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> My News Dispatch rant thread
Tim
post Apr 27 2010, 04:56 AM
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Okay - I've posted stuff about the ND and I don't want to gum up the board with any more threads. So I'll just use this one. If you're not interested please skip over it.

As I've said many times, the News Dispatch is one of those hometown institutions that's been part of my life since I was a kid in Edgewood in the 50's. And to be fair they do get it right a lot of times. But in the last couple of years - apparently due to budget/staff cuts - the paper's really gone downhill. That's just sad - but it also pisses me off that someone in power is letting this happen.

I'll not be posting Deb Sederberg gaffes. She's obviously a tolerated lost cause.

So - today's rant. Is a 10-year-old running the online edition? How many times to we see pictures like this? Does whoever's doing that NOT know that you can't just take a thumbnail file, stretch it ten times its original size, and have it not look like crap? They do this constantly. From today's story about the park idiocy. First the thumbnail - and then a screenshot of how it came out.

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Again, it is incomprehensible that someone is looking at this and approving it.

End rant.

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ChickenCityRoller
post Apr 27 2010, 07:28 AM
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ya get what you pay for?


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Tim
post Apr 27 2010, 05:25 PM
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QUOTE(ChickenCityRoller @ Apr 27 2010, 08:28 AM) *

ya get what you pay for?


Any product the News Dispatch puts out reflects on its quality. This is SUCH an easy fix - a near-no brainer.
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taxthedeer
post Apr 27 2010, 06:31 PM
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Today they posted Sundays police reports on the obituaries web page.

I remember that they once had an article with an erroneous phone number to report gas station price gouging, it was was a sex line...
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Tim
post Apr 27 2010, 06:33 PM
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QUOTE(taxthedeer @ Apr 27 2010, 07:31 PM) *

Today they posted Sundays police reports on the obituaries web page.

I remember that they once had an article with an erroneous phone number to report gas station price gouging, it was was a sex line...


Do you still have the number?

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taxthedeer
post Apr 27 2010, 06:55 PM
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QUOTE(Tim @ Apr 27 2010, 07:33 PM) *

Do you still have the number?

tongue.gif

It wasn't too much longer after that the N-D ran a story about a crime that happened in South Bend and asked for the public's help by calling South Bend CrimeStoppers toll free 1-800-288-STOP. As it turned out that's a sex line too. The local number in South Bend CrimeStoppers is 288-STOP, the toll free number for South Bend CrimeStoppers 1-800-342-STOP
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Tim
post Apr 27 2010, 09:13 PM
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QUOTE(taxthedeer @ Apr 27 2010, 07:55 PM) *

It wasn't too much longer after that the N-D ran a story about a crime that happened in South Bend and asked for the public's help by calling South Bend CrimeStoppers toll free 1-800-288-STOP. As it turned out that's a sex line too. The local number in South Bend CrimeStoppers is 288-STOP, the toll free number for South Bend CrimeStoppers 1-800-342-STOP


Got it.

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taxthedeer
post Apr 28 2010, 03:58 AM
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QUOTE(Tim @ Apr 27 2010, 10:13 PM) *

Got it.

tongue.gif
Here's an example of an obituary that once appeared:

Should have read:

Betty Mae Parker, Age 78 passed away at St. Anthony Medical Center....

Ended up reading:

Betty Mae Parker, Age 78 was arrested at St. Anthony Medical Center...


Another one, during a recent political campaign the N-D ran a profile of one of the candidates that coincidently shared the same name of a murder victim from several years prior. Naturally, the N-D pulls up and prints the file photo of the murder victim instead of the candidates photo...
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MCRogers1974
post Apr 28 2010, 05:34 AM
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Sounds like just another example of corporate America cutting staff and pushing so hard that mistakes are made. "Do more with less and don't let quality suffer".
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taxthedeer
post May 2 2010, 08:21 AM
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An obituary for a 37 year old man reads that he was born in '72 and joined the Army National Guard in '87. He must have been a drummer boy. huh.gif
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NDReporter
post May 2 2010, 12:21 PM
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QUOTE(taxthedeer @ May 2 2010, 09:21 AM) *

An obituary for a 37 year old man reads that he was born in '72 and joined the Army National Guard in '87. He must have been a drummer boy. huh.gif


To be fair, we don't write the obituaries, the deceased person's family does. It's something I would have caught while editing, but...


