I’ve been a little hesitant to comment on the closure of the Albuquerque Tribune.  For those readers not in the greater Albuquerque area (Hi Dad!) the Tribune is/was our afternoon paper.  It’s never had the vast readership of the Albuquerque Journal, or the advantage of running in the mornings. For what it lacked there, it worked with aggressive journalism, local news focus, a tech and gaming section (which I liked), and great photography.

I have previously worked at the competition (the Journal) and the photography at the Tribune was amazing!  They put a lot of emphasis on the visual presentation of the pictures in the Tribune.  At the Journal the photography was the last thing they would talk about in the editorial meetings.  Usually the photo editor would be asked for his picture ideas at the end of the meeting, after all of the stories and where they would be in the paper were already selected.

The Trib doesn’t have to pass away.  It has been in Albuquerque for 85 years. But now it is on the edge of the cliff, about to be pushed over by Scripps – the company that owns them.  Interestingly, one of my sources inside the Trib told me that Scripps will keep receiving money from the Joint Operating Agreement, even without producing a product.  The company gets to keep the cash flow and doesn’t have to pay expenses.

Must be nice. But looking at this from a different angle, this could be the best thing to ever happen to the Tribune.  If someone else gets the newspaper with no JOA to constrain it, they can be financially sound and competitive at the same time.

I took media management in college.  I’ve toyed with the idea of running a news outlet before, but that takes a decent amount of cash and time.  The first I don’t have, and the second I only marginally have. 

But, in keeping with the persona of William de Worde – who ended up creating a newspaper in the Discworld’s city of Ankh Morpork  – if I had the money and time, here is how I would revamp the Tribune.

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Hat Tip: I Can Has Cheezburger 

I was watching the Live Earth concert on Bravo today when a couple of things hit me:

1. The lead singer for one of the bands I was watching pulled out a bottle of water (like Evian or something) and opened it up. After taking a swig he threw the cap on the ground in the middle of the stage. I guess littering isn’t that important compared to global warming… 😉
2. There are supposed to be “Live Earth” viewing parties all over the world. If I’d have known about it I would have had one at my place. I got on line this evening and looked for the closest party to my place. Nothing in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho or Santa Fe (which surprised me, I figured they would be all over it). The closest party to my home was located in Dallas! Dallas! So no one within 800 miles of my place is meeting to watch the concert? Wow! If I’d have known that, and not had a birthday dinner to go to, I might have flown out there (wasting CO2) and visited my dad at the same time.  What a bummer.

And what is it with all of the “Live” concerts? “Live 8” “Live Aid” and “Live Earth.”

Although AFI and Linkin Park did rock! Plus the band made up of scientists at Antarctica! They were cool, and the penguins were a nice touch.

Tags:Live Earth

Those readers of this humble blog might remember the name Terry MacKillop. MacKillop is the “Animal Control Officer” in Roscommon County, Michigan. If you’ve read this blog for a little while, you would have read this post about a site called Thor’s Warriors that is dealing with MacKillop and his lack of action when it comes to a group of starved dogs and someone by the name of Larry Baumgart.

Well, more and more the press is starting to notice what is going on. Not to the speed I’d like them to, but it’s better than nothing. One thing that has been constant in this press coverage is Terry MacKillop’s refusal to talk with the press about his actions, or lack thereof.

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