and/or MP3 option, if material is felt to be too sensitive to release prior to the article, it could be released the day after the article is printed.
I believe to observe a meeting live, or in video, a person should have to sign in with their real name. After all, there is “intellectual property” or whatever the correct term for a newspaper is, to protect. The PR Sr. Mgt. needs to know who visited, should ideas discussed in their meeting area show up in another media outlet in the area.
The PR is doing more multi-media things, like most newspapers. Why not add a small video/MP3 library of the planning meetings as well?
This could be exciting and I do hope the PR Sr. Mgt. will give this type of reader involvement serious consideration.
Also, thanks again Joe, for clarifying what I meant about the deployed military members. Of course, the PR would be a bonus having this link to home, to those who may wish to have it. I just don’t know if the offer has ever been made to any deployed military.
I sincerely hope the PR will consider matching what the Idaho State Journal has offerred for deployed personnel. From my POV, this isn’t a political statement in anyway; rather it is simply the PR being supportive of local residents during their deployments around the world.
Thanks for this chance Joe to talk about some ideas here of how we, the readers, might contribute our ideas to the P.R. I think both IdahoFallz.Com and the Post Register should be complimented for asking for our input and trying to improve.
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0 0 It seems like there are several points that need to be addressed.
First, the Spokesman-Review uses a web cam for all of its “story” budget meetings. These meetings are generally where editors review the top Associated Press stories moving on the wire and discuss where stories should be played on a page, particularly A1.
The problem I see with it is it would have to almost be a production in order for viewers to get the whole idea. We have thumbnails of the AP stories and would literally have to read them off a page so people would know what we’re looking at. Also, I have a local story budget I put together during the day. It’s always a fluid situation since some stories might get bumped if news breaks or because they might not be ready to go. Really, the best situation is to have people spend some time in the newsroom. A day would probably do it in most cases. We’ve done this in the past and usually send people out on assignment with reporters to see how a story comes together.
We generally run a list of what is on tap at Idaho Falls City Council meetings on Thursdays in the West section. This was sporadic during the press move but we’re planning on bringing it back full time now that we’re through the move. Reporting on absolutely everything the City Council does in a meetng is not necessarily a good use of a reporter’s time, which is why we have the monitor. A lot of what the council does is ordinary business - approve bids, pay bills, etc. I would rather have a reporter working on bigger pieces about the city like the push for daycare licensing or why residents are fighting a new development.
Now onto anonymous sources. This is a particularly touchy issue for newspapers. We have very strict standards on anonymous sources and very rarely use them. For one thing, people tend to be more accountable when their names are attached to something It’s too easy for people to make some pretty awful - and sometimes untrue - comments when they can always hide behind anonymity. Look at some of the religious bashing that has occurred on this site by anonymous users.
And people - especially newspaper readers - have said over and over they don’t trust anonymous sources when they are used all the time. The Washington D.C. media is particularly bad at using anonymous sources for routine stories on budgets, new bills, etc.
That said we do use anonymous sources on occasion. But the general rule is the information they give us has to be verified other ways or identifying them would cause some sort of serious harm. For example, in our “Of Meth and Motherhood” series, we did not fully identify the woman we profiled. We went back and forth on that for a while, but in the end, decided we didn’t wish to cause her young children, who are in school, serious harm.
I hope this clears up some questions. And again, feel free to contact me if you ever want to spend a day in the newsroom.
Kortny Rolston
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0 0 What I don’t understand though with the PR’s anonymous source policy is like in my case which I’m only going to be vague about since there can be nothing but a bad outcome for me now if I say too much.
The reporter knew me and had talked to me on occasion about other things in relation to my job. Thus this reporter had personal knowledge of who I was and what my job was. That alone gives me a huge amount of credibility about the stuff that went on where I work. It also gave me a huge amount of risk if it became known I was the whistleblower.
Whistleblowers always, ALWAYS, get screwed when they go public. Look at the ones in the library who exposed the financial shenanigans. One was harassed through job reassignment into quitting and the other had stuff made up about her to get her out of there. I’ll bet if both them had to do it over again they would have stayed silent. But they could have accomplished the same thing by going to the PR, being anonymous, and pointing a good sleuthing reporter in the right direction. No doubt the PR wouldn’t have respected their need for anonymity though.
I understand why they don’t want Joe Smith off the street with no obvious connection to Mayor Fuhriman claiming sex, lies, and videotapes allegations (I made this up BTW for examples sake). But if you have John Bates who works for Mayor Fuhriman and has personal knowledge of this stuff then that is a much different case. And John Bates obviously faces potential severe recriminations if he publicly exposes the sex, lies, or videotape. You can argue personal ethics and doing the right thing all you want. Most of us are going to do what I did - choose to stay silent so that you can continue to support your family since most people families well beings are going to come first.
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0 0 Disturbing thoughts,
I’m not sure I even know about your case and I should since I oversaw a lot of that coverage.
You bring up some good points because you’re right - no one ever thanks a whistleblower. In fact, people who do that often can’t find employment or are shunned.
I should also clarify that reporters have a lot of different sources with whom they work. When I was reporting, I had people I talked to just for background or to fill me in on the internal politics around a decision some agency made. I never quoted those people on those background briefings because they were mostly a resource to point me in the right direction or make me think of angle I hadn’t considered.
We get a lot of anonymous tips that we routinely check into. Those are very helpful because I understand that people want us to look into something but they also don’t want to jeopardize their jobs or families. Sometimes, just tipping us off on something is all we need to get started.
Some anonymous sources give us documentation that we can use when researching a story but we don’t quote them or even tell people how we got that information so they don’t get into trouble.
I guess what I’m saying is there isn’t just one type of anonymous source. And since I don’t know the specifics in your case, I’m not sure what happened.
Kortny Rolston
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0 0 Thanks Kortny.
I do realize that the newspaper business is very fluid, which is why there is a deadline at that point the stories are set. I appreciate you considering the idea of a webcam.
Would you consider this idea instead, as I still don’t think most people can make it for an afternoon of observation at the PR, although it would be a tremendous learning opportunity.
How about over a period of time (determined by the PR Staff) a “mock” meeting is recorded on video/MP3 using stories that have already been printed, or fictional ones. If a video and MP3 version were stored as a “resource for people to understand,” I think it would help as well. Some of us learn better using different senses.
I still believe many people are interested in the process of how the newspaper is created. In some cases perhaps we don’t even know the terminology to more fully explain what they want to see.
I’ll use me for an example, I don’t know for sure who sits in on the planning meeting of what is planned for printing the next day. And what happens on weekends? I’m quite clueless about weekend coverage at the PR, except I know you work some.
It seems that you have the job of supervising the journalists on the planned stories. Yet, in the past, it seems like Dean has supervised the stories most likely to ripple waves. (”Scouts Honor” and “Of Meth and Motherhood,” - if I remember correctly).
I just renewed my subscription this a.m. and of course, me being me, I added comments to the area that asked if I wanted to write anything. One are that I focused on was how great the addition so many of the new links on the left side of the online page are. Besides so much content being available at no cost to all who seek it, the PR has added a section about the employees, when they started, previous experience and to whom they report. (BTW - I think someone needs to check a couple of the newer additions as I don’t think they started in 1969).
Also, a superb link that I mentioned to Joe and another user here, was the Ethics section. I’ve read it many times.
Kortny’s example, “Of Meth and Motherhood,” was walked through from start to finish in that link. Dean highlights how information was reviewed with sources and they were given the opportunities to correct or add to it etc.
I strongly encourage everyone to read the ethics information for many reasons. Additionally, there is a collection of organizations for newspapers and other organizations who focus on ethical behavior for the media.
I hope the PR will consider making a mock video/MP3 for access online.
I’m also happy to hear the City Council contents will increase. It is true a lot of what they do is pay bills etc., but the City Clerk doesn’t waste excess space describing that process.
And, I do agree Licensing of DayCare is far more important to me than a dispute one company is having about measurements of a machine they attempted to provide vs. not having it accepted. What is interesting, is I believe in the depths of those 30 pages, the DayCare issue was briefly addressed so Councilwoman Cornwell would work on it further. However, I do understand your point and support it.
Kortny, Thanks for checking in here to see what ideas we are thinking about. Overall, I set a lot of support for the PR here, with some suggestions of what readers would like more or less of in a their locally daily.
Perhaps a PR Chat, or whatever it’s called that you and Roger have hosted in the past, may be useful for all readers to suggest ideas for improvements, if that isn’t already scheduled.
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0 0 I would like to see more technology news reported daily in the paper, instead of the little tech fluff on Sundays.
It would not really inform me because I’m all over tech news everyday, but I see sooooo many great technology news stories that many locals should know about.
Maybe this would be a good candidate for the ‘user-submitted stories’.
What other workable suggestions do you have to improve the Idaho Falls newspaper?
