The NW's "Politics Now" Blog

The NW is starting a blog to cover this year's election cycle:

A number of Northwestern editors and reporters will be updating this blog throughout the campaign cycle with quick bits of information, links to websites and snippets of developments. I'll occasionally offer an observation or two. Please send us links or updates you find interesting we might have missed.

It kicks off with a note on an editorial board meeting with Russ Feingold this afternoon.

Where can you find this indispensable tool? Right at this easy to remember URL:

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/section/blogs11?plckBlogId=Blog%3a850ebdb8-af5c-453c-b0e2-7cdb7a309e7c&sid=sitelife.thenorthwestern.com

For Future Thought

Thompson's return would be welcome news for no other reason than it might give a pulse to a flat-lined state of Wisconsin politics.

I'll be sure to remember this when the NW begins it's biennial wailing and gnashing of teeth over negative campaign ads later this fall. I wonder how "interesting" the paper will find a Governor's race that is all but guaranteed to be nastier than any in recent memory.

Let Us Now Insult Worthless Men

Let's parse the flaming pile of dogshit editorial from today's Northwestern, shall we?

The editorial begins with what has to be one of the most oblivious ledes in the distinguished annals of local opinion journalism. So load your Glock with 12 rounds of Retarded, point that piece right at your dome and prepare to have your mind blown with a shitload of Stupid:

There is a well known and honored principle in management that recommends, "Praise in public, criticize in private."

Ahhh, folksy wisdom! The mother's milk of sage advice! The high octane jet fuel of the funny car that is common sense! Why bother getting that master's degree in management when there are clever phrases that fit snugly on a bumper sticker, right?

Moving on:

The rationale is that employees will perform better and learn from their mistakes if flaws are discussed with them behind closed doors. It makes sense. No one likes to have his or her shortcomings pounced on in front of colleagues or other supervisors. Further, it is a matter of common courtesy, an act of civil supervision, if you will.

Yes! That's what the cute little catch phrase mentioned in paragraph 1 means! Thank you for explaining that! I am, after all, exceedingly stupid and require such concepts to be elucidated, hopefully sooner rather than later as my attention span is also quite insignificant!

Now comes the best part:

It is a principle that Oshkosh Common Council member Bob Poeschl would do well to study.

Here's where the needle should scratch off the record in the mind of any alert reader. To a student of logic, this is what is called a paradox: the NW is advising Poeschl to do something, but in so doing is simultaneously ignoring the very advice they are giving!

Most people know this phenomenon by a different phrase: hypocrisy.

I know, it's enough to make one's head spin ... or explode. Choose your reaction accordingly.

I expect the NW to critique and scrutinize public officials. That's what newspapers do. But newspapers are, by their very nature, forms of mass communication. They operate in public. When they criticize people, they do so in public, not private.

This exposes the fundamental flaw in this morning's waste of broadsheet real estate: the utter lack of self-awareness that the NW editorial page is part of the public discussion. If it is going to critique the nature of that discussion it has an obligation to lead that critique by example. Logically consistencies are a good start.

It's late and I have suddenly lost my inclination to piss and moan about this nonsense any further, so let me just finish by making two points:

1.) I actually agree with the substance of the editorial. Tuesday could only charitably be considered as nothing close to a remotely acceptable performance on Poeschl's part -- but instead of questioning his ability to carry out his duties as a council member, I put down the paper sympathizing with him. The snotty and self-serving tone of the editorial, clearly written by someone who is nothing more than too clever by half completely undermined any substantive points addressed in the piece.

2.) The only thing more cynical, arrogant and condescending than the text of the piece itself are the additionally defensive, oblivious and asinine comments left by the two members of the NW's editorial staff in response to readers' remarks.

Get over yourselves. Oshkosh deserves much better.

The NW's Short-Sighted Editorial on the Houseboat

I'm just getting around to reading the NW's editorial on the Houseboat matter. For the most part its an jumbled mess with more hedges than an English shrubbery maze that arrives at the absolutely wrong conclusion:

The Final Thought: It would be appropriate to allow Jeff Jacobs to remain on his houseboat for the winter given the hardships he has endured.

Let me state this another way:

The Final Thought: It would be appropriate to allow the homeless to remain homeless for the winter given the hardships they have endured.

That just sounds absurd.

I agree that Mr. Jacobs circumstances are extraordinary and that they deserve considerations, but the "considerations" the NW are advocating for are potentially fatal and don't help Jacobs out of his situation at all. The paper is essentially asking the city to turn a blind eye to the problem, asking readers to channel any sympathy for the man into a general sense of apathy.

