Metro I-4 News

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If this bleeding doesn’t stop your local newspaper will be a weekly. And that might be a bad idea. Sentinel eliminates 52 newsroom jobs

Meanwhile, the Ledger is going hourly. Ledger News Now

An author the Sentinel fails to name believes a Shorter workweek can pay huge dividends. (By the way, his name is Timothy Ferriss.)

Bonus:

The Sentinel: We think: State Farm’s rate hike request for homeowners seems unreasonable. You think? 47%. Who wouldn’t think?

Tribune: Gas Prices Drive Demand For Downtown Dwellings

The next time anyone in my family goes to the hospital, we’re brining our own bleach: Beware, patients: Killer bug plagues hospitals

“During a 10-hour shift, a worker can lift two tons; the pay has been about 1.4 cents per pound.” and yet farmers haven’t passed on the extra penny a pound the workers got Burger King (and others) to agree to pay: Orlando-area immigrant workers fight to hold the pennies they won

Confused about carbon offsets? This Sentinel article won’t help: Everyone has a carbon footprint - but do ‘offsets’ make sense? So why link to it? Well, the Sentinel writer tried, but the concept deserves a lot more space than a few inches in the daily paper. That’s he kind of article that could have been a series. The question now is: will readers take the time to follow a series that isn’t about sex, beauty or gossip? I think they will. I’m not so sure many newspaper marketing people would agree.

A defense contractor says their plant isn’t hazardous. This is news? Nelson Plans Meeting To Address Raytheon Issues

I am surprised the Tribune hasn’t announced a series on teen sex trafficking in this week’s paper. It must be the recent cut in staff. However, they do have an editorial: Region Needs To Wake Up To Teen Sex Trafficking. I hate that headline though. It reminds me of a morning show promo. Region Needs to Wake up to Kristie Lee and the Morning Report!

Note today’s date: July 13, 2008. That’s important as you read State Chided For Dip In Voter Registrations Now note this line from the article: “In January, lawyers for three national advocacy groups - Project Vote, ACORN and Demos - complained….” They complained in January and it took six months for the Trib to write about it? Or did they just hear about it? Either way, it’s good it finally made the paper.

Bonus:

Expect more articles like this in your local paper: This Isn’t Goodbye, But Merely The Turning Of A New Page

If you didn’t read it in a newspaper, you might not know the American press had an especially bad few weeks. Reporters, editors, photographers losing their jobs in droves. The American press is in upheaval because you’ve stopped reading the paper. Worse, you’ve stopped buying the paper. Even worse, you’ve stopped putting ads in the paper.

What comes next: citizen journalists. The problem is the majority of citizen journalists aren’t going to have the resources to dig deep and uncover the big problems. Crooked presidents, wars started on false pretenses, corporations polluting the environment. Americans need a healthy press to do that.

I’m going to start writing more about the changes in the regional papers. Not in this column, but another that will debut later this week.

Hillsborough County is considering changing the county charter. Here’s What To Expect If County Voters Opt To Have A Mayor

Oddly, the Tampa mayor is bucking the obvious turn away from bottled water Don’t Toss Bottled Water, Iorio Says

Just be very careful where you park in downtown Orlando: Car-booting guy offers no apologies

This is a scary thought “The massive Deseret Ranch — four times larger than the city of Orlando — is taking a key step toward its first major development.” Homes, homes on the range in Orange County near Orlando International Airport?

The public has been discussing rail road issues quite a bit this past year, but how many officials were listening? Here’s a Florida DOT meeting so the Public Will Get Chance to Discuss Railroad Issues

A pair of bonus stories: Newspaper Industry Woes Inspire Prayer Web Site is presented without comment, other than if Americans can’t find a way to fall in love with newspapers again, we’re going to be a much poorer country.

This is an old one, but I thought it deserves a look. It’s all about fair representation and some people don’t believe we get it when politicians design political districts: Taking Aim at Gerrymandering

In an ALL CAPS top of A1 SCARY HEADLINE, the Orlando Sentinel tells us that the RAIL DEAL CLINGS TO LIFE.  The other big story is an important one in the wake of the Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photos: growing up may be life’s toughest role for kid stars.  Well, it’s important for all those [...]

• Evidently Polk County is in the Orlando area to at least one Sentinel headline writer, Orlando-area deputies arrest 11 men in Internet sex sting
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These are today’s stories from three local newspapers that affect Metro I-4 citizens..
• The Sentinel includes a guide to go green, Orlando wants to sell arenas, Columnist Mike Thomas has [...]

The St. Pete Times is upgrading the tampabay.com website.
Dear Readers:
Earlier this week we made some technical upgrades on tampabay.com meant to improve your experience and our work processes. Unfortunately, just the opposite is happening in some cases.
Many links appear out of date, and certain features, such as the ability to view past editions, are not [...]

The big subject lately is transportation.
In addition to your votes that transportation is the first issue to tackle, recent and upcoming TBARTA public meetings and debating red light cameras, Rich Shopes tells us that the Florida Department of Transportation says morning commute times will increase significantly by 2025. The story includes a map of [...]

I’ll bet certain special interests were meanly happy to see this headline & subhead in the St. Pete Times, casting aspersions on the Environmental Protection Commission:
Auditor slams watchdog’s recordkeeping
The Environmental Protection Commission is doing a poor job of keeping track of its work.
Like a gossip tabloid making something innocuous sound sensational, the Times makes a [...]

Local recipe and food blogger Jaden Hair started her Steamy Kitchen blog in February of 2007. By August, she was getting big-time pub from the Tampa Tribune and the Wall St. Journal. Before that month ended, Jaden was looking for a logo for her brand new column in Creative Loafing.
Alas, it is over. [...]

Received From Eric Deggans:
The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists is presenting its second annual session focused on multimedia reporting on March 8, featuring members who have done extensive work translating their newspaper or TV work into online platforms.
On deck so far:

Ken Knight, multimedia reporter for Media General
Demorris Lee, reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, [...]

Back in December, Wayne Garcia said "Tampa Bay has jumped the shark."  At the time, he offered his views on Tampa Bay’s top 10 civic problems.  Garcia writes for Creative Loafing, and this week’s cover story is a follow-up to that column, saying we have to fix these things now.  This time, the entire CL [...]

There is another video making its way around the world. Instead of a wheelchair dumping, this time Tampa Police Officer Kiet Truong was dragged down the street for blocks. How scary is that? He could have been killed. Because of the very real dangerous situations they are often in, I tend [...]