So the Herald has a story in Thursday's paper about the Alerus Center's bottom line, but the only picture of the events center that they can come up with is one from about eight years ago when the building was still under construction? You can even see construction equipment parked by the building. Wednesday was a beautiful day...the perfect kind of day for taking a picture, Herald. Sheesh! Little things like that just bug me...
Today's Grand Forks Herald includes an article by our friend Tu-Uyen Tran about potential sites for that pesky landfill. The article includes an image showing the sites the city is looking at. It's interesting to see the potential locations, but something else about the map caught my eye. Look at the two versions of the image below. On the left is the version from the article and on the right is a version I altered to show the actual present day city limits of Grand Forks. Look at the difference between the two...what's the deal?
I know this is an odd thing to get worked up about, but this isn't the first time the Herald has used an incredibly outdated map like this. Almost every time they include a map of Grand Forks along with a news story, the city limits of the city are presented like this. I'm thinking the graphic artists at the Herald either need to drive around town more or need to stop living in the 70s. Literally, the city limits as presented in the Herald map are roughly the city limits of the late 70s. I'm not joking...Columbia Mall isn't even shown as being a part of the city limits. You could almost fit two of the city on the left into the city on the right...that's a little silly.
I know that I just got done saying that size isn't always everything, but in this case the Herald is so out of touch with what the actual city limits of Grand Forks are that it is just plain irritating. I wouldn't even bother to mention this if this wasn't a routine thing that the Herald does time and time again. Take this as some constructive feedback, Herald...put away those maps from the 70s and come up with a new map that accurately portrays the city limits. This is a real pet peeve of mine!
In his editorial for Wednesday's Herald, Tom Dennis includes several comments from local bloggers. The subject of Dennis' editorial is the culmination of the lengthy debate over where to place a dog park in Grand Forks. The editorial lays out two arguments made over at Tu-Uyen's blog. Commenter People in GF Hate Change criticizes the way the dog park has been debated and handled. On the other hand, yours truly, GrandForksGuy, praises the long but fair process that has taken place. Tom calls mine "the stronger argument." I really appreciate that. Thanks, Tom! I also appreciate the mention of my blog and its address.
My full comment:
You know one thing that I like about the way this dog park thing played out? The fact that, in the end, no one was ultimately able to force their particular plans or agenda without taking into consideration the opposite side of the argument. Some dog park proponents would have wanted any dog park plan regardless of what kind of an impact that plan would have had on the neighborhood or city. On the other hand, some dog park opponents would have been happy if the whole dog park thing had just gone away and no park had been built. In the end, both camps had to make concessions and revise their plans - no one side was able to force their agenda down the other side's throats. I think it's a good thing when an issue has to be weighed and debated and when ALL sides have to be given the ability to be heard. In the end, that is what occurred and we are left with a decent plan that satisfies almost everyone. To me, that's not such a bad way to handle a controversial issue.
Posted by: GrandForksGuy on 7/17/2007 6:36 PM
I know some of you like to pick on Marilyn Hagerty's restaurant reviews from time to time, but you have to admit that Marilyn has become a local fixture over the years. As someone who is very interested in the history of our community, I really enjoyed reading Marilyn's recent memories about what Grand Forks was like fifty years ago this summer when the Hagerty family first moved to town. Since I showed up on the scene only a couple of decades ago, I loved reading about what the city was like back in 1957. Thanks for sharing the memories, Marilyn. I'm glad you stuck around.
I just read Tu-Uyen's post where he thanks readers of his blog for their feedback and tips. Being the mimic that I am, I had to get in on the act too. No, I'm not talking about thanking...I'm talking about soliciting tips and feedback. Actually, I've been meaning to do this for a while now. To put it bluntly, I want your tips!!!
My email address is hard to miss over on the left side of the screen and I do get tips and feedback from readers on a daily basis, but now I'm trying to kick it into high gear. From now on, I'm asking you to email me any news tip or rumor that you stumble across.
I mean, who would you rather see get a news scoop? The Herald? WDAZ? How about an ad-free, non-partisan, free of charge blog that offers people a convenient way to voice their opinions on a host of issues? Go ahead, people...annoy our friends over at the Herald and WDAZ...send your news tips and rumors to GrandForksGuy! What could give you more pleasure than seeing your little news tip make its way from this blog all the way to tonight's 10 PM newscast or tomorrow's front page?
Send all news tips and rumors to grandforkslife@yahoo.com
It's still not too late to get out there and support your favorite side in the Salvation Army Ring-Off challenge! The Herald crew will be at Michael's and the WDAZ crew will be at Home of Economy until 8 tonight. The onslaught of self-promotion by both sides has been almost impossible to miss so I'm sure this isn't really news to most people.