Mr. Jacobs primary source of heat is a wood-burning pot-belly stove and his primary source of electricity is a generator that runs on combustible fuel, not exactly a safe combination. He has no long-term lavatory, which throws the sanitation of the boat into question. The ice could crush the boat at any moment. If this were a free standing structure on dry land, which the boat has essentially become now that it is immobile, it would be classified "unsuitable for habitation."

What more in terms of "health and sanitary issues" does the NW need?

Houseboats aren't made for the winter. There's a reason why people put them in marinas for the season. The ice on the Fox River doesn't care if Mr. Jacobs is rich or poor, if he's a nice guy or an insufferable jerk. Neither does the open flame in his bot-belly stove, nor the combustible fuel that runs his generator. These things only care about the laws of thermodynamics.

The only "consideration" the the city and the NW should take into account is the safety issue. After that, there's really not much else to discuss.

I was Promised "Funny"

Can anyone explain to me how tripe like this is "funny" or "good humor," as it's purported to be by the author?

Where are the jokes? How is it satire? Just because it's dripping with self-indulgent sarcasm doesn't mean it's automatically comic ...

I understand that there's some kind of conflict between Oshkosh Corp. and neighborhood residents, but since the details of that disagreement have been entirely abandoned in favor of making the piece "funny," I'd like to know where the funny is.

The Dude Trapped in his House Boat

If you haven't read Jeff Jacobs' extremely touching story in the NW yet, go do so.

Judging by the reaction in the comments this story seems to be bringing out the best in people. Jacobs appears to have had a steady stream of visitors offering help today, bringing everything from food and firewood to carbon monoxide alarms.

I just have a few "meta" points to add to the story:

First, Jacobs seems to have been hit hard by both a crappy economy and catastrophic health issues sans insurance. It's an all too familiar tale these days; there are many people in Jacobs' boat (as it were).

Secondly, the story's incredible details really just write themselves. What's a better metaphor for all the personal and financial hardship this guy's been through than his boat being iced in for the winter, rendering him an island of solitude in a cold world? That's some pretty archetypal stuff we're dealing with here and likely one of the reasons the story seems to have resonated with so many people.

Which brings us to one last point: this is an example of the rare local news story that actually inspires action, not just empty and poorly-informed comments on a web site. There are thousands of people in Winnebago County who are hurting right now in a variety of different ways. Maybe it's time the NW got around to telling their stories too? You know, like in the kind of ongoing series that wins awards? I know people who are going through rough times don't typically issue press releases, but it's well worth the effort to go out and find them.

Just a thought.

Seriously: more of this, please.

Why the Northwestern is Utterly Useless in a Nutshell

When news broke a few weeks ago that a pair of small time house flippers were suing the city inspections division we actually took to the NW comments sector and strenuously advocated that the paper look into broader problems with that section of city hall.

Instead they decided to print one of the stupidest editorials I've seen in ages.

The piece seems to conflate the "urban myth" that Oshkosh is a bad place to do business with a recent law suit brought against the city inspection division, but never actually comes out and says that one of the origins of the urban myth is the behavior of the inspections division. Instead of doing some, you know, investigating the editorial gives the inspectors a gold star on the basis of one single law suit:

The Oshkosh Inspection Services Division not only has a critical role in new development, it plays a role in the revitalization of older neighborhoods and protecting the rights of property owners who play by the rules.

Yes, that is their job -- we're all happy the editorial staff has figured that out, but the real question is: are they doing it properly?

In some cases the answer is yes, in far too many others the answer is far less clear. We here at the Chief likely have less personal interaction with the inspection division than the average Oshkoshian, but what gives us great consternation about the unit is that we perpetually hear stories about poor and unprofessional conduct from the inspectors from a wide variety of sources -- so much so that we've heard rumors of a possible class action lawsuit against the city for years now.

We've heard examples of, not merely "strict" enforcement, but arbitrary enforcement. We've heard stories rudeness and arrogance. They come from home-owners, construction workers, small business owners and developers alike. These are people who "play by the rules" and are mindful of safety and property rights issues and they still get screwed.

In other words, It's not just one urban myth that the inspection division sucks, it's many different stories denoting a trend. There have been problems with the inspectors before the Delaware Street law suit and problems will almost certainly persist unless something is done the remedy the situation.

So what should be done?

