This summer, the American Journalism Review published a piece on how National Public Radio is begging to be renamed National Public Portals. Although the AJR doesn't say that -- I made it up -- the journal quotes executives as saying they are emphasizing the improvement of NPR's on-line service
But the emphasis on getting the news outlets to publish in multiple formats may just require too much work. Reporters at NPR, and elsewhere, are complaining.
With $1.5 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and $1 million of its own money, NPR is training its 450 editorial employees ``in digital storytelling skills and to pay for substitutes to fill in for them while they learn,'' AJR reports.
Which means that NPR has been training its reporters with little or no Web learning in Flash multimedia software and the Premiere video editing program. They learn basic photography and videography and ``(create) one multimedia project per week,'' AJR reports. They have been trained in using NPR's content management program and search engine optimization, AJR reports.
The AJR quotes Dick Meyer, NPR Digital Media editorial director, as saying he understands if some staff feel uncomfortable with the tasks of getting videos and writing for the Web.

``We're not insisting that everybody become a multimedia artist.''

For now. In general, however, it is the highly skilled and versatile workers that employers choose to retain and reward.
Editors don't stick around forever. Down the road a new editorial regime that would not be so forgiving or even tolerant of non-multimedia artists could emerge at NPR. Communications technology is not the only thing that changes.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Journalists who choose to go multi-media are putting in a lot of unpaid hours. The AJR quotes Art Silverman, a senior producer of ``All Things Considered,'' as saying:

"For this to work, it must be clear how the time is supposed to be spent. It's not really clear now. People get praised for creating multimedia. If Miss X did a slide show or if someone else did a written story for the Web, they get a lot of praise. But when you drill down, and ask, 'How did you fit that in?' they say, 'Oh, I did it on my own time and stayed up late at night finishing it.' In order to get the attention one must tear oneself out of the day and do extra work. Time is often not allotted to do these things."
Neda Ulaby, arts and culture reporter, is quoted as saying she's glad that management is getting the training.

"It helps them realize how much time the assignment is going to take...'' If they want a picture, "they've got to know that it will take me an hour because I'm still not a trained photographer. I'm now a radio person who can take a picture better than your average schlump."

Two years ago today, ``All Things Considered'' ran a story about a Nashville TV station that was trying to retrain all of its reporters to become ``video journalists.'' Reporters and camera operators were required to do all the tasks involved in producing a TV story -- editing, writing, reporting and filming.
Al Devine, a veteran cameraman, said:

"It was a nightmare... All of a sudden, you had to use a whole different side of your brain. I wasn't a writer. I could edit. I could do most everything else. But I wasn't a writer. I still type like a pumpkin."

Last year, Mother Jones reported on the Tribune Co.'s new mandate that print journalists also
report breaking stories on its cable station.

``Many reporters were anxious about the new arrangement, which meant more work without more pay, and less time to do their regular jobs. They weren't comforted when managers announced that they were remodeling the newsroom to put a television studio directly outside the editor-in-chief's door. These reporters recognized that technology was changing their industry, and most were eager to learn new digital skills and make the occasional TV appearance. Their main concern was that as `content providers,' they were losing time for reporting, thinking, and writing—the essential ingredients of their craft—forcing them to churn out increasingly dumbed-down articles.''

``Content providers.'' Gack...
Mother Jones reported this quote from an editor-in-chief, which appeared in the American Journalism Review in 1998:

"I am not the editor of a newspaper. I am the manager of a content company."

          Did the editor say that with a smile on his face?

Fighting Influenza

It's amazing what they expect you to find -- or even seek -- on YouTube.
On Sept. 24 the Centers for Disease Control posted an elegant and powerful documentary featuring the stories of parents who had suddenly lost their children to influenza.
I first heard that the video was put on YouTube from New England Cable News. I had always assumed that most of the stuff on YouTube was entertainment and cutting-edge stuff on politics -- the Saturday night sketch featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, a video of John McCain losing his cool. I never guessed that a government agency would expect YouTube viewers to take time to watch a public service announcement.
As of this moment, the influenza piece has had 3,800 viewings.
I found a story on the video on USA Today on-line. The story mentioned an appearance, by a family named Lastinger, appearance on the video. Then I went onto YouTube, put ``lastinger families fighting flu'' in the search field. I found want I was looking for, but the keywords also brought up illegal dog fighting, fighting on ``Family Guy,'' a tape of a Punjabi family fighting, and a pretty funny sketch of a family fighting on an old comedy show.
Talk about free association.
In its story, published yesterday, USA Today reported that this is the first year that the Centers is using an all-out Internet-based awareness campaign on influenza vaccine.
USA Today reported:

``The CDC has hosted a Web seminar to encourage `mommy bloggers' to `spread
the word, not the flu. The agency has created flu e-cards that visitors to www.CDC.gov can send to friends, urging them to get vaccinated, flu badges for
members of social networks such as MySpace to post on their profiles, and `Get
Vaccinated' website buttons that allow visitors to go to the CDC's flu page.
`This is new territory for us,' says Kristine Sheedy, director of communications for the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.''

