Saving Newspapers?

Gannet and Enquirer seem to believe that the answer to saving newspapers is by getting readers to contribute the content. Well, sure, if you don't have to pay to gather content, you can surely make money. The problem is that you cease being a news outlet and become more of a vanity publication, where readers go to read their own work.

The problem I see with all local mainstream news outlets is that they are no longer in the business of gathering news. They thrive on channeling press releases, but don't put enough resources into shoe leather. If you are going to be a news outlet, you must get original and independent news.

What I hear the Enquirer saying is that they are out to create a flashy message board. I don't mind message boards. This blog is a form of a message board. Message Boards are not credible news outlets.

Tavern Wench Concert Review

JenJen at Tavern Wench reviews the Ben Folds/John Mayer concert.

Hmmmmmmm

I am sorry I missed this ENJOY THE ARTS event at the CAC. What is funny is that if you read the article you would think the YP Kitchen Cabinet had something to do with the event. I wonder how many volunteers that organization provided. I know ENJOY THE ARTS had a full team there working very hard.

Bad City Beat, Bad

I am guessing the editor-in-chief of CityBeat was on vacation last week. I say that because I would think he might have wanted this puff piece written by someone else, or maybe not even written at all. The News Editor at the weekly, Greg Flannery, was the author and the article was a straight-laced form of Journalistic fellatio that Peter Bronson would be proud of. Sure, Greg pointed out the facts about the subject of the article (over 98% of primary voters voted against him for mayor, for example), but he didn't hide his school girl affection and sounded like he was maneuvering to get his 98 Degrees lunchbox autographed.

When you thought it couldn't be worse, Greg writes on his blog about his admiration for Justin Jeffre, the subject of last week's cover story, specially about what Jeffre did during a protest Greg personally took part in. It was bad enough when Greg got into the business of creating news with his protests, instead of covering it, but here he his doing favors for his friends, throwing journalistic integrity out with the trash.

The State of YP Groups

After thinking about recent articles and talk about YP organizations and the general movement to attract more YP's to Cincinnati, I'm going to issue my take on the state of the Cincinnati YP World. In general, the state is good. We are making progress to attract new people by establishing the life and culture that will attract new people to Cincinnati. That positive has little to do with the efforts of YP organizations, however. I find the YP world has many problems. Here is a list:

1. There are just too many YP organizations. You can't walk 5 feet downtown without stumbling on someone trying to start a YP outreach group for their organization.
2. YP outreach groups, those tied to a parent organization, are not really about attracting new YPs to the city, they are about selling tickets, memberships, or gaining donations to the parent organization. There is nothing wrong with this, but these groups shouldn't be confused with efforts to promote the city.
3. The umbrella type YP groups tend to try do too much, they try to be everything to everyone, instead of focusing on achievable goals.
4. When you look at who runs the YP groups and who goes to the events they sponsor, you see the same people and same names. The groups tend to get cliquish when the same people all know each other and fail to be open to new people, especially those new to town.
5. Much of the YP effort centers around talking. Sounding Sessions sound like they have a purpose, but they are about appearance, not about actions. The Mayor's YP Kitchen Cabinet and the Chamber's Bold Fusion I believe have been about talking, not about taking action. If you are all talk, then you are going to end up talking about acting, not acting.
   
6. For a significant number of participants, the YP group is self serving. It is a resume filler, a means to help gain a promotion at work, a way to impress others, or just a way to meet people and get laid.
   
7. There is a clear disconnect between Native Cincinnatians and the rest of us. The YP movement has failed to address the large number of YPs who grew up here and live in the suburbs. They complain about it sucking here because they don't know what their city has too offer and only live in the stale burbs. This is an underlying problem that if addressed would improve not only the city, but the lives of those YPs living in the burbs. They might wake up and understand that that the burbs are about being boring. If you don't want a boring life, then you have to move to the urban core.
8. Finally, the YP efforts have been focusing on and programming to the affluent. Much like the efforts to bring residents Downtown, all of the push has been to get the 30 year old lawyer making six figures. We don't have a ton of people like that. We instead have many middle class people who are college educated and are starving for culture. When you can't afford to live in the city, then you are pricing out the masses you need to make the city more vibrant. Similarly, if you really think an average Jane or Joe can shell-out $35 every week for a YP event, then you really have no concept of wealth.
   

I'm harsh on the efforts of YP mostly because I have been vastly disappointed with what has been going on and what has failed to occur. The YP effort has not lived up to the great potential is possesses. With development coming together in Downtown and OTR, the opportunities are there but are being missed. The only solution I see is for groups to focus on small goals and for those with the ear of the media to stop hogging the spotlight for themselves without really doing anything worthwhile. Breakdown the Native Cincinnatian social walls and help them understand they live in a cool city, but don't know it.

YP Political Power

Joe Wessels has an interesting column this weekend about a new Political Action Committee seeking to represent the "Young Professionals" of Cincinnati in the political process.

The part of the whole YP movement that has troubled me is the definition of Young Professional. There is the Young part, which I think can easily be be overlooked. I think "young at heart" every time. The term professional has always been the problem. "Creative Class" was a much better term, but it too ran into problems. In the article, the head of Cincy PAC Sean Parker is taking a great step by trying to broaden the the reach of YP:

Parker is a Democrat, but said he votes independently and wants Cincy PAC to be non-partisan - and more broadly define who is a young professional. Often YPs are seen as the white-collar sect. Parker wants the PAC to be more inclusive, expanding the definition to blue collar workers and artists who may have felt left out.

I think this step is the key to really making both the political effort as well as the social movement affective.

The problem is that Sean Parker is starting off on the wrong track by holding the kickoff fund raiser at Bang, a local nighclub that caters to the more affluent, to the trend obsessed crowd, and to those who seek exclusivity. If you want to branch out, I hope the next fund raiser takes place in a venue where you don't have to worry about how you are dressed, just to get in the door.

Local Skater Goes Into Business

We need more independent businesses finding OTR/Downtown are great places to locate. OTR is really the place to be for this type of small business. You can get great deals on business locations on Main and other streets, for now. If you are thinking about doing it in 3 to 5 years, I will wish you luck, but you won't find the deals you can find now.