B R E A K I N G N E W S
August 8, 2008, 5:10 PM--According to the Costa Mesa City Clerk's Office, LINDA DIXON DID NOT FILE HER NOMINATION PAPERS BY 5:00 PM TODAY.
Ms. Dixon is therefore out of the race for the City Council this year.
Because Ms. Dixon, as a Council member up for reelection, has apparently opted out, the deadline for all others to file nomination papers is now automatically extended to Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 5:00 PM.
Those filing their nomination papers by 5:00 PM today are: Eric Bever, Gary Monahan, Jim Righeimer, Chris Bunyan, Lisa Reedy, Nicholas S. Moss, Bill Sneen and Katrina Foley.
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HOLD THE PRESSES, CHIEF!
There are lot's of "real"newspaper people complaining these days about changes to the biz that are now taking place. Damn internet, don't you know.
We are, of course, at one of those times in history where a sea change is upon us, and this always causes a lot of disruption to the old ways.
Like life itself, one adapts or one dies. The internet (and its yet to be developed progeny) is the latest mutation of mass communication. But, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.
The internet is replacing the older animal that lacks these adaptations. It is, as Darwin might say, evolution and survival of the fittest.
Frankly, when I read talk from some "real" newspaper people about "real journalism" I can't help but thinking that horse and buggy manufacturers probably said similar things when automobiles started taking over.
Oh sure, the metaphor isn't exact, but you get the point. And, it would take me too long to come up with a better metaphor. Hey, I know, let me think about it for about 24 hours and then I'll publish a better metaphor in the next newspaper 24 hours from now and drop it on your driveway. Will you wait around for that? I didn't think so.
We're in an age where quick thinking and nimbleness is required. There's no time for a 24 hour news cycle. You can't just deliver the news or commentaries once a day. You have to do it all day long or you're going to lose readers.
And, if you lose readers, you're going to lose advertisers, and if you lose advertisers, you're going to lose your job.
MY TIME WITH THE GRAY LADY
As I've written before, I once played a reporter in a movie. Got paid about what a reporter gets paid too because it was under a special SAG contract. Richard Dreyfuss was probably the biggest name in the movie, but when the movie was made, he was a nobody. Anyway, that's a digression.
I have a tiny bit of additional experience with newspapers (other than the time I was trying to start an alternative newspaper) that informs some of my opinions on the subject these days.
In between acting jobs, I once had a nothing job at the New York Times at their then headquarters on 42nd and Broadway in New York City. Hey, I didn't like being a waiter.
As part of my new employee orientation I got a tour of the building. I can remember thinking at the time that the place must have cost a fortune to build, operate and run.
The picture that still comes to my mind of the place is of a big fat balloon like lumbering man talking in big lumbering fashion: ANNNNNNNNND OVEEEEEEER HEEEEEEERE WEEEEEEEE HAVVVVVVE OUUUUUUUUR PRRRRRRRRRRINNNNNNTTTTTTTINGGGGG PRRRRRRESSSSSEES.
Everything about the place was larger than the human scale. Think Citizen Kane.
First, we went way down into a sub-sub basement full of gigantic and very noisy (I SAID, VERY NOISY. NO, NOT POSEY...NOISY...NOISY!) printing presses. We were told that the presses caused so much vibration that they were bolted to the bedrock beneath the building lest they shake the building down. The closest analogy to the place was what you see in movies in a large steamship's engine room with catwalks and bunches of grease stained sweaty people running around with big wrenches fixing various things.
Then, we went up through vast open halls full of desks of workaday reporters. The star reporters may have had private offices, but I don't remember seeing any.
At one point we went into the private kitchen used by the food section of the newspaper. My memory is that we were told that it had been custom built for the exclusive use of the food critic who was a big national name at that time.
Then, we went into the morgue which was a very large room full of the obituaries of famous people not yet dead. If someone died, the obits could be pulled and used quickly for a special edition.
And, so it went. Everything was big and the Times building was like an ant hive full of people.
Once upon a time there were very many large dinosaurs...those were "real" animals, not like these damn mammals that are showing up now. Mammals are probably just a fad.
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CITY COUNCIL FIELD IN COSTA MESA WILL BE SET AT 5:00 PM TODAY
Check back later. We'll try to get the names of those who actually file their nomination papers.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