Frankly, I don't know since, as I said earlier, my experience with the department is limited, but a logical first step would seem to be to assess the extent of the grievances. Since the Northwestern clearly has no interest in doing this, it may take a law suit for some of this stuff to come out, but there is no reason why people should be dragged into court to settle this. This should be a job for the City Manager, but past Managers have been reluctant to "make sure the trains are running on time" in various departments in City Hall.

We think the most practical solution would be for at least one member (optimally more) of the city council to solicit stories of past difficulties with inspectors and conduct their own review of the department. And we offer this only as a start, because most folks are reluctant to discuss their dealing with the inspectors for a variety of reasons. Some do a lot of business with the department and fear reprisals -- and that's a ridiculous state of affairs that I'm not kidding about.

I would love nothing more than to provide a laundry list of horror stories complete with names, dates and details, but that would clearly betray things that were said in confidence. And it's not fair to the department or to the six people who read this blog to just pass on the stories. That would be nothing more than hearsay -- and, believe me, it's taking every ounce of restraint in my body to not take that route.

We could go on -- but instead let's just close by bringing this back to the Northwestern. It's a remarkable sign of just how useless this newspaper is that, instead of even attempting to provide even the pretense of doing a little legwork or investigating the Northwestern decided to punt and essentially dismiss any complaints against the inspectors in an editorial. I guess in order for them to get excited about a story someone literally has to walk through their front doors with his hair on fire and say something shocking like, "There's no security at the library!!!"

God forbid they should ever have to look for the news themselves.

Timelines

Well, it's a start:

Palmeri said he hoped to have the new member selected by the first or second council meeting in May.

That's an entirely possible target date. It would certainly give the council enough time to choose a qualified candidate, but we're not so sure it would give the rest of the public time to ruminate on the matter. We want this taken care of no later than the end of June (but that's just us), so we're willing to extend the council some leeway here.

The real question here is whether the council can fill the seat by the end of May. That could prove to be more difficult.

Just a couple quick points about the article. One, this line needs some clarification:

A special election would cost the city $21,000, said city Clerk Pam Ubrig.

Is that a special election held in November or one held earlier, or is there any difference at all?

Second, does the NW have the phone numbers of council members King and McHugh? Neither of them appear to have been contacted regarding their thoughts on the matter for this or previous articles.

One suggestion: I'm not a big fan of "charticles" but in this case a simple chart or graphic that outlines what each council member believes is the proper course of action (and maybe which alternative(s) he or she finds unacceptable) might be very helpful.

The Oshkosh Northwestern Really has to Stop Pawning Press Releases Off as Actual Articles Before It Starts Making a Habit of the Practice

Here is the full text of an "article" that ran on the NW's web site Saturday:

WASHINGTON — Sixth District Rep. Tom Petri has received an education award at a Washington conference for the National Association of Scholars, an organization of academics who seek to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America's colleges and universities.

"It's an award in appreciation of really outstanding legislation and a truly good and timely idea, and that is bringing the resources of government behind an effort to improve the quality of civic education in our colleges, and through our colleges throughout the entire system of education, because college influences everything," NAS Chairman Stephen H. Balch explained in a press release.

"He (Petri) was the sponsor of the Higher Education for Freedom Act, a bill which gives the Department of Education the authority to make grants in support of centers and institutions and scholars who are studying free institutions, the American founding, traditional American history — constitutional, political, intellectual — and Western civilization. These are subjects that were, for many, many, many years, thought of as the essential intellectual core of American higher education. But in recent decades they have been increasingly slighted for a variety of reasons, and this legislation is an effort to help put them back on center stage."

The legislation was inserted into the higher education reauthorization bill that President Bush signed into law Aug. 14, 2008.

"I'm delighted to receive this award from the National Association of Scholars," Petri said. "They have been a leading national organization in the area of trying to maintain and improve standards in higher education. One area that we very much need to do a better job is learning about our shared history as Americans. Hopefully, this program will help us do a better job there."

Now, here are the first five graphs of a press release sent out by Petri's office regarding the same honor:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Petri received an education award Friday morning at a Washington conference for the National Association of Scholars, an organization of academics who seek to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities.

NAS Chairman Stephen H. Balch explained, "It's an award in appreciation of really outstanding legislation and a truly good and timely idea, and that is bringing the resources of government behind an effort to improve the quality of civic education in our colleges, and through our colleges throughout the entire system of education, because college influences everything.

"He [Petri] was the sponsor of the Higher Education for Freedom Act, a bill which gives the Department of Education the authority to make grants in support of centers and institutions and scholars who are studying free institutions, the American founding, traditional American history - constitutional, political, intellectual - and Western civilization. These are subjects that were, for many, many, many years, thought of as the essential intellectual core of American higher education. But in recent decades they have been increasingly slighted for a variety of reasons, and this legislation is an effort to help put them back on center stage." (Audio of NAS Chairman Balch's comments)

The legislation was inserted into the higher education reauthorization bill which President Bush signed into law Aug. 14, 2008.