Still, remember that this isn't just about bragging rights between the two rivals. This is a good cause and the money that is (hopefully) pouring into both kettles will do good in the community.
So get out there and support your favorite Forum Communications media outlet. Yep, that's right...they're now both part of the same conglomerate, yet they still feel so competitive. It's kinda cute.
Update - 12/16/2006 - 4:20 PM
No word yet on the Herald site, but apparently the radio is reporting that WDAZ came out on top yesterday. Stay tuned for actual amounts raised.
Update - 12/16/2006 5:38 PM
The Herald is saying "Not so fast!"
•Prairie Pundit has made the move over to the Area Voices site. Tu-Uyen Tran did it a few days ago and now Tom Dennis is following suit. Once again, these moves are taking place because Forum Communications, the new owner of the Grand Forks Herald, wants to consolidate all blogs by Forum employees on the Forum's own blogging site. So be sure to change your links to point to the new address for Tom's blog. Good luck to Tom with his new home over at Area Voices!
•The Herald seems to be in a rather vigorous mode of expansion. After years of layoffs, the paper has had many ads lately advertising various positions with the company. I think it's great to see the Herald finally able to "spread its wings" instead of always cutting back.
•Keeping with my apparent fascination with all things Herald, I see that the paper's At Home monthly magazine is going to be changing to a weekly magazine. They even have a position out for a new editor. Since I like architecture and love seeing inside of other people's homes (especially the historic ones they often show) I always enjoy At Home. Seems like yet another sign that the Herald is growing and expanding into new areas. The Herald's monthly women's magazine also strikes me as something that has lots of growth potential. The Area Woman magazine in Fargo-Moorhead seems to be very popular in that community...perhaps the Herald can use that as a model for their own women's publication.
Ok...enough with all this free advertising for the Herald!
Take a moment to look at the Grand Forks Herald's new website.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the new site. It is almost a carbon copy of the Fargo Forum's website, but I've always liked the Forum's website quite a bit so I'm satisfied that the same template was basically recycled for the Herald. I haven't registered yet.
The only thing that I can immediately say I don't like about the website is the huge ad banner on the top. This is similar to the ad banner found over at the Forum's site. I don't have a problem with a moderate amount of advertising on a website, but why is this ad banner so much bigger than the Herald's logo?
Also, I think the Herald's blogs deserve a more prominent spot. Maybe Tu-Uyen can talk to somebody about that...
Update - 9/7/2006 - 11:25 AM
Could this page with links to about a million news stories be any longer or harder to navigate? I hope the Herald's website guy figures out how to organize the stories a bit better and maybe only show stories from the current day on this page.
The long-awaited debut of the new Grand Forks Herald website seems to be suddenly on our doorstep. Sunday's Herald reported that the changeover from the old Knight Ridder website should happen this coming Tuesday afternoon. The article says that the new site will offer more local control over content and overall look.
Good, the old site has been severely lacking for years and has paled in comparison to the Fargo Forum's website. I'm hoping that, since Forum Communications is the new owner of the Herald, they've put some of their people to work on building the new site.
One thing that makes me a little uneasy is the fact that the article states that the new Herald site will require readers to "register" before they're able to access content. That's similar to what the Fargo Forum has done for several years so I'm assuming that's why this is being implemented on the Herald's new site. I'm no big fan of requiring readers to offer up personal information before they're allowed to access your website's content. It seems like just an unnecessary hassle for people trying to read a story or two. Still, I guess it should be just a one-time thing for readers so hopefully it shouldn't be too big of an inconvenience.
I'm intrigued by the article's mention of new partnerships between the Herald and WDAZ. The story also states "There also will be staff weblogs and weblogs from people in the community in Area Voices." Interesting...can we expect other Herald writers to pick up the hobby of blogging? I hope so. I'm happy to see that the Herald doesn't seem to be scared of blogging...which is more than I can say for some other local media outlets.
Overall, I'm very excited to see the advent of a new Herald website. I think a new website, if designed and managed well, could be an excellent asset for the community and a tool for all citizens wanting to keep informed. I'm eagerly waiting for Tuesday afternoon.
Tu-Uyen has finally moved his The City Beat blog to Forum Communications' AreaVoices website. I'm sure a similar move for Tom Dennis' Prairie Pundit blog can't be that far off.
I personally have serious reservations about AreaVoices, but this is just a part of the buyout of the Grand Forks Herald by Forum Communications. It seems like Forum thinks they can do better blog hosting than the big guys. Mainly, I'm a little worried that locating a blog at something other than one of the big blogging sites will limit the blog's audience.
Still, I know that I for one won't be visiting The City Beat any less now that it is over at AreaVoices. I hope all of you, the loyal readers of the Grand Forks Blogosphere, will check it out on a regular basis as well. Tu-Uyen does a great job with his blog and he produces a lot of good content. Good luck, Tuey!
