Call up the Hardy Boys!  Nancy Drew!  Encyclopedia Brown!  There’s a mystery afoot!

OK, so it’s only really a “mystery” because I’ve yet to ask anyone who might know.  But hey, it’s the weekend, and city employees won’t be back in the saddle until tomorrow.  So I thought this might be a quicker way of getting an answer.

A very observant Steve writes in…

The least few days I’ve noticed all the newspaper, real estate, automobile, etc. vending racks have disappeared from downtown. For at least the past month, they all had notices on them that their permits were due for renewal, Maybe they’re been removed per City Code Sec 86-23?

Or MAYBE it’s all part of Decatur Metro’s sinister plot to rid the city of all other sources of information!  Bruuhahah!

Over on the AJC, retired reporter Jim Walls of Atlanta Unfiltered writes of the ongoing difficulties of obtaining political campaign disclosures for various Atlanta metro candidates.

“Last week, I paid $6 to park and pick up disclosures for Atlanta’s mayor and City Council.

The municipal clerk’s office is supposed to open at 8:30 a.m. I sat on the floor outside until someone unlocked the door 20 minutes later. Then I was told that the guy who could burn the files to a CD wasn’t in, so I needed to come back later.”

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I guess its a “power of words” sorta day.

In yet another documented instance of Atlanta news orgs referring to incorporated DeKalb as “Decatur”, thanks to a Decatur mailing address, the AJC first reported this DeKalb motel shooting as “Decatur motel shooting victim now in critical condition”, according to Andisheh.

Not the first time this has happened.

The location was reported as Decatur. An hour later, it’s changed to DeKalb without any note.

As we’ve noted before, it might not matter to most, but countless shootings and other illicit acts reported as “Decatur” but really in DeKalb, aren’t all that great for the city’s image.

Maybe a specialized “Decatur: We’re incorporated!” ad campaign would help.

The 2010 has come bearing gifts for the city of Decatur in the form of MORE online information!

Launching January 1st, Decatur News Online is the brainchild of resident Geoff Koski, which pledges to be a “journalistic internet news source for the citizens of the City of Decatur, Georgia— covering community events and issues” and already includes a variety of postings by contributing residents.

And just today, we received word via The Decatur Minute that the city was launching a third blog with the new year.  The Decatur Tax Blog promises to provide “fresh, non-partisan content about national & local tax and housing developments, timely reminders about tax deadlines for residents, special announcements, and educational posts about your tax bill.”

In his first post, city employee (and now “blogger”) Russ Madison makes one thing quite clear…

…this blog will in not be a political platform or forum about tax rates. For concerns about tax rates I would encourage you to contact your elected officials or visit privately-run blogs. Also, the information provided on these pages shall in no way constitute legal advice about your individual tax circumstances. Please seek the advice of a tax professional for dicey personal situations.

Editorial

There’s been a lot of talk of late, both here and in much larger discussion circles, about how the erosion of urban centers has permanently changed entire industries.  The sacrifice of the corner market at the alter of supermarkets is a frequently cited example.  Simultaneously, there’s also been a sickening amount of narcissistic talk about the demise of hometown newspapers.

Yet rarely do these two concurrent discussions overlap.

To my knowledge, urban planners and journalists don’t spend much time tracing the connections between the city one builds and the city the other covers.  Yet it’s no secret that a city’s layout can have important implications on its methods of communication, so it stands to reason that newspapers may also have been affected by their urban environments.

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That’s right folks.  The very same revolution that is reported ad nauseum by the press, about the press, is also taking place in an equally ancient medium: maps.

Tell me this blurb from the New York Times story about “geo-volunteerism” doesn’t sound like it fell right off the back of the paper wagon…

But Tele Atlas says its customers, who might be in delivery trucks or emergency vehicles, can’t rely fully on community-created maps, any more than historians can rely on Wikipedia.

“Most of our customers expect a level of due diligence and quality that is way more than what a community is going to put together,” said Patrick McDevitt, vice president of global engineering at Tele Atlas.

Defenders of the amateur approach point out that professionally created maps often have errors and can be slow to add road closures and other updates. Google has moderators who try to verify the accuracy of users’ changes, unless they are very minor, while OpenStreetMap relies on its members to police changes.

A statement about the “level of due diligence and quality” could just as easily come from the mouth of a hardened traditional journalist, while the retort could have rolled off the tongue of a sassy, Buddy Holly-esque blogger.

