Your Advocate: an editor's blog - ChrisCobler's Blog

Your Advocate: an editor's blog - ChrisCobler's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler As editor of the Victoria Advocate, I want to amplify the readers' voices. I aim to promote transparency about what we do at the newspaper, on our Web site and any other delivery methods. By doing this, I hope to build trust with our readers as we seek to serve our community. As editor of the Victoria Advocate, I want to amplify the readers' voices. I aim to promote transparency about what we do at the newspaper, on our Web site and any other delivery methods. By doing this, I hope to build trust with our readers as we seek to serve our community. en-us What's the future of local TV news? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9635 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9635 You've probably heard how the Internet has affected newspapers, but not nearly as much has been written about what it's doing to local TV news stations. This <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01anchor.html?ref=media">article Sunday</a>  in the New York Times examined how stations are cutting loose their longtime anchors in an effort to trim costs. Anyone watch Carolyn Campbell on KHOU? What's remarkable in our small-TV market is the longevity of sports anchor <a href="http://www.myvictoriaonline.com/content/view/975542/173/">Don Brubaker</a> at <a href="http://www.myvictoriaonline.com/content/blogcategory/0/30/">KAVU</a>. All of KAVU's other newscasters have been there a relatively short amount of time, but Don's tenure rivals that of longtime Advocate sports staffers Mike Forman and Paul Ebner. I've only met Don briefly, but I salute him and others who dedicate their lives to telling the community's stories. Their wealth of community knowledge is invaluable. I wonder about the future of local TV news when the digital world offers so many channels. You can read online about various ominous signs: - <a href="http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/12104/the_death_of_local_tv_news/">The Death of Local TV News</a> - <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/15718">One Giant Newsroom</a> - <a href="http://rosenblumtv.wordpress.com/2007/06/27/the-future-of-local-tv-news/">The Future of Local TV News?</a> The tipping point, it seems, will come when our computers are fully integrated into our TV sets. The technology already is there to do this, but most have only scratched the surface. In the Crossroads region, only two out of 10 people watch KAVU news, according to our recent market study. How much more fragmented will the media market become before that level dips low enough to be unsustainable in its current format? Will FCC licenses become irrelevant when people have thousands of online channels from which to choose? These are challenging and exciting times for everyone in media. What future to you predict or want to see? Do you want a smile today? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9627 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9627 Who doesn't, right? I salute Advocate staffers Aprill Brandon, Frank Tilley and Bill Clough who all made the lives of our readers a little brighter the past couple of days. If you missed their recent contributions, I encourage you to take a look. The time you spend will be well worth it. Aprill took a routine annual assignment on Black Friday and turned it into <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/847/story/365800.html">an instant classic</a>. Be sure to read to the end where she describes tired shopper Luke Stevens. While you're there, be sure to click on photo editor Frank Tilley's audio slide show set to the William Tell Overture. If you didn't brave the pre-dawn hours of Black Friday, you'll be thankful after viewing this. For a break from all the commercial aspects of the season, click on multimedia news director Bill Clough's <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/multimedia/story/364381.html">essay on autumn</a>. It's truly magical. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful to work with so many talented and dedicated people. Did you see serious car crash in Cuero? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9612 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9612 A reader tells us a car speeding through Cuero smashed into a tree, apparently killing the driver at 1 p.m. today. Our reporter is checking with Cuero officials for the details for Friday's edition, but our photographer was covering a Thanksgiving dinner. If any readers have a photograph of the scene, please let us know by calling the newsroom at 361-574-1222. Digital pictures may be mailed to photos@vicad.com or newsroom@vicad.com. We also welcome calls with any information you have about the crash. Thank you for your help. Stay safe during the holiday weekend. What community service do you value? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9608 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9608 One of the reasons many prefer working at community newspapers is the closer connection you have with your readers. This happens naturally because we regularly bump into the people we write about. At the Los Angeles Times, you might be able to work your entire career without ever encountering a source in your personal life. In Victoria, you can't hardly go out your front door without running into Gary Moses. As a result, we constantly run into conflicts of interest. The best way we try to deal with those is to acknowledge the conflicts, discuss them in the newsroom, and be transparent about them. One conflict I want to acknowledge this week is my service on the board of the <a href="http://www.visdfoundation.com/">Victoria Independent School District Education Foundation</a>. A core value of our family-owned newspaper is service to our community. Our owners and newspaper employees are involved in so many community organizations and events it's hard to find one that the Advocate is not connected to in some way. At some point, our ethics board discussed, we should try to list them all. I was honored to serve on the board of the VISD Education Foundation because I believe in the cause. My wife and I have two children in VISD schools and want to do all we can for public education. I also don't anticipate an education foundation is something that we would write too frequently about or that would generate much controversy. We did recently publish an <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/opinion/editorials/story/363825.html">explanatory article</a> about the foundation, but the next logical story I could see would be when the organization grants its first grants to teachers. We provide similar coverage to any community organization doing worthwhile projects. Of course, I can't always anticipate the news. I once served on the board of a shelter for battered women, figuring it also wouldn't be in the news much. A short time after I joined, however, an employee was accused of stealing from the shelter. I told readers then about my involvement in the board. Let's hope I'm not a jinx, and the VISD Education Foundation helps teachers for decades to come. I am pleased to bring it to your attention and encourage you to contribute to it in any way you can. HOW TO CONTRIBUTE The Victoria Independent School District Education Foundation accepts: <ul> <li> Cash donations</li> <li> Annual pledges</li> <li> Support during special events</li> <li> Memorial gifts and honorariums</li> <li> Real estate</li> <li> Stocks and bonds</li> <li> Planned giving</li> <li> In-kind products and services</li> <li> Your time and service</li> </ul> The VISD Education Foundation is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit tax-exempt charitable organization which benefits the students and teachers in the school district by supporting activities not funded by tax dollars. To make a donation, contact Brittany Hollas at 361-788-9271. Why dig deeper into a national story in our backyard? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9579 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9579 A few readers have accused us of unnecessarily rehashing a sad chapter in Victoria's history: the death of 19 illegal immigrants trapped inside a tractor-trailer. They said the story was old news. However, we contend the stories we've presented so far <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/static/fatalfunnel/about.html">in the series</a> have never been told. Sunday's installment, the seventh in the series, examines the Texas Minutemen and their role in patrolling part of the Fatal Funnel. We encourage you to read <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/static/fatalfunnel/chapter7.html">Chapter 7 here</a>. Be sure to also view Photo Editor <a href="http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/User/FrankTilley">Frank Tilley</a>'s stunning video accompanying this installment. One critic I spoke to on the phone a couple of months ago said she just threw away the paper without even reading the installment. Clearly, illegal immigration is an emotional issue for many. Our goal is to fairly and thoroughly examine the important issues emerging from the trafficking that flows through the Crossroads region. Next month Public Service Editor <a href="http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/User/GabeSemenza">Gabe Semenza</a> and his team will take you to Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, the front line of this war. We hope you'll let us know what you think of the series and the subject. You may comment on the individual article on our home page or post to our <a href="http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/ViewPost/28487">Fatal Funnel discussion forum here</a>. How important is education? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9517 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9517 You may not realize the value of family ownership of a community newspaper. This special relationship came into full view Thursday night when the University of Houston-Victoria announced the plans of the Roberts-McHaney family to <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/local/story/356190.html">endow a professorship of humanities</a>. The <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/financial-endowment">endowed</a> professor will work to promote communications and journalism at UHV, recruiting and teaching students from across the region, state and nation. The prof also will work closely with the Advocate to give students internship opportunities, to provide training for our newsroom, and to work on joint projects. The community will be greatly enriched by this permanent position, which is contingent on UHV expanding to be a full university. I had the honor of speaking briefly about the endowment at the university's <a href="http://www.uhvannualreport.com/">annual report dinner</a>. I hope my comments made it clear how remarkable and exciting the Advocate owners' gift is to the university, the community and the state. I also saluted the vision of <a href="http://www.uhv.edu/asa/faculty/faculty.asp?id=14">Jeffrey Di Leo</a>, dean of Arts and Sciences, and <a href="http://www.uhv.edu/president/biography.asp">Tim Hudson</a>, UHV president, for making this possible. Life is fleeting. An endowment comes about as close to permanent as we can in this world. Many thanks to the Roberts and McHaney families for their efforts to make a permanent difference in their community. Why would you want to move from Boston to Victoria? