LWV Sponsors Journalism/Internet Discussion

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You probably saw the ad in last Saturday's Claremont Courier. The League of Women Voters of the Claremont Area is sponsoring a panel discussion called "Print Journalism and the Challenge of the Internet."

The event is scheduled for next Saturday, March 21st, from 11:30am to 2pm at the City's Hughes Center. It costs $10, and the price includes lunch. The discussion begins at 12:15pm.

According to the ad, the panel includes:

• Peter Weinberger, Editor and Publisher, Claremont Courier
• Steve Lambert, Editor and General Manager, San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group
• Meg Worley, Assistant Professor of English, Pomona College
• Larry Pryor, Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, USC
• John Seery, Professor of Politics, Pomona College
• Danny Paskin, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism, CSU Long Beach
• Eric Richardson, Publisher and Founder of blogdowntown.com
• Anand Gupta, Ace Reporter, Claremont Insider
  

Just kidding about that last guy. We all know he's really in Bangalore. Besides, no one in Claremont reads Gupta's gossip rag, or at least no one will cop to it.

In all seriousness, though, it's a shame the League didn't see fit to invite any actual local bloggers, of which there are many doing fine jobs. The list of speakers seems a little talking heads-heavy, as if this newfangled Internet thing had just now arrived and needed proper LWV-sponsored study. Panelist Eric Richardson's blog seems to be just the type of serio-communi-non-profit the LWV would like: "blogdowntown is a project of verbdowntown, a non-profit whose mission is to build community online resources for Downtown Los Angeles."

We think the event could use some local balance from writers actually doing the work. David Allen from the Bulletin, for instance. What about Tony Krickl from the Courier's City Beat, or former Courier reporter and current "To the Point" producer Gary Scott? How about Charles Johnson from Claremont McKenna College or the folks at the Metro Pomona Blog? Or Jack Pitney, whose GOV 101 and GOV115 classes at CMC maintain blogs about politics and journalism?

Print Journalism and
the Challenge of the Internet
Sponsored by the Claremont LWV

Saturday, March 21 - 11:30am to 2pm
Alexander Hughes Community Center
1700 Danbury Rd.
Claremont, CA 91711

Cost: $10

* * * * *

Coincidentally, Gary Scott wrote about the venerable Columbia School of Journalism having to come to grips late in the game with the rise of the Internet.

Scott was referring to a New York Magazine article about the fact that when the New York Times decided to try out a hyperlocal blog called "The Local," the NYT approached the City College of New York rather than Columbia for interns.

Columbia's apparently fallen behind the times when it comes to new media, not that everyone on Columbia's faculty considers this an imperative. The magazine article said:

But the push for modernization has also raised the ire of some professors, particularly those closely tied to Columbia’s crown jewel, RW1 [Reporting and Writing, an intensive journalism training class, see here]. “Fuck new media,” the coordinator of the RW1 program, Ari Goldman, said to his RW1 students on their first day of class, according to one student. Goldman, a former Times reporter and sixteen-year veteran RW1 professor, described new-media training as “playing with toys,” according to another student, and characterized the digital movement as “an experimentation in gadgetry.”

High Praise from Son to Father

Wednesday's Claremont Courier had a "My Side of the Line" column by Courier publisher Peter Weinberger. The column was about Weinberger's trip to San Francisco to collect an award for his father, Martin Weinberger, who was honored for his work in his profession and his community.

Peter Weinberger had a number of observations about the world of journalism, and he certainly is right that small newspapers might be doing better than larger ones in navigating changing readership in the Internet Age. The humble Courier has at least not had to file for bankruptcy like the LA Times' parent Tribune Co.

Weinberger the Younger wrote of his father:

I saw this as a lifetime achievement award, or Hall of Fame induction from his colleagues in The California Press Association. In a fast paced world, where it’s only harder to connect with people, Martin Weinberger made a difference. What’s incredible is how the COURIER has not only survived, but flourished during his tenure at the helm.

Sure there have been tough times, but somehow the newspaper continued to be an important part of Claremont. While I was growing up, Martin would talk about how the dailies, whatever size, would compete for readers’ attention in our city. At one point even cable TV was going to take over news. They had more resources and a confident attitude, but didn’t last the test of time.

It's great to see the business staying in the family. We wish Peter, his father, and his mother Janis all the best and hope the niche they've carved out for the Courier will last long into the future.

Friday Mail

We're still trying to work our way through the mailbag, a Sisyphean task indeed for the Insider staff. Even for those of us stranded here in the digital realm, time is always a factor, and sometimes the email volume can be daunting.

As one might expect, we received a number of comments regarding the Indian-Pilgrim Wars. Here are couple from two Claremont expatriates, writing to us from far-off Not-Claremont:

DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 8:11 AM
SUBJECT: Pilgrim/Indian" Flap
TO: Claremont Buzz

Loving your coverage of the "goings on" in Claremont. We lived/taught there about 40 years and it is good to see it hasn't changed. We had missed keeping up with all the "teapot-tempests" mainly because we don't subscribe to the Courier. We still have a grandson there so we visit from time to time.