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southyards
post May 2 2010, 12:43 PM
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QUOTE(NDReporter @ May 2 2010, 12:21 PM) *

To be fair, we don't write the obituaries, the deceased person's family does. It's something I would have caught while editing, but...


Does the ND publish some things that other people write without checking at all, or did the person responsible for checking this particular notice in the paper just slip up? Not flaming here, just curious.
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NDReporter
post May 2 2010, 01:47 PM
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QUOTE(southyards @ May 2 2010, 01:43 PM) *

Does the ND publish some things that other people write without checking at all, or did the person responsible for checking this particular notice in the paper just slip up? Not flaming here, just curious.


I'm not in charge, so I'm sticking my neck out, but here's the thing -- when you get anything in large volume, such as obits or candidate questionnaires or legal notices, you do what you can to make sure they're correctly formatted and try to pick out obvious errors. But there are only 40 hours in a week, and you have other work to do. If you can't rely on the sources who should be able to provide accurate information, how is it the newspaper's responsibility to do it for them? I'm certainly no Superman.


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Tim
post May 2 2010, 06:51 PM
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QUOTE(NDReporter @ May 2 2010, 02:47 PM) *

I'm not in charge, so I'm sticking my neck out, but here's the thing -- when you get anything in large volume, such as obits or candidate questionnaires or legal notices, you do what you can to make sure they're correctly formatted and try to pick out obvious errors. But there are only 40 hours in a week, and you have other work to do. If you can't rely on the sources who should be able to provide accurate information, how is it the newspaper's responsibility to do it for them? I'm certainly no Superman.


I can tell from your posts you're one of the people trying hard to make the ND a better paper - so I ask with with due respect. What about the picture posting? Is there not one person at the ND capable of doing that?
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NDReporter
post May 2 2010, 07:20 PM
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QUOTE(Tim @ May 2 2010, 07:51 PM) *

I can tell from your posts you're one of the people trying hard to make the ND a better paper - so I ask with with due respect. What about the picture posting? Is there not one person at the ND capable of doing that?


I don't know. If you know how, you should tell me!


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Tim
post May 2 2010, 08:08 PM
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QUOTE(NDReporter @ May 2 2010, 08:20 PM) *

I don't know. If you know how, you should tell me!


I don't work at a newspaper. But I do know that you cannot stretch a thumbnail to ten times its original size and have it not look like crap. Why post pics at all if they can't get it right?
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post May 2 2010, 09:04 PM
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QUOTE(Tim @ May 2 2010, 09:08 PM) *

I don't work at a newspaper. But I do know that you cannot stretch a thumbnail to ten times its original size and have it not look like crap. Why post pics at all if they can't get it right?


I can't help you, there. Sorry. sad.gif


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Tim
post May 3 2010, 02:36 AM
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QUOTE(NDReporter @ May 2 2010, 10:04 PM) *

I can't help you, there. Sorry. sad.gif


Judging by the way the ND presents itself in its online edition, I'm pretty sure no one can.
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TSNSPYDER
post May 31 2010, 05:58 PM
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I see News-Dispatch has changed their website look.

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Tim
post Jun 1 2010, 05:30 AM
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QUOTE(TSNSPYDER @ May 31 2010, 06:58 PM) *

I see News-Dispatch has changed their website look.



It's been that way for a while. The site works great - and most of the time they do get a lot of stuff right. Just stay away from the Deb Sederberg buffoonery and it's not too bad lately.
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