Southern Illinoisan

 Figured since I subscribe to the Southern Illinois digital edition, I ought to start reading it again. The first couple of pages are local news which is pretty good. One of the few places you can find local news. However, checking out the editorial page, oh my gosh. When I got the paper edition of the Southern, the editorial page was somewhat balanced, with one moderately liberal columnist, one moderately conservative columnist and Doonesbury relegated there from the comics page. 

Today the editorial page features two conservative columnists, one of which argued that unions are bad for business and for the economy, and Mallard Filmore, which is kinda like Doonesbury except conservative and lacking Donnesbury's satirical touch (and decent art).

Marilyn Halstead Back

 Long time Southern Illinoisan reporter Marilyn Halstead is back at the paper, hired as the new news editor. Guess the new owners decided it was not such a great idea to pitch decades of institutional knowledge. Or maybe, less charitably, they are rehiring terminated staff at lower pay rates?

Newspaper Consolidation

 read in Harper's Review this week that roughly 25% of US newspaper have shuttered since 2005 and that, of those remaining, investment firms own half. most investment firms focus on increasing "cost efficiencies" at the papers they own, which generally means cutting local staff and using more materials from wire services. Also the research I have read indicates that communities without a local newspaper have higher taxes and lower voter turnouts, since most local residents do not pay close attention to the activities of city government and are not nearly as engaged as communities with a newspaper.

In addition, local papers are the primary source for coverage of local high school and colligate sports. Local radio and tv stations only devote a few minutes of time to local sports, which papers devote dozens of column inches to the topic and the sports section is generally the most avidly read section of the paper.

Reader's Choice Awards

 In case you want to vote in the Southern's Reader's Choice awards, here is the link  Looks to me that, if you want an actual listing in the poll, you had to pay for it, otherwise people have to write you in. If I remember, rightly, I got pitched $200 for a listing in the "collectibles" category.

Best of Southern Illinois

The Southern Illinoisan has opened its annual "Best of Southern Illinois" poll. You can vote from today through Jan 26th.

The Southern Opinion Page

Noticed that the Southern has removed or discontinued its opinion page for the past couple of weeks. Do not not remember seeing any notice from the paper as to why they had dropped it or when/if it would. I rather miss the letters to the editor as some of the screeds published from various letter writers were, unintentionally I am sure, quite humorous.

Southern Illinoisan Shutters Printing Press

This week, The Southern decided to shutter its printing facilities in Carbondale and outsource them to the St. Louis Post Dispatch in Maryland Heights. What this means to those who take the paper is that, according to a post on Facebook, deadlines will move earlier. This will mainly affect the sports pages as local evening games will probably not end in time to make that day's deadline for the following morning so expect a extra day's delay in seeing some local high school scores reported. However, maybe if this results in enough savings, the Southern could return to a seven day a week paper again.

Halloween

Given city council's embracing of Halloween this year, (you can submit your festival logos here), I wonder if the local media will retire their film clips and photos of Halloween riots past? If  a discussion of  Halloween in Carbondale makes the local news media, you can bet it will come accompanied by videos and photos of Halloween crowds the city hasn't seen since the mid 1990s. Case in point, this recent article in the Southern. To be fair, the focus of the article was the party school image the university had during its heyday in the early 1990s, but still, similar photos appear every time a story about bringing back Halloween appears.

Did Losing the Party School Image Cut Enrollment?

Front page story in yesterday's Southern asking  if losing its party school image contributed to the decline in enrollment. Unfortunately, posing the question and only asking 2 people for their opinion doesn't really give an answer to the question.

Times and Southern

Well that was short lived. Dustin Duncan, who used to report for the Southern Illinoisan, took over the editorship of the Carbondale Times and Nightlife after the two papers sold last year. I see now that he is back reporting at the Illinoisan, and Geoff Ritter, who used to edit the Times, is now on the editorial masthead of both the Times and Nightlife. 

Southern Illinois Fracking

Illinois Issues and the Southern took a look at the failed promise of fracking in southern Illinois. The permit process got up and running about the same time as the price of oil collaped

Life and Style (in Southern Illinois)

Received a copy of the winter edition of the Southern Illinoisan's Life and Style bundled with this morning's copy of the paper and found the amount of focus on areas outside of Southern Illinois bemusing. One article looked at a Florida artist working on statues in Paducah, while another discussed the holiday programming coming to the Carson Center, also in Paducah. Is southern Illinois all out of artists and holiday programming?

However, the capper was the article directing people shopping for holiday gifts to shops in Saint Genevieve and St. Charles.  This time of year accounts for around 40% of retail sales for the year and southern Illinois already has a large problem with shopping leakage, consumers choosing to cross the rivers to shop in Cape Girardeau and Paducah instead of Carbondale or Marion. Southern Illinois has a difficult enough time of it economically without a magazine focusing on the region sending shoppers elsewhere to buy gifts.

Small Town Illinois

The Southern has a good piece looking at the economies of Alto Pass, Makanda and Cobden. Of the three, Cobden is the only one that is self-sustaining. Residents of Cobden do not need to leave the community in order to procure the basics of today's lifestyle, though the town does not offer a great selection.  Cobden has the Dollar General and a gas station, which provide a selection of products and fuel for residents.  Alto Pass has Grammer's Market, which provides the selection of products but has no gas station, while Makanda, "The Valley of the Arts", has neither, with residents having to drive to Carbondale to shop.

The ability of residents to travel both allows these small communities to survive and at the same time prevents them from growing.  Residents of all three communities can easily get to Carbondale to work, meaning they can have an income while still living in a small town. However, it also makes it easier to leave town to shop, meaning there is little incentive for more stores to move into the community.

New Publisher at the Southern

Well, that happened quickly and quietly. Craig Roberts has been named the new publisher of the Southern Illinoisan, replacing John Pheifer, who left the company. From the sound of things, expect even less emphasis on the print version of the paper and a greater push for the digital version.

The Southern Talk Show

The Southern has started a new call-in show on WDBX, airing at 9:30 Monday mornings, just before Talk of the Town. Unlike most WDBX programming, the currently unnamed show is available for download from The Southern's website but lord is it difficult to find.

Southern Monday

Saw a notice on the front page of the Southern Illinoisan that, at the end of March, the paper would no longer publish a Monday print edition. I knew that weekend news was sparse but didn't realize it was that lacking. Apparently, not only is there a lack of news but also a lack of advertiser interest in the Monday paper as well.

End License Caps

The Southern makes a good point regarding getting rid of liquor license caps. A better idea than the caps would be an open number of licenses, with new ones issued on an as needed basis.

60 Years of PK's

The Southern has a gallery of photos of Carbondale's PK's collected over the years, which it posted in honor of the bar's 60 years in business.

Southern Pushback

Apparently the Southern Illinoisan is getting some pushback on its stance on the new noise ordinance from a couple of sources. Also, I have heard some comments that the editorial staff is working to take more controversial stances than in the past. Well, if so, controversy does sell papers.

More on Noise

The Southern thinks the noise ordinance targets students, despite what council says. I have to agree.

Also 50 feet distance during the day time and 25 at night is not very much distance. I was walking down  N. Springer this afternoon and could easily hear two me talking loudly half a block away, easily over 50 feet. Are they in violation of the ordinance?