Petri said of the award, "I'm delighted to receive this award from the National Association of Scholars. They have been a leading national organization in the area of trying to maintain and improve standards in higher education. One area that we very much need to do a better job is learning about our shared history as Americans. Hopefully, this program will help us do a better job there."

They are almost word for word the same text.

I'm bringing this up because the National Association of Scholars isn't exactly an uncontroversial organization -- despite the generic name. Stanley Fish, whose academic street cred is legion, has said the organization is "is widely known to be racist, sexist and homophobic.'' That was a while ago, and while the rhetoric of the Association has been tempered a bit, the goals remain the same.

So this was conceivably an interesting story about a controversial group honoring a local politician, presumably for working for the controversial principles held by the group, but was just passed off by the NW in the form of a press release by the elected official.

Now, I'm not entirely blaming the NW for missing the boat on this one since the article was "authored" by the Gannett New Service, so whomever cleared this for syndication should be given a few strong words on the importance of objective reporting.

But a retraction or a note of some kind would be a good start too.

What's Wrong with this Picture (Economy Edition!)?

If you said, The photograph of the house above costs 25 times more than the house itself, then you would be correct.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Disclosure

Was this letter to the editor printed in the Sunday NW authored by the wife of a sitting school board member?

If so, wouldn't it behoove the NW to mention that detail?

Evolution & the School Board

I didn't know that the teaching of evolution was going to be an issue during this coming school board election, but apparently this person did:

If you favor continuing the teaching of Darwinian evolution in our public schools as fact by presenting only supportive evidence to the exclusion of all contrary evidence, vote for Tom McDermott and John Lemberger in the school board election. I know from first hand experience that McDermott as a school board member opposed the teaching of contrary scientific evidence. So did Lemberger. When I spoke to the school board about this issue in May 2006 Lemberger was one of the university professors who spoke against change. So if you deplore the continued indoctrination of our public school children in a terribly flawed theory about the origin and purpose of life, do not vote for McDermott and Lemberger.

Sandra Gade Oshkosh

So we have someone saying that two candidates running for school board are cool with the teaching of evolution ... does anyone else know the other two candidates positions or are we to assume that they don't support the teaching of evolution?

Just asking ...

Out of the Loop

I hadn't noticed this earlier, but it appears as if the NW is serious about revamping its online platform. All the ideas mentioned sound like a giant leap in the right direction. Feel free to stop by and give them some more suggestions. The editors deserve a lot of credit for going through what looks like a pretty daring experiment in enhancing the interactivity of the NW.com.

Dept. of Obvious Headlines

Ya think?

Koshblogging and the Elvis Syndrome

A few days ago Ron Hardy boldly declared the death of the Oshkosh blog ... Originally I had an elaborate post in mind as a response -- chalk full of Barthian analysis -- but, frankly, there seems little point in getting too cute with this topic so I will instead offer some priliminary thoughts in bullet-point form:

* Neither the Oshkosh Northwestern nor Gannett "killed" the Oshkosh blog. Such a conspiracy to commit homicide requires coordination, planning and execution. Gannett is too removed to care and the NW lacks the competence.

My general impression is that many local bloggers believe the NW has an obligation to cultivate the Oshkosh blogosphere. It doesn't. It would certainly be in the paper's best interests to do so, but I don't know if they've picked up on that (Stay tuned as I offer some helpful suggestions on how the NW can improve its online platform below!).

As far as Gannet is concerned, I have little reason to believe that the company's shadowy board of directors gives a shit about what's going on over here in the fly-over states. Several Gannett newspapers here in Wisconsin have been very successful experimenting with blogging, particularly the Wausau Herald and the Marshfield News-Herald. Other Gannett papers have experimented with blogs and failed spectacularly -- Appleton Post-Crescent, we're looking at you (something of a surprise since the P-C is the best of Gannett local print stable). So I have a hard time pointing the finger at Gannett: they seem to be willing to let its local affiliates do what the circumstances on the ground warrant.

* The Northwestern suffers from woeful lack of imagination. While we may not be talking about cold-blooded premeditated murder here, we may be justified in bringing up the possibility of negligent homicide. To date, I think many people would agree that the NW's most successful feature has been the awkwardly named OshKonversation.

