clearly I was invited because of my blog, but should I be there as a blogger? Brendan did let me take a bunch of photos. By the time I got back home and had done some cleanup, I decided this was worthy of a post. Brendan is a symbol of how open things are in Alaska. Although he grew up here, he split after high school and has been working as a journalist in Mesa, Arizona for the last 12 or 13 years. He's only been back here since December, yet he's been a real presence in the Anchorage media scene, even though his family all followed him Outside. It was also interesting hearing his take on the future of the press - it was bought by an Outside company that has one other mid-sized city weekly newspaper like the Press and a lot of small town newspapers. The new owner has been putting money into the Press - Brendan got a new iMac with a big screen and the offices have been spruced up.
This is in sharp contrast to what I hear from people at the Anchorage Daily News, where the newspaper is getting smaller and thinner. The two newspapers have different roles - the ADN being the traditional newspaper, supermarket for all the news and the Press has been more like the small local quickstop market. As things switch to more internet, it looks like the small alternative paper, that's picked up free all over town, is in a better position to adapt easily to the changes, whereas the large mainstream home delivered paper is far less flexible with its large staff and headquarters.
The conversation covered a lot of ground, including the strong cooperation among the reporting staff of various media in Anchorage. Brendan is clearly enjoying himself at the Press and we're lucky that he decided to come home to Anchorage. But the Press tends to have a high staff turnover. How long will be here? Who will be next?
Brendan is fascinating. His vindication of Rishi Maharishi this week, touched upon a subject that had been dealt with irresponsibly by KTUU and KFQD. That the ADN will continue to employ Dan Fagan, after yet another example of Fagan's irresponsibility (racism?) is laid upon their editorial doorstep is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThe co-operation exemplified by Kelley, Shurtleff, Selbig and Dillon in the false re-directs in the AK-AL House race, is highly significant. Even if the fine reporters and feature writers at the ADN might want to co-operate with another journalistic entity in Anchorage other than KTUU - or, in Fagan's case, KFQD - the reporters' efforts would be slapped down by the shall-minded editors there.
Dillon has expressed hope that the Press will completely re-vamp their web design. There seems to be some reluctance on the new owner's part to take this the distance. Maybe he should hire Dennis Zaki to do a redesign...
Brendan has a fascinating, very expressive face. That is a great composite.
ReplyDeleteluckily a web redesign is on the schedule for this summer (i believe); the Tucson Weekly is our sister alt-weekly, their site should give you an idea where we'll be heading (www.tucsonweekly.com).
ReplyDelete"Brendan is a symbol of how open things are in Alaska. "
ReplyDeleteNot too sure about *all* Alaska. Otherwise, you would have known long ago who owns that Hummer.
Just today, one of Bethel's two local radio news shows again couldn't report the accurate nature of a tax increase for swimming pool and last week had a statewide story which presented only one side of a local controversy. Our "local" newspapers have always shied away from investigative reporting, especially where statewide/local politics, federal funds, selfish-entitlement, and patronage are concerned.
It's very difficult to have autonomous support for open information. It takes a long while before a stifled environment self-extinguishes and can then be opened for fresh ideas-- people suffer hypoxia in the meantime.
I should have been clearer about what I meant. Brendan has been back in Alaska 5 months now and he's had no trouble getting in to talk to our senior US Senator and all sorts of other 'important' people in the state. He said that he never got to talk to Senator McCain when he lived in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteYou make good points about getting information, but the Hummer probably isn't a good example, it only took me several hours to find out who's it was. But you could argue that legislative plates should be public information and it shouldn't have taken that long.