August 22, 2005

'The Oregonian' As Public Square?

Paper's Public Editor Has New Mission

During our absence there's been a curious development since our post about turning the Portland Tribune into a public square -- a development out of The Oregonian of all places.

In yesterday's Sunday Oregonian, public editor Michael Arrieta-Walden announced his new responsibilities at the paper, saying that they will require him to write fewer columns.

I'll be helping lead an effort by the newsroom to interact more with readers. We want to take advantage of advances in technology and journalistic practices to make sure that we're engaging readers in as many ways as possible.

In the piece, Arrieta-Walden specifically references and cites the experiment underway at the News-Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, which we used as a basis for our piece urging the competitor Tribune to try something new.

In point of fact, the News-Record itself took notice of Arrieta-Walden's announcement in the blog written by that paper's editor (something we found via Ed Cone), who says that Arrieta-Walden was "one of the first people" to contact him about that paper's experiment.

Over at Metroblogging Portland, Betsy picks up on all of this, including a comment we posted to the dormant PDX Media Watch, in which we asserted that a Greensboro-like experiment likely would never happen out of The Oregonian, mainly due to the difficult wall between the paper and its affiliated (and much-lambasted) website, OregonLive.

According to Betsy, citing another comment from PDX Media Watch, there may be "cracks" developing in that wall between the paper and its half-breed website, although it's unclear whether that means the website will be changing, or if the paper will be doing some end-runs around it.

All of which may mean that the Tribune has lost its chance to be the local outlet which jumps headlong into the noble experiment, which in the long run (or maybe even the short run) could only hasten its devolution.

As for just what it is The Oregonian has planned (we do know that they recently received a presentation on podcasting from a local blogger), we're as in the dark as anyone else at this stage.

But we'll be watching along with everyone else. And for those at The Oregonian reading this, feel free to nudge Arrieta-Walden to jump into the comments here if he feels like getting into a discussion about his plans.

Posted at 03:06 PM | PermalinkComments (9) | TrackBacks (4)
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Comments (9)

  1. allehseya on 22 Aug 2005

    I had a wager going with a friend -- that this little bit of juicy news would pull you out of hiatus; would be the topic of your first post upon your return; and that the title would play off the Tribune piece that you last posted...


    Thank you for allowing me to win the wager! (hope you're feeling better too)

  2. Betsy on 22 Aug 2005

    I didn't have any wager going - but I do have to admit that my rushed effort over at MetBlogs was partly inspired by the fact I knew I had to be racing b!X...!

  3. allehseya on 22 Aug 2005

    For whatever it's worth, Betsy -- you're doing good work over there in this rat-race blog-o-sphere world.

  4. Jack Bog on 22 Aug 2005

    To get back to the post, what are the chances that The Oregonian will do something good and/or cutting-edge on the web? What are they talking about -- Jonathan Nicholas podcasts? Rose Festival Treasure Hunt clues read to us by Margie Boule? Beams from Randy Gragg's Palm Pilot?

    Wait 'til the Willamette Week does something great on the web (which isn't yet). Ten years later, The O will have something just like it.

  5. allehseya on 22 Aug 2005

    Yes. To get back to the post and as I've asked elsewhere -- I wonder what the timing of the Oregonian's interest along these lines falls under? It seems to me that b!X has been spearheading the movement in this direction -- albeit targeted to the Tribune -- for a while now. I'm just curious what inspired the shift in this much-anticipated direction. To give credit where credit is due -- I'll wager that b!X had his finger on the pulse -- and that the Oregonian heard his call while the Tribune turned a deaf ear.

  6. The One True b!X on 22 Aug 2005

    The test of any experiment at The O which tries to claim the mantle of the Greensboro experiment isn't the question of what they will do for us on the Web -- it's what they will let us do for them on the Web.

    If it's Jack's conception -- "Jonathan Nicholas podcasts? Rose Festival Treasure Hunt clues read to us by Margie Boule? Beams from Randy Gragg's Palm Pilot?" -- then it's nonsense.

    If it's the News-Record conception, then it's interesting.

  7. Betsy on 22 Aug 2005

    I'm betting it's the latter. Call it a gut feeling if you will, but I think this might be worth paying attention to. And I'm betting this has been brewing for a while now.

    However, if they pull in Calendar Girl, all bets are off...!

  8. Jonathan Maus on 23 Aug 2005

    FWIW, when I left OregonLive.com I made it clear that it was because of the limited functionality of their blogging software. A few days after I left, their main editor asked me what my idea of a perfect blog was. I sent him a long wish list. I'm curious why he asked and what he plans to do with my input.

    Bottom line is that OregonLive.com is way ahead of anyone else in one important way...human capital. They've got a large stable of bloggers covering a wide range of topics. Now, if they can just improve their software and presentation, they would have something with so much value that they wouldn't need the Oregonian's news to keep them going.

  9. Cicolini on 23 Aug 2005

    Unlikely the Oregonian can muster innovation. Sounds like a consensus press release aimed to vibrate some minor discontents.

    About 1990 the Oregonian took a hard look at its multimedia future and chose to make a full commitment to a terrifically expensive telephone-based thing (I can't remember its name, wonder why? Can you?) The notion the same plebes can find their way in the eworld is a long-shot.

    What they should do is cover the damn city hall, fershristsakes.

Trackbacks (4)

  1. The O and OregonLive - cracks in the facade? on 22 Aug 2005

    (Updated below to point to b!X's post...) This is sheer speculation and/or rumor mongering on my part, I admit it. But I'm putting together two disparate sets of comments from two different sources & coming up with my own conclusion...

  2. readtheo.com and "High Definition News" on 23 Aug 2005

    Have you noticed that flashy new logo promising "High Definition News" on the side of those yellow Oregonian newspaper boxes lately - or in the OLive advertising siderail? Weeeelll...a visit to this wiggly-jiggly page (Flash required) provides a few ta...

  3. readtheo.com and "High Definition News" on 23 Aug 2005

    Have you noticed that flashy new logo promising "High Definition News" on the side of those yellow Oregonian newspaper boxes lately - or in the OLive advertising siderail? Weeeelll...a visit to this wiggly-jiggly page (Flash required) provides a few ta...

  4. Idly speculating on 23 Aug 2005

    I'm armchair analyzing the potential online moves of the local daily (with a hefty dose of seat of the pants guesswork that I freely admit might border on lunacy) over at PDX MetBlogs, while others pick up the theme here...