Comments on: RepJNorthfield.org discussed at prominent journalism school

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:14:00 +0000

Bonnie, I read (in a newspaper) that the Detroit papers are going to publish only three days a week and encourage online reading. Jay Leno commented on that, saying it was because they did not want to read the sports page about the Detroit Lions losing all the time.
So the future is now. No more clippings to save? Poor newspapers. So how soon do you think before newspapers will disappear entirely?

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:24:30 +0000

Bonnie, you seem to be doing very well, and I congratulate you on that. It seems Northfield is in the vanguard of something very cutting edge here, exploratory and fascinating, as I said. If indeed the Internet is so important for the future, I wonder how far along Northfield is as far as industries and businesses in town having an Internet presence. Griff probably knows. Is Northfield ahead of the curve here?
When I came to Northfield in 2004, I was drafted into doing a website for Froggy Bottoms, which we called a FrogBlog. And now the pub has a much expanded website to cover the pub, Froggy suites, etc., with the FrogBlog just a part of it. My brother’s law office and his Peterson Art Furniture in Faribault also have websites. But I do not know how many other businesses feel it is a necessity today. Are older businesses less likely to try websites or feel a need for them?
Just wondering. Keep up the good work.

By: Abe Abreu, Sr.

Abe Abreu, Sr. — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:46:56 +0000

Bonnie, I enjoyed meeting you at the Mizzou program and it was cool hanging out in Iowa on the way back. I’m excited about the future of community-driven content and look forward to helping you develop this program further.

By: Bonnie Obremski

Bonnie Obremski — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:54:54 +0000

Thanks for your input Susan. I am fond of print, too. Still, I can’t help but think that the future of nearly every industry involves a strong Internet presence. So, I’m in favor of making that Internet model the best it can be… and hopefully with help from the people of Northfield!

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:21:29 +0000

Very interesting. My father Jake Hv. was head of journalism at Iowa State and would be fascinated with this. One participant spoke of the “crumbling of the journalistic infrastructure.” My daughter, a law student at the U. of Minn., rarely reads newspapers, getting almost all her news online (fortunately many newspapers are online now, but I personally do not enjoy sitting at a computer to read a whole newspaper’s worth of stories). I am my father’s daughter, and some of my earliest memories are sitting on his lap while he read the paper. I hope it is not true that newspapers will be only be published online sometime in the future.
After all, even RepJ Bonnie likes to see her byline in the Northfield Entertainment Guide where we both write columns now. There is still something special about print media.