It was good to see Devon Lingenfelter-Frietas again and her role in the Kindergarten-ish capers. What a great leader she and her husband have been for CUSD over the years. I remember when she first led at Condit school with her unique "Lollipop" Center concept. Very innovative at the time. Her rise in the district from then on was phenomenal. Chuck, her husband, was a great administrator and mine at one time. He was very understanding and kind. CUSD was/is a wonderful educational institution, especially in "hindsight". Our school districts have had to change to survive...sometimes not for the better, in my opinion.

And:

DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:56 AM
SUBJECT: indians
TO: Claremont Buzz

Maybe this is just a sign that I'm turning into a pointy-headed academic, but I think it's a shame that the CUSD's pilgrims and Indians thing has turned into a contest between political correctness and tradition. The problem with dressing children in fake leather vests and headdresses to be "Indians," and having them jump around going "woo woo woo" with their hands over their mouths, is that actual Indians mostly didn't wear leather vests and headdresses and jump around going "woo woo woo" with their hands over their mouths. Should schools teach crazy shit like "factual reality," or engage in bullshit, faked-up, make-believe Hollywood versions of reality? Which one of those choices constitutes education?

For black history month, the CUSD can dress children like characters from Gone With the Wind, and have them run around campus saying that "Ohhhh, Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothin' about birthing no babies." It would be just as historically accurate as having children jump around going "woo woo woo" to celebrate American Indian history.

In short, the issue is not "political correctness" versus "tradition." It's "factual historical reality" versus "lazy ahistorical tradition." Schools should teach. "Oh, but it's our *tradition* to make up ahistorical bullshit that isn't supported by fact!" Silly. And yet another reason my child will never, ever, ever go to a public school.

If the supporters of the leather vest/woo woo woo tradition can show that it's based in valid historical fact, game over. If it's not, then their argument is that they want their schools to teach their children things that aren't true. "Sure, it's wrong -- but we've been wrong for a long time! It's tradition!"

Which, come to think of it, is a very Claremont kind of argument....

The counter-argument suggested by some of the pro-tradition folks is that we're dealing with 5-year-olds (the kindergartners, not the parents), so historical events are introduced in a kind of caricature. The details get fleshed out in subsequent years.

On Wednesday, Clarmeont Courier publisher Peter Weinberger had an opinion piece on the matter that seemed to pick up on this. Weinberger suggested keeping the kindergarten Pilgrim event but trying to keep the costumes authentic and by trying to introduce more factual material in higher grades.

The Courier also received a number of reader letters on the subject, which you can find here (these will fall off the Courier's website over time).

News of the News

A reader who caught our post about the Claremont Courier's quality assurance problems had some thoughts on yesterday's Courier's city council report:

SUBJECT: demand grows for poor cell phone service
DATE: Saturday, September 27, 2008, 12:55 PM
TO: Claremont Buzz

The Claremont Currier:

"With the additional funding of $527,859, Padua Park will now host two soccer fields, one of them with lights, walking trails and native landscaping."

- A soccer field with native landscaping -- that's really gonna interfere with the passing game....

"The strawberry patch section of the property is privately owner."

"The Police Commission will bring the requested information back before the council by December, Commission Carol Painter said."

- I didn't realize the Carol Painter problem was serious enough to require its own committee.

"As demand grows for better cell phone coverage that is notoriously poor in many parts of the city..."

"The presence of the horses...provides an extra bonus."

- At the equestrian center.

Wowsers.

Courier publisher Peter Weinberger, whose father Martin published and edited the paper for over 50 years, had a "My Side of the Line" column yesterday announcing the departure of Courier editor Rebecca JamesCourie. JamesCourie has been replaced by 30-year Claremont resident Kathryn Dunn, who had been working at the paper as a production editor.

Weinberger also wrote that he would be taking a more active hand in the paper's management:

So after working 30 years at 7 different newspapers, carrying a wide range of titles and responsibilities, I assume the role my father carried since before I was born. As many of my colleagues around the nation leave the newspaper industry crumbling around them, I feel fortunate to be managing this newspaper in such a great town. Let us not forget my parents are still keeping an eye on all stuff going on around Claremont. We are excited at what the future will bring.

But this story does not end yet. We have another announcement to make. The COURIER has promoted Kathryn Dunn to managing editor. She will run the daily operations of the newspaper by coordinating our news and editorial coverage. In my opinion, this is the most important job at the paper.

Ms. Dunn has the perfect background to handle her new role. She is a Claremont news junkie with a keen sense on what issues are important to us. She’s lived here for 30 years and is raising 2 young boys going through the Claremont school system. Ms. Dunn has worked at the COURIER for 17 years, working in almost every capacity during that time. She will continue to play a role in the design and story placement for future issues.

Good luck to Dunn, who will undoubtedly discover that the Claremont 400 can be a terror to deal with if they're displeased with the coverage they get on their issues. The pressure the Claremonsters bring can be pretty awful. The elder Weinberger was an expert at getting the real news out and at presenting balanced views of local issues without bowing to the peer pressure of people like current Mayor Ellen Taylor or former Mayor Judy Wright.

The town's doyennes are of the opinion that the Courier should be more of a community cheerleader, a kind of Chamber of Commerce newsletter, rather than a real newspaper. If the new editor and publisher can't maintain that balance, then expect more fluff, more of the party line, and a less representative portrait of the community.