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Today may be the day we learn who U.S. Senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has chosen as his running mate, only days before the party’s national convention in Denver.

So, who will it be?

Hillary Rodham Clinton? Nah, won’t happen. Evan Bayh? Doubtful. While most folks remember his daddy, the younger Bayh is still an unknown to many. Tim Kaine? Nice thought, but I just don’t see it.

While Obama promises change, he really needs someone with significant experience within the Beltway. Someone he feels truly comfortable with, but who won’t overshadow him. And someone that people will recognize who will can provide guidance and direction in those issues and other areas where the candidate is still lacking.

My guess? Put the smart money on U.S. Senate collegue Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of Deleware. He’s been representing the First State in the upper house for 36 years and is knowledgable in many areas. He is not only Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, but served for 16 years on the Judiciary Committee…an important note as the next president could see two or three vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court.

That’s my guess, so we’ll find out together.

“We don’t have a mandate to share editorial. We’re so local in our orientation, it’s never made any sense to do it that way. I think we’ve got six or seven film critics around the company now. If you put your efficiency hat on, could one film reviewer do the same job for everybody? Perhaps, but that connection to film and the local community is something I’m proud of. I’m (more interested in trying) something that really takes this talent and creates a national Web site out of it.” — Ben Eason, Creative Loafing CEO, in an interview with St. Petersburg Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans discussing Creative Loafing’s purchase of The Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper; published August 19, 2007.

After those assurances made almost exactly one year ago, Creative Loafing has let film critic Lance Goldenberg go.

Local writer Philip Booth broke the story Thursday with an eloquently angry post on his blog Scribe Life. That same day, St. Pete Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans blogged about his disappointment at hearing the news in a post on his blog The Feed. Deggans’ post included quotes from both Goldenberg and CL editor David Warner, as well as the full statement issued by Warner.

Acknowledging both of those blog posts and the overwhelming support Goldenberg received in comments on both blogs, CL writer Wayne Garcia posted briefly – almost begrudgingly – about Goldenberg’s departure on the CL blog Political Whore. Garcia’s blog post included a statement from CL editor David Warner, who said that the concern about this news is understandable because “Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years.”

In his published statements (on Political Whore and The Feed) and his blog comments (on The Feed and Scribe Life), Warner explained that CL’s decision to release Goldenberg – who has been a freelance writer for CL, not a full-time CL employee, all these years – was based on “the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business.” Warner assured readers and advertisers (smart move on Warner’s part to be concerned with advertisers, because they ultimately control the fiscal realities in the newspaper industry) of CL’s commitment “to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth.”

I have so many questions and comments that I don’t know where to begin.

I suppose I should start by acknowledging my discomfort in writing about this topic. I’m a blogger, remember, so technically I’m part of the newspaper industry’s problem in the first place. (I’ll save that discussion for another blog post.) However, I hate reading about the exodus of film/book/art/music critics over the past year or so. (33 film critics since January 2006, according to The Movie Cricket.)

I spent several hours today writing a long article about this, going through all my questions and reactions point by point. After re-reading my final draft, I realized that it didn’t work and deleted it. All of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head since I first read about Goldenberg’s departure relate to one central concern:

Will Creative Loafing continue to write about, support, critique and draw attention to local films, filmmakers, film festivals and theaters?

I certainly hope so, but Creative Loafing’s track record has me a little worried. The same week that Tampa’s CL let Lance Goldenberg go, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off senior editor Scott Freeman and arts/entertainment editor (and occasional film reviewer) David Lee Simmons. Jonathan Rosenbaum, head film critic for the Chicago Reader, retired in February after 21 years. Art/film critic Felicia Feaster left Creative Loafing in Atlanta in April. The Chicago Reader lost several talented, dedicated staff writers in December.

Hopefully, the national advertising agency Creative Loafing signed on with recently can bring in those crucial advertising dollars.

When long-time writers like Goldenberg depart, readers notice the difference. Readers also notice when a paper loses some of its local focus or replaces thoughtful critical analysis with brief infotainment sound bytes.

Local film fans will be watching. I certainly will be, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

(cross-posted at www.tampafilmfan.com)

BlogOrlando 2008 is set for September 25-27 at Rollins College in Winter Park.

Voce Communications, in partnership with Rollins College will host the third edition of this FREE event that was open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike from Florida and anywhere else. We bring together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics. The event was as much a social/family gathering as it is a ‘work’ gathering.

BlogOrlando is held in the “unconference” format, which is a participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose. A “session leader” simply begins the conversation on a given topic, and the “audience” drives the direction of the discussion.

