I started this blog so many months ago just to point out what I thought about the goings on of my city. Until this week, I fumbled along almost completely unnoticed. I appreciated the blogs that brought attention to this humble effort. My eyes lit up when I saw the page views after this website was mentioned on the Arkansas Times blog. In just a few short days, the number has dropped nearly to what it was for most of those months. I have failed to draw an audience with my ramblings, but those readers I have are apparently from one of the newspapers and hurling accusations at old employees, oddly from both papers. Many included details that shouldn't have been told to a complete stranger, so it appears they would prefer to conduct a witch hunt than actual discuss the merits of what I say. As this is simply an anonymous webpage that is so easily overlooked, I would have encouraged them to ignore me rather than try to place blame, even misguidedly so. Whether the newspapers intend to improve, who knows. At this point, I have given up hope, and I will do what is my right to do and cancel my subscription. Maybe I will find new purpose for this place, and maybe not.

Read in order

As a standalone piece, the story about Tuesday's Committee of 13 meeting highlights the confusion inherent at the county administration, but combined with other recent stories, it paints a drastically different picture.

News slowing for the week

Thursday is Thanksgiving, which means the cities, counties and businesses are slowing work on their noteworthy projects. For the most part, they want to hit a milestone when they can keep working at a decent pace instead of stopping for a holiday. It also means the news stories are slowing.
Tuesday's paper did feature a story about the county mayors sounding off against County Judge Dave Bisbee. The story is fine, but it's just more quotes added to the sentiment in the original story. Extended holiday periods, especially Thanksgiving week, Christmas/New Year's week and Easter week, prove difficult to beat reporters, but when reporting is not an option, writing shines. Look for the features this week to allow any writers left to shine.

Wonder why ...

The online edition of the Rogers Morning News includes 10 pages. The online edition of the Daily Record has 9 pages. The difference is Page 8, missing from the Record. It's the comics, crosswords and Dear Abby. It's just as well the Record does not have it, as the Morning News page does not allow anything to be magnified large enough to be read. I know the subscription price for online is less than for the print product, but I thought that was due to lower material costs, not a reduction in content.

When I'm wrong ...

I had previously decried the work of CEI on the Lake Atalanta project as self-serving and self-promoting. I actually still believe that. But I would like to change my position on one aspect. In the prior post, I criticized a number of Lake Atalanta proposals, but the one in question here is a waterfall that I described as unnecessary and exorbitant. I said it had no purpose.
I was, however, presented with a possible explanation today. A waterfall would churn the lake, helping keep it cleaner looking and lowering the temperature, which would allow for stocking of fish. I can understand that. Of course, I look forward to seeing this explanation coming from CEI, but I'm taking the waterfall off my list. The paddle boats and splash pad, in case you were wondering, are still making me scratch my head.

What took so long?

I've never been a fan of commentary on pages reserved for news, but if it's appropriately marked, so be it. But if you're going to do it, at least have some conviction.

Quick thoughts

Somehow Jeff Mores has seemingly increased his production of Crystal Bridges stories since his departure. Those who have paid attention to the paper probably noticed the lack of live coverage from Mores, but that did not stop him from getting in just one more last story about Alice Walton's huge pat on the back. You have to wonder when they'll end.
But while the Daily Record continues destroying its reputation by printing each and every one of these stories on the front page, the Morning News found a proper location for it, page 12. Sadly, even though Mores no longer works for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, he remains one of its best reporters.
Happy reading.

A little fact checking goes a long way

On Friday, Arvest Bank became the first bank, according to Lana Flowers of the Morning News, to offer an iPhone application specifically for its own customers. That impressive bit of news comes as a shock to the Bank of America customers who have been using an app specific to their bank for the better part of a year.

Quick thoughts

The Daily Record has 13 pages in its online "replica edition." For those who didn't understand last time, a newspaper cannot have an odd number of pages, as they print on both sides. The Morning News, however, has only 10 pages, but that probably has something to do with it being last Saturday's issue.

Support your local whiz kid

Scott Bedwell, a senior at Bentonville High School, has created an iPhone application. It's a product most of you probably won't use, as it automatically skips from one song in your iPhone library to the next prematurely. The kids are loving it, but it's not going to be popular with adults, but only because they won't get it.