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0 0 I would like to see Mormon apologists like Raymond T. Swenson not have an open forum on the op-ed page to promote their religion. I have responded to a few of his editorials only to have my comments edited out or not published at all. His distortion of historical events should leave room for rebuttal by readers but not according to PR policy…they apparently don’t meet community standards if they contradict the story that the predominent religion wants told in the home town paper.
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0 0 A lot of good ideas have been posted and its really nice to see Kortny responded to them and keep us informed as to how the PR is run. Thanks Kortny!
One thing I miss is having the papers content available online. (for Free!) That is definately one of the things I enjoyed about the Sun-Sentinel & Miami Herald in S.FL. Everything available in that days paper was available online, “for free”. And it would be updated throughout the day with breaking news stories. I guess I can understand why the PR wants to charge a subscription fee though. Being such a small paper, I know it costs time and money to keep this information posted online and up to date. But thats what “ads” are for.
Or, how about giving customers free online subscriptions to those that already purchase home delivery? Why not allow those people access to the content online, instead of trying to take their money coming and going? I remember when I first moved here how shocked I was when I went to purchase a paper and was charged 50 cents for the daily paper. After being used to only paying 35 cents in Florida. (of which they just raised the price from 30 to 35 cents 2 years ago.)
I think there is a lot that can be done to improve the PR and I’ve seen a number of great suggestions listed above, mostly posted by Ok4now and Joe. I also like Joes suggestion on the “tech section” and adding more content/stories. And Ok’s suggestion for a monthly “Mayor Blog” where he discusses what projects he’s working on and future plans, etc.
Also, lets see more local stories instead of the same regurgitated news we all see on the morning or nightly news. Of course its important to print the important news stories around the country and the world, but it would be nice to have more local stories about the community.
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0 0 In my opinion, 50 cents a day is not excessive for a newspaper. It seems like a lot of things were better for you in Florida compared to here. Well, there are many differences between Idaho and Florida. Do those papers have a distribution network that delivers up to 200 miles away, 7 days a week? The Post Register has a large geographical area to cover, and as we know fuel costs add up. I have no way of knowing, but there might also be competition where you came from, which will usually lower the price.
You can get the paper for even less than 50 cents a day with a subscription. I think it’s $140 per year, and sometimes they run specials for half price. As I understand it, the online version is $72 per year. And online subscriptions ARE FREE for people who get home delivery. I don’t know why you thought they weren’t.
I don’t agree that the online version should be free. I can’t see that generating enough revenue to support the staff they have. And if you could get it free online, why subscribe?
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0 0 I have a home subscription, how do I go about getting a username and password for free online content?
And I for one know there is no other competition “paper-wise” in Southern Florida. There’s the Miami Herald for Miami/Dade county and Sun Sentinel for Broward County. The average cost for someone buying a newpaper at the store or from the vending machine is between 25-35 cents most of your larger cities. 50 cents is a little steep. (but that’s why I have a subscription to offset some of that cost.)
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0 0 you get a free login to post talk with any subscription
you do not get a free online subscription with a paper subscription
two very different things
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0 0 Thank you for clarifying that Specialcode. I didnt think you did either, but didnt think it was worth arguing over. I also think 50cents is steep. I remember only paying 25 cents when I lived in Dallas a couple years ago.
Its funny….its a post about suggestions for the PR and people get so upset when somebody posts a suggestion or opinion that differs from their own.
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0 0 No, you get a free online sub if you subscribe to the paper 7 days a week. Here’s the link:
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0 0 Just got a call alerting me to these latest posts. To clarify — daily print subscribers to the Post Register do, indeed, qualify for a free online password, good for access to the entire site, including Post Talk and all news. Just click on Subscriber Services on the top right-hand corner of the home page and follow the instructions.
Roger Plothow, PR ed & pub
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0 0 i was wrong. again.
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0 0 Me too. Thank you for clearing that up for us Mr. Plothow.
Great news!
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0 0 Thanks Roger.
Sorry Jimmy Jam if you thought I was so upset. I was just trying to point out an error in a previous post. I’ll try not to ever disagree with anyone again.
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0 0 No….I’m sorry Reader, I was the one with the incorrect information. It’s nice to have our local PR Publishers & Editors correct us when we’re wrong.
Thanks to Roger and Kortny for all their help and feedback! It’s greatly appreciated! 
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0 0 I would like to see the PR create a community chat room like talkback except you dont have to respond to a particular article. The site would be better run and less arbitrary. At this site you are at the mercy of the mood of the owner from day to day as to what is acceptable to say and what isnt. And also the post register would not have “favorite” people who get cut a break whereas others will get their comments deleted for saying the same thing. PR hope you are reading this!
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0 0 I’d have to agree with Guest. Well said!
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0 0 How would I improve the Post Register?
As a graphic designer myself, I would go back to the drawing board with their recent re-design. I can appreciate their efforts to push the envelope with newspaper design, but in my opinion, they missed the mark.
Their attempt to brand the Post Register initials as “PR” and the accompanying logo has bisected their visual identity, which in general, is never a good idea. It’s not that “rules” can’t be broken, but I have yet to parse any good reason for the Post Register to go out of bounds on this one.
It’s clever, and recognizable, but it compromises their corporate image and gains them nothing in the way of visual communication.
Other design elements, like the front page turndown effect (where two departments share a section) are poor not only in concept, but also in execution.
Of course, I have heard favorable reviews of their new look, if only in part because it’s new and different. Because of that, and for various other reasons, they are likely to stick with it for some time. Luckily for them, there are currently no competitors to take advantage.
Not only that, but their additional ink coverage has nearly exceeded the limitations of newsprint and their web presses. The resulting appearance is heavy-handed and overbearing.
Their content is always good and very often outstanding. But their current design leaves a lot of room for improvement. I give them an A for effort, but a barely passing grade for execution.
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0 0 What was the thinking about putting the story on “postmormon.org” on the front page?
Is it really a good idea to do a feature that is sure to piss-off 60+% of the population?
Some of those sorts of judgements have left me scratching my head. (other examples: Olive Garden on the front page. Why don’t they give Ruby River that kind of free publicity? Since the LDS are the majority in the area, why was the Rexburg temple dedication with Stephen Covey (who is worshipped) around here) NOT on the front page?)
Oh, and just to quell any thoughts of my being biased, I am not LDS. I simply recognize that as the major social group here, most subscribers probably belong to that group as well. Seems a simply business decision to not unecessarily anger them.
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0 0 Sooooo is there a workable suggestion to improve the PR here?
Sounds like more of a philosophical difference you have, which is not realistically changeable.
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0 0 “A Moment With” should be taken out of the paper. It has no redeeming qualities. I could really care less about the politics because you actually do get both sides and if you think it’s liberal than you probably do because you were so used to seeing the very conservative side of the paper ten years ago. I also must say that I think the layout of the paper should have nothing to do with how you feel about the news. I tell you the PR changes around some formatting techniques and the whole town craps. Also who can forget those one to two page long ads from good old Frank V.
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0 0 Hey whatta you know, they ran a Where are they now? feature in this morning’s paper, briefly describing where some major local players are now, and reminding us what their big deal was before.
I’m sure they had the piece going before someone suggested it here, but I hope they do these more often, even digging farther back in the past.
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0 0 According to an article in today’s Salt Lake Tribune, maybe we’re missing the boat.
In the awards for Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association’s annual news contest, held last Friday night, the Post Register was named as the winner in Division II General Excellence. There is only one winner in this category. (Also, one winner for Division I - Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Division III - The Deseret Morning News).
Additionally, the PR won:
Marty Trillhaase, #2 for Beat Reporting;
Clark Corbin #3 for a Feature Story, a Drifter’s Story;
#1 Steve Fischback for Graphic Artist, for Cartoon-style Football Tab;
Aaron Avery #1 for Online Special Package, Ethics Interactive;
Steve Fishback claimed #1, #2 and #3 spots for Photo Illustration;
Mitch Worthington #2 for Sports Column, Beck; Legion Ball; Sugar (Salem?) and
Mitch Worthing #2 for Spot Sports Story, Firth Coach
Here is the link per chance I missed someone and their award:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6114434
Xongratulations to all the winners in the Post Register. Great work and especially winning the General Excellence Award again!
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0 0 One way to make the Post a paper of the future would be to stop printing it on paper at all. Become an online news source. I really don’t understand why we should waste the trees for daily publications. People read a small percentage of what is printed and very often just throw their papers away. A terrible waste no matter how good the Journalism thinks it is.
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0 0 I think someday what you describe will happen, especially with e-paper technologies. E-paper will allow us to get say a single electronic “sheet”, and have newspaper RSS feeds repopulate it daily.
Until then, there are not enough people with online access to do this idea. Especially lots of older people. As long as they can still make money selling the paper version there is no reason to stop selling it; the paper market is still strong.
