Locally Grown

Drive by Northfield’s car dealerships and look carefully.

 
At Furlong and Dokmo’s, they’ve reduced their inventory dramatically due to the recession but they’re camouflaging it by spacing the vehicles further apart.

At the Northfield News, they’re expanding the size of the graphics and photos, enlarging the font size in many places, using larger header and footer banners, adding advertising banners to the bottom of the front page, reducing the total number of pages, etc. Compare two recent front pages (left) with the front page of the last issue of 2007 (right).

Here at Locally Grown, we’re having to adopt similar strategies.

We’ve cut the number of fluff photos posted to the blog by 50%.

For those that we do include, like this one of copulating squirrels outside my home office window, we’re reducing the size of the linked popup from 1100 pixels wide to 999. And we’ve expanded the margins around the thumbnail from 5 pixels on one side to 15 pixels on both sides.

I could have used a videoclip of the sex al fresco but that’s just cost-prohibitive these days.

On our Locally Grown podcast, discerning listeners will notice another space-saving strategy, requested by KYMN news manager Jeff Johnson. Our contractual arrangement with station forbids us from blogging about this but we will be able to discuss in on the air today.

Northfield News Managing Editor Jaci Smith’s column in today’s paper is titled Heroin is here and it is a problem.

And one thing I was never completely confident of was the breadth of the “problem.” I could never really get an answer, even after I began working here, on the veracity of Smith’s numbers. He said that as many as 250 young people were abusing opiates in Northfield. I’m pretty confident now that he was right.

Reporters Suzanne Rook, David Henke and I have interviewed dozens of individuals on both sides of the battle: those who either knew of someone or themselves took or sold heroin and OxyContin (a pharmaceutical opiate) and those who were trying to save the abusers. We’ve spoken with medical officials, school officials, state health officials, county health and public safety officials and statisticians.

Here are the links to the Northfield News ‘Heroin One year later’ series of stories (final six not yet published):

• Heroin in Northfield: One year later
• Ken and Judi Malecha discover their son Jake is using heroin
• After living through the worst, Ellen and her daughter, Alexis, move forward — together
• Staying clean is a struggle for Rick, but this time, he believes it’s different
• Jake’s story, Part 2: ‘I’m not an addict’
• Brian’s story: Possessed by drugs
• Branden’s story: Finding a way out
• Lori’s story: In constant fear
• Jake’s story, Part 3: Nothing else to lose
• Gjeni’s story: Change comes one person at a time
• Neil’s story: Death of a friend leaves stark reminder
• Clinicians’ story: Withdrawal meds will come to town
• Law enforcement’s story: Looking for the trouble
• Recovering addict writes poem
• 20-year-old tells his story of addiction
• School’s story: A tough test
• A year later … what has been done?
• Questions are still out there about addictions

Here are the links to the drug-related blog posts and podcasts we’ve done here on Locally Grown in the past year:

• Heroin use among high school students in Northfield, Jun.22 2007, 294 comments
• Police press conference on Northfield’s heroin problem, Jul.3 2007
• Results: Northfield Community Straw Poll on Illegal Use of Drugs, Jul.11 2007
• Podcast: Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith and Northfield Schools Superintendent Chris Richardson, Jul.11 2007
• City Council and School Board meet in joint session to discuss drug abuse, Jul.17 2007
• Feedback wanted: our coverage of the heroin story, Jul.18 2007, 84 comments
• Podcast: The never-ending heroin/police chief story, Jul.18 2007
• Community response to drug abuse: What’s next?, Jul.24 2007, 26 comments
• Northfield’s heroin story revisited: a newspaper, a grandfather, a minister, Sep.23 2007, 40 comments
• The Northfield News interview with Police Chief Gary Smith, Oct.6 2007, 40 comments
• Police Chief Gary Smith responds, Oct.26 2007, 15 comments
• Carol Falkowski’s drug (presentation) bust: no recording or questions allowed; no mention of Northfield’s drug problem, Oct.30 2007, 40 comments
• Some questions about the implementation of D.A.R.E. in Northfield, Feb.26 2008, 170 comments

And now, something that actually DOES have to do with Northfield.