One of these things is not like the others

I can add. You can add. Why can't the newspapers add?

Quick thoughts

Daisy has been headquartered in Rogers since 1958. There have been 16 annual Daisy International BB Gun Championships. All of them have been in Bowling Green, Ky. It's about time they figured out what it means to give back to the community. You may say, "Welcome to Rogers." I say, "What took you so damn long?"

Taxing less to take more

County Judge Dave Bisbee is apparently hoping everyone is so happy about their millage decrease that they don't look deeper into the where the money they are still spending will go. But this isn't just an anti-Bisbee story. This is a problem that started well before Judge Black retired.

Quick thoughts

The online "replica edition" of Thursday's Rogers Morning News contained nine pages. Just think about that for a little bit.

A familiar song

There was a familiar tune playing across the front page of the Morning News Thursday. 

MAJORITY IS DONE: Work Nearing Completion

Then, in the subhead: "Veterans Park Improvements Almost a Year Behind Schedule."

Somehow, I feel like someone is playing a joke on us all.

What to make of Colton's

The headline said it all. Colton's Doing Its Part For Sharing And Caring. That's it. Not going above and beyond, not doing the extraordinary, just doing its part.

School haze

Rogers Public Schools is changing its curriculum. Yup, that's it. That's about all we know about this subject. Let's hope they do a better job teaching their students than informing the public.

More than a balanced budget?

Why is the Daily Record wasting front page space on the Bella Vista Property Owners Association, an organization that made itself nearly irrelevant in its own boundaries, let alone in Benton County, but still has not comes to terms with it. And for what? Well, it's the ultra-exciting demand by its members that the budget "break even."

Quick thoughts

Maybe this means nothing, but for the first time I've noticed, the Daily Record's sports section has been relegated to the final two pages of the newspaper, the pages previously reserved for comics (I still gag over that) and weather. I don't know that this means anything, but I thought it worth noting in case I eventually determine some relevance. Anyone with any insight is welcomed to comment.
Happy reading.

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

As predicted, the downtown intersection replacements have been a bit of a nightmare for many of the local merchants. The detour signs, supposedly, are deterring would-be customers. Well, the city hopes to change the merchants' fortunes by changing the signs.

The definition of downtown

The front page of the Morning News declared a victory in a part of Rogers that has needed some good news: Downtown Adds New Businesses.
I was excited, ecstatic even, in reading that they include a shoe store, an upscale men's clothier, and a book store. The details, however, left me wanting something more, like perspective.
So in lieu of any perspective from the Morning News, I'll offer my own, one by one.

A map and a compass

Only two stories made it on the front page of Benton County's newspaper(s) today. There was, of course, the obligatory military story mandated by Warren Stephens himself. Today was Day 8. Are they making this a month-long series that has yet to have covered anything local?
The other depended on which edition of the paper you received. In the Daily Record, it was a story about school bus safety. But that apparently wasn't important enough for the Morning News, which went with a hunting story.
So why was there only room for two stories? Because someone high up thinks you're not smart enough to find your way through the paper.

Sign of the times?

More good news for downtown Rogers, although it comes in an unlikely form. The heralded intersections are apparently causing some grief for a few of the downtown merchants, which was generally expected. But the downtown and Mayor Steve Womack are becoming even greater allies in the fight to attract more customers to the historic district.

Justifications

Northwest Arkansas Newspapers feels that it must justify Judge Jay Finch's decision to continue driving rather than pulling over for an ununiformed constable. Judge Finch did fine for himself. What this shows, however, is an inability for the paper to change directions once it sets its tone of coverage.

Flake Atalanta

There is a breath of in the city's possible Lake Atalanta plans, mostly in that there is not a two-mile water feature running from downtown Rogers to the lake. CEI Engineering, for as long as it's been involved in the Lake Atalanta "restoration" has been stricken with sky's-the-limit disease, proposing a project that would cost more than the entire parks portion of the 2011 bond issue, let alone the portion the mayor is allocating to this specific park.
But that does not mean all the superfluous expenditures are gone.