Hyku’s Josh Hallett brings together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics. The event is as much a social/family gathering as it is a ‘work’ gathering.

For BlogOrlando’s third annual event, I have again been asked to co-lead a session, this time with Chuck Welch of Lakeland Local. Our general topic will explore the meaning of “hyperlocal,” and attempt to find out what it is, how to find it, and why it’s important. Depending on audience requests, subtopics may include working with various media people (TV, radio, newspaper, websites), mining government and media data, creating maps (crime, business, etc.), ethics, and more.

Other sessions at BlogOrlando include Business Marketing with Social Media, New Tools for Journalism, Monetizing your Website, Online Professionalism, Politics, and many, many more. Take a look at BlogOrlando 2008 Sessions for the lineup thus far.

In past years, Journalists, PR folks, website managers, and bloggers have gotten much out of the unconference. Those of you who have any interest at all in the future of internet communications may also want to check it out - after all, it is FREE.

Locals already registered to attend include Ashli Cooper, Michael VanDervort, Michael Bishop, Tribune food guy Jeff Houck, WordPress Developer (and Brandonite) Mark Jaquith, Jim Johnson, Dustin Mooney, David Risley, Derrick Daye, Cathalain Carter, Darby Critendon, Carrie Currie, Aaron Bates, Lakeland Ledger’s Barry Friedman, and more.

I hope to see an even larger contingent of Tampa Bay area bloggers, journalists, and website enthusiasts out there this year, so please go register for BlogOrlando 2008.

If you’re interested in Lakeland city government, and either can’t or won’t get out of the house to attend city meetings, you can now watch from the comfort of your home…if you’re a Bright House cable customer.

Lakeland Government Television premieres today on channel 615, featuring City Commission meetings as well as those of the Utility Committee, Code Enforcement, and other government entities. In addition, viewers will be able to view crime watch and safety-related programmes produced by the Lakeland Police Department.

Previously, meetings had been shown on the county’s government channel, but not always live because of programming conflicts. The new city-related service will eliminate that issue.

Looking at Josh’s post about the impact of Barack Obama’s arrival in Lakeland I decided to see if I caught him in any of the photos from my little camera.

He’s actually on the far left of the photo there. You’ll have to go to the original to barely see Obama’s face as he walks from the bus to the trailer. He waited almost almost 20 minutes to get out of the bus after he arrived. I mention that only becuase I’m looking at the photo timestamps.

That’s Obama’s bus arriving about 3:33. Coming from the east on Highway 92. I mention that in case you read something different elsewhere.

If you’ve followed the Obama rumors you’re learned how tentative such plans are. At best, you get bits and pieces of what everyone is planning. The players keep information close to their chest.

When Billy wrote about Obama coming to Lakeland I thought it was nice Lakeland would get a look from the national press, but not something I’d bother going to see. Even today at lunch, I told a friend I doubted I’d try to see Obama. I’ve never considered a politician as someone I’d want to “be close to.” Standing in a crowd hoping for a glimpse of a celebrity has always felt like a cult of personality. Even if that person could be President.

Then I came home from lunch and found an email informing me that the area around PJ’s Dream Home Center of Lakeland was looking like the scene of a prison lock down. Police parked along the street, all PJs entrances closed, and an Orlando TV station was pulling their truck in behind a nearby liquor store.

Ok, the last didn’t seem unusual, but the rest screamed Obama.

So, I figured I had a need to follow up on what we’re posted this week. I went to PJs. Actually, I ended up to the parking lot of the liquor store. Four or five people stood outside debating how Obama would arrive. The consensus was that he’d land a helicopter in the cattle field next door.

I couldn’t see Obama choosing to evade cowpies if there was any another route. That route ended up being a drive up US 92 from Winter Haven.

Obama finally showed up and went into a trailer to talk. I’m sure you’ve seen the video on the regional news.

While I stood there, a rumor was passed along that after the meeting Obama would go to Munn Park. So we wasted a few minutes and went to Munn. The park had a few dozen people there for the same reason.

About 4:30 a Lakeland Police Department officer walked through the crowd to inform them that Obama had changed his plans and would not come to Munn Park.

A few in the crowd didn’t believe the officer and decided to stay. I decided to go.

The moral of the story? I think I’ll leave tracking the politicians to Billy. Now, if you hear Elvis Costello is tuning his guitar at Mollys, or Milan Kundera has stopped by the library to renew his card, you give me a call, send me a text, or drive by and pick me up.