Let me just get on the record as saying that the OshKonversation sucks. Everything about it is grating -- from the layout, to the tone of the forums, to the way they tend to be dominated by a vocal minority of showboats ... even the topics themselves seem to set readers up for a "conversation" that will inevitably devolve into personal attacks on neighbors. I stay away from it these days and only return out of a sense of morbid curiosity.

What the NW is doing better these days -- and which it should continue to pursue in the future -- is its work with video. Obviously, there are many kinks that need to be worked out, but Oshkosh is at heart a city that responds better to visual media over the written word. OCAT is beloved is this city while the NW is reviled.

This might be a good time to just come out and say it: people in Oshkosh don't like to read. People who don't read typically don't write. People who do write tend to stop if they're not being read. All in all, it's not a very fertile environment for blogging to blossom in the first place. That being said, I think the NW would be wise to invest more of it's time and energy in developing a more visual online platform. A 5-10 minute (semi-)daily internet video news program that focused just on the city of Oshkosh (and would optimally elaborate in more depth on articles printed in the paper) would be an instant hit here in town. I'm thinking something along the lines of HotlineTV ...

I don't know if "vertical integration" is taught in J-school, but the NW should look into it ...

* Wait: Are you suggesting the NW abandon its focus on print?

Not at all. I'm suggesting that the NW is going to have to work a little harder to accomplish a series of online objectives. The first is the traditional reporting duties for the print edition. The second is newfound devotion to video production. Lastly, something that can only help the NW in the long run is to get it's act together with regards to exclusive online content. This will only help Oshkosh bloggers, and this is what I mean by that:

For the love of God -- give the OshKonversation some direly needed structure or get rid of it all together. The OK in its essence is really nothing more than the dearly departed Questioning Everything, Always blog of yore -- only QEA was better (For one thing: all the posted comments appeared on a single page, which meant a reader didn't have to clock on over a dozen different pages to skim through reactions).

Ideally, I'd like to see moderators actually do some moderating, maybe direct the flow of the conversation a bit more than simply posting a question and letting the hoi polloi go apeshite. There shouldn't be anything wrong with challenging some of the commenters or at least asking them to elaborate. Occasionally there's the seed of a good idea to be found on the OK, but one that rarely gets anywhere because no one takes the initiative to cultivate it. This will only encourage more reader participation, not stifle it.

Those corrections, even if implemented, still do not excuse the fact that the NW still does not have some kind of blog as part of it's internet program. Several reporters on the NW's staff have personal web sites, but all of them tend to be about the authors themselves and have never had any impact on the larger discussion within the community.

I don't know this for sure, but I suspect that when the NW signed-off on their reporters having their own blogs, they advised their staff to stay away from politics to both keep their employees focused on breaking stories for the NW alone and to avoid the off chance that some sloppy blogging might reveal an individual reporter's ideological slant. I think it's high time the editorial staff have a little faith in their journalists.

That being said, they shouldn't have too much faith. I have yet to see an indication that any of the current reporters (or editors) at the NW have the ability to maintain something as enjoyable as Rob Mentzer's blog What's Your Beef?, but that doesn't mean the NW should abandon the project all together. I think that one model the Northwestern should try to emulate is that of, dare I say, The National Review's The Corner, a staff blog that more or less functions like a public e-mail chain.

This hypothetical NW staff blog doesn't have to be too elaborate. The paper's editor's could require it's staff to post at least once per day on any local subject at any length. That shouldn't interfere with traditional reporting duties and would allow readers to provide feedback on specific articles written by the posters.

If the NW is too worried about exposing the slant's of their reporters, then it should simply outsource the responsibilities. Look at how many blogs are hosted by the Des Moines Register -- how many of those folks get paid to blog? I'm going to guess very few (if any who are not already on the DMR's staff). There are plenty of people in this community willing to devote a few hours each week to keeping a running commentary on local events, lots of whom would happily do so for free. They shouldn't be too hard to find.

Think of it this way: the NW reshuffles the "community members" of its editorial board four times every year. Each new member usually get at least one column to spout off on whatever issue they think is important. Frequently that column amounts to little more than a "thank you for the opportunity and, boy, did I learn a lot!" piece toward the end of that person's tenure. Why not just get someone who will maintain a blog while they are on the board and perhaps even after?

Above all, however, the NW needs to change its mindset about local blogs. It's extremely difficult to not get the impression that the NW views the existence of Koshblogging as a potential threat to it's business. If this is a concern, the NW needs to get over it and soon. The more robust the city's blogging community is, the more traffic will ultimately return to the NW because, for better and for worse, the NW is the only media game in town. It's the central nervous system of news here in Oshkosh and all roads will eventually lead back to it.