This is not the first time that the public health arm of the U.S. government has put out videos urging vaccinations for kids. Eight months ago, a YouTube member who goes by zektek5 who posted 7 videos promoting flu shots. The videos were produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, of which the Centers is a ``family of agencies'' member.

Now There's No Reason to Blow Off the Debates

Now we know that John McCain will show up at the presidential debate scheduled for tonight in Oxford, Miss. A couple of days ago, he said he would not as part of his ``suspension'' of his campaign to concentrate on getting out the bailout.
It was hard to imagine McCain not participating. It would look like a round of Final Jeopardy with only one contestant because the other two ended the game with negative balances, no money to wager. Despite McCain's good intentions, it would still look like he had nothing to say -- even though this debate is scheduled to be about foreign policy, not domestic matters.
That's 'cause Barack Obama said he'll be there, McCain or no McCain, which would have presented us with a one-man debate.
If you won't be near a TV tonight -- it is Friday night, after all -- you can catch what transpires anyway, thanks to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission has established a partnership with MySpace.com. Right after the debate, full-length video can been here.
MySpace and the commission, a non-profit and non-partisan corporation, ``will feature video streaming, on-demand playback, and archival material'' on MySpace.

A Win-Win for Advertisers and Publishers Alike

As part of their struggle to survive in today’s wired world, newspapers must devise ingenious methods to generate advertising revenue.

To its story announcing that two tipsters will split a $275,000 Broward County (Florida) reward for providing information that led police to arrest a man accused of gunning down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, MiamiHerald.com linked audio from five 911 calls made on the night of the killing.

“There is one man shot. I believe he is dead,” one caller said.

Another reported “there was a girl in the car with the person.” The girl turned out to be the daughter of the victim, Donald Pettit. Police said one James Wonder killed Pettit outside Pettit’s car in the parking lot of a U.S. Post Office in Pembroke Pines.

Readers may click on a link to one of each the 911 calls, prompting an audio window. Each is also a window of revenue — as of today, they displayed ads from Scan Design, the Miami Dolphins, classmates.com, Chrysler, the Florida Lottery, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Miami-Dade Public Library System (reminding borrowers that it’s Amnesty Month).

Two audio feeds broadcast callers telling the dispatcher their phone number.

Broward County Crime Stoppers maintains the anonymity of the reward recipients.

``The world as it is just won't do''

In case you missed it

Take some time to read from the speech in which Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts rendered the rear end of Republican presidential candidate John McCain to his fellow Americans. I wonder if viewers throughout the nation, not just those in New England, saw Kerry's talk at the Democratic National Convention. This fear is based on the fact that R.D. Sahl, anchor at New England Cable News, said he was informed that none of the networks broadcast the speech of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick the night before. Granted that Kerry's speech is arguably more prominent -- he was the 2004 Republican candidate, and he spoke just before the acceptance speech of Sen. Joe Biden -- and therefore more likely to run nationally, as of this morning I haven't confirmed that. All I've seen was a news story, the cable network, that left out a lot of good stuff. I've quoted the pith of the speech as published on Kerry's Web site.

``To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician: I say, let's compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.
Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once called irresponsible.
Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill.
Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote.
Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it.
Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself...

When Barack Obama promised to honor the best traditions of both parties and talk to our enemies John McCain scoffed. George Bush called it: "The false comfort of appeasement." But today, Bush's diplomats are doing exactly what Obama said: talking with Iran....
When Democrats called for a timetable to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, John McCain called it "Cut and Run." But today, even President Bush has seen the light: He and Prime Minister Maliki agree on - guess what? - a timetable!...

So, the candidate who once promised a campaign of ideas, not insults, now has nothing left but personal attacks.
How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops?
How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself?
How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn't put America first...

You don't decide who is a patriot.
You don't decide whose service counts and whose doesn't.
Four years ago I said - and I say it again tonight - that flag doesn't belong to any ideology. It doesn't belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation and it belongs to all the American people.
After all, patriotism is not love of power; or some cheap trick to win votes - patriotism is love of country.''

That Tree

In the clump between Granby Heights and Route 116, this is the only tree that's pockmarked like this. I've heard woodpeckers here, and I'm guessing this has to be the work of woodpeckers. Or maybe it's sick. A fungus or something. Perhaps it is the work of a bear. Bears roam occasionally into Granby Heights. But why only this tree? Some things are singular or singled out, or both.

Because I'm not a naturalist, I would like to know what is that silver sack in the top hole in the above photograph. My best guess is that insects were incubating in there when I took these photos in June.

Blues musician Howard Armstrong once told a story about how his teacher beat him (this was a long time ago) when he wrote a poem that included lines that went something like, ``He pecked on the door until his pecker was sore,'' and ``He pecked in the yard because his pecker was hard.''

