News, Opinion, and Media Analysis on Cincinnati, Ohio and the World From a Unique Perspective
Monday, May 03, 2010
More Clear Evidence the Cadillac Ranch Sucks
I most readers know the treatment "the ranch" gave to MidPoint Artists last year, but Liz has shown how poorly they treat paying customers.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A 2009 Self Assessment From Plum Street Studios
The result: he gives himself an A+. Any independent graders care to take a crack at that assessment?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Back the Food Truck Up.... (Bumped and Updated)
As far as I can tell, the trucker-chefs' concerns are fueled by John Curp's comment to Polly Campbell that "it's safe to say that the city is looking into the issue to see if there's need for additional regulations."
I'm not certain that Acito is really serious about not competing with local restaurants. Cafe de Wheels' typical lunchtime spot is on Walnut just off of Court Street. Assuming the truck stays there, it will definitely compete with Avril-Bleh's sidewalk grill, which is set to re-open April 5.
But more importantly, the trucks' primary competitors are not restaurants. After all, if you own a restaurant and find yourself at a competitive disadvantage to a guy who cooks his food in a UPS truck, it may be time to find a new profession. Instead, the trucks are really competing with sidewalk vendors.
The vendors are, of course, regulated by the city. And the trucker-chefs don't want to be. My question: is that fair? Sidewalk vendors run a pretty low-margin business. They are licensed by the City, and their location is subject to City approval. (In fact, the City has recently adopted a lottery through which street vendors' locations will be determined. This was first mentioned last year in a Jane Prendergast blog post. The HamCo Common Pleas Court recently issued a temporary restraining order delaying implementation of the new system. If I can find the complaint, I'll write a post on this issue.)
I know that the food trucks are the current darlings of the "cool kids" in the blogosphere. I like them (the trucks), too. (You haven't really lived until you've had Cafe de Wheels' grilled cheese and pulled pork sandwich.) But I wonder: why is it fair that the food trucks operate outside the rules that everyone else has to play by? Will a licensing fee and some rules about their location really put them out of business? Or would those things just put them on a level playing field with their competitors?
Finally, can anyone speak with certainty as to what Council committee would tackle this issue? I assume it's the Livable Communities Committee, chaired by Roxanne Qualls, but I'm not sure under the 2010 committee structure.
UPDATE (3/25/2010): Polly Campbell has this blog post on the topic, in which she quotes Tom Acito as saying that he and fellow trucker-chefs aren't presently petitioning the city. I'm not sure why he sent Julie a press release heralding the formation of his not-yet-formed group, then.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
What is Content Stealing?
Watching broadcast outlets, Web sites and blogs essentially rob newspapers of their hard - and expensive - reporting has long been a vexation, but not a mortal threat.*
When does a blog or website (why does the Enquirer's style book still require the capitalization of "web"?) "rob" a newspaper's content? Are Griff and I among the robbers responsible for the demise of the print media?
Neither Griff nor I has ever claimed to be a reporter. (To the contrary, I have repeatedly disclaimed any such notion.**) Instead, our typical post is a comment on a news story published elsewhere. We always reference--and link to--the source of the story. (In fact, when Griff initially invited me to blog, the only rule he gave me was to link to any story about which I post.) That's the same practice followed by other blogs I read. Is that robbery?
As I noted below, even the Enquirer follows the lead of other sources. The "Vanity Fair controversy" originated at Kate's Random Musings. Callinan himself wrote about it, attributing the story to Katy. The Enquirer reported on CityBeat's story about the unfortunate email from Monzel's aid, once again properly attributing its source. Was that robbery? And even in the Cole piece I talk about below, Jon Craig remarks that Cole's appointment "drew scorn from some bloggers." Really? Which bloggers? How about a link to one or more of the bloggers? Does Craig mean Griff? I hope not, because Griff's post doesn't criticize the appointment itself, only Cole's decision to leave her current post early.
So here's my question: what does the Enquirer consider fair use, and what, according to Callinan, is robbery? And how do the paper's own practices differ from those they condemn?
In this environment, the Enquirer isn't likely to create new positions anytime soon. But it should seriously consider the addition of a public editor or ombudsman who would write a weekly column. If the Enquirer is serious about consistently generating a quality product, it ought not be afraid of an independent person to perform a quality-assurance function.
*This sentence is a clear illustration of the utility of the serial comma. Until I got to "has long been a vexation," I thought that "watching broadcast outlets" was something websites and blogs did while robbing newspapers of their reporting. Once again, Judge Painter is correct; check out Rule 24 in the linked book. Of course, this is a "talking footnote," a Judge Painter no-no; see Rule 12.