BTW, I know I've been very lazy with the blog lately. I've just been a little busier now that college is back in session. I'll try to do better...I promise!
Update - 9/2/2006 - 6:44 PM
Looks like Tu-Uyen has gotten a site feed on The City Beat after all. Because of this, his new posts will show up in my "Grand Forks Blogosphere" box on the left side of this blog just like before.
I wasn't lucky enough to get to go to last night's big Cirque du Soleil show at the Alerus Center, but that doesn't mean I can't be really ticked off at the Herald and writer Paulette Tobin for the ridiculous excuse of a "review" that appears on the front of today's paper.
First of all, what the heck is a review doing on the front page of the paper? Isn't the front page usually reserved for news stories or at least articles that aren't supposed to be biased or slanted? When was the last time you saw Marilyn Hagerty's restaurant reviews on the front page? Reviews belong elsewhere in the paper. Actually, this particular one would have been better off in the trash, come to think of it. Any past reviews that have appeared in the paper have gone deeper in...certainly not on the front page.
We all know the Herald hates the Alerus Center, but this is really sinking to a new low. In the past after major events like this, the paper has usually written up a short article that just contains the facts...no spin or "I didn't like the show because..." stuff. Why did the Herald decide to write a "review" of this event instead of the traditional brief story?
Why are we supposed to be so interested to hear what Ms. Tobin thought of the show? Is she a musical critic? The paper publishes Marilyn's restaurant reviews because she has been at the paper for years and has a following. Contrastingly, no one is very familiar with Tobin and I doubt few think of her as any kind of art or music critic. The "review" sounds more like a response paper from a high school student than a real review by a true critic. Using the Power Rangers and Jim Carrey as examples in a review? Yikes!
Also, what good does it really do to review an event that is over and already gone? When Marilyn reviews a restaurant in Grand Forks, it at least makes sense because the restaurant will still be there after the review comes out and people can use the review to decide whether or not they want to go there. Cirque du Soleil's Grand Forks stint is over and won't be happening again anytime soon so why do we really care whether or not Ms. Tobin liked it? Most of us weren't lucky enough to get a free ticket to the show...
Update - 9/22/06 - 2:21 AM
I couldn't help but notice that a review of Ms. Tobin's appears in today's paper. However, this time around the review starts with this little disclaimer: "This is a review and includes the writer's opinions." Hmmm, I think someone at the Herald (other than our friend Tu-Uyen) has been reading Grand Forks Life.
Forum Communications is paying $65 million for the Grand Forks Herald and $70 million for the Duluth News Tribune. Wow, I didn't realize that Forum would have this kind of money just laying around. The Duluth paper has a higher circulation than the Herald so that's why they are worth $5 million more. As someone who didn't really know what newspapers are worth, I'm pretty impressed that the Herald went for $65 million. That isn't exactly spare change.
It was "Ice cream bars for everyone!" on Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Forks Herald as Herald publisher/editor Mike Jacobs made the announcement that many had been anticipating: Forum Communications of Fargo - owner of the Fargo Forum, WDAZ TV, WDAY TV, WDAY radio, and numerous small regional newspapers - is buying the Grand Forks Herald. Check out the story at the Fargo Forum. There had been other interested would-be buyers, but Forum must have wanted the Herald enough that they were willing to put up the highest bid. It doesn't look like we'll know very soon just how high that bid actually was because Forum requested that the financial details not be revealed. Forum Communications is also buying the Duluth News Tribune. It's actually quite amazing how a relatively small newspaper (the Fargo Forum) has grown into a regional conglomerate that now owns three major newspapers and has major holdings in the television and radio sectors.
As someone who has never worked at the Herald and who admittedly doesn't really know that much about the other would-be buyers, I would think that this sale (in the words of one of my heroes) is "a good thing". The other bidders only saw the Herald as a entity that could possibly bring them money. In other words, if they had been the highest bidder, the Herald would have been marginalized by these other companies into being just another business endeavor. Instead, Forum has long, long ties to the region and knows Grand Forks very well. It has operated the only network affiliate in Grand Forks for several decades and, even if the Fargo Forum has occasionally enjoyed tossing a snide remark or comment at Grand Forks or UND over the years, Forum Communications understands Grand Forks and...maybe I'm being naive..."cares" about Grand Forks. The Herald will of course be a business endeavor for Forum, but I'm hoping (and thinking) that they see their new purchase as even more than just a new entity in their ever-expanding media conglomeration...I'm thinking they see it as an opportunity to continue the grand tradition of the Grand Forks Herald.
Ok, maybe I'm just being way too pollyannaish here, huh? I guess time will tell.