If the idea of more traffic is hard to swallow, then follow me down this thought experiment: The NW publishes an article on the opening of a new restaurant. That article is published online. By itself, the article (and the restaurant, for that matter) is at the mercy of Google -- it' just a single article in a vast abyss of digital information streaming across a series of tubes in binary code. But if if 5 or 10 or 15 other bloggers read the article, go to the restaurant, offer their opinion and ultimately link back to the original review -- well, then, the NW just increased the chances that someone from outside Winnebago County will be reading the Northwestern by 5 x's or 10 x's or 15 x's, etc. That's more advertising revenue.

What I'm saying is this: it's in the best interest of the NW to take the lead on developing a blogging culture here in Oshkosh. It's already gotten off to a good start without the paper's help, but the NW has the ability to infuse Koshblogging with an energy that no other resource can provide.

And how does it do that?

How about an article on local bloggers? Feel free to dismiss this idea as an act of shameless self-promotion, but it seems like a pretty obvious way to start to me. Whenever a dozen people get together in this town to do a common activity it's usually news -- what's so different about blogging? There have been countless articles printed in the NW about local musicians and artists -- why not local writers? The immediate effect would be to boost the readership of various local blogs, which would in turn boost the online readership of the NW.

After that, the NW should start to act like the central nervous system of information in Oshkosh -- highlighting alternative thoughts and ideas, encouraging more people to blog, growing the online Oshkosh community, etc. At the very least the NW can produce a directory -- with links -- of the city's bloggers. All that traffic will eventually come back to the NW if it does this the right way, and ignoring the phenomenon is not the right way.

... Alright, this post is a bloody stream-of-consciousness mess, so let's just take a step back for a second a review the ways in which the NW can get its online shit together:

* Reform the OshKonversation
* More video content (again, HotlineTV)
* Staff blog (The Corner)
* "Community voices" bloggers (Des Moines Register)
* A feature article on local bloggers
* Ongoing local blog coverage (directory, etc.)

There you go. A 6-point plan to re-energize the Oshkosh online community.

Now, I'm sure that if anyone at the NW is reading this right now, they're probably rolling their eyes and thinking to themselves, "Hey, why do we have to do all the work?" The simple answer is because the NW stands to benefit the most. In case anyone hasn't noticed, it's amateur hour out here in the Oshkosh Blogosphere. We're not getting paid to this. Sure, some people are receiving some material gain from their ongoing online existence (Michelle Monte did very well this last election, and while it is certainly debatable how much her blog had to do with her tremendous gains among voters there can be little doubt that it did not hurt her in the name recognition department), but most people are doing their thing out here for little other reason than they enjoy doing it.

* Is there anything bloggers can do to help?

Sure: keep on providing (occasionally) insightful content. That's about all that we can do.

Which brings us back to Hardy's proposition that the Oshkosh blog is dead. While it's true that the local scene may be suffering from a bout of malaise recently -- I think reports of the demise of Koshblogging are premature. Likewise, since the body isn't quite cold yet, it would seem a bit too early to scream bloody murder in the general direction of the "corporate media." Rather, I would suggest that Oshkosh blogging is in a bit of a rut for the exact same reasons normal people everywhere find themselves in a rut: they have children, jobs, mortgages, in-laws, vacations, student loans, a really great book that a friend gave them to read or the overwhelming desire to stay in and drink one's self into oblivion because this fucking winter simply will not end.

Go ahead and pick your poison ... I'm simply more inclined to believe the reasons are human rather than nefarious. It's been a busy news month, and one would imagine there would be tons of commentary to accompany it, but life doesn't always work out so conveniently.

Now, if I may be so bold:

Hardy's declaration of the death of the Oshkosh blog is actually an indication of the it's vitality, not unlike the way death turned out to be one helluva a career move for Elvis. While it's likely not the first instance, Hardy's post is certainly the most prominent piece of "meta-blogging" the Oshkosh blogosphere has heretofore experience. For the uninitiated, meta-blogging is essentially blogging about blogging and it inevitably occurs in any circle of bloggers. Meta-blogging typically only appeals to readers who also blog. Readers who simply read will likely find it narcissistic and masturbatory -- some would even call it rather adolescent, and that's exactly the point: meta-blogging is a sign that the an online community is making the transition from its nascent infancy to a more introspective, yet rowdy, adolescence. It's a sign of growth and means that people have invest enough time and energy into blogging that they now feel it's an important enough topic to discuss in and of itself. That's a good thing.