Last night was the NHS Commencement at the new Memorial Field. There were several familiar LoGro names on the program, including Currier, DeMann (Moline), Hartke (Davis), Etter, Ludescher, Neal, Pokorney. (Forgive me, I’m sure I’ve missed some, so please add comments!) And our own techie, Sean Hayford O’Leary (ArTech) graduates this year too.

Since Griff wasn’t around to photograph the event, I’d like to try to assemble some photos here. I have a handful which I uploaded to the LoGro Flickr page; if anyone has pictures that have been uploaded to an online photosharing service such as Flickr or Picasa (both free!), then please comment, including the link, in order to share with the rest of us.

 
I noticed earlier this week that these two homes, next door to each other, both had “No Shopper please” signs on their front doors. I know one of the residents and they said their requests to the Northfield News to stop the Shopper hadn’t worked so they put up the signs.

In January, we at LG got an email from a local realtor, Arlen Malecha, alerting us to this article in Maryland: Lawmaker Wants ‘Do Not Deliver’ Bill For Newspapers; Proposal Would Stop Free Papers On Lawn. So back then I emailed Northfield News Publisher Sam Gett, asking:

Sam, Can delivery of The Shopper be halted by request? It’s an issue because they pile up at homes where no one’s living. It’s both messy and it communicates that the space is unoccupied.

Sam wrote back:

Griff, Yes, we can. Just send me the address and I’ll take care of it.

Sam’s email address and phone number are posted on the Northfield News contact page.

I saw Northfield News photographer Dan Iverson last Thursday night at the Sequi event. He told me that Friday was his last day at the paper, as he and other photographers at Mainstream Publications LLC newspapers (parent company of Northfield News) had been given layoff notices on last Monday.

As an amateur photographer, I’ve long-admired Dan’s work. Whenever I’d notice him at an event where I was also taking photos, I’d watch where he’d position himself and try to learn from it.

Last summer, I wrote in a blog comment that “I’d really like to see a photo gallery where lots more of Dan Iverson’s photos could be displayed, esp. ones that DON’T make the paper.” That finally happened last month with the creation of a Northfield News photo gallery where 9 albums of Dan’s work now reside. I wonder if the reporters who’ll evidently now be expected to take the photos will continue to contribute to the gallery.

In Sunday’s Strib: Citizens Kane & Jane: Grass-roots “citizen journalism” is taking off in Minnesota’s online communities as moonlighters report on issues they say the mass media are missing. (See also the sidebar on Citizen Journalism resources.)

Okay, I admit it. If Locally Grown had been mentioned in this piece, I probably would’ve blogged it on Saturday night when Curt Benson first alerted me to it. But it’s irritating that the journalist, Randy Salas, completely missed:

• Northfield.org’s role as an aggregator of dozens of area blogs and repository for thousands of citizen-submitted photos, saying only that it “… features news about public events of interest to the Northfield community.”
• Our thriving civic blogosphere
• The only citizen-produced, civic issues podcast in the state (ahem!), now approaching its 100th episode
• A 13-year history of civil, citizen-moderated online discussions
• The Representative Journalism grant

Sigh.

What would it take to get the many readers who don’t comment, i.e. lurkers, to jump into the fray? We tried having a Lurker’s Month last September where we requested that the regular commenters hold off. It was an interesting experiment and one that might be worth revisiting, but maybe in a slightly different form.

Maybe we’re just too damned mean here on LG. But I have to point out that we do get regular, though maybe not frequent, comments from some really nice people, so it can’t be all bad. Maybe we should recruit some cheerleaders who volunteer to defend the newbies. Griff does a pretty good job moderating but he really likes to throw people into shark-infested waters to see if they’ll sink or swim.

I talked with someone a couple of weeks ago who reads all the comments daily, who said he just hasn’t gotten up the nerve yet to make any of his own. Would anything make it easier? Would it make a difference if we had more posts on non-controversial topics? What might help?

Over the past few months, when I’ve written posts on various issues, I’ve had several people respond to me with variations of “Why didn’t you just call and talk to me instead of blogging about it on Locally Grown?” My first, knee-jerk reaction to the question was that these people “don’t get it”, but I realize that’s unfair. I know and respect these people In Real Life, and they’re asking a legitimate question.