••Tu-Uyen Tran - a current Herald employee - doesn't seem overly-thrilled about joining the "Home Team" (how many jabs can he take at WDAZ anyways?), but he also doesn't seem overly "doom and gloom" about the sale either. He does say that there aren't any expected layoffs so I guess that means we can just call him "a Herald employee" and not "a current Herald employee", huh? Hey, I got no problem with a little friendly kidding now and then. Here's hoping Tu-Uyen's wishes for a better Herald website come to pass. I've always been jealous of the Fargo Forum's website.
••Dakota Huseby has some questions about possible antitrust issues that this sale may raise, but she does admire the Fargo Forum's "aggressiveness" when it comes to covering news and hopes that some of that might come to our fair city. I loved Dakota's revelation that this sale now means that, as far as news coverage in Grand Forks goes, there will Forum Communications vs. KNOX/Grand Forks Life. Hey, maybe that's not all bad. There should be plenty of Grand Forks residents who don't want to get all of their local news from essentially the same source so why not turn on the radio or...(crossing fingers)...check out what some guy on the Internet has to say?
The sale of the Herald to Forum Communications does raise a bunch of questions in my mind. Will this change anything with the Herald's coverage of UND/NDSU sports? How about future editorials on the Sioux nickname? Will Tu-Uyen and Tom Dennis have to move their blogs over to the Forum's "Area Voices" blog website? Will the Fargo Forum come to the realization that it doesn't need to mention what state Grand Forks is in when it mentions us in an article? Really, "Grand Forks" is fine..."Grand Forks, ND" is just being snide.
Update - 6/8/2006
Today's Herald has an interesting story on what the sale to Forum Communications might mean for the Grand Forks Herald.
Looks like the Grand Forks Blogosphere is growing. Tom Dennis, editorial director at the Grand Forks Herald, just started his own blog, Prairie Pundit. Looks like he will be blogging about local topics and his apparent Dunkin' Donuts fetish.
I'm curious, is this going to replace the Herald's editorial blog, Northscope?
Either way, I look forward to reading Prairie Pundit and I hope all you Grand Forks Life readers will too. Welcome to the Grand Forks blogging community, Tom!
Another Grand Forks-related blog has popped up on the local blogosphere. Our friend Tu-Uyen Tran over at the Grand Forks Herald just started his own blog, Grand Forks City Beat. Check it out! Tu-Uyen is the city beat reporter at the Herald so I expect to see plenty of interesting stories and views on his blog. It's also interesting to see what goes into his reporting for the Herald. He's been covering the proposed UND germ lab for the Herald so his blog, in turn, has had interesting posts relating to the whole "Oakville Prairie" controversy.
Tu-Uyen even gave a little shout-out to me and Dakota Huseby in his first post...wasn't that nice of him! I know I'll be a frequent visitor to Tu-Uyen's blog and I hope you all follow suite.
I love finding out what businesses are coming to Grand Forks before others do and I think I've done it again. Golden Corral, a large national chain of buffet-style restaurants, appears to be planning a restaurant in Grand Forks as well as a location in Bismarck. We can always use more restaurants, in my opinion. As it is, the Royal Fork is the only buffet-style restaurant in Grand Forks. The way I see it, competition is a good thing. I look forward to another addition to the local restaurant lineup.
Update - 4/18/2006
Does the Grand Forks Herald read Grand Forks Life? You tell me. It sounds like this restaurant will be a part of the new Kohl's development on 32nd Avenue South. Watch for more stores and restaurants to announce plans pertaining to that same development soon.
Big changes could be in store for the Grand Forks Herald. Over the weekend, Herald parent company Knight Ridder was purchased by the Sacramento-based McClatchy Company. Knight Ridder has been on the auction block for some time, which has lead Herald employees to be a bit concerned over the paper's future as well as their employment. It looks like this isn't a good time for them to stop worrying. Shortly after the Knight Ridder purchase was announced, McClatchy stated that they intend to sell of a dozen of Knight Ridder's newspapers including the Herald. Apparently, McClatchy doesn't think these twelve papers have much potential for growth or for making them a bunch of money. So, the Grand Forks Herald, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Aberdeen American News, and the Duluth News Tribune are among the twelve papers that McClatchy wants to ditch.
This leaves many unanswered questions. Who is going to want to buy the Herald now if it is so "worthless" in the eyes of McClatchy? I can see two potential outcomes. Perhaps a buyer would want to purchase the Herald, the Pioneer Press, and the other regional papers and make a new regional chain of newspapers. However, a much more likely outcome would see Fargo Forum parent company Forum Communications adding the Herald to their already impressive regional lineup. In fact, an article in today's Duluth News Tribune states that Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder says that there is a "family-owned investment group" which has expressed interest in buying the Herald and the other regional papers in question. As the Duluth News Tribune article suggests, that interested party is almost certainly Forum Communications.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens next...
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