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0 0 I don’t know if I already mentioned this, but the online edition REALLY needs the ability to zoom in on the PDF pages. That is a serious drawback with the online edition, that we miss half of what’s printed because the text is too small and the PR disables zooming functions.
Movie listings are useless in the online edition, you cannot see the times. Today I could not read the full-page city legal announcement having something to do with I think the downtown district? I only can guess that because of the illustration showing the downtown district. Many of the smaller captions are also unreadable in this format.
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0 0 I would like to see follow up on stories they delve into halfway. Dale Storer comes to mind. Is he or is he not under contract? Surely the PR has its own attorney who can give them an opinion or surely they have enough money to pay for an independent review of their own.
What about the lawsuits against Darin Moulton? I haven’t seen any follow up on those?
What about tort claims against the county and city? We heard about Brandi Dunn and Larry Lyon. Are there others? Surely these two individuals aren’t the only two folks with grievances against the local government.
I think Rush calls this drive-by media. I can and do sympathize with the space issues. Covering everything that goes on in our community would be impossible but when you bite into a story, aren’t you obligated to follow it through? We have pictures of people who have been arrested and obviously overcharged featured on the front page and then we don’t hear the follow up. Is the major reduction in charges or outright dismissals not news in and of itself?
I like the PR. I think the writers are too liberal and their coverage is too conservative, if that makes sense.
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0 0 “I think the writers are too liberal and their coverage is too conservative, if that makes sense.”
That is an interesting take.
Do you mean you think the writers pursue liberal topics and/or put a liberal slant on what they write?
And then the other part, do you mean their coverage is too conservative in that they are not aggressive enough, or they limit themselves in what they report? I’m interested in hearing more of this opinion.
As for doing just an online edition, today for example there was a letter to the editor someone complaining about the fitness section being published online only.
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0 0 In political coverage, for example, the reporting seems tipped in favor of Democrats/liberals. It has been years since I have not seen the writer’s bias in the “reporting.” Just the facts, please, only the facts.
And I know for a fact that the PR does not cover issues that may be sensitive to local politicians. They simply refuse to report. (Dale Storer?) That’s conservative reporting. In my opinion, the PR is in bed with corrupt politicians by not pursuing the details of corruption when it’s been made known to them. I think this would be for fear of being sued despite their constitutional rights to a free press. I have spoken with some of the readers advisory board writers whose articles were edited or refused because it was on an issue the PR didn’t want covered. And others here have posted the LTE have been refused or edited, presumably for the same purpose. One of the main purposes of a free press was to discourage this very thing. We cannot ferret out bad politicians and politics if our press is not free to write about it and disclose it to the citizenry.
So what would be their reason for failing to report if it isn’t a fear of being sued? They can only be sued for slander or libel, not reporting the truth. The truth is the defense.
I realize the first thing subsequent posters will point to will be Kimball Mason, but this issue wasn’t covered until years after they were made aware by Jimmie Caudle about the problem and the AG was on the case. They knew about it much sooner and could have reported the problem and maybe saved us a substantial number of years delay.
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0 0 Why was there absolutely zero coverage of the Glenn Beck visit to IF in the PR? Whether you agree with him or not, he’s a big name. The TV stations managed to mention his appearance. What’s the deal?
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0 0 Rest assured Paula, when some distant cousin of an obscure former presidential candidate comes to talk at the Democratic meeting, the Post Register will have an orgasim over him.
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0 0 One thing I really like is this new five-part series thing.
Today was the second of five parts, chronicling in depth the story of a Montana judge who went online to find Islamic terrorists. She apparently found an American who wanted to commit terrorist acts on American soil. It’s a good story so far.
The five-part series aspect makes it really nice. I would not sit and read the entire thing at once if it was printed over a few pages, but taking ten minutes each Sunday makes it nicely digestible.
I hope they do more series like these that portray important stories in depth.
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0 0 Local sports coverage is totally lacking (inept). How hard is it to print results (such a local golf tournament action) on the day after it happens? Certainly it would be as easy as having the golf pros fax or email daily results.
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0 0 Nobody is really interested in the “local golf tourney”, especially when Tiger Woods has just won his 13th career major! c’mon now!
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0 0 Nor are some of us, for matter of record, even interested in Tiger Woods.
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0 0 Which is why they put sports in a totally different section, for those of you that wish to use it for the bottom of their bird cage or for kindling. 
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0 0 Sports section goes in the cat litter box here. LOL
I would change the PR only by making their online calendar section more useable. I can’t pull down any events for any days. Need to call them and see what’s wrong. Anyone else have trouble with the events calendar?
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0 0 The calendar shows the events ABOVE the month. That is after you double-click either club, night life, service etc. to get what you are looking for in that calendar.
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0 0 Sometimes I just wish they would save hundreds of trees a day and quit printing it. Everyone hip gets their information online, anyhow.
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0 0 After living in Tennessee for eighteen years, I moved back to I.F. I have to say that I am very dissapointed in the quality of the Post Register. I read news from all over the world online each day, and the Post Register is the only one I’ve personally seen to make you have a paid online subscription in order to view it. Also, when I first moved back here, my mom had a hard copy subscription to the paper - I found that they were printing national news story DAYS after I had read them online, and usually had cut pertinent info from the articles. I really find it to be the worst paper I’ve seen. They need to have open access online, AND get their stories accurate and timely. We don’t waste any money on it anymore.
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0 0 Arggh! The PR’s hobbled method of Acrobat Reader struck me again this morning. I was reading their interesting new series on porn addiction, go to page A6/A7 to finish it, and because it is a double page in the digital version they made it one single document. Meaning it is zoomed out too much to be able to read any of the text.
This has happened before and I always just moved on, missing the content paid for. I reformatted my computer last week though, and had to reset up a lot of things.
One was discovering the PR has a little advice on how to configure adobe reader 8 to use with their format: http://digital.postregister.com/help/index.php?help=adobe
It just explains how to set the zoom to fit, but it helped me to find the place to zoom in further. In Adobe Reader, click Edit > Preferences > Page Display > Zoom drop down menu. I changed from “visible” to 75% in order to read it. %0 and 100 were too much either way for me.
After finishing that page, go back and change the zoom to fit visible again.
They claim you can right-click and zoom, but I cannot for some reason.
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0 0 The Post Register kindly (and finally) released the Acrobat controls for reading their digital paper! You know have easy access to zoom magnification levels, and just have to right-click to swap between the hand and zoom tools. I waited a week to see if it was a fluke, but it appears to be a permanent change. This is important because now you can zoom in on the paper sections and not miss any information (like the tiny movie listings or legal notices). Kudos for this huge improvement to usability!
One suggestion for content is stories from our area back in the depression. Today’s “75 years ago” bit talked about our area working on a potatoes-for-oranges swap with California growers.
I think it would be neat to see another five-part series (like the recent terrorist-hunter) on the challenges people faced in our area during the depression. How did the depression affect our city, our region? Who in our area was here in that time, and what are their memories? How did local people cope? What was the difference between before and after FDR? What public works projects happened here?
I think that could be a really good locally-focused series to publish. It would also be a good reminder of why FDR’s actions were needed at that time, and can be a good springboard for discussing what and if those policies are still important.
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0 0 Like others above, I also think the Post Register’s online site should be free. I know of hundreds of cities around the country that offer free online paper WITHOUT having a subscription, and personally those are some the sites I visit to get my news. It’s bad enough the PR charges so much for their daily paper, they want to charge for their online content too? Your paper isn’t THAT good.
There are newspapers ALL over the country that are less expensive to purchase on a daily basis AND they offer their content online for free. PR….get with the program!
And don’t give me this garbarge about being a small town and it’s just too expensive and all the overhead and this and that blah blah blah…..it’s called Advertising….look into it!
thank you & have a marvelous day!
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0 0 I like what some other papers do, online access is limited to certain articles and features for free. To access the entire paper in detail, a paid subscription is required. Nothing wrong with this, all businesses need to make a profit includinig small or big city newspapers.
For example, the Idaho State Journal lets you access some things but not the entire daily paper through their website.
For those who say the PR is the only paper in the world who makes you have paid access to read it, you must not be reading the same papers around the country I have and run into the same issue. Many others require payment to read online. I even found one who had a small daily fee to read that day’s paper only if you didn’t want a subscription.
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0 0 I seriously can’t believe the irresponsible reporting done on the front page of today’s PR!! (I don’t purchase the PR, someone brings it to work each day and everyone shares it)
That meth lab that was busted in the trailer park….the PR listed the names of ALL the people that ratted out to the cops for lighter sentences, the location of this meth lab!! That’s all well and good that these guys ratted them out, but for godsake, DON’T put their names on the front page telling EVERYONE they were the ones that did the ratting!!! How stupid can you be!???!!! That is just plain irresponsible reporting!! Now these individuals will have to watch their backs or move out of the state, lest they get a bullet in the back their heads while they sleep for ratting out a drug dealer!