**Obviously, there are exceptions. Griff typically "reports" on MPMF. If I happen to notice a restaurant opening or closing, I'll "report" on this--but even then, I'm usually scooped by Polly Campbell or Julie Niesen, to whom I link, if I know they've posted.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
A MMA Blog, Really?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Building Cincinnati Likely to Cease Publication
I personally hope Kevin can continue his blog in any form possible. His voice is important to the Cincinnati area blogging community and he has and hopefully will continue to contribute to the development of Cincinnati and its urban core.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
So, Who's BossSexy?
The tag line is "A collection of thoughts and commentary on Cincinnati life that is too short to be taken seriously and too long to end up on Twitter."
Have a read and send your nutty comments to him/her!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Queen City Survey Signs Off
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
New Local Political Blog: Plum Street Studios
Thursday, October 08, 2009
FTC Says Bloggers Must Disclose Freebies
In promulgating the guidelines, which apply for the first time to "new media," the FTC offers the following explanation:
The Commission does not believe that all uses of new consumer-generated media to discuss product attributes or consumer experiences should be deemed "endorsements” within the meaning of the Guides. Rather, in analyzing statements made via these new media, the fundamental question is whether, viewed objectively, the relationship between the advertiser and the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be considered “sponsored” by the advertiser and therefore an “advertising message.” In other words, in disseminating positive statements about a product or service, is the speaker: (1) acting solely independently, in which case there is no endorsement, or (2) acting on behalf of the advertiser or its agent, such that the speaker’s statement is an “endorsement” that is part of an overall marketing campaign? The facts and circumstances that will determine the answer to this question are extremely varied and cannot be fully enumerated here, but would include: whether the speaker is compensated by the advertiser or its agent; whether the product or service in question was provided for free by the advertiser; the terms of any agreement; the length of the relationship; the previous receipt of products or
services from the same or similar advertisers, or the likelihood of future receipt of such products or services; and the value of the items or services received. An advertiser’s lack of control over the specific statement made via these new forms of consumer-generated media would not automatically disqualify that statement from being deemed an “endorsement” within the meaning of the Guides. Again, the issue is whether the consumer-generated statement can be considered “sponsored.”Thus, a consumer who purchases a product with his or her own money and praises it on a personal blog or on an electronic message board will not be deemed to be providing an endorsement. In contrast, postings by a blogger who is paid to speak about an advertiser’s product will be covered by the Guides, regardless of whether the blogger is paid directly by the marketer itself or by a third party on behalf of the marketer.
There's a lot of hysteria in the national blogosphere (particularly in the legal blogosphere), most of which is probably unjustified. Check out PCWorld's extremely layperson-friendly guide to the new guidelines. As the article notes, most bloggers who review the free stuff they receive already disclose the potential conflict. Still, though, local bloggers who get swag (hey Griff: where's my swag?) and talk about what they've received should take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with the FTC's new interpretation of federal law.
Disclosure: I have not received money or other consideration from the FTC, PCWorld, or (sadly) Griff to comment on any of those entities' or individual's merits or shortcomings.
March For Healthcare on 10/18/2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Local Blogger Exposed By John Matarese!
The WCPO story is online here. And if you've got a few extra bucks, make a donation. (Maybe they'll give Katy a raise!)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Provost Schools Dean
UPDATE: It appears this post was taken down, so the link above doesn't work. Here is the Cache version. Would the party's involved care to comment?
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
New Website: The Cincinnati Man
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Time To Close The Book On Shadowhare
I feel sorry for the guy if he really suffered the kind of abuse that he claims he did, but I think this guy might have some serious mental health issues and should probably talk to a mental health professional.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
New United Way Campaign
Err, no, that's not quite right. She just wants a diaper. Or she wants you to buy other people a diaper.
Seriously....the United Way has a new campaign: the Give 5 -- Diaper Drive. The idea is to give five bucks, which the Greater Cincinnati United Way will then spend on diapers. The diapers will be given to a bunch of local agencies who will distribute them to needy families in Cincinnati.
It's not a need that people like me (single and childless) typically think about, but it makes sense that this is an unmet-need for poor families. So go check out KRM or the United Way site for the details. There's also some sort of twitter thing, but not being hip enough for that, I'm sticking with the websites.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Neckties for the Stars
And 5chw4r7z: don't think I haven't noticed that you entered twice.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Imports At It Again
Plans are also in the works for a Happy Hour on April 1st. No location has been announced.
I'm somewhat embarassed that I never posted on the imports' first Happy Hour. It was a great event! I was thrilled to meet some of the best bloggers in town. Liz and Lauren have pictures here. This last one is important: it memorializes the historic first meeting between Griff, on the right, and myself (note the somewhat awed look in my eyes). That's right, Griff and I had never met before that night. Anyhow, the event was fun enough that I'm looking forward to the April Fool's Day event. And it's so fun to hang with that crowd that I just might have to figure out what a twitter is and crash the next tweet-up....
Oh---for those of you who are concerned by the picture: the pornstache was a very, very, very, short-lived experiment in facial hair, and ended shortly after that night.