Wednesday, January 05, 2005

I read the first issue of Greensboro's new freebie paper, Yes! Weekly (not yet posted online). Not unpromising. A well-written cover story on the Klan/Nazi killings bespeaks a commitment to local journalism, which is good, although neglecting Nelson Johnson's central role in the Truth and Reconcilation process was a curious omission, and the whole carefully-reported package doesn't tell us much we don't already know. But if the same level of reporting is applied week after week, the feature well could be worth watching. The Hottie of the week photo on Page 3 is an interesting choice -- not that the hottie herself lacks suitable pulchritude for the job, but the whole scantily-clad babe thing seems a bit out of place. Too early to judge the opinion pages, which were not exactly sizzling on this first outing. But they seem to be aiming at something more than watered-down Rhinoism, or anti-Rhinoism, which is what made the Greensboro Observer so inessential. Other local content seems competent, and the syndicated fare kept me busy through lunch, although Jill Jackson's Hollywood Minute reminded me a little too much of The Onion's Jackie Harvey. Lots of ads. If they can afford to pay local writers, they look to have a chance. Hint: use the web, Yes! Weekly. 2:48:30 PM    comment []

Happy birthday, mom. I love you. 2:18:35 PM    comment []

King Kaufman on Ashlee Simpson's  Orange Bowl halftime show: "It was a staggering display of incompetence matched only by the Oklahoma secondary." 2:14:08 PM    comment []

Hoggard covered a City Council meeting, and he's got some advice for pols: "As we move to the next level of citizen media - aka weblogging - all public officials need to be made aware that their world is changing...You have no way to know what might be thrown out for public consumption any more." Yep. 11:39:36 AM    comment []

Jay Rosen on the Lex Memo: "In Greensboro we find a newspaper awakening to the culture of the Web." It's not just the N&R. The paper is feeding off of, and feeding into, a broader movement that includes personal publishing and politics. Suddenly, blogging is taking off among our elected officials -- our mayor pro tem has a blog, another City Council member has made a public promise to start soon, and another is actively testing the medium in private. Our Register of Deeds is blogging. It's really kind of cool. 11:32:00 AM    comment []

So...I guess Southern Cal was pretty good, huh? I thought Auburn looked good against a tough but overmatched VA Tech team, but I don't think they want any part of the Trojans. 11:11:26 AM    comment []

NYT obit (by Sarah Boxer): "Will Eisner, an innovative comic-book artist who created the Spirit, a hero without superpowers, and the first modern graphic novel, 'A Contract With God,' died on Monday." NYT arts (by Virginia Heffernan): "American comics have become, through male nostalgia and the canonization of the graphic novel, sacrosanct. Let's be honest. Many of us don't like comic books and have feigned interest in...the way they redeem loser guys, only to impress and minister to those loser guys." 11:06:06 AM    comment []