Santa Barbara Newsroom Launched!
Santa Barbara Newsroom (http://www.santabarbaranewsroom.com) is now live. The efforts of eight former News-Press reporters waiting to return to their jobs following the NLRB decision a few weeks ago are commendable. The site, supported by the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is well thought-out, decently designed and professional.
Congratulations! I realize even more now how much I miss their work at the News-Press.
Congratulations! I realize even more now how much I miss their work at the News-Press.
Labels: SB Newsroom
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 4/02/2007 12:23:00 AM
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33 Comments:
Congrats to the 8. The site works better than the NP's, which isn't saying much, but still... They pulled this off quickly and very professionally and should be proud.
It will be a nice counter balance to the rotten offerings of the Newspress. On Sunday, "Dr." Laura wrote something even more completely moronic and disgusting than usual. She condemended the captured British woman sailor for, well, I don't know what this woman did wrong. She's a woman? She was captured by Iranians? Whatever her crime, Laura thinks she should be publicly scorned. Nice job, Laura. Just know that we notice your bile and aren't amused.
It's rampant stupidity and empty hatred that fuels the NP opinion pages these days. The SB Newsroom is a welcome return to civil, thoughtful, and schooled journalism. (Rob Kuznia's lead story is excellent).
Fake Doctor's Sunday Funnies
Compare the difference today between the volume and quality of the News-Press' local coverage at newspress.com and that of the new site.
The News-Press' local coverage today is basically life guards jumping into water, a fire captain's photo and a couple of other features. The usual McCaw-Wiesenberger-Steepleton lite.
The new S.B Newsroom site today has moving an elementary school, county property tax receipts, Measure D, the new teen center and the news Hospice center.
McCaw proclaimed earlier this year that she would provide "the best local news to be had," but it's still impossible to understand what she has in mind.
If this new site can sustain today's level of reporting, the depth, quality, timeliness and variety of local news coverage by the News-Press would rank lower than this new site, edhat and the Daily Sound, not to mention the Indy.
Looks like the new Santa Barbara daily news service received a nice plug as part of Melinda Burns' op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times.
Bravo Team of Eight! How refreshing to have real, well-written, seasoned, journalism back in SB. Congratulations, I bet you will be swamped with hungry readers, and I for one will be there daily!
What a stunning beginning. Viva la difference! Laura saw an opportunity to bash anyone she can say is a feminist? Keep noticing the bile.
Congratulations Santa Barbara Newsroom! I have quality reporting to read today!
yawn, much ado about nothing
Glowing article about the new downtown teen center, dateline Monday April 2, 2007. Except it was not news - it was a publicity fluff piece.
The news, dateline Monday April 2, 2007, is yesterday on the very same block as the new Teen Center was another gang fight, this time girls, which was not included in the front page.
And the center now looks empty, except for staff shooting pool.
Please donate $15 to the center to provide memberships for those who may not think this is a place for them too. Get membership gift certificates and hand them out to kids on the street.
Think globaly, act locally.
so great to have local news again! i'll be reading daily, thanks to all involved!
The site is aesthetically, journalistically and politically pleasing. Not only do these folks beat the hell out of pots and pans, and take the high road against the liars and scoundrels running and representing the News-Press, they also write and report rings around 'em (management, that is). Way to go, Storm Troopers!
The Newspress "news" coverage has shown quite a trend for the news content to track closely the editorials by a couple of days.
examples:
Chumash, Armenta
Gangs blame games
tree cutting
labor unions
etc. etc.
And those are not the ones that the Daily Sound and/or the Independent already covered days or weeks earlier. For instance, the retiring County Fire Captain was covered today by the NewsLess, but on March 9th by Daily Sound.
Maybe NewsLess did want to admit he was retiring because he provides so many news releases and photos that are the only way the cubbies at NewsLess get something to regurgitate as their own news articles?
National coverage of the new local news website from Editor & Publisher:
Fired Santa Barbara Staffers Launch News Web Site
By Joe Strupp
Published: April 02, 2007 3:40 PM ET
NEW YORK Eight former staffers of the Santa Barbara News-Press, who claim they were illegally fired in the latest dispute at the embattled paper, have launched a new Web site of their own, where they plan to cover local stories until they get their jobs back.
Dubbed "Santa Barbara Newsroom," the ad-free site, at www.santabarbaranewsroom.com, launched Monday with stories about local issues such as school relocation plans and property taxes, as well as a few editorial columns.
Etc.
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003566276
The video about the teen center isn't bad. Does the News-Press site even have video? When the eight are reinstated maybe they can take the new website back with them.