So before we start drafting our own eulogies, may I suggest we all just take a few deep breaths and continue to go about our business. The Oshkosh Blog is far from dead, and when it should pass away it will not be due to murder most foul, but simply the evaporation of substantive ideas from the bloggers themselves.

The Local Press Corpse

I tend to believe that when the NW is at it's worst, it's not because it's bias, but rather incompetent -- though the disparity in quality between the two photo galleries chronicling the biggest day in Oshkosh-related politics is enough to make me reconsider ...

On the one hand, we have the Sen. John McCain's thing at EAA: 70 minutes and well-attended by about 700 people. This yielded 41 pictures, over half of which were of the candidate himself.

On the other hand, there was Sen. Obama's deal at Kolf: a 45 minute stump speech heard by over 9 times the number of people as McCain's event, yet which produced a photo gallery consisting of 10 -- and let me spell that out just in case the concept of Arabic numerals escapes anyone -- ten photos, none of which were of Sen. Obama.

Perhaps the NW should stick with displaying pictures of cute babies.

BELATED RETRACTION: Alas, I got way ahead of myself on this one. Saturday's print version was filled with several wonderful pictures from both events that didn't seem to make it online.

Really?

This can only be a sign that the NW has simply given up.

Annals of Poor Word Choices

In today's NW:

"The Air National Guard comes to town and says (to the council), "We are
going to do this anyway so sign on,'" she said. "They told me they have a good
neighbor policy. They want the council to take responsibility for something (the Air National Guard) doesn't want to take the flack for."

(emphsis added)

Saying that anyone serving in the armed forces is unwilling to take flack -- which looks and sounds an awful lot like "flak" to me -- is pretty ridiculous.

Anyone Notice Anything Strange in This Northwestern Article?

This one, right here ... see anything unusual?

Maybe about half way through ... find it yet?

Why, it's a cameo by Congressman (and snappy dresser) Tom Petri!

I did a double-take. I don't think I've ever seen the Northwestern just casually call up Petri to shoot the shit about something not directly related to something he was working on. In fact, I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Petri quoted in the Northwestern at all.

Then again, why would they? I'm sure he doesn't have any great insight in the machinations of our nation's capitol. It's not like he's an authority on politics or anything ...

In other words, please do this more often.

One thing the Northwestern should not do more often is quote Teno Groppi. Mr. Groppi should only be the subject of scorn and ridicule in this community. I hope that if enough people start ignoring him he will return to that hole in the ground from whence he came and giving him some press -- regardless of the reason -- is only encouraging him to spew more vile into the ether.

Oy ...

Initially, I did not read Stew Rieckman's column in the NW this morning because I recognized it as being one of those "omnibus" pieces on several, typically unrelated, subjects...

I hate these things. They piss me off to no end. Rieckman's weekly column runs about 600 words and today he wrote about three subjects -- a possible school board referendum, the proposed smoking ban, and the Sawdust Days approval by the city council. Any one of these topics alone is worth spending 600 words discussing in some depth. Instead of doing that, his readers got some remarkably vapid crankiness with a dash of sarcasm that was twice interrupted by ... more vapid crankiness with a dash of sarcasm.

Miles Maguire picked up on this, highlighting the section on the city councils fast-tracking of the Sawdust Days permit, which is worth a walk-through:

Headline: Sawdust Days gets OK from Council

Reaction: With this bunch it is wise to listen to what they say but watch what they do.

To a person the Council says it wants public input, interaction and openness in government. Their track record says otherwise. Giving approval for the 2008 Sawdust Days Frankenfest before allowing concerned neighbors to comment seems contrary to the concept of embracing citizen involvement with city government.

Let me just get this out of the way before moving on. I love Sawdust Days -- and I mean this genuinely. It's the only event during the calender year where the entire city is invited to participate in an activity as a community. Oshkosh desperately needs more of these things, not fewer. They don't all have to feature carnies of dubious immigration status and rampant displays of adolescent posturing, but Oshkosh is a town that doesn't get together for a common purpose ... ever. If you want this town to succeed, that needs to change. If you don't like Sawdust Days, propose something new. Don't just dismiss it with a silly name and move on like what you've just said is acknowledged by all. It's not.

Whether it's being called a "Frankenfest" or "Dirtball Days" or any of the other familiar refrains, the criticisms of Sawdust Days are -- and it pains me to be this trite -- comically bourgeois. "Oh, I just can't stand all those poor people with their low-class carnival games, Miller Lite consumption, and teen pregnancy!"