I’m just flabbergasted at the stupidity portrayed by the local paper here!!
Just one more reason to add to my list of why I will never support this paper!
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0 0 But you will keep reading it!
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0 0 I may read it in order to get a little local news, but they won’t get one red cent from me or my family.
And if they keep up their irresponsible reporting, I won’t even bother to read it anymore.
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0 0 I would personally like Roger Plothow…Publisher AND Editor of the Post Register to explain to me and everyone else in Idaho Falls, what is reasoning was behind this and WHY he let something like this happen.
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0 0 What does he owe you? You don’t even like his paper, remember?
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0 0 And you are very hypocritcal to say you read it for the local news and then turn your nose up and say you won’t pay for it.
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0 0 The Post Regsiter is a JOKE! They can’t write a story without working their personal liberal bias into it.
It’s gone downhill ever since Roger Plothow took over - and now under his leadership it appears as though they may be endangering informants lives as well.
For goodness sake. Jerry Brady needs to get someone else to run this paper, or someone else in town start a NEW DAILY NEWSPAPER.
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0 0 “Constructive” criticism is great, but flat assertions that the paper is a joke or has a certain bias? I know that opinions are subjective, but it would be nice if you had some facts, figures, or specific articles to back up your assertions rather than general accusations.
The newspaper business is a hard business to be in and newspapers, as well as other media outlets are frequently criticized (sometimes rightly so). How are they “improved”? Input from consumers. But the input should be specific. Take a statement like, “This paper sucks.” That’s great, but it doesn’t answer the question, how would you change/improve upon the paper.
Here’s a nice little quote from a former newspaper publisher in Idaho that sums up the business nicely:
“Imagine approaching a banker for a loan on a new product which would make half of its users mad, the other half happy. Explain that some of the support staff were not revenue generators (editorial), but some were (advertisement). Then explain that this product was brand new each day. Then mention that responsibility for its distribution was put on the shoulders of a ten year-old child (the news carrier). The banker would kick you out of his office! Daily newspaper is just that, a new product built from scratch daily>”
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0 0 Wow, if they really printed all those names (I haven’t seen it) what a liability!!!! In this sue-happy world, the PR better be prepared. Granted, a lot of informants are not ideal citizens themselves, but sheesh!
Witness protection program at the expense of the PR, here they come!
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0 0 If the names were not supposed to be published the police should not have given them to the Post Register. I blame them more than the PR.
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0 0 Guest13: how do you know it was the Police who gave the PR these names. Have you actually looked at the police report or spoken with the detective in charge? I doubt it.
Even the local news channels didn’t give out the names of these people.
The article yesterday made it seem like they turned in this guys with a meth lab and then found another trailer with explosives in it. Come to find out today…..the suppossed “meth lab” was not even operational. They only found some of the household chemicals that is used in making meth. I mean lets be reasonable….you and I have many of these chemicals and supplies in OUR houses. Coleman fuel, glass containers, etc.
I agree with some of what cartman says in the fact that they may have gone a little overboard with this story. I havent read todays paper, maybe they’ve done a follow up and got ALL the facts this time.
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0 0 Guest: How am I hypocritical? How is one suppossed to give opinion regarding something without first looking into it? I get the majority of my local news from the local news channels, but, if the PR is sitting in our breakroom at work and I’m eating lunch, sure I’ll look it over and see what kind of news their reporting on and what kind of liberal slant their putting on the top headlines. Or like many here have noted, not even reporting newsworthy stories.
It would be MORE hypocritical of me if I DIDN’T read it from time to time and spout off lies about it.
All I did was offer MY opinion regarding a topic, just like YOU and everyone else here does. You can choose to agree or disagree, but don’t judge me for having an opinion. At least I offer a comment instead of bashing other posters comments and not offering anything of substance to the discussion.
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0 0 This is a troubling thread. Of course, no one likes to read that a product he’s in charge of has “gone downhill” (post #84), but that sort of criticism goes with the territory, and lacks specific evidence.
The more concerning statements have to do with the PR’s naming of suspects/tipsters in the recent explosives case.
First, if the police had desired to keep the identities of these folks confidential, there are ways to do it. Please note that the “tipsters” attempted to use information they had to cut a deal during interrogation. It’s clear that no deal was actually made.
Second, they stand accused of serious crimes and as such, are subject to being named in public. It’s worth noting that Channel 8 also gave their names, and other TV stations may also have done so.
The PR handled this story precisely according to our standards and ethical journalistic practices. It wasn’t even a close call. To my knowledge, no one inside law enforcement asked for these names to be withheld. All information printed came from public documents that any citizen has a right to see.
It’s unfortunate that web sites such as this one seem to encourage the irresponsible sort of name-calling and loose accusations contained in this thread. At the very least, try to cite specific evidence when you claim “liberal bias”, “irresponsible reporting”, or being “in bed with local politicians” (they’d be surprised to hear that one). These are easy and popular allegations to make, but they lack substantive evidence.
Roger Plothow
Editor and Publisher
Post Register.
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0 0 Thank you for your side of the story Mr. Plothow. I certainly understand the position you are in as my dad was the publisher and editor of a major newspaper in Idaho around 20 years ago. Luckily he started his own business, which is doing very well, and he has much less stress.
I have empathy for you. Not many other jobs in life can arouse such hatred as that of a newspaper editor. Good luck to you and your paper in the future.
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0 0 oh brother!
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0 0 Nice response, Roger.
I would like to thank you for removing Raymond T. Swenson from your editorial pages. I understand why you dis-allow letters that are anti LDS, but I never understood why you let that guy (Swenson) proselytize on the op-ed page. Good riddance.
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0 0 Does anyone els think that the response from Mr. Plowthow was rather defensive?
What ever happend to responding responsibly “We try to run a great newspaper, and are always trying to improve - and will continue to try to improve and produce high quality news for our customers.”
We’ve got such a great town here in Idaho Falls, its too bad we have such a poorly run newspaper.
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0 0 I guess I don’t see how his response should have been offensive instead of defensive?
I agree with him, this situation was different than most “informant” situations as I understand them. The events happened very quickly, and it seemed more like the first set of bad guys were trying to drag down the second set of bad guys with them, rather than a behind-the-scenes informant recruiting kind of thing.
Roger said, “At the very least, try to cite specific evidence when you claim “liberal bias”, “irresponsible reporting”, or being “in bed with local politicians” (they’d be surprised to hear that one). These are easy and popular allegations to make, but they lack substantive evidence.”
I agree, anyone can say ‘that sucks’, and it gets ignored. If you really think it sucks then say why, gives some examples. Give them something to actually chew on, that they can admit they should have done better or they can reply with their reasons.
Like another thread I wrote in which I had a specific concern about the local media appearing to not report some local stories. Give specific examples, and what you think they should have done.
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0 0 Engaged: It sounds like you expected Mr. Plothow to apologize rather than explain. Apologize for what? I think that the Post Register is an excellent and mostly credible newspaper. Rather than accuse them of being “poorly run”, please name specific examples and stop showing your bias. Thank you.
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0 0 Guest 43….Obviously you’ve never lived in another city and/or traveled around this country and read other newspapers.
The PR is a laughing stock and a joke of a paper. It looks like it’s produced by a bunch of college kids, not to mention the fact that the news they report on is often day’s & sometimes weeks old. It’s nice to see you stand up for your paper, but I think you need to get out more and see what else is out there so you can compare. I’m willing to bet you’d change your tune.
I too thought it was a rather defensive reply. But I guess that’s understandable to a point.
Not having content available online to the public online is sore point with me. Why would they give you access for free if you have a home subscription? Why would you need to read it online, if you have a hardcopy already in front of you? Makes no sense to me. Also, how are people supposed to see what our town is like if they can’t even check out our local paper? Most cities across the country have their papers available online free of charge. Even in small towns like Idaho Falls.
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0 0 Guest_007 asked “Why would they give you access for free if you have a home subscription? Why would you need to read it online, if you have a hardcopy already in front of you? Makes no sense to me.”
There are many reasons why online access to articles is given to those who have a home subscription. Here’s an example from my own life: My parents have a subscription to a local Idaho newspaper. I am currently attending law school out of state. I am interested in things going on back home, and some of the news in the paper affects the business I run. Now I cannot read the newspaper in person since I live 2000 miles away from home, but because I have online access through my parent’s subscription, I can read all of the articles that I want or need to read as soon as they are posted.
Others might need to catch up on vitals news or announcements while they are on vacation. Certainly it is easier to read a news story online than to get the local paper sent to your vacation spot or second home, wouldn’t you agree?
From what I’ve read in the Post Register, I think it is a pretty good paper. I would avoid generalizing that “Most cities across the country have their papers available online free of charge.” Do you have statistics on this?