Maybe the pages should be bigger

On Friday's front page of the Daily Record, the newspaper staff was clearly forced to continue running the Stephens Media-approved salute to some other town's troops. I don't agree with the principle, but there was nothing the local folks could do. Then there was a story about a $4.9 million appropriation for the ever-controversial Benton County Juvenile Detention Center (but why didn't they include that in the headline?). Finally, the Record puts a story where it belongs.
Of course, that trend could never continue, as the third page shows us.

More conflict

I can't say that the Rogers Public Library's desire for a new heating and air-conditioning unit is important. I want people to be as comfortable as possible as they can be while paging through centuries of the written word. What I can't understand is why it's received so much coverage. From the first story on the issue — I think John Gore has written three of four, but the Morning News Web site disappeared, along with its archives — there has never been any opposition to the purchase and installation of the new unit. I wonder if editor Rusty Turner is on the Rogers Public Library Foundation Board. No, wait, no one's on that board now, but metro editor Leeanna Walker is not far removed from her term among its members. Ok, I'm not confused anymore.

Can we get one thing straight.

Northwest Arkansas Community College knew it was about to mangle the English language when it chose the abbreviation NWACC. Someone had to know, and still must, because the college is officially named (including approved capitalization) NorthWest Arkansas Community College.
Well, the Daily Record never fell for it. English is not subjective for each user. So it was surprising to see that, post-merger, the Daily Record has caved and English has lost. I'm still not sure what the official nomenclature is, though, since the educational institution was referred to as "North-West Arkansas Community College," but the hyphen, based on the placement on the page, was likely inserted to break up the word for spacing concerns. Then again, who knows.
On an unrelated note, the story in question was written by Tabatha Hunter, who has gain notoriety for her reporting on Benton County Government, reporting that was conspicuously absent from the Morning News. With Hunter gardening stories at the college, who's watching Bisbee?

Quick thoughts

On his way out, Jeff Mores apparently felt the need to give us just one more Crystal Bridges story. I guess in case we missed him. Seriously, though, good luck Jeff and congratulations on getting out.

Election dilema

Sheriff Keith Ferguson is looking for at least one more go of it in 2010, running for re-election to the position he's held since 2002. Any concerns anyone may have on that news are their own, as my issue has nothing to do with Ferguson or his performance as sheriff.
The announcement, however, creates questions for the newspaper about campaign coverage. On the surface, there is the logistical decision over which newspaper should spearhead the countywide election. Since the Morning News was entrusted (and I use that word with dripping irony) with editorial coverage and has kept the larger newsroom, it stands to reason the primary reporter would come from the Rogers newsroom.
And that brings us to our second issue. There were some questions about whether Rogers police officer and sheriff candidate Kelley Cradduck received a fair shake from the Morning News in 2008. Editorial decisions about story placement, coverage style and even story content was examined and debated by those on both sides of the newsroom walls. The biggest issue, however, is that Morning News metro editor Leeanna Walker was sitting awfully close to Ferguson at his last victory dinner, much closer than an impartial observer should have been.
So where are the battle lines in this year's coverage? Does Leeanna still hold the editorial sway she once did, or does Editor Rusty Turner, now that he has to answer to someone a little closer to home, have to maintain at least some pretense of objectivity. I'll have the play-by-play, because we all win or lose based on the outcome.

Quick thoughts

I wouldn't be harping on the nwanews.com Web site so much if they hadn't started charging for it. By making readers pay for site access, you would expect them to offer a product every bit as polished as the print version. Hmm, I may have to rethink that.
On Wednesday, the top story listed under "news" on the Daily Record and Morning News pages was the hard-hitting "Obituaries for Benton County." Not to be outdone, their counterparts to the south led with "Obituaries for Washington County." That's good stuff, that is. For the record (because they may actually be incompetent enough to do this), none of the papers led with obits on the front page.

Exodus, part II

Less than two weeks after the northwest Arkansas newspapers merged into the Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, the ranks are still thinning. This time, however, it's from voluntary departures.
The Daily Record's Jeff Mores and the Morning News' Anna Fry are splitsville, both reportedly for new (read that "better") jobs.

Merging newspapers fight against groupthink

So far, I've pointed out several ways in which the consolidation of editorial influences has seemed to impede the spread of quality information to the readers. I could be wrong. As always, I am only trying to encourage the discussion, but that doesn't mean the my words actually achieve that result.
Apparently, Doug Thompson, the sole editorial page editor left standing, apparently doesn't agree with me, as he rails against "citizen journalists" in Sunday's column. My favorite passage is the one that follows.

