I don't know if anyone remembers the once-infamous Colorado Press Association Toilet Seat awards, bestowed on newspapers for gaffes that make you gasp. I, and the Aurora Sentinel, are among the alumni of this dubious distinction. One year, an inattentive fotog hustled a past-deadline sports photo into the composing room, with a cutline referring to members of the state's oldest girls' softball fast-pitch org, the "Buckaroos," inadvertently referring to the young women as the "Fuckaroos." Despite the endless horror this brought, in print, we were pleased to hand the coveted toilet seat to former Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple for the Rocky's priceless P-1 photo of a man in short shorts giving "teste-mony" to the value of proofreaders on the bench. Friends at the Rocky said Temple was so convinced it was an optical illusion, he had blow-ups brought into the newsroom for everyone to ogle. Newspaper life can be so rich.
My deepest sympathies to our colleagues at the GJ Daily Sentinel, who can market their gaffe as providing news so damn good, you need to read it twice.
To the struggling papers, several new-era news organizations have switched to small dollar monthly subscriptions collected directly from subscribers' bank accounts. Some have done so with success. But the experience on the West Slope and elsewhere suggests readers do value their papers and remain willing to support them. Just some thoughts: could a perhaps a modestly more substantial monthly plan be offered to small (2+ employee) local advertisers for what used to be called classifieds and community notices, and a still-more substantial monthly subscription to fee to larger advertisers?
I don't know if anyone remembers the once-infamous Colorado Press Association Toilet Seat awards, bestowed on newspapers for gaffes that make you gasp. I, and the Aurora Sentinel, are among the alumni of this dubious distinction. One year, an inattentive fotog hustled a past-deadline sports photo into the composing room, with a cutline referring to members of the state's oldest girls' softball fast-pitch org, the "Buckaroos," inadvertently referring to the young women as the "Fuckaroos." Despite the endless horror this brought, in print, we were pleased to hand the coveted toilet seat to former Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple for the Rocky's priceless P-1 photo of a man in short shorts giving "teste-mony" to the value of proofreaders on the bench. Friends at the Rocky said Temple was so convinced it was an optical illusion, he had blow-ups brought into the newsroom for everyone to ogle. Newspaper life can be so rich.
My deepest sympathies to our colleagues at the GJ Daily Sentinel, who can market their gaffe as providing news so damn good, you need to read it twice.
Hilarious.
To the struggling papers, several new-era news organizations have switched to small dollar monthly subscriptions collected directly from subscribers' bank accounts. Some have done so with success. But the experience on the West Slope and elsewhere suggests readers do value their papers and remain willing to support them. Just some thoughts: could a perhaps a modestly more substantial monthly plan be offered to small (2+ employee) local advertisers for what used to be called classifieds and community notices, and a still-more substantial monthly subscription to fee to larger advertisers?
Thanks for this, Bill.