I do agree that the Post Register would be smart if it allowed non-subscribers online access to its articles. I understand if a newspaper does not want to allow access to all of its articles—there is a solution. Some newspapers allow free accesss to only certain articles. People can read the selected articles online for free. This might be an adequate middle ground…
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0 0 I don’t have firm statistics, but after having traveled extensivlly around the country for my work, easily 90 percent of the cities (large & small) that I have visited, have their newspapers online, free of charge.
I didn’t make that comment just to make it, I know from personal experience.
As for being on vacation, I could care less what’s going on in the news, so I have no need for access to a hard or digital copy of any paper. I go on vacation to relax and get away from everything in thats in the news.
Your situation is not the norm, but I’m glad it works for you.
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0 0 Ehhhh, is sharing your online access with others something that the PR encourages?
If so heck I’ll post my username and password for all IdahoFallz.com regulars to access the Post Register online.
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0 0 Well, no, we don’t encourage the sharing of a password, any more than we encourage people to help themselves to 10 copies of the newspaper when they put two quarters into a newspaper rack. Each e-mail address and accompanying password allows only one visit at a time, so those who do share their password will find themselves unable to access the site whenever someone else is using that same password.
One of these days we can engage in the “online is supposed to be free” debate.
Roger Plothow
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0 0 Yeah, I didn’t think they would support that.
Look I would like it to be free also, but the PR obviously has cornered the market as the sole major newspaper in our area, and I think the best source of local news. I cannot stand to watch the network news. Think about it, if the PR screws up an article, they can usually catch it before publication. When a TV news station screws up their broadcast (as they do almost daily), that’s it, they’ve blown the opportunity and wasted your time.
Until another major newspaper starts in our area, or a different online source offers free news to the level that the PR does, I don’t see any reason for them to not charge. It’s that capitalism thing I think.
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0 0 How about some specific examples of TV news stations “screwing up their broadcasts….almost daily” instead of blanket accusations? It’s really getting to be an old theme here.
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0 0 Good point. I happened to watch local news 8 last week, they were doing live things from the fair. The weatherman had his weather presentation, but the slides got all mixed around, to the point that he couldn’t even pretend anymore. He had to stop his segment and ask live on the air for the folks back in the studio to redo his presentation and start on slide 4. I shut it off when the commercial started so I don’t know if they worked it out again or not.
Maybe it has to do with mostly live shots, which I can understand get more complicated. But like I said, the nature of their medium dictates one chance, so if they blow it then you’ve wasted your time watching them.
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0 0 I’ve talked with some people from larger cities (Seattle, San Francisco for a couple) and they are quite impressed with the Post Register. They were concerned when they moved here that the paper would be too conservative. They have indicated that it they feel it hits a pretty good medium — maybe leaning a little on the liberal side.
Some of their editorials I completely DISAGREE with, some I completely AGREE with, and some makes me wonder. But isn’t this what they are suppose to do?
Somehow the PR has to make money to stay in business. Ads are one source, but I wonder if it is enough. And I am sure that as with all businesses, they need to make a profit. I, for one, would really hate to see it go out of business.
But to be truthful, I don’t really have a clue as to how any of the news media makes money — especially newspapers — other than through advertising sponsors (hate all those commercials on TV).
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0 0 In comparison to the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello serving roughly the same population area, the PR is much better.
In regards to people thinking so many city newspapers are completely online, I have found most you can access online but several stories are left out of the online version unless you subscribe and can view the real-life pages on the screen. Otherwise, many little articles and ads are left out, like births, police log, etc.
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0 0 I get access to both, I’ll have to compare paper to paper.
One thing I noticed is the Journal gets it easy because they just reprint a lot of ISU campus events. All that takes it 20 minutes of walking around the sub and writing down the most interesting events posters. The PR probably has to dig more to find the stuff they do.
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0 0 I’m sure this has been mentioned somewhere in this thread already. Nonetheless, just as a reminder, the Post Register is locally owned.
How many other papers in Idaho are locally owned and not part of larger newspaper empires, like the Statesman, Idaho State Journal and the Rexburg Standard Journal to name a few?
How much can anyone read for free in the Blackfoot Morning Times? It, too, is owned by a company that owns other newspapers.
I know for a fact the PR was online before the ISJ attempted to do the same: first for free, and then in probably a year or less, then for a much greater subscription fee than the Post Register.
The Post Register hasn’t raised its online fee over the years, if I recall correctly.
I do hear those of you who wonder why all contents can’t be for free. Have you looked at the key stories, the documents on Kimball Mason, the recent stories Corey Taule wrote about porn addiction and all the other free, key articles the PR allows access to at no cost? Many are on the left hand side of the home page. “Pandora’s Box” seems to be more in the middle and hard to miss.
I would like all parts of ESPN to be free too. But, some sections aren’t.
ESPN makes plenty of money - far more than the Post Register. Why does the ESPN website reserve certain sections for members who pay the fee?
For those who wonder why the Post Register isn’t free online, maybe I could better understand where you are coming from when you can answer my question about ESPN not being free.
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0 0 The post register should continue to charge for expanded online access, allow 2 users at once for an account and stop printing it on paper at all if it wants to be the paper of the near future. Tha’s it. Why are we still wasting trees? But the authors deserve to get paid, too.
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0 0 Ehhhhh, we don’t have enough folks online around here, especially on broadband, to make that a realistic option. Especially older folks. Maybe in like 20 years.
What do you mean authors deserve to get paid?
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0 0 I wish the smaller papers like the Blackfoot Morning News, the Power County Press and the Aberdeen Times had decent websites. For a town the size of Blackfoot their online paper is a joke. They could at least put a little more on the web. The Press/Times site is usually not updated for weeks. But, smaller papers have small staff and are not always up on technology. Would like to see the Shelley and Rigby paper more online too, as their news can affect the IF area sometimes. Regardless of staff and technology, they need to realize it’s 2007, not 1975. Someone who’s a wiz at this stuff could go in and show them what to do for a nominal fee, or pure kindness. Wish I could.
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0 0 May I present the University of Idaho student newspaper, The Argonaut: http://www.argonaut.uidaho.edu/
For years now they have run on a blog platform like IdahoFallz.com does. Until this year their theme layout was even a simple blog look, like something you would get at blogger.com. You can see it’s a little better this year, but still there’s the core blog engine powering their online site.
It has been effective for them for years because it is simple and powerful. Sure an export tool would be nicer, but each issue’s content can be copied and pasted in a few minutes. Smart category design makes it effective to even publish birth and death announcements online. Pictures can also be added very easily.
If a student newspaper can do it, local small town newspapers can also. I have even seen many theme layouts that are pre-designed for magazine or newspaper-styled websites. There are simple scripts to label some stories as normal and some as restricted to paying members. Suggest to them they look into WordPress, or contact me for information.
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0 0 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003642444
“Now that The New York Times has thrown in the towel on TimesSelect, its two-year-old premium service limiting online columns to paid subscribers, is paid online newspapering dead?
Perhaps, but not everywhere. The Wall Street Journal, the only major daily requiring an online subscription, says things are doing quite well, thank you, in the paid Web world. However, new owner Rupert Murdoch has been making noises about ending the pay plan.
[...]
Morton acknowledged that the Journal’s unique content, and early decision to charge, is what sets it apart. “It is a special product,” he said. “I don’t know if there is another newspaper that could charge.”
Other smaller dailies, such as The Tulsa (Okla.) World and the Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, have charged in recent years, although the World removed its paid wall last year after determining it reduced traffic.
“We wanted more eyeballs on the page,” said Web Editor Jason Collington, whose paper required online-only subscribers to pay about $60 per year. “We were not completely displeased, but we wanted to change it.”
But in Idaho Falls, the paid site remains, drawing some 600 Web-only subscribers to the 24,500 daily-circulation paper. “It works great for us,” said Publisher Roger Plothow, who has charged since 1999. “I think every size market is a little different. It protects our paid circulation.”
I thought you folks would like to see this.
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0 0 Interesting article, a few key phrases jumped out at me.
“With so many other locations for newspaper readers to go to, charging just drove people away.”
Normally I would agree, but for the “product” of our southeast Idaho news, there are not “so many other locations for newspaper readers to go to”. The PR is clearly the only full source of local news, allowing them to smartly profit on the economic principle of “scarcity”. Sure there are other local news outlets, but none do nearly as much as the PR does.
However, another phrase:
“Volume of readers is what advertisers pay for.”
I think this statement really defines web conventions today. Let’s see if we can relate the PR’s numbers to the New York Times’ numbers.
PR =
600 paid online subscribers
/ 24,500 total subscribers
= 2.5% online product share
NYT =
227,000 paid online subscribers
/ 787,400 total subscribers
= 28.8% online product share
I’m sure someone will tell me if these numbers are wrong. I got the numbers from a Fox News story, so…. buyer beware 8^)
So we have the NYT saying the ad-supported/free product is more profitable than the paid subscriber model, and their numbers are ten times stronger than the PR’s in this aspect.
Does this make sense?