Perhaps some cross-[sub]cultural communication is in order. Those of us who’ve had long-term involvement with online dialog and virtual communities have had time to absorb the social conventions of that milieu. This isn’t necessarily the case with people who are relatively new to this world, or who don’t use the medium extensively. Added to this mild culture clash is the fact that our online community parallels our geographical one, which adds another layer of complexity; it makes it more difficult to determine which social conventions apply, and how that might play out online here at Locally Grown.

If I have a beef with a particular individual in Northfield, I’m not likely to publish a blog post without having at least a telephone conversation with the person first. But many of the issues I’m raising for discussion, or things I’m critiquing, are procedural or institutional in nature, and it’s not clear where the problem resides or with whom to effectively address it. I thought of this while reading Griff’s post about the Chamber when he wrote about why he hasn’t joined. If Griff wanted seek a specific change in the Chamber, who does he call? The new board president? Last year’s president? The executive director? What about “legacy” policies that have been adopted and implemented by people over a period of years or decades, who may no longer be involved? That’s just one example.

So what are the rules exactly? Is it a given that if Griff or Ross or I “speak” publicly without first speaking privately with those concerned with a particular topic, we’re out of bounds? Will my children’s teachers take it out on my kids because their mother is a bitch? Will I be blackballed by Miss Manners?

I’d like to gain additional perspectives from others in the LoGro community. What do you think?

The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) has a new white paper out titled Citizen Journalism and Newspaper Sites: The Revolution will be Uploaded.

Locally Grown and the Representative Journalism (RepJ) project are featured on page 11. 

And the Ft. Meyer’s Florida Team Watchdog project (being launched by the Northfield News) is featured on pages 9-10.

(I’ve turned off comments on this post. Continue the discussion in the Team Watchdog comment thread.)

We rejected dozens of guests who pleaded to be on our show this week, as we really needed to hear ourselves talking about ourselves.

We also wedged in some discussion about A) who might run for mayor/council; B) the police chief candidates/hiring process; and C) the profession of journalism/business of newspapers.

Click play to listen. 30 minutes. You can also subscribe to the podcast feed, or subscribe directly with iTunes.

Our radio show/podcast, Locally Grown, usually airs Wednesdays at 5:30 PM on KYMN 1080 AM.

In last week’s paper, Northfield News Publisher and Editor Sam Gett’s announced a volunteer citizen-journalist panel called Team Watchdog in a column titled: Wanna be a watchdog? Join us.

The philosophy behind Team Watchdog is simple. Community members with specific expertise partner with newspaper reporters to help us fulfill our First Amendment mission. We’re looking for people who are interested in exposing waste and corruption or just want to be part of finding better solutions. All are encouraged to apply, but experience in accounting, law and public service is especially helpful.

Our RepJ colleague Len Witt blogged about the Fort Meyers, Florida launch of a project by the same name about a year ago: Team Watchdog: Civic Journalism in Florida. Also see this Gannett story: Fort Myers’ Team Watchdog taps community expertise.

I’m delighted to see the paper engaging the citizenry more in its reporting. I’ve heard from others that they’ve had a ‘citizen advisory board’ for a while so maybe this is an evolutionary step. I don’t have any details on it but maybe our LoGroNo readers can help enlighten me? Or maybe Managing Editor Jaci Smith will post to her blog about it.

The new issue of the Manitou Messenger (”The Student Weekly of St. Olaf”) is out and it has an article titled City bloggers go toe to toe by Tim Rehborg.

Last Tuesday afternoon, a group of men and women of all ages from the Northfield community gathered at Froggy Bottoms Pub for the first official F2F (Frog to Frog) Northfield meeting. The meeting, hosted by prolific blogger Susan Hvistendahl, who edits the FrogBlog, drew together several members of the Northfield blogging community.

A person who I think I once moderated for violating our discussion guidelines has been trying to attach comments to my blog posts about Representative Journalism, criticizing me for my behavior and mistakes, and asserting that my participation in the RepJ project will be detrimental.

I’ve not allowed these new comments to be posted because I can’t verify who the person is. They don’t answer my email, in which I offer to talk to them by phone or meet in person. But I thought I’d post the criticisms here because there are elements of truth to them that others might be concerned about and it might help to have my responses all in one place.

Certainly Griff was upfront about the controversial and derogatory LG posts that he has had to remove? Like these two right here?

The URL/link they provided doesn’t work. I’m assuming they’re referring to comments that they made that I removed for violating our guidelines, but I’m not sure.