The rumour mill has been hot this week about the possibility that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama may visit our fair city this afternoon following a town hall meeting at St. Petersburg’s Gibbs High School earlier in the day. (BTW: Don’t bother looking for tickets to this event in the 1,000 seat venue…they were gone in less than 20 minutes)

Billy Townsend noted on the talk around town earlier in the week on the Lakeland Local blog. The visit would come during First Friday, a monthly gathering sponsored by the Downtown Lakeland Partnership. Although Townsend’s wife, Julie, organizes the First Friday event, she reportedly has heard nothing from the Obama campaign.

Other local Democratic activists, including the county’s state committeewoman, have also been left in the dark about a possible visit. One item that may lead people to believe that it may happen is that according to Lakeland Ledger political reporter Bill Rufty in his blog Thursday afternoon, city police information officer Jack Gillen told a reporter that he could not comment when asked if the Obama campaign had contacted LPD regarding a possible local stop.

While I’ve never been to First Friday before, this will give me the perfect excuse to do so today. After all, as Rufty mentioned in his posting, the Obama campaign is known for spontaneous campaign stops not listed on his official schedule. I’m sure today will feature the largest crowd in the history of the monthly downtown event. Hopefully the restaurants along Kentucky Avenue will be ready.

Well, you can add two more restaurants to the list of those closing, this time on the south side of Lakeland: Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern and Steak & Ale on South Florida Avenue.

Apparantly, both were owned by Metromedia Restaurant Group of Plano, Texas, which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. Metromedia is the parent company of the two national chains.

Another chain owned by Metromedia, Pondrosa Steakhouse, put 59 of it’s Florida locations up for sale or lease last month (none in Polk County).

As the economy continues to falter, and customers cut back on their eating out or choosing lower cost options such as Golden Corral and similar style buffet restaurants, we’ve seen a number of eateries across Polk County falter in recent months. Sadly, I can’t see where the process will end soon, and that means more people out of work locally.

Spot.us won’t launch until this fall, but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.

How Does Spot Work?
1 An individual or journalist creates a pitch that outlines an untold story in a local community.
2 Members of your community vote, with their money, on what stories are most important to them.
3 A journalist researches the facts and [...]

Note: Former Ledger and Tribune reporter Billy Townsend has joined the ranks of citizen journalist.

I came across an odd campaign mailer today. It’s a glossy, professionally-produced piece. On the front it reads, “JD ALEXANDER STEPPED UP AND JOINED THE FIGHT.” Flip it over, and it continues: “When Bartow residents needed help in their fight to keep “stinky garbage” out of their neighborhoods…”

There’s a Ledger pullout quote from June 10 quoting JD as saying “…we don’t need stinky stuff a mile and a half a from the downtown of our county seat.” Imagine that, the champion of turning 60 into the mother of all truck stops is a NIMBY.

I assumed at first that it was a JD campaign mailer. He’s advertising more than Barack Obama on local television these days. (Every time I procrastinate at the gym, I look up, and there he is on the wall of televisions, saying something in closed captioning about “helping.” Nothing about all his work for Atlantic Blue or Highlands Cassidy or Phoenix or the Heartland distribution node on 60, but whatever, it’s a campaign, and I digress.) But the mailer’s not from his campaign, as a quick second look can tell. The man in the family picture on the front isn’t JD at all. He looks a lot more like Anderson Cooper actually.

No, this mailer is, in fact, an “electioneering communication” paid for by “Floridians for Conservative Values,” one of those shadowy third-party shell groups designed to funnel money to campaigns without funneling money to campaigns. This one should really be called “Floridians for Sugary Values.” U.S. Sugar has contributed $135,000 of the shell’s $271,000 raised since 2006. Florida Crystals Corporation kicked in $80,000.

All of this leaves me with a thought: It’s awfully decent of U.S. Sugar to have such regard for Bartow, particularly at a time when the company has been negotiating its own billion dollar demise.

Now, the cynics among you might question the company’s sincerity. What’s that you say, maybe Big Sugar just likes having a big corporate ally working in Tally? Maybe all JD’s TV advertising and Tallahassee fundraising and third-party mailers (four months before election day) show a case of the nerves brought on by the late-breaking candidacy of Scott Thompson of Winter Haven. Maybe they’ve heard the same rumors I’ve heard of bad polling.

It would be a shame to think Floridians for Ulterior Motives, errr Conservative Values, isn’t altruistic. So say it ain’t so those of you in JD’s orbit. Come on Jack, Sam, Seth, Twyla, or anybody else, drop me an email at bi_town1@hotmail.com, and tell me JD ain’t scared.