Well, I'm sorry, douchebag, but poor people live in Oshkosh too.

The fact of the matter is that if Sawdust Days were not held in the middle of the city -- if it were instead held at the Sunnyview Expo Center, for instance -- no one would care who went. It could be ignored, made fun of from afar and otherwise segregated from the eyes of people who like to think of Oshkosh as a place that consists of only the people they know.

So if you're going to criticize Sawdust Days, do so for public safety or health reasons or offer an alternative that can be attended by everyone in the city. If the sight of women in halter tops and middle-aged men in skin tight cut-offs offends you, then let me take this moment to apologize for the crimes against fashion made by all of your neighbors who can't afford to shop at the outlet mall.

Anyway, we were talking about the approval of this year's Sawdust Days and allowing a public comment period prior thereto:

But then again, it doesn't make any difference if the public comments before, during or after an issue. The council will go through all sorts of reassurances, consolation, pity, and hand wringing before ignoring the publics' concerns.

Such as when? An example here would have helped and given some authority to what is an otherwise sweeping claim that the people who have been invested with power here in Oshkosh are ignoring the very people who put them in charge. I can think of an example off the top of my head: there are usually numerous complaints by the people who live around Titan Stadium about the noise and commotion that follows high school football games. These complaints tend to die down following the season, but year after year they arise just as the school year starts, and year after year nothing is ever done.

Here's another one: complaints have also been known to come from the people who live in the neighborhood of the Leach Amphitheater during Waterfest.

These seem like remarkably similar situations. Perhaps juxtaposing them might reinforce the validity of the statement that the council members have a track record of ignoring these kinds of concerns from locals.

Now we come to the glaring problem with this column:

Trust me. This is the quintessential done deal. The "insiders" get the deal. The neighbors are done.

Of the people I can most vividly remember begging me to "trust them" nearly all were trying to swindle or humiliate me.

Reporters -- and even columnists -- should never ask their readers to "trust them." Readers do that implicitly every time they pick up the paper. When a journalist has to explicitly ask for his readers' trust he comes off looking like a used car salesman. If this was an "inside deal," as Rieckman claims, then show us some proof. What follows is hardly acceptable:

Here's a suggestion that the seven members of the council might find illuminating. Ask your parks director what direct connection and personal interest he has in Sawdust Days. Then determine if he is an unbiased, objective steward of public parks and has the best interest of the neighborhood at heart. Here's a hint: The guy's hobby is Cajun and Zydeco music and hot sauce.

Maguire is very to-the-point over this graf: Why doesn't The Northwestern answer this question? Or even ask the question of Mr. Stephany itself?

Insinuating impropriety is not something that should be done lightly, and while there appears to be a possible conflict of interest here, noting Mr. Staphany's appreciation for bayou folk music and Tobasco raises more questions in my mind than it seems to answer. For example: I did not know that such an obscure hobby was so lucrative -- just how profitable is singing in Creole to the rhythm of a washboard and accordion these days? Is there some kind of niche market here in the Midwest for that kind of thing? Does Mr. Stephany go on tour in the summer time hawking the albums of Boozoo Chavis and bottles of Kick Yo Ass hot sauce or does he just share his interest with the rest of the city during Sawdust Days?

To put it another way: tell us what you mean in plain English. Stop trying to be cute -- it's not working. If Mr. Stephany's a crook, call him a crook. I only see some coy dancing around the issue here on Rieckman's part and a subtle attempt to call Mr. Stephany white trash by noting his taste in music is similar to that played at a "Frankenfest" of a mid-summer's monstrosity. If you don't know, God forbid you should have ask a few questions and maybe do a little research ... You know, like, the job of a journalist.

Be sure to let us know what you find out and how that builds public trust.

Because Rieckman is such an authority on public trust that he can just simply ask his readers for their trust ...

This last line is a fairly arrogant coda to what is already a ridiculous segment. Basically, Rieckman engages in one of the most common and loathsome traditions of civic discourse in Oshkosh: it's not my problem, someone else should worry about it. Well, this time around it actually is the NW's problem. Pick up the phone, write an e-mail, get the answer or the quote. Readers buy the paper looking for facts and answers, not conspiracy theories and gross speculation.

Quick: what was Rieckman's commentary about? I bet you had to think about that for a second... That's because instead of discussing an actual important issue -- the whole public input into Sawdust Days issue -- we've been discussing what a shoddy piece journalism this column was. When that happens the real problem -- giving people a chance to comment on public policy -- gets obscured by the nonsense issue (bad reporting) and is allowed to persist.