Will the REAL journalist please stand up? Excuse me Travis, we aren't talking about people who are just WORKING at it, so please sit down, don't be mad. Just Watch, Listen and Learn. You 8 in the back, you STAND UP ! Your PEN is migh-teeeeer than the cease and desist lawsuit [sword of choice]. Thanks for leading by example, nice LAT op. Does this now add the tribune company to the BTW list of agenda-istas? Forget it NP, they got more money and power, Travis continue to 'expose' only those who can't outspend theWendy of the west. Count on the 8 to be great!
Thank goodness for the return of some serious journalism and news. The pissing war between Craig Smith
http://www.west.net/~smith/blog/index.shtml
and Santa Barbara's blog is old, if not annoying.
http://www.santabarbarasblog.com/
Let's hope this online platform stays. I for one will appreciate a return to real news.
I went to this new site today. Looks nice, I hope it's updated more often than the Indie site.
I picked up a copy of today's News Press that the guy next to me had left. Man, that was one thin paper. Section A was 8 pages, sections B, C, and D, 6 each.
666. Isn't that the sign of The Beast?
Janice -- you HAVE mentioned that twice but I think it's important to point out that both Craig and SB Blog's Moderator are not strict news in that they do not provide a huge range of issues every day. Neither do I. EdHat has done a great job at that and it looks as though the Newsroom will do the same. Where Craig, SB Blog and I are different is that we offer mostly opinion and some breaking news you might not see elsewhere. Craig has every right today to question the benefits of blogging without moderation or for that matter at all -- it really is like directing traffic in Mexico City! I actually think I need to put the possibility of remembering people could be a poseur in my guidelines -- it's an important thing to remember.
People know what they are getting with Craig and here at BlogaBarbara. SB Blog has surprised us with twists and turns of late -- but I can only guess they are looking for their niche AND good for them. There is plenty of room in the ether for all of us.
How will NewsRoom treat this one since they missed the gang fight in place of a feel-good local story:
NewsPress pulled off a winner local Montecito story this morning - photos of an alleged Anglo tagger in action - wonder if this story will produce the same hue and cry about poor parents working three jobs just to live in Montecito and ask for compassion for the tagger, and not the property owners who were vandalized.
Will this remarkable story expose the tectonic rift between how the Anglo and Latino communities are percieved and treated?
How will NewsRoom handle this critical social issue? How will local residents handle this critical social issue?
Kudos to the NewsPress on this one.
To Lower Westie: 28 pages is a little thin for a Tuesday, especially for a holiday week. It used to be 32 pages average. Monday and Tuesday are historically the smallest papers of the week. What is more important is the relationship between the number of paying ads and editorial space. House ads can basically be counted as editorial space. A higher percentage of ads to news space means good revenue flow. Lots of news space and house ads mean minimal revenue. Look at the paper with that perspective for a week or so and you will get a pretty good idea of how the paper is really doing financially.
To the Newsroom staff: Great start, nice website. Glad to have you back!
BRAVO!! Thanks to all you former NPers for taking the effort and time to bring local news back to Santa Barbara. I look forward to getting all the news that has been lacking in the past half year. Great job, keep up the good reporting!
Interesting that the union helped set up this new website - they do owe these fired workers big time for setting them up for that freeway banner stunt.
Unions got egg on their faces in the worst way for that act of "protected speech". But the writers were all adults. They could have said no to that stunt and still been at the NewsPress doing their jobs.
How long will the union support for this website last and how long will writers want to work for no pay?
Before we all think all blog hosts are created equally, do know that the santabarbarasblog routinely deletes comments that criticize its biased editorial decisisons, just like the Newspress does.
Just today my comment below was deleted, twice, for what I entered about the recent false comment attributed fraudently to John Palmineri as the commenter:
"Someone did not merely enter the Handle for Palminteri, but his full name linked to Carpinteria Coastal View newspaper, for which The Palm writes an opinion column.
That was a deliberate attempt to deceive. The Palm made that known far more widely than to Craig Smith.
This blog here has featured several false entries of elected officials and other locally famous people."
Craig has every right today to question the benefits of blogging without moderation or for that matter at all
But Craig didn't question that, he merely expressed his own inclinations.
santabarbarasblog has displayed rather dubious ethics, and does delete or trim material it doesn't like. Here's my post there, only a small part of which was published:
“Craig Smith, a local media writer, claimed that Palminteri complained to him that someone was improperly using his handle.”
That’s false; he made no such claim — Smith did not use the word “complain” or anything equivalent.
“his position that comments on a blog are a bad idea”
That’s false; he expressed no such position.
