Huffington Post founder Ariana Huffington spoke last night at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis, as part of its Distinguished Speakers Series.  Her lecture was a free-flowing, spontaneous take on a variety of topics that fit loosely under the evening’s theme, “The brave new world of the new media: how technology is changing the way we think, learn, play, work, and vote.” As founder and editor of one of the most highly trafficked news aggregating/blog sites on the internet, Huffington has developed strong opinions about the direction journalism will take in the future.  Citing ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, she told the audience that because things are always in a state of flux, “you c

Navigating a newspaper is tricky. I avoid reading state government news early in the morning so as not to start my day feeling hopeless and impotent. Bring on the funnies. Who is accountable for state governance? Thursday night marked a new voice in state news and a new set of eyes narrowed on the Capitol. About fifty people gathered at Pyramid Ale House to celebrated the launch of CalWatchdog.com, a new journalism venture with a mission of “holding the government accountable for its spending and regulatory programs by exposing government waste, fraud and abuses of power.” I sat down with Steven Greenhut,, CalWatchdog editor in chief, amid beer, rain and power suits. Q: What inspired

Dear Friends- As you may know, a arson fire was set at my home in the early morning on September 21st. My family and I are safe, and all necessary repairs and clean up, and replacements are being handled by our insurance company. We have had a great response from our neighbors and community leaders, who have organized a vigil tonight in front of our home to signify community strength and unity. If you are in the Northern CA area, we hope you can join us. Vigil Information - 2614 36th Street, Sacramento CA (between 1st and 2nd Avenue). 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. http://www.inmycommunity.com/imc_joomla/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1243&Itemid=0&year=2009&month=10&d

INCLUDED IN THIS E-NEWSLETTER: • City 2009/2010 Budget Adopted • Sidney Pope Memorial Orchid and Onion Awards Presented at Pops in the Park • Screen on the Green – August • McKinley Rose Garden Proposed Enhancements Update • Free Hours of Bike Rentals • SHPS/ Mercy Construction Update • Sacramento Fire Department Open Houses UPCOMING EVENTS • Neighborhood Services Department Community Hours • July 4th Fun and Run in River Park • Friends of the River Event- July 11th • Taste of East Sacramento – July 12th • Friends of McKinley Park Tennis Tournament – August 1st and 2nd • National Night Out – August 4th • Blood Drive in River Park, August 9th • St. Mary’s 78th Annual Festival – August 16

The future of news is not paper. At the same time the future is not necessarily just computers or mobile phones either. These days a new player, in the form of a new medium has entered the fray. That new technology is eInk. eInk is, much as its name implies, electronic ink. From the eInk website, eInk is described as offering, “...the viewer the experience of reading from paper, while having the power of updatable information.” The key difference between eInk and a computer screen is that it is not backlit like a screen, so it can be viewed in bright sunlight but not in the dark. To retain the image on the screen no power is required. So does eInk satisfy those that want the feel of news

There’s news right under your nose!  Feb. 2, 2009 Holly A. Heyser, Professional Journalist in Residence, Sacramento State Questions that help you find news Do you see a problem that needs to be solved? Is something happening that changes how you and your neighbors function? Did you see an unusual event or happening Can you see a new trend? (Magic Number: 3) Is there an interesting new business or person in your neighborhood? (Or has one left the neighborhood?) How are national trends (e.g., the economy) affecting you and your neighbors? Do you know about something being planned? So, what’s interesting? The test is this: Will you mention it to a friend or family member? If it’s w

The current fear goes something like this: "If the newspapers disappear, so does all the real original reporting with it." The basic charge is that there is no business model for "giving away" news online, because online revenue is too miniscule and newspapers spend an enormous amount to get us that amazing original content. The trouble is that a lot of those assumptions are just plain false. Once you start delving into the numbers those assumptions begin to wash away. For instance, what does an average major daily pay, in terms of a percentage of its overall budget, for its editorial department? While one's inclination may be to assume that it is a huge portion, the reality is that the

Representatives of local media outlets and community members came together Thursday night to discuss how to make local media better and more reflective of the community. The meeting was organized by the Sacramento Media Group, California Common Cause and Access Sacramento. There was discussion and debate about the role and responsibility of our local media. Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento, summed it up when he said, “Media and your influence over media is really a local issue.” The event was well attended by a diverse mix of community activists, students, and stakeholders. There were representatives of local broadcast stations, newspapers and online ventures. The deb

As it is today, could the Sacramento Press replace The Sacramento Bee? In a word, no. However, one word is far from the full story. In my last installment of this storyline, I outlined the course I was taking in discussing the future of news, with an emphasis paid to local content, since that is what this publication focuses on. Over the course of the last week, I embarked on the rather epic and tedious task of quantifying exactly what is in a week's worth of The Bee. In order to do this, I purchased a copy each day and as meticulously as possible recorded how many pieces of content The Bee wrote versus content drawn from other publications, and of that content, how much of it was local.

This survey was conducted of The Sacramento Bee, from Monday, March 23rd to Sunday, March 29th. The aim of the survey was to pinpoint how much of the written content of The Bee was written by The Bee and of that content how much was local and how much was not. Each day was divided into the sections of the paper. Sections of the paper that had no attributable articles were simply not included. Within each section, all the different publications were separated out on to their own lines, with special lines for local Bee content and McClatchy content (from the Washngton bureau, or a foreign bureau). Each mark per line denotes an attribution for a piece of text. Shortcomings of this survey:

Newspapers are in peril. There is very little doubt about that, and if you are somehow doubting that, I point you to last week’s news that the revenues of the world’s most-read newspaper, USA Today, are likely down year over year 30%. Aside from industry-wide declining revenues, last week also saw the closure of the Rocky Mountain Post News and the end of the print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer. From these events a heated discussion was born. What is the future of news, and if newspapers are heading the way of the Dodo, who will report the news? The goal of this storyline is to address those very serious questions, especially from a local news angle. Over the course of the nex

Yesterday afternoon I had just sat down for Coffee at Peet’s on J Street with two of our Battalion Chiefs when the call came in for the apartment fire on H Street. The two Chiefs and I responded and were on scene right after the first arriving fire company. Heavy fire was engulfing the upper floor of the Victorian building. It was a good thing that our Firefighters were able to arrive on scene in about two minutes! A second alarm was requested and our Firefighters went to work protecting the two adjacent buildings and attacking the main body of the fire. It took a few minutes but our crews were able to knock down the fire and prevent it from spreading to the adjacent buildings and to the

I challenge you, the readers of our publication to see the news that is going on all around you. Kevin Johnson thanked his supporters on the corner of 5th and I Street 500 feet from the front door of our office. Several weeks ago the entire Sacramento Federal Courthouse emptied out for a fire drill and marched across the street invading the local Starbucks and our parking lot. The last Friday of every week all the air raid sirens positioned around Sacramento blare loudly at 11 A.M. Have you heard them? Did you ever ask why? The picture above depicts all the construction going on at the Amtrak station, which is undergoing quite a transformation. The Sacramento Press is a place for you

On November 3, 2008 I found myself on Greenback and Sunrise joining a crowd of people advertising their beliefs... There were tons of wild people, thousands of signs with different hilarious and descriminating slogans (from both parties), cars decked out in their signs, and cops rolling their eyes. Sure - I bet a lot of them didn't even know what prop 8 was, they just wanted something to do, but regardless, it was quite the experience.   Check it out! As the night rolled in, so did the people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qKvS12-HY Know what you're supporting - one way or another :) www.protectmarriage.com   - (YES on 8) www.noonprop8.com  - (NO on 8)