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9445 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9445 I interviewed Friday a job candidate  from the Boston area. We spent quite a bit of time talking about why he'd want to move from a place he'd lived all of his life to South Texas. The answers might surprise some in Victoria, which like many smaller cities suffers from a lack of self-esteem. As the city works on its branding campaign, it might consider some of his answers: <ul> <li> He is sick of the long, cold, dark, snowy winters of the Northeast. Victoria's winters are spectacular.</li> </ul> <ul> <li> He is tired of the rude people you encounter daily in Boston. South Texans are among the friendliest people in the country.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>He and his wife want a good place to raise his young son. and is looking for a place with a strong sense of community. Like many smaller cities, Victoria and its even smaller surrounding towns offer that.</li> </ul> <ul> <li> He lives in one of the most expensive regions in the country. Victoria is one of the most affordable.</li> </ul> Those are his answers. If you're 20 and looking for nightlife, you'd pick Boston over Victoria in a heartbeat. But I do think Victoria has a lot to offer many people. Why do you like living in Victoria or the surrounding Crossroads region? I know the online world tends to invite negativity, but let's please reserve this one post for positive comments. Thanks. A special reunion http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9433 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9433 I gave a dear friend a hug when we met tonight in the Harvard Bookstore, and then we had dinner together in Harvard Square. The reunion made a day of traveling well worth it. I'm in Cambridge this weekend for the 70th anniversary of the Nieman Foundation. Here's a <a href="http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/Microsites/70thAnniversaryConvocationWeekend/Welcome.aspx">schedule of events</a>. When I was at Harvard, I regularly pinched myself as I listened to some of the world's foremost experts. I expect this weekend will be the same, but what I'm looking forward to the most is catching up with dear friends. The best part of the fellowship for me was the friendships I formed. I've put it this way: Remember the close friends you made when you were 20 years old and in college? Being a Nieman is like that, except your friends are the brightest, most talented and fascinating people you've ever met, as opposed to the kid from Johnson County, Kan., who drank too much. What are the headlines across the country today? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9413 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9413 Thank you again to all who participated Tuesday in our contest to write Wednesday's historic front-page headline. If you read online only, I encourage you to pick up the print version to get the full effect of "Barack solid." A bit groggily this morning, I'm checking out what other newspapers did across the country. You can see front pages from around the country and world at the <a href="http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/">Newseum site</a>. The Victoria Advocate usually is posted there as well, but we're looking into some technical glitch that prevented today's edition from appearing alongside the rest. Meanwhile, here are some other U.S. headlines that caught my eye: - In our lifetime - Obama overcomes - 'Defining moment' - 'A new dawn' - History - Oh-Bama! - 'Yes, we can' - President Obama (just for you, Bj) - Historic victory (Boston Globe) - Obama sweeps to historic victory (Wall Street Journal) - It's Obama (Los Angeles Times) - Obama (New York Times_ I'm pleased the Advocate's headline stands out as something different. The winner of our internal contest is Community Conversation Editor Tim Delaney, who suggested the headline last night as we kicked around a lot of bad choices. The rest of the front page layers in additional information such as the subhead, " Obama declares "change has come to America." I laughed the most at the tongue-in-cheek suggestion of "For those about to Barack, we salute you." The aging rockers in our midst had a lot of fun with variations on Barack 'n' roll. We hope you also dig inside the paper to the dozen pages of election coverage, including the most comprehensive report available on the Crossroads region. The front-page headline tells only one part of the story. What should be the big headline on tomorrow's edition? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9399 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/9399 We're having a newsroom contest to see who can come up with the one or two words that will be across the top of Wednesday's front page. What's your suggestion? We need ideas for both possible winners, of course. If the pundits are right and Obama wins big, one staffer suggested, "Barackslide." If McCain pulls off the upset, another suggested, "McStunner." Our print deadline is 1 a.m., so I'm pulling for a clear winner before then. I still recall the confusion of 2000 when newspapers didn't know what headline to use. We also encourage you to visit <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/electioncentral/">Election Central </a>starting at 7 p.m. Multimedia news director Bill Clough and the Advocate team will report the results live as we receive them.