Every once in a while it’s helpful to remember that this dramatic shift is much bigger than just “news”.  It’s about the future of all printed information.  No single industry (or company) should deny that kind of flood.  Sink or swim.

But enough pontificating.  The best part about the article?  Decaturite John Kittle Jr. gets a shout-out!

UPDATE: After doing more sleuthing, CL’s post on the closing of SOVO and David magazine is much more in-depth and substantive.

Another newspaper shuts down, as reported by another newspaper.

Southern Voice has closed its doors after a long-time financial battle to stay afloat.

The publishers closed it and a handful of other gay publications nationwide over the weekend, the newspaper’s editor, Laura Douglas Brown, confirmed Monday.

Thanks to Steve for pointing this out!

In an interview with a newspaper, Fred Boykin credited “the blogs” for making this most recent election cycle “more interesting.”

This race by far was the most eventful for Boykin, who ran unopposed in 2001.

“This election was different because of the blogs,” Boykin said. “Some of the electronic media made it more interesting. There was more information going back and forth that was covered in more detail than with the traditional media. The anonymity of the blogs made it a little mean spirited at times.”

Aside from the occasional sniping on the blogs, Boykin said the Internet made fact-based information such as campaign finance reports available more quickly, which was beneficial.

Two years ago, I couldn’t for the life of me determine any notable differences between the candidates running for office.  There may have been unspoken, behind-closed-door differences, but that didn’t help this resident who couldn’t hear beyond the doorjamb.  Hopefully the public dialogue this time around helped people make more informed decisions in their respective races.

I also hope the candidates’ extended foray into interactive media will make them – and other public officials – more comfortable with using it in the future.  We’ve come a long way in just two years and I think we’ve proven the added value of an easily accessible, public online environment, regardless of the occasional “sniping”.

Dare I say it, but the community blogs of today have a higher calling than just trying to fill any newspaper gap.  They should strive to take their “community service” to a new level, providing not just a platform for stories (well-written or not), but also informed discussion on a city, town or region’s most pressing issues.

h/t: InDecatur

Last Friday, the AJC announced a drastic change in its editorial content: it would no longer be offering endorsements of local political candidates. That means no Atlanta mayor endorsement this year, no governor endorsement next year, and so on.

We have heard from readers — and we agree — that you don’t need us to tell you how to vote. What readers tell us they need is information on who the candidates are, what they have done and what they want to do in the new job.

That world has changed, steadily and more rapidly in recent years. We see our role now as providing you with information to help you make decisions — and not trying to make them for you. This is consistent with our move earlier this year to make the editorial pages more balanced — offering a wide array of opinions.

This morning, Creative Loafing, speaking through its urban politico reporter Thomas Wheatley, replied to the change.  To put it succinctly, CL’s official response was “Horsehockey!”.

While this sounds very forward-thinking and probably could be spun as “bold new thinking” in NewspaperLand, we think it’s hogwash.

The explanation the paper gave for its decision to quit endorsing just doesn’t jibe. The paper can still provide information about the candidates’ stances on the issues — while issuing endorsements of its own. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Perhaps the true reason the paper is giving up on endorsements has something to do with the AJC’s attempt to render the paper devoid of any opinion that could offend anyone.

What do you think?  Is the AJC’s move to suspend political endorsements something to be hailed or derided?  And here’s my own follow-up to that – if the AJC is now only in the business of presenting “facts”, who’s got the clout to pick up and lead the Atlanta conversation?

All AJC print subscribers received this email yesterday.

Dear _________,

The floods that washed across most of Georgia have personally impacted everyone. Whether you’ve experienced power outages, been stuck in the traffic gridlock or have property damage, your life has been affected.

This epic story is a reminder of the vital role that newspapers play in the communities we serve. Our journalists traveled far and wide in the middle of the floods, photographers took to the skies in a helicopter to document the damage, and newspaper carriers battled traffic, detours and downed trees to deliver the paper to you. Like no other news source could, the AJC delivered ongoing, up-to-the-minute information on ajc.com, and in-depth coverage in the AJC.

Each and every day, employees are committed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution being a forum for the local community. The AJC doesn’t take this responsibility lightly. We work very hard at fulfilling our mission – providing news and information that’s meaningful to our readers every day.

With the largest news-gathering team in the state, the AJC will continue to bring you the most extensive coverage on the efforts to recover and rebuild. You can trust that we will see the story through and provide investigative journalism that only a newspaper can provide. Our commitment to serving you remains strong. Thank you for being our subscriber.

Sincerely,

Michael Joseph

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