“purportedly told Mr. Smith”
Purportedly? Are you suggesting the Mr. Smith is lying? Why don’t you ask Palminteri directly and find out?
“the Blog finds such an unsolicitated complaint hard to believe.”
Are you calling Palminteri a liar? Why don’t you ask him directly and find out whether he has ever posted here?
And Smith never said that Palminteri’s comment was unsolicited.
“The writer then used the opportunity to condemn reader feedback”
That’s false; he did no such thing. What he did do was suggest that you have a responsibility to verify that a post apparently by “someone with high name identification” is the real deal. I would add that you have a responsibility to tell the truth and not so radically misrepresent what other bloggers write; Smith only explained why he doesn’t allow comments … because he doesn’t have the time or inclination. He said nothing negative about those who do have the time or inclination, or about blog comments themselves. Smith’s piece was short and easy to comprehend — there’s no excuse for making so many mistaken claims about it.
"The pissing war between Craig Smith ... and Santa Barbara's blog is old, if not annoying."
It's not a war, it's a sniper attack by sbb; Craig doesn't respond to their attacks on him.
I find SBB's pretentious use of capitalization when referring to itself, as though there are no other blogs, as obnoxious as hell. I mean, how silly would it look if the NP referred to itself as the Newspaper? Or McDonald's as the Restaurant? Blech.
In fairness, SBB did keep one of my critical posts after it grabbed its ankles for "Dr." Laura. I guess that's something.
The prolific blogger Anonymous still misses the point, is a bad spin machine, and/or does not get out much with the comments entered here 4/03/2007 8:00 AM
The big story by Steepleton about the Montecito tagger caught with bank ATM pictures, in his usual fashion, is just a rehash of the news release by the Sheriff. Daily Sound covered the story as a brief on page 2 the same day because that is all it is worth. Nothing in the news release nor in the long article noted the ethnicity of the tagger nor the income of his family. So who is making up stories now about the hue and cry of "tectonic rifts"??
Do these anonymous supporters of the NewsPress really want to start a contest about which news publications get the stories and which get scooped??
Should one of the blogs start a daily entry or paragraph listing and comparing the stories in the two newspapers and NewsRoom??
I have read the santabarbarasblog and can't really say it has made a big impact on me in the way that Craig Smith, the Indy, or Blogabarbara have.
I find it very ironic that sbblog was all over "Dr." Laura upon her triumphant return to SB media, yet printed the comment by "john Palminteri" without even checking, or adding a disclaimer that it may or may not have been he who posted.
Besides, how could anyone not enjoy the Church of Skatan?
I too, tried to post at santabarbarasblog in response & disagreement (but not rude) to dr laura who had posted- my comment was either rejected or deleted- so i won't be reading or wasting my keystrokes over there
NewsPress pulled off a winner local Montecito story this morning - photos of an alleged Anglo tagger in action
Sorry, Sara, but hahahahahahahahaha!
Hate to disillusion you, but the NP did nothing for that story. They only reason Steepleton got it was because the cops sent emails, with those photos, to every news outlet in the county.
A real winner, indeed.
Santa Barbara NewsPress published the photos from the ATM showing an Anglo (the kid did have blond hair, but who knows these days) dancing about in multiple shots coincidentally the alleged same time the machine was allegedly vandalized.
But just like the alleged Latino knifer on State Street, this Anglo dancer is innocent until proven guilty.
I was just wondering where all the letters condemning Anglo parenting and abandonment of values were going to start coming in.
Where was the Montecito leadership not calling for a Juvenile Justice Task Force and having a candlelight vigil for the bank?
Did the NewsPress step over a line publishing these photos and asking the community for help in identification. Ya gotta admit - this presented a new story that no one else had.
Small victories are great at the News-Press these days...let's get back on track!
Anon 9:15, do you also blame the crime victim who gets assaulted, or do you blame the criminal? Figure it out, dude. The reporters were exercising their rights, and Wendy doesn't have to like it, but she needs to Obey the Law.
It is way too far of a stretch to compare vandalism with murder (even though I note your sarcasm).
7:38 wrote "I was just wondering where all the letters condemning Anglo parenting and abandonment of values were going to start coming in. Where was the Montecito leadership not calling for a Juvenile Justice Task Force and having a candlelight vigil for the bank?"
What is Santa Barbara NewPress doing right, you ask?
Why today they devoted an entire page of color photos to some vagrant homeless guy who makes flowers on State Street - who pays no taxes, obstructs traffic, competes with rent paying local businesses, chose to be homeless here, and now is featured as a local hero by the NewsPress.
Yes, times are good again at the NewsPress.
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