Metro I4 News is happy to announce we’ve added another affiliated blog: Re/Creating Tampa.

From the blog’s About page:

This is a blog about all the stuff on the internet that catches my attention. I try to focus on Tampa, but my mind wanders. The other pages, Eating Tampa, Greening Tampa, Reading Tampa, and Screening Tampa are more focused.

Re/Creating Tampa is ably written by David Davisson, who says of himself: “I write for my blogs and have started working on a book. When I’m not writing or looking at stuff, I’m working slowly on re-habbing our house in Seminole Heights.”

Sad to say that with the exception of Cypress Gardens, I’ve not been to any of the major theme parks in the nearly 20 years that I have lived here. High ticket prices, along with the obvious transportation issue, have prohibited this poor boy to enjoy the advantages that come with living in Central Florida.

But my advice to everyone today is simple: As the headline suggests, enjoy the region’s Busch Gardens and Sea World parks while you can, because more than likely big changes are on the way.

As many of you heard Monday, Anheuser-Busch has agreed to be sold over the weekend in a $52 billion deal to Belgian beer giant InBev. The deal will not be finalized until year’s end, but reports indicate that the frugal European corporation wants to sell off those divisions of A-B which are not directly related to it’s core business…beer. That means that Busch Entertainment, the nation’s largest theme park operator, will probably be on the block.

In Central Florida, that will have a big effect. In the area, Busch Entertainment operates:

In Tampa: Busch Gardens Africa and Adventure Island
In Orlando: SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica

I certainly would not expect any of the parks to close, but the number of possible takers are few, expecially in today’s economy when businesses are having to tighten up as much as possible. The parks would bring approximately $5 billion dollars plus.

The Polk County Bloggers, a not-for-profit, bylaws free, organization sans leadership, is happy to announce two meetings in July for area bloggers, citizen journalists, paid journalists privileged to write blogs, business bloggers, and anyone with an hour to spare.

July 21, 2008
Noon to 1 pm
at the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce
(Yes, you read that correctly.)
35 Lake Morton Drive
Lakeland, FL

This meeting is focused on the business that blogs, hopes to blog, or wonders why customers always ask for the company “blog.” It doesn’t matter if your company is for profit, not for profit, or wondering what this “profit” thing is that everyone talks about. We’ll mainly discuss some of the problems and opportunities blogging brings to your business, but the floor is open to any of your questions.

By July 17, please email me at meeting [at] lakelandlocal.com if you plan to attend the Noon meeting. I’d like to give the Chamber a head count.

•

July 28, 2008
6:30 to 8:30
at Mimi’s Cafe
3770 Lakeside Village Court
Lakeland FL

This is a casual meeting of a very informal network of Polk County bloggers. You’re invited even if you have never written a single blog post.

We spend the time talking about blogging — how, why, and where. Members are known to take the conversations far afield. Yes, “conversations”. This isn’t the traditional one member speaks at a time kind of meeting. We split up into small groups to chat.

It’s a restaurant and you can eat, drink, and be merry if you wish. If you plan to come please do me a favor and email me so I can call the restaurant with an idea oh how many will attend.

So, by July 21, please email me at meeting [at] lakelandlocal.com if you plan to attend the dinner meeting.

Thanks.

It looks like the Tampa Tribune has finally started posting again to the Polk County News Blog. When it was helmed by Billy Townsend, the blog was an important part of the local news community. Whoever takes it over has big shoes to fill. (Just ask Joe Girardi what it has been like to take over for Joe Torre.)

So who’s the new reporter?

Jennifer Leigh. Not the poker player, that’s Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh. Not the actress, that’s Jennifer Jason Leigh.

It’s actually Lakeland resident and WFLA Polk County reporter and weekend anchor Jennifer Leigh.

There’s no indication on the site that Leigh is getting a job with the Tribune. So, I’d hazard a guess that the newspaper is getting her services as part of the WFLA and Trib “converged multimedia news organizations.”

You’ll find Leigh’s entry here: Polk Schools Dealing With High Diesel Costs

Take a look at this Q&A about the Orlando Sentinel’s redesign:

Why are you putting blogs in the paper? I thought they were for the Internet. You’re right that blogs are a key part of today’s news distribution on the Web, and the Sentinel staff blogs every day on OrlandoSentinel.com. Much of that material has not found its way into the paper, so by publishing blog excerpts and comments daily, readers get to see new material they might have missed

I could post a few hundred words on this move, but I think a quote from Mahatma Ghandi fits best:

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Welcome to the new old west of publishing Mr. Zell