Replies

[Tim]

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.




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

End rant.

[taxthedeer]

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.

[NDReporter]

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.

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...

[southyards]

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.

[NDReporter]

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.

[Tim]

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?

[NDReporter]

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!

[Tim]

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?

[NDReporter]

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.

[Tim]

I can't help you, there. Sorry.

Judging by the way the ND presents itself in its online edition, I'm pretty sure no one can.