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0 0 Joe:
As is almost always the case with any human endeavor, the NY Times decision and the Post Register’s policy are both more nuanced and complex than a short article in Editor & Publisher can convey.
The NY Times has never put all of its online content behind a password. “Times Select” was a premium service that required a subscription to read the Times’ best-known columnists, such as Maureen Dowd. This accounted for less than a fifth of the Times’ content. All of the remainder has been available for free (with registration) online all along.
The Post Register has nearly 27,000 total subscribers, according to our most recent independent audit. Of this number, 600 are online-only, 2,900 are print subscribers who also have requested an online password (a total that continues to grow by hundreds per month), and the remainder are print-only. (The E&P reporter asked me only what our print circulation was, but the story didn’t make that clear — you know how the media are.)
We have determined that our best business model is to require all readers to pay for our content, regardless of whether we print and deliver it on dead trees or provide it online. In part, we believe this protects our print circulation and the overall value of our content. We are in the minority in the newspaper business in this belief, but a sustainable print/online business model for newspapers has yet to emerge. Right now, it’s very dynamic and essentially one big laboratory. Anyone who says he or she has it all figured out is, well, just plain wrong.
The main difference between newspapers like the PR and the large metros when it comes to finding an online business model is that we are able to provide truly unique content while the metros have far more legitimate competition. I reckon it’ll be years yet before this all shakes out.
Finally, I’ve always found it curious that there are people who are outraged at being required to pay a small fee to read a newspaper online, but these same folks wouldn’t think of expecting any other service of consequence to be provided for free. (They’re also the same people who won’t stand for pop-up, interstitial or other types of online advertising). Folks who think that the Internet will magically create a world in which real, in-depth news can be provided for free will ultimately be very disappointed. Right now, newspapers are able to provide high-quality online content at no charge because the print product pays the bills. As print gives way to digital delivery, there will have to be a shift in the business model and the days of free online content will be over, IMHO.
Roger Plothow
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0 0 You make some good points also. I think the best one is
“The main difference between newspapers like the PR and the large metros when it comes to finding an online business model is that we are able to provide truly unique content while the metros have far more legitimate competition.”
which dovetails with what I said about the PR having the best and fullest local news coverage. Anyone who complains about paying for it must understand that if they were the biggest player in any market, they would capitalize on it also.
The real issue is that nobody else comes close to the PR in terms of such a wide local news spectrum. Give them some real competition first, then a free online model may logically follow some day. Until then, I agree the PR’s paid online service makes sense for them.
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0 0 Roger,
Your humor was a nice touch in Post #118, “(The E&P reporter asked me only what our print circulation was, but the story didn’t make that clear — you know how the media are.)”
Was your last post your invitation to the “big free or fee online discussion.” or just a teaser?
Seriously, I can’t wait for this one. I could explain what I learned when I tried to prove Roger’s theory wrong several years ago… but that would take all the fun out of it. Plus, I want to see what other arguments others have that I never thought of.
When that debate begins, Joe will you please allow us to post relevant information from other web sites?
I mean posting examples of the thinking and problem solving Roger and others were doing online 5-8+ years ago about the online version we’re reading today. And how some of those editors and/or publishers and others who were thinking 5-10 years ahead of others, arrived at the conclusions they did?
Plus, I want to post the local press coverage of Roger’s invited lecture to at least one out-of-state University, in particular. Local meaning host city of the University. The PR NEVER publishes invited lectures, committees, boards etc. their Sr. Mgt. serves on? Sheez, if people only read what leadership positions and guest lectures etc., let alone Dean just hanging at Harvard for a fellowship this year.
I’m wondering what other paper(s), all of us who have lived elsewhere or read newspapers from many states, have an editor currently completing a fellowship at Harvard? That includes those who read the Boston Globe.
The quick number for me on that one is NONE and I read some major west coast papers. That being said, I’m certain A.H. Belo, all the various NY Times-owned newspapers, who publish under another name, and perhaps even some regionally owned newspapers have had Harvard fellowship recipients. But, I’ve never read their material and can’t identify them.
Roger, with the numbers you posted for current online only, I’m impressed. That curve has picked up significantly it appears in the last 18-24 months. I’m probably one of the first 25-50 who took the giant leap and subscribed so I’ve seen the numbers of online only #s each year.
If the PR went online in 1999 (is that right?), then I think I went online in 1999 too- I subscribed within months of the policy change. So I’ve seen all the various updates of the PR Home Page.
I always wonder where readers are looking when they comment no information is available for free at the PR. If Aaron packed more stuff in the lower left hand side that is “free access” to all sorts of good info, I think the home page would have to grow taller.
Doesn’t anyone but me review the CVs of those who are writing what is written in the PR? Has anyone else ever read the Ethics Section Dean Miller added in 2006?
I hesitate to write this as I’m not making a statement about the journalist involved; however, I am making a statement about what the PR Sr. Mgt. must do to take corrective action when an error is made, regardless of how many years one has worked in the business.
HINT - read the Ethics section and see which journalist made a mistake, and what corrective action was taken. After all, it doesn’t cost to access the Ethics section, or classifieds, or journalists CVs about the paper, or many other specific features for eastern ID.
BTW - Roger, why is your CV not on that page with the rest of the crew? And is Aaron just waiting for the update to correct some dates about various journalists (I think it’s Sonja Lee and one other person who appear to have worked at the PR since 1969).
This should be interesting discussion when it begins. Will one of you who has one of my e-mail addresses send me an e-mail and let me know when this discussion begins so I can visit the site? I spend far less time at IFz.Com now and far more time elsewhere. However, I want to read the various posts. I’d appreciate the favor.
Looking forward to an interesting dialogue.
And before anyone asks, I do not work for the PR, or any of their affiliated papers. No immediate relative or close personal friend of mine works at the PR either.
I’ve never met Roger or even talked with him on the phone. I don’t know how many dozens of e-mails I’ve sent over the years to say what I liked and what I didn’t - and they all were answered. Where else does THAT happen?
Please remember, there is a high probability that I was one of the first ten subscribers who complained about and questioned this policy repeatedly in 1999. So I’ve been researching and finding answers, and e-mailing Roger about this issue for ~ 8 years.
Ok4Now
P.S. Roger, Please tell Jeremy I said hi and I miss chatting with him.
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0 0 When that debate begins, Joe will you please allow us to post relevant information from other web sites?
I don’t mind, but just post the most relevant excerpts rather than full pieces, I try to respect other folks’ intellectual property as much as I want them to respect ours.
I want to post the local press coverage of Roger’s invited lecture to at least one out-of-state University … The PR NEVER publishes invited lectures … their Sr. Mgt. serves on … if people only read what leadership positions and guest lectures etc.
I think that is a great idea. I would enjoy reading what they have to say when they get away. I thought Dean Miller’s Harvard paper about his experience in the Scout’s Honor episode was much more insightful and interesting than anything the PR printed in their defense during that time.
I imagine the PR doesn’t want to appear to be tooting their own horns too much, but I would enjoy reading or viewing media of lectures given by PR senior staff, if they can be gotten.
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0 0 The AP news in the Post seems to be days after the TV stations get the stories. Is it because of the deadlines? I don’t read them often because it is old news.
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0 0 Although it would be nice to be able to read the PR online for free, I can understand why it’s not. Being a small town like IF, it costs money, and to dedicated a group of people purely for online updates each day has got to cost more than what the PR is willing to pay. What they don’t know is, there’s alot of money in online advertising, and they would easily recoup their money after a few short months. If our local news stations can have free content online, there’s no reason the PR couldn’t. Then again, I’m sure the news stations are getting more advertising dollars then the PR would so I can see the pros & cons both ways.
Aside from that, I really enjoy the Post Register. It’s got great articles and I personally think its the best place to go when looking for local news and activities in and around SE Idaho. If you can stand to sit through the mediocre local news broadcasts, you can get your local news there, but you’re limited. You’ve got to watch at a certain hour of the day and 30-60 seconds isn’t nearly long enough to inform me of local newsworthy stories. At least with the PR, I can take my time and read an article, and for the next day or two be able to go back and reference said story if need be. If you miss a news story on the tube, that’s it, it’s gone….which is why the PR (in MY opinion) is our best source of news around SE Idaho. (albeit a day or two late at times)
Props to Mr Plothow for putting out a great paper and for putting up with all the criticism.
I learned a long time ago, you can’t please everyone no matter how hard you try. All you can do is the best that you can, and that in turn will give you the satisfaction to continue plugging away. Besides….even if the online content was free, somebody would complain about something else.
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0 0 I look forward to watching a PBS Independent Lens episode tomorrow evening (Dec 11th) about 10pm locally, called The Paper.
“Remember newspapers? Most people used to read them daily. But today circulation is dropping and public trust in the news media is dwindling. Watch what happens in the editorial room at Pennsylvania State University’s The Daily Collegian as journalism students struggle to report what’s relevant to their readers, and fight to save their campus newspaper.”