Quick thoughts

For the second straight week, there is no "Whatever happened to ..." story in the Daily Record. The standard Monday feature has run since the beginning of 2008, replacing the "Day in the Life" stories. The Monday issues are notoriously difficult to fill, as so little happens on Sundays in the Bible Belt. So far, the Monday pages have been filled from Little Rock, first with the inaugural merger issue and today with another story in Warren Stephens' veterans series. We must assume that there will eventually be something local to fill that space, but how will it ever compete with locally produced stories like "Whatever happened to cassette tapes?," "Whatever happened to the afro?," and "Whatever happened to Big Foot?"

Declaration of independence

The Daily Record took great strides Sunday to prove its independence from the Morning News.
To provide the context, we provide a snippet from a Nov. 1 editorial running in all four editions:

Sometimes the members of this choir will each sing his own tune. That will make things interesting. The differences among us are as much a part of this region’s strength as the cooperation. When everybody thinks the same way, nobody’s thinking, the wise heads say. Well, that has never been a problem around here.

Is this center stage?

If you didn't know already — and who couldn't know after Oct. 27 — Slaughter Pen was "going center stage" Friday. For those who don't know, Slaughter Pen is a Bentonville bike park, so clearly it won't be on a stage. But the Daily Record felt the need to "hammer home" (to use an overused cliche of my own) the metaphor on Saturday's front page. This time, however, it was the Bike Jam, not Slaughter Pen itself, that the paper said "Takes Center Stage." (Note: The change in punctuation is due to changes in style imposed after the merger.) So if Slaughter Pen and its Bike Jam have captured the center of the stage, one has to wonder if there are indeed enough supports to keep the stage from collapsing.

Gone too far?

The front page story of Saturday's Daily Record and Morning News was about Circuit Judge Jay Finch's run from law enforcement when he failed to stop for a pickup truck with a blue light and a driver not wearing a uniform. Briefly noted in the article, but not expounded upon in any way, was the small matter that the law requires constables to be in uniform to effect a traffic stop. Tracy Neal does include this gem in his story that is far too much about Finch and not nearly enough about Constable Craig Milligan. Excerpts are from the Daily Record.

Greatest hits

I was up late Thursday night wondering when we'd see our first post-merger Crystal Bridges story in the Daily Record. They were so prevalent beforehand, and it would be a shame if the people of Benton County didn't know ever detail about each brick and each stone, without a full feature on the nails that will be used to hold the paintings and a profile of the janitor who will be keeping the museum sparkling. Well there it was this morning, in the only place a Crystal Bridges story ever appears, on the top of page one with a headline (Art Outside the Binding of Books) almost as big as the story. My favorite part is how Crystal Bridges is no longer included in the headline. It has a place of honor above the headline, announcing that you are about to read (or avoid) yet another story about this overrated museum.
The Morning News, meanwhile, also ran the story, using the Daily Record's subhead as its headline (Exhibit Features Stars of Children's Illustrations) and put it on the more appropriate page seven.
I would post a link to the story, but the Northwest Arkansas Newspaper Web site is apparently also tired of so many Crystal Bridges stories and refused to show it.

What won't get said

Once again, we have an expansion of programs at the Rogers Little Theater. It's funded by Cox and Wal-Mart. That could never be a bad thing, right? This is my favorite part: "Theater officials wanted to expand children’s theater o(ff)erings to include afternoon classes, musical theater classes for teens and to create new performance opportunities for the students."
So what is my problem with this? I'll tell you that if you can tell me where in that sentence it says the theater will be open more nights. Let's face it, this second-rate theater draws a third-rate crowd.

O • the deep end

I've long wondered just why the Democrat Gazette was putting in so much work on the nwanews.com site. They went to a paid site, and there were problems. There were updates and more problems. Now the merger. Did you accept anything less?
Here is an actual copy-and-paste passage from the Web site. It doesn't matter how the writing is or what the story is about. Just look at the formatting and try to figure out what words you're not allowed to use if you want your story to look right on the page.

    However, the 2D barcode technology has not taken o

• as quickly in the United States, even among large retailers. 

