More newsroom snack dilemmas

Libby wanted to pose this follow-up newsroom snack question, in light of the cookies and goodies buffet displayed for a journalism camp reception:

Is it better to take several trips and take a few goodies each time, or to go once and heap your plate?

“Obviously the answer is just take the normal amount,” Libby explained. “But if you’re not going to do that, if you’re going to overeat no matter what …” What do you think? How do you eat the unreserved amount of free snacks your stomach truly desires while minimizing the glutton image?

Bridge collapse, one year later

It was about a year ago that I walked into the Indianapolis Star building and stared at the front page with confusion. The whole front page was covered with a photo and giant headline of the Twin Cities bridge that collapsed the day before. Wait, what city was I in? What newspaper was I looking at?

Everyone touched by a tragedy has a story. The Star Tribune has an outstanding project that really showcases how new media and the internet can elevate newspapers’ storytelling tradition. They really did justice to the people involved and the lasting impact on the community.

I wasn’t in the state, let alone involved, but I’ve got my story, too. The day it happened I got a call in the evening from Jacob, who was in Spokane. This was weird because 1) Jacob never calls and 2) he’d just called a few days earlier when he returned from Ireland. Since he’s been known to bury the lead on phone calls, I right away asked him why he was calling. He said he’d been watching TV news and, well, was my family okay? Being somewhat homesick, I checked the Star Tribune website each night as part of my dinnertime media routine. I’d missed their first bridge collapse update by minutes.

Newsroom smorgasbord

The “free for the taking” food table is an important feature of every newsroom. Along with the obvious sustenance function, it tells you a lot about the culture of a particular newsroom. It proves that reaction speed to free food is inversely related to time passed since college graduation.

Libby and I have made it something of a skilled practice that we refer to as ”assessing the snacks.”

Anyway, today we had a superabundance of food. A list of all items available for general consumption in the newsroom today, with starred items those that I personally assessed:

• cherries (red and Rainier)*
• marshmallows*
• graham crackers
• baby carrots*
• grapes*
• melon chunks
• bananas
• bagels
• M&Ms (almond and gourmet)*
• cherry pie
• beef stronganoff
• strawberries
• pizza (two days old, though)
• other assorted candy (including York patties, Andes mints, fun-size Mounds, chocolate)*

I am so full.

What’s in your Google bar?

Every once in a while I glance at the Google search field in the top right of my browser and find the phrase I searched a day ago is quite funny. As you can see, from a Saturday search mine still says “balalaika beatles.”

I could tell you the story, but then it wouldn’t be as funny. Okay, fine, I’ll tell it below. But what I want to know first: What does yours say? Are you ever surprised about the bizarre combinations of words you ended up searching for some reason?

My, what a large tail you have

This morning running east on a residential sidewalk I could only see silhouettes against the rising sun. The figure of a squirrel was sitting on the sidewalk below the outline of a tree. That is the largest squirrell I have ever seen, I thought as I ran toward it. What an unusually bushy tail.

As I got closer I wondered why the creature hadn’t scurried off yet. Standoffs with Minnesotan geese taught me suspicion of animals that don’t hurry away. I was about three strides from the obstinate squirrell when a branch blocked the sun, allowing me to see a white stripe down the middle of that unusually dark and bushy tail. I did a quick three-step sashay to the other side of the street and narrowly avoided an unusually unpleasant Monday morning.

I’ve smelled evidence of skunks in Manito Park before, but I didn’t know they were fond of lounging on sidewalks.

Picking up on “The Wire”

This isn’t really worth its own post, but oh well. I’ve now seen seven episodes of “The Wire,” and as Victor accurately predicted I’ve reached the point of attachment. I’m sort of curious how they make the newsroom thing work in later seasons, because as a journalist I’ll concede that notebooks are way less dramatic than guns. Ethical dilemmas only go so far in terms of action.

I still think the episodes are too long, the intro is the most ridiculously long intro in the history of TV, and none of the characters are individually that engaging yet except maybe Omar and Bubbles. But I’ll keep watching.

From ‘Arrested Development’ to ‘The Wire,’ and beyond

I rarely watch TV and have never had one of my own. I’ve never understood the appeal of channel surfing or waiting a week to get a new episode at an annoying time that forces you to reschedule your evening. Just not worth it. I like knowing what I want and getting it immediately, and then getting more and more without any sense of moderation. In my childhood this meant reading a book by bedside lamp late at night and thinking, “Only 90 pages, better finish it tonight.”

Then they invented TV on DVD. It is awesome. I would put that up there with Splenda for best inventions in my lifetime that still make me feel a tiny bit guilty. The list of shows I have seen on DVD but never at the original broadcast time is quite extensive. I don’t own any seasons of anything myself, but that hasn’t been a problem.

The most recent source has been Netflix, another great invention of my lifetime. Nick and I just finished the first season of “Mad Men,” an awesome show about a New York advertising agency in the very early 1960s. It is a gorgeous show, immediately a pleasure to watch, but at first I wasn’t sure about it.

Homecoming

The whole time my cousin Adam was in Iraq, a yellow ribbon was tied around a tree in the front yard of my aunt and uncle’s house. On Tuesday he cut down the ribbon as part of a gathering to welcome him back to his hometown. He returned to Fort Lewis more than a month ago and recently drove over with his wife and darling daughters for a Spokane visit.

Fire! Fire! (now calm down)

My grandpa called right before I left for work today to notify me of a fire downtown near the Spokesman building. Nick was giving me a ride, so he grabbed his video camera gear and told me to ask whether they needed him. The smoke was looking white when we drove by, as if the fire were almost out, but then as I entered the newsroom the whole building went up in flames again. So I called Nick back to send him over and recorded scanner chatter at his request.

It was enough to get my adrenaline going, and I earned a new speed record for my morning task of sorting and distributing newspapers. Then I paced around awhile because there was nothing else I could do. My heart rate is still high.

UPDATE: Here is Nick’s video.

Tyranny of the medium no more

Print forces us to do a lot of stupid things in journalism. I’ve done plenty of design and I greatly admire talented designers, but the fact remains: The pages of a print newspaper often end up being the proverbial “box” we’re supposed to be thinking outside of. Print forces us to cut stories that could be longer, or put a insignificant story on the front page because it’s the one with a photo, or use an imprecise headline because, well, it has to fit. We end up trying to make brownies in a bundt pan.

The internet changes all of that. We’ll still have the concept of “dominant art” on the web, and there’s still value in keeping stories concise — but so many of those news judgment decisions will be freed from the influence of print limitations. It’s really exciting.

There are two main breakthroughs:
1. Freedom of the internet (choose your medium, any medium)
2. Freedom from print (goodbye, newshole)

Also, I apologize for all this essay stuff. Without school I have to be earnest about things on my own time.