Also he told you about told [sic] the meetings with the Nfld News where they told him to stop plagarizing [sic] them or face lawsuit? Go ahead and call the Nfld News to confirm what i’ve said about their meetings with him. Plagarism? Is that what this “Representative Journalism” is all about? Or just those that you support?

When I was with NCO/Northfield.org, I did get a letter from then Northfield News Publisher Renee Huckle, asking me to stop linking to their articles that required a paid subscription to access. I wasn’t plagiarizing these articles but linking to them for online discussion purposes, like I do now.  I was also copying/pasting news headlines and teaser paragraphs from their website, and then linking to their news page as a way to encourage people to go to their site to read the full articles. But I was wrong not to ask their permission to do either of these, and of course, I stopped immediately.

About the times Griff has been forced to redact completely copied articels [sic] from Northfield.org because he copied them?

They’re referring to this blog post where I was trying to promote a youth-made video that Adam Gurno blogged about on Northfield.org. I linked to Adam’s post but I didn’t get his permission to replicate the video in my post. I removed it and apologized to Adam both in an update to the blog post and in an attached comment.

About his lawsuits within the city?

I’m not suing anybody so I’m assuming he means Mendota Homes suing my wife and me for not closing on a condo at The Crossing.

I’m happy to answer questions and respond to any other criticisms from anyone related to what I do/have done here on Locally Grown.

The Representative Journalism (RepJ) team paid a visit to Minnesota yesterday. (See the initial RepJ blog post for details on the project.)

Left: At the offices of the Bush Foundation, L to R: Bill Densmore (RepJ collaborator, Director of the Media Giraffe Project, U of Mass, Amherst), Peter Hutchinson (President of the Bush Foundation), and Leonard Witt (RepJ founder, Communication Chair and Associate Professor, KSU, Atlanta, Georgia)
Left center: Len mugs for a MinnPost.com billboard in a downtown St. Paul skyway
Center: Afternoon coffee break: Len and Bill with Andrew Haeg, director of Minnesota Public Radio’s Public Insight Journalism Network.
Right center/right: Me, Bill and Len, relaxing in MPR’s listening pods

Left: Recording a Locally Grown radio show/podcast at KYMN studios: Bill and Len with (center) Chris Peck, RepJ collaborator and editor of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN. (Earlier in the afternoon, Len and Bill also paid a visit to John Schott, Chair of Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton.)
Left center: Present in spirit throughout the day: Ruth Ann Harnisch, President of the Harnisch Family Foundation, which has funded RepJ.
Center: Relaxing at the Contented Cow: Bill, Len, and Chris with Tracy Davis, LG co-host and head honcho of GuildCraft Carpets and Northfield Carpets International. We then dined at Chapati.
Right center/right: Late night RepJ strategy session in the lower level Archer House conference room: Ross Currier, LG co-host and Executive Director of the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) with Bill, Chris, Tracy and Len.

We recorded next week’s episode of our radio show/podcast, Locally Grown, focused entirely on the RepJ concept, of course.

Click play to listen (30 minutes). The show will air next Wednesday, March 19 at 5:30 PM on KYMN 1080 AM. You can also subscribe to the podcast feed (or one click subscribe with iTunes). We seek your comments and suggestions. 

Update 3/15: The RepJ team had a few more collegial visits in the Twin Cities yesterday.

Left: Len Witt with Joel Kramer, CEO/Editor of MinnPost.com
Center and Right: Len, Bill Densmore and me with Bernadine Joselyn, Director, Public Policy and Engagement, Blandin Foundation.

Locally Grown has been chosen to test an innovative project called Representative Journalism, led by Communication Chair and Associate Professor Leonard Witt and colleagues at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. See Len’s blog post for details, as well as this press release (PDF).

Over half of the $51,000 grant from the Harnisch Family Foundation will flow to Northfield. Ross, Tracy and I will be paid for our time on the project. The Representative Journalism (RepJ) project will contract with a professional journalist who will be based locally. And money’s allocated to experiment with different ways to make the project financially sustainable.

Project staff will be visiting Northfield in the next few weeks to conduct interviews and help us get launched.

There’s lots to discuss about how all this is going to work so fire away with comments. As you’ll soon see, we have some stuff figured out but we expect to making a LOT of it up as we go, primarily based on input from you, our readers, listeners, and fellow citizens.

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