    That was the message from Tevian Rose, national account strategist with InnoMark Communications, and Stephen Shannon, InnoMark chief marketing o

• cer and president of enterprise operations. They spoke to about 20Wal-Mart suppliers and others in a lunch seminar Wednesday at the DoubleTree in Bentonville. 

Quick thoughts

The increased amount of ad space must be due to both papers trying to accommodate each other's advertisers. People who paid for two ads should get two ads, right? So now, since there's only one paper, the ads get bigger or run twice or something. If they're not, I'd love to know.
But I wonder, once the advertising levels settle down, what they're going to do to fill the empty space. I guess you can never have enough Crystal Bridges stories.

An apology

I must, sadly, admit that I was wrong about the newspaper merger. I doubted the reduction in staff and consolidation of media agencies would lead to increased local coverage. Clearly, my prediction was off the mark. Anyone who saw the local story on peanut butter cookies must certainly feel more connected to the community. I mean, nothing says home like cookies, right?
And how can anyone decry the local comics. You didn't find them? No, not on the opinion page; there's nothing local there. It's near the back page.
Again, I did not realize there would be so many more local stories, and I apologize for besmirching the papers' good names. Or is that the paper's good names. Or good name. I still get confused over that.

Quick thoughts

Is it just me, or does the Daily Record's layout suddenly remind me of the Morning News? I didn't realize fonts were included in the merger agreement.

Twice the news for your money

The newspaper merger was supposed to be good for the community. By eliminating competition between reporters, it was supposed to bring more stories specialized for the reader.

So here's what more news means. Forget that the Daily Record sports page was headlined by University of Arkansas stories from the Democrat Gazette, while a Rogers story and a snoozer about a Siloam Springs junior dying were at the bottom (This proves how much news is in the paper, because normally the death of any somewhat-prominent high school junior would rate the front page and more than four paragraphs). What proves there is more news is this story about a Florida wide receiver committing to play for the Razorbacks. It was so important, it was printed, in its entirety, on pages 9 and 11. Thank you, Daily Record, for reminding us what our priorities should be.

Less than the sum of their parts

So now you know. We all know. The northwest Arkansas newspapers are all under the same "umbrella," which sounds for an inappropriate euphemism, since it is the rest of us who need shelter from the storm.

So on the front page of Monday's Morning News, you have stories by MN staffers. On the front page of the Daily Record, you have two stories by DR staff (amazingly neither was about Chrystal Bridges) and one by an MNer.

I found this curious bit of philosophy in Sunday's editorial pages of the Daily Record and Morning News:

Sometimes the members of this choir will each sing his own tune. That will make things interesting. The differences among us are as much a part of this region’s strength as the cooperation. When everybody thinks the same way, nobody’s thinking, the wise heads say. Well, that has never been a problem around here.

(for those of you bothering to subscribe: http://bcdr.nwanews.com/news/2009/nov/01/our-view-new-era-begins-readers-20091101/)

Funny to think how there will be harmony or, more importantly, disharmony among the four "newspapers" when there is only one editorial page editor and one editor overall. Those of you who enjoyed only the Morning News, congratulations. You got it. For anyone who liked both or only the Daily Record, who knows. Maybe someone will rise from the ashes to provide another voice for Benton County. Maybe not. I guess it depends if anyone cares enough to support the dissident.

So who are the survivors in this merger? By my count, only six people from the Daily Record were kept. Mike Jones is still city editor for the Daily Record, and he keeps Jeff Mores, Tracy Neal and Tabatha Hunter, who you might know if you've ever spotted Jones at lunch, as they're always with him. David Dempsy was also rehired, as was one of the sports writers. Meanwhile, I know of only two layoffs from the Morning News, so clearly the Morning News stocked the pond.

Unfortunately, the Morning News has long relied on Associated Press content, leaving its staff free to take their time in writing stories and falling fall short of churning out content. But the Democrat Gazette would never pay for the same stories twice, so the Morning News is on its own. And all the people used to fast turnover of content are now trying to find someone else who might appreciate those skills.

At this point, I can only add to the drum beats, to the war cries screaming about their lost voice. The time for action has ended. A rebirth of quality journalism may still, and it is sorely needed, but it will take men and women of means entrusting their wealth to men and women of the pen. Until such people come forward, I wish us all good luck.