I wonder if the issues they present are specific to that college or if they are really big issues facing newspapers. It would be neat to hear from local paper employees on what they think of the episode.
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0 0 Well, I actually slogged my way through about 120 comments on this thread. Whew–lots to chew on and digest! I was intrigued to see fairly frequent participation by some key P-R staff. I guess my question here on Groundhog Day is “How come this thread just up and died?” Comments began tapering off last fall and then pretty much fell off a cliff before the holidays. This thread was in the process of putting some meat on its bones. It offered the inherent promise of helping people get a better understanding of how small market media face up to their unique issues, concerns, opportunities and challenges. More importantly, I think this thread could have been (and could still be) the equivalent of a UGC Advisory Council.
UGC = User Generated Content.
You see, the P-R staff handpicks their Advisory Council members and there’s always going to be an inherent bias in that process. That’s not a conspiratorial comment–it’s just human nature. It’s just fact. But what if the people, the P-R readers, friends and critics alike, carried on a lively daily dialog about the ongoing content of the P-R? Anyone could join the discussion–no pedigree necessary. Trust me, there’s never been an editor in history who couldn’t learn something new each day from his/her readers. This blog/forumette obviously has the attention and ear of the P-R. Frankly, it seems that letting this thread die a lonely death is a complete and total waste of community talent, insight and intelligence! Come on back, ya’ll and pick up the ball and run with it!
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0 0 Before I say the following, I want to repeat that I think the PR is a great publication. They do the best local news day in and day out, very consistently. I think their coverage is fair and balanced, and their paper presentation layout is modern and pleasing. They are doing a great job with their product.
A recent PR topic has been their charging for the online version. The New York Times switched to a free access/advertising-driven model last fall. When Rupert Murdoch bought the Dow Jones and with it the Wall Street Journal he hinted he might also switch the WSJ to a free access/advertising-driven model. Last week he announced that would keep the same subscription model for now.
So these two developments seem to present mixed wisdom on the idea of newspapers giving free access to their online content. What’s the difference and how does it relate to our own Post Register?
I heard one commentator say the WSJ can uniquely stay with the 18th centry subscription model because their content is a tool for readers to make money. The NYT content is not a tool to make money. That makes sense to me, does anyone disagree?
Does the Post Register’s online content make anyone money? Not in the sense that the WSJ does, no. It publishes content more similar to the NYT. So why do they continue to charge for online access?
My opinion is still that they get away with it because they have a monopoly on our local news coverage. When a viable competitor emerges which offers free online access, the PR will be forced to drop their fees. Competition is healthy in all markets, and our local news market needs more competition. The television stations are not true competitors to the PR’s product.
I have hopes that the River City Weekly can quickly scale up to be that viable competitor, that balancing force we need around here. They already run on the advertising-only driven model so they have geared themselves for that game. Their coverage of local news has grown, has great quality, and is unique. I think they are primed to be the PR competitor that will eventually force the PR to stop charging for online access. I think the real question is not if, but when?
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0 0 I also think the PR does an excellent job for this size market, for the majority/minority both politically and faith-wise. However, I would like to see competition because I think that drives many things, such as price and choice of content, investigative activities, etc.
As I commented earlier, I’m an online reader who would drop the paper copy cost if I could have free online access. Right now, the Sunday/Wednesday paper copies are all I’d take if I had free online access.
So revenue becomes an issue for the free online PR, as I’m certain there are many like me out there who’d take advantage of the free news.
I’ve never been involved with online advertisers so I don’t know how the money flow works, or if it is more lucrative than traditional print advertisements. But I can’t imagine that the PR hasn’t researched this option and decided it wasn’t worth their pursuit.
And, Johnny…my first thought about UGC was that I wouldn’t be interested in reading it…then I realized, I AM reading UGC when I visit this page regularly, so who am I kidding? So I’m sure I’d give it a shot.
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0 0 One thing I wish they would change is those stupid sticky ads they place on the front page. I assume the paper carrier places them and they are always pasted over a headline or picture. I find it very irritating. I call to complain but nothing is done about it.
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0 0 I’d like to see less coverage of Rexburg and more local coverage of Idaho Falls. I PR seems to want to expand to be a regional paper, but it is up against tiny town papers like the ones in Rexburg and Blackfoot. Who cares about street problems in downtown Rexbiurg?
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0 0 Joe makes some good points in his Feb 2nd post. (btw Joe, where are the numbers next to each post?)
I’ve been saying this since I moved here. The PR needs to make it’s online paper free, period. I’ve travelled all over this country and most cities, large & small, have their online content free. Like Joe pointed out, their money would be made through advertising. (just as the hard copy of the paper is)
While I enjoy reading the paper, when I have the time. I find its more convienent to read it online. However I refuse to pay for it. I don’t pay for the nightly news on tv, why should I pay for it online. They make plenty of money through advertising and it’s something that should be provided to the public free of charge.
just my opinion…
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0 0 I know, I want those comment numbers back, too. Soon…
I think this “advertising vs. subscription” model is a reflection of web trends. Look at Microsoft’s hostile bid for yahoo! last week. MS made their billions in software, yet they want to switch to the advertising market for growth. They are dropping sales and subscription in favor of advertising.
The reason online advertising is growing exponentially is because people don’t want to pay for things online. We’ve gotten spoiled with free things, and we don’t feel we should have to pay for anything online now. The successful businesses are changing their paradigms to meet that expectation.
We are going into a recession, and where will advertisers cut back? I heard Jason Calcanis saying advertisers will cut back on outdoor and magazine ads, but will keep online ads because they are getting great returns on their money.
The trends are pointing to why the PR should go with the free online model, and the single reason they should not is because they’ve got the monopoly on local news. How long will they keep that monopoly though? We have a vacuum here, and it will not be long before something emerges to meet our need for free, online, local news. The PR will be forced to change their model at that time, and then they will be playing catch up.
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0 0 All in all I think the PR is a decent paper for Idaho. However, I am signed up for the “breaking news” alerts and I get a daily email whenever the new daily online version is ready. The concern we’ve had the last 6 months is what qualifies as a “breaking news alert” from the Register. A lot of times we get one and think, “yeah - so? That could have waited for tomorrow’s paper” Other times it is real breaking news, like the police chief about to resign, a crime, or something a little more earth shattering than “today’s edition will be late due to weather”.
Today for instance, we’ve received 3 “breaking news” emails, I am pasting them from my email so you can see what I’m talking about. I hope it’s OK I cut and paste them, just using them to make a point:
POST REGISTER BREAKING NEWS
1. A Shelley woman accused of shooting and killing her sister last summer will go to trial in mid-March. The decision was made today after Chitta Lynch’s attorneys and Bingham County prosecutors failed to reach a plea deal. The two sides had hammered out a deal, but it was rejected last week by 7th District Judge Darren Simpson, who said he didn’t have enough information to approve it. Lynch has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for killing her sister, Diane Khamone, on June 27 at Lynch’s home in Shelley. According to court documents, Lynch and Khamone had been arguing about the best care for their mother, who had serious health problems. While another sister Thomsavanh Phandanouvong and the mother were out of the room, Lynch allegedly shot Khamone in the neck with a hunting rifle. Prosecutors charged Lynch with first-degree murder after Khamone succumbed to her injuries several days later. Magistrate Judge Charles Roos later reduced the charges to involuntary manslaughter.
2. The U.S. Forest Service is closing a helicopter pad on the Salmon River because of safety concerns. The Forest Service’s Indianola Helibase is 11 miles west of North Fork on the Salmon River Road, which ends at Corn Creek. The road is very popular during the hunting and steelhead seasons in both spring and fall “Based on a recent safety review of helicopter operations at Indianola we have determined that we cannot adequately protect firefighters or the public from the hazards associated with the Salmon River Road running through the facility,” North Fork District Ranger Russ Bacon said today. Forest Service officials said they have tried to slow drivers, but their efforts have failed. The Forest Service had been planning to abandon Indianola, but decided to move before the new base was finished at the Salmon Airport. “We are unable to ensure that helicopter operations can safely coexist with a high traffic road such as the River Road. Therefore, because firefighter and safety is our highest priority we must stop operating helicopters at Indianola,” Bacon said. The Indianola pad is on a sharp corner in the road and there have been a number of near misses, including vehicles spilling off the road at the housing or the pads. The Forest Service has used the helicopter pad for more than 40 years. Bacon said the move won’t hurt the agency’s ability to fight fires. “I recognize that Indianola has been a part of the downriver culture for a century, it’s a fixture that we are all very attached to. That attachment can’t cloud our judgment when it comes to the safety of our firefighters or the public. Indianola is only 12 minute’s flight time from the Salmon Airport and we remain committed to quickly responding to wildfires on the North Fork Ranger District.” said Bacon.