This photograph of a total eclipse of the sun was taken in 1919 to prove Einstein's general theory of relativity. Reading this summer, in Ann Hagedorn's ``Savage Peace,'' about the attempt by two teams to photograph the eclipse sparked my interest of taking impeded images of the sun. Everyone knows that it is harmful to gaze at the sun, but these pictures allow us to look as long as we want with no harm.
I would look at the sun just long enough to make sure it was centered in the viewfinder. Then I would look away immediately and snap the picture.
I took these pictures in the woods adjacent to Granby Heights, where I walk Grace. You can see the path in the bottom photo. Walking in these woods is not always fun; in the summer it is hot and there are often gnats and mosquitoes. In winter footsteps often sink deep in snow. Hoisting every step up gets tiring.

Don't Let the Web Net You

Inside Trader Joe’s this past winter I came across Meg, a high school friend who had been away from the Amherst area for years. She said that Amherst during her absence had lost its soulfulness and become cold. The people had become cold to each other. I hadn’t noticed the change as sharply as she did, but only because I have lived in western Massachusetts for the last 25 years, so it had come too gradually for me to notice. But I agreed, Gone are the days when bands played concerts on the common, and a lot of people saw each other at the same time. There doesn't seem to be a desire for that sort of thing anymore.
``Everyone’s stuck on the Internet,’’ Meg said.
On July 2, Marc Maron, hosting the Thom Hartmann Program, said the obsession with the Internet indicates that people are much better at isolating themselves than taking care of each other. I believe that folks should go out of their way to not take the Web too seriously. The simple pleasures that existed before the Web was introduced in 1992 can still be found.
I maintain this blog for fun, but if I ever become obsessed with it I hope the fact will make itself known to me and I’ll have the good sense to stop.
Maron referred to two incidents: 1) in which a woman died while waiting for treatment in a hospital, and 2) the case of the old man who was hit by a car in a business district -- the impact threw him into the air -- only to be ignored by every passer-by. He eventually died from his wounds. You may have seen the video on the TV news. Maron asked:

``What are people so self consumed with that they can’t check to see if someone’s all right?

``Are we that jaded, are we that self-involved, that… those are indications to me of the real problem of why when somebody calls me up and says, `You got to get rid of political labels, right, left, Democrat, Republican, and just realize that we’re all Americans in trouble.’ What, we’re all selfish because of America and what America’s become on some level. We’ve all been isolated into our homes. There’s no reason to even go out anymore. You can shop on-line. You can have sex on-line. You can talk to other people on-line. And I’m guilty of this. Yesterday, I just broke up with a girl -- online. I don’t know who did it, it’s unclear to me, but where is the humility in that? Where is the exchange? Where do you learn wisdom? Where do you learn from your mistakes if you can’t look at somebody and see how they’re reacting to what you’re saying? If you can’t actually go over to someone’s house and talk to them?

``If you’re immersed in yourself and toys, it will just isolate you. We’re just like the little emperors of own desks.… (T)he idea of community, in and of itself, is disintegrating altogether. An on-line community is not really a community. A community where people take real action, where people help each other -- I mean, that’s what you would hope would happen. That’s what the New Deal represented. That’s what America should be about. But we’ve all become isolated, and because of the way our brain works, our belief systems are what they are, they’re very hard to shake, and a lot of people will just seek information that supports their own belief system. It’s a disaster.

As an example of the dearth of altruism in America, Maron noted a TV news report about the flooding in the Midwest.

``… (A)nd it really struck me, because you have people who interpret catastrophe and disaster in a religious way. Like the floods in the Midwest. This is when it first started happening. People are losing their homes. Thousands of people are out of their homes. Levees are breaking. Main Streets are flooding. The Mississippi has made a decision, and it’s very hard to stop the Mississippi when it makes a decision. Now you can look at that as a sign of The End. You can look at as an environmental catastrophe that was bound to happen.’’
The TV reporter was ``standing on a flooded Main Street, abandoned, destroyed... talking about how horrible it was. This flood is horrible, thousands of people are out of their homes, it’s gonna cost millions and billions of dollars to fix. And then out of nowhere he pulls a fishing net out, and says, `But you know what? You can fish on Main Street.’ And he tries to catch a fish. That, my friends, is the sign of the End of The World. That a roomful of producers and a guy reporting on one of the great tragedies, certainly of the last 20 years, and decides, like, `This’ll be good. Let’s try to catch and a fish. That’ll be cute.’ … And he did it two days running -- until he caught a fish.
Who lets that happen? Who lets a guy die in the street when he’s hit by a car? Who lets a woman die in the waiting room of a hospital? Who decides it’s a good idea to catch a fish on a flooded Main Street when there are thousands of people out of their homes, and millions of dollars are going to be needed to help those people, and I’m sitting at home, going, `Yeah, I feel bad for them.’ I’m not doing anything. Who’s doing something? People who really help. Are you one of them? Is there really community?’’

The first video is a surveillance tape of the woman dying in the waiting room. The second is of the man being hit by the car.