3.REXBURG – David Kaneko is returning to eastern Idaho after spending six months at an Idaho Department of Corrections mental health facility in Boise. Kaneko was sentenced in August to four years in prison for his role in the deaths of his wife, Lorraine, and daughter, Laura, but was eligible for probation after six months. Late last month 7th District Judge Joel Tingey ordered his release based on the department’s recommendation. Kaneko is scheduled to return to Madison County – where he will serve five years of probation – as soon as transportation can be arranged. Efforts to reach Tingey for comment were unsuccessful. Although the Department of Corrections keeps its transport schedule confidential, today marks the last of Kaneko’s 180 days at the facility. For more information, see Tuesday’s Post Register.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why are the above so important for us to receive right now? I guess I just feel “breaking news” should have a reasonable need to be sent to readers without delay. RIGHT NOW for safety’s sake or major events affecting our lives today. I know some will disagree with me, and that’s OK.
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0 0 I think there is an “attention economy” at issue here. Consumers are becoming more selective about what they allow to disturb their attentions because it costs time and money to break your attention from your work.
I agree the Post Register is abusing their customer relationships with “breaking news alerts” that have become too frequent and too irrelevant. Whoever writes and emails these is out of touch with what consumers consider “breaking news”.
I’ll define it: if it’s something I would read and immediately share with all my office colleagues, it’s a valid breaking news alert.
How many office workers do you think said today,
“hey everyone, that Shelley lady is going to trial in mid-March!”
or “hey everyone, a Forest service helipad is getting closed down for safety concerns!”
or “hey everyone a prisoner is being transferred to east Idaho; no, they’re not being freed, they are just changing facilities!”
Go ahead, try shouting those babies out in your office and count how many co-workers thought it was something they needed to know right now.
Given the news in our area, the PR should send these out about one every two or three weeks, certainly not three in a day. I think they need to better respect our attention economy.
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0 0 LOL….points well made Joe!
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0 0 I’d make the case in bureaucratic terms–a newspaper the size of the P-R is inherently a small bureaucracy–mostly top heavy as are all bureaucracies–and mostly dictatorial as are most bureaucracies. Somehow, someplace, somebody up on the food chain set some artificial decree that x-y-z “alerts” had to be emailed out to subscribers each day. Meanwhile, some entry level underling hoping to prove themselves is delegated the hopeless task of choosing the x-y-z mandated three alerts per day. I’d bet you $100 they are newbies to journalism and don’t understand the local market. Their age is probably somewhere on the shy side of 25.
What would YOU do in their position? Flip off the overhead? Nah, probably not an option. Send out Britney Spears updates? Nah, probably not an option. So, you’d plod through a daily dose of arcane, boring local news, hoping to find something, ANYTHING that might qualify as an update. Trust me, this sounds worse than being assigned to write obits or edit classified ads! All-in-all, whatever kid sent out those three updates didn’t do all that bad of a job (assuming my assumptions are correct). It’s all shill and schlock–substance left the party a long time ago! The P-R puts on “airs” sometimes and this CLEARLY is one of them! Thanks for creating the post–it’s a good one with solid points well taken. Right on. We need more of these kids of posts!
Cheers, Monte
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0 0 I enjoy getting the news emails from the Post Register. I realize that there were 3 within hours the other day, but all were pretty big news items for the area. If you subscribe to the news alerts, it’s as simple as pushing the delete button if you don’t want to read the news item.
Hat’s off to the Post for providing this service to eastern Idaho and their readers. I believe it is a great service to get these news alerts.
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0 0 I’m wondering why, when the Comic Deathmatch was initiated, the Post Register didn’t first ask readers to submit suggestions for comic replacements. Then they could have taken the most frequently submitted ones (ruling out those of objectionable content) and put those up for consideration.
I’m not criticizing the method they used, I’m just curious why those particular comics were chosen and why that method of offering them.
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0 0 I don’t think the Post Register ever really did it to get feedback. They’re not known for their “customer service”. Seldom do they truly ask for feedback, and encorporate any of it.
You’ll notice they take more of a “we’ll do what we darn well please, and you have to take it becase we know we have a monopoly in this area” type of mentality.
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0 0 I don’t think the Post Register has as big of Monopoly anymore since the arrival of the River City Weekly, Idaho Falls Magazine and the revamped newsprint Tidbits. It should be interesting to see the direction they take in the future to keep the advertising revenue with them.
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0 0 It’s easy to rag on the P-R. Kinda reminds me of that classic Far Side cartoon–two buck deer standing around talking. One deer looks at the other and says, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal” Meanwhile the other deer has this huge red bull’s eye imprinted on it’s chest. All newspapers bear the same birthmark–they are easy targets and people love to pile on every chance they get. Taking pot shots at a newspaper is as old as Paul Revere and the Colonials. It goes with the turf, it’s part and parcel of the business. I, for one, refuse to join the P-R Bashing Game.
Why? Well, for starters, I do not agree that the P-R never listens. I think they listen quite well. I have submitted numerous ideas to them that have been utilized. I have also sent criticisms that have been acknowledged. So what’s the beef?
Maybe people who feel the P-R doesn’t listen have never really tried to establish some dialog. I’d recommend that those who harbor a grudge against the P-R “get over it” and try to bring some positive energy to the equation. You won’t get anywhere being consistently negative so why bother? I believe the P-R values and respects its readers. Obviously, lots of people don’t share that opinion. But I ask each of you in that category to try to shift your energies to the positive side.
Throwing stones and hurling insults at the P-R is a popular community activity but is it productive? Does it really accomplish anything? Maybe it makes you feel good. Whatever.
We could all benefit from a better newspaper that became better because its readers and the citizenry took a pro active role in becoming positive partners with the Post Register, sending in a steady stream of productive, relevant ideas reflective of an enlightened and communicative readership. Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
OK, now I will put on my nomex fire-retardant suit and wait for the flaming to begin! (PS–I have no connection in any way to the P-R other than being a paid subscriber.)
Happy Trails! The Volunteer
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0 0 I dont know what Volunteer is reading, but the only real “bashing” against the PR (after skimming back through most of the comments) were a few folks talking about the “breaking new alerts”. I didn’t feel that was “bashing”. There were a couple comments regarding the PR being a monopoly….which in this neck of the woods it kinda is. Again….no real “bashing” going on. Some “suggestions on content” were made. Again….no “bashing” going on. And some suggested the PR was too “Liberal”. That’s not considered “bashing” in my book. Most papers across the country are either slanted more towards the liberal side or more towards the conservative side.
Seems to me the ax you were trying to grind has just ground to a halt. After all, the topic of this post IS titled, “How Would You Change The Post Register”. Hmmmmmm……I guess we’re all supposed to just love it or leave it huh? Interesting.
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0 0 I’ve seen plenty of PR bashing here and other places and I agree with Volunteer. For the most recent bashing, see comment #135. Now there’s someone with an ax to grind. But I don’t think that their comment is true. As Volunteer said, the PR welcomes feedback and even sometimes acts on it. Of course that is just my opinion and I know that some don’t agree. BTW, I am also only a paid subscriber and have no other connection to the Post Register.
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0 0 Given the amount of advertising the Post Register still has even considering RCW, IF Mag and Tidbits, I don’t think they’re worried.
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0 0 I like the small town PR paper. I have lived in big cities and no matter what, you can’t compare the PR to a big city newspaper simply because we aren’t a big city. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. My news sources include, PR, KIFI, KPVI, KIDK, CNN, MSN, yeah even Fox once in awhile as long as I don’t read about politics there. For local, I’ll stick to local news. I do agree that breaking news is breaking news and some of the alerts I receive I could live without, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t news to someone I guess. One way or the other, while the larger newspapers may be great to some of you, I’ll read the LA Times and NY Times if I live in LA or NY. And obviously, they are going to have more money to do what they can to make y’all happy. The PR doesn’t have the populaton base to make that kind of money for a huge paper that suits everyone’s needs.
And no, I don’t work for the PR or know anybody who does.
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0 0 I don’t understand why I pay more for the “Post” on Sunday, ($1.50) for extras like ADS. About the only other extras I see are T.V. Times, (which by the way has changed, and there are no longer listings for movie previews), a couple or three coupon pages, which I consider mostly ads, Parade, and sometimes extra inserts such as Home Living. Why do they cost more then the weekday and Saturday paper itself?…(1.00-more). Would someone please enlighten me? Anyway, I would like to see more consistancy, and less change. But I guess you can’t stop progress. I guess I’m just too old skool.
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0 0 The Sunday paper in most cities is always more expensive. Mainly because you’re getting more content. ie: Showtime or Parade magazine, coupons, sale flyers etc. It’s common practice everywhere, not just in our small town.
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Another feature I hope they keep up is the 100/75/50/25 years ago today column. I would like to see it tweaked by adding a picture from that time period also.
Another play on that would be to show three headline stories from this date a year ago.