Understanding How We Want Our News Delivered

As mentioned in previous blogs, there probably is no other industry (besides maybe finance) that has been under pressure to change than the media industry…specifically news. Radio, Television and Newspapers across the country are in a state of flux, some financially, and most of them operationally. As with many difficult situations, the biggest obstacle is finding a solution is understanding the problem and what’s the driver behind it.

A recent article caught my eye titled “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer”. This report was generated by Pew Research Center under their “Project for Excellence in Journalism”. Pew Research Center is a nationally known “fact tank” that provides information on attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues and research centers around several projects including their journalism project. Their reports are heavy on statistics…something I love. I thought I would throw out a few of their findings that may or may not shed some light on the state of the news industry.

There’s no big surprise when they report there is absolutely no loyalty to any one particular news organization or technological platform. 46% of Americans say they get their news from 4 to 6 platforms (internet, tv, radio, paper) EVERY DAY. Their findings show the internet is now the third most popular news platform behind LOCAL television news and NATIONAL television news. Once online most people use between 2 and 5 online sources for their news… showing no loyalty online either.

The best line of the entire report is “In this new multi-platform media environment, people’s relationship to the news is becoming PORTABLE, PERSONALIZED, and PARTICIPATORY. It’s portable with 33% of cell phone users now have access to news on their smart phones. Its personalized with 28% of internet users having customized home pages with news sources of particular interest. And its participatory, with 37% of internet users contributing to the creation or sending out of news via Facebook, Twitter, blogs (guilty as charged), discussion threads, or posts. Because of these three things, news awareness has become a 24 hour, 7 day a week social adventure to more and more people. 56% of American adults say they follow the news “all the time”.

Some other great statistics:
#1) 78% of Americans say they get news from a local television station. (highest of all media outlets…hooray for local tv)
#2) 73% say they get news from national television outlets
#3) 61% say they get news online
#4) 54% say they listen to a radio news program.
#5) 50% say they read a local newspaper

Weather is the #1 news subject followed on line (81% of internet news users). When it comes to news coverage, 63% agree with the statement that “major news organizations do a good job covering important news stories”. Yet 72% say “most news sources today are biased in their coverage”

What do all these statistics mean? First, local is still important to the news consumer. This bodes well for towns across Minnesota and their media outlets who fear all news will be dictated from Minneapolis. The other good news, in my opinion, is news itself has never been so socially popular. Because we have access to it in so many ways and so instantaneously, it is the center of conversation. The bad part of this is because of its availability from so many sources, they can distort or slant the message. Sometimes these days we can’t tell what is a legitimate news source and what is entertainment or propaganda. On TV its Fox News vrs MSNBC vrs CNN. Even on the internet we have to be question popular sites such as “The Huffington Report” as to their biases. As consumers with countless choices, we must be prudent and discretionary with our sources.

Pew article on “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer””

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1509/internet-cell-phone-users-news-social-experience

Posted by: bemidjimike on 3/15/2010 at 10:04 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: cellphone, local, media, news, newspaper, pew, radio, research, smartphones, television

The Absolute Highlight from Bemidji Day at The Capital: Going to White Castle

There are a lot of stories and several Blogs that can tell you almost everything that happened officially with the annual Bemidji Day at the State Capital. Only one blog can cut through it all to get you to the real meat of the day…or should I say hamburger.

As we approached the State Capital in St. Paul on Tuesday one of my favorite Bemidji business friends told me that he had never ever been to a White Castle before in his life. As a resident growing up within shouting distance of the state capital I knew what fate awaited him. I mentioned to him as we were exiting the bus that a stately White Castle was located only 3 blocks from the beloved center of Minnesota intelligence (State Capital) and I’d buy him lunch if he’d join me. Little did the sucker know …he agreed.

White Castle has a prestigious history. It was founded in 1921 in of all places Wichita, KS. by Walter Anderson and cook Billy Ingram. They are known as the technicians of the fast food industry as they pioneered many of the initiatives still used today. At that time many people had a fear of eating ground beef due to the poor sanitation practices of the meat industry. Anderson invented the white castle building with stainless steel interiors with uniformed employees, all to promote the feeling of cleanliness. They made hamburgers the way Henry Ford produced automobiles…assembly line style. Standardized methods were used so the product tasted the same and was consistent from location to location. Success soon followed the two with new markets such as in Minneapolis (building # 8 in 1936). Frozen beef patties were used instead of ground beef starting in 1949 and 5 holes in the patty were added to facilitate quick and through cooking. A patented “steam grilled” cooking method is used to cook the thin square burgers and the patties are not flipped. They also began he use of centralized bakeries, meat supply plants and warehouses to supply itself. All this way before anything like McDonalds or Burger King was even around.

In 1933 the headquarters of the business was moved to Columbus, OH, where it remains today. The company remains privately held and the restaurants are company owned and not franchised. Because of the refusal to franchise, the chain remains relatively small, with 421 White Castles across the United States. It does have though, the fast food industry’s second –highest sales revenues per store, trailing only McDonalds. In most cases, they are located in major metropolitan areas in the Midwest

While me and my sidekick enjoyed the #6 (10 White Castles, 2 french fry’s and 2 beverages) for $10.50, we reflected on their eclectic menu. From Onion Pedals, to deep fried Clam Strips, White Castle is not your typical hamburger joint. Some interesting facts:
• Coke has been the beverage of choice for White Castle since 1921.
• In 1921 burgers were 5 cents and in 1950 it jumped from 10 cents to 12 cents.
• During WWII White Castle sold hot dogs and eggs due to meat rationing.
• The name White was chosen for “purity” and Castle for strength and stability
• In 1931 White Castle hired a Big 10 food scientist to determine the nutritional value of their product.
• From 1936 to 1972 White Castles had curbside service.
• In 1941 White Castle served over 50 million burgers!!

Needless to say, my friend and I had a great experience in St. Paul. Yeh, the capital part was good, but introducing someone to the White Castle phenomena was the highlight of the trip!! Although they are available frozen in many grocery store cases, they simply do not taste the same as they do steaming in smothered onions. There are many great stories about "sliders", many of them involving partying and late nights (most White Castles are open 24 hours a day).  Share with us one of your great White Castle experiences!!
 

Posted by: bemidjimike on 3/12/2010 at 1:49 AM | Comments (6) | Permalink

Tags: fast food, hamburgers, history, local, news, white castle

Pipeline Project Just Keeps on Giving $$$$$

The Alberta Clipper pipeline that runs from Canada to Superior, Wisconsin is tentatively scheduled to go live around April 1st. The few remaining workers have been doing cleanup and removal of construction material. It looks like that part will soon come to an end because of spring road restrictions which will keep their heavy equipment and trucks off the logging roads and other access points. For the past several weeks Department of Natural Resource personnel have been working on site with clean up teams helping direct their efforts. It sounds like some workers will be called back after road restrictions are lifted (about May 15th or so) to begin the process of restoration. This will involve reseeding, a lot of trucks filled with dirt, and may go on till fall.

Some pipeliners I have spoken to have said there is a lot of talk about another possible project here in Bemidji. As most people know, the Alberta Clipper pipeline follows the route of an exsisting pipeline from Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. According to the Enbridge (owners) website, it is part of what they call the “Lakehead system”, which has operated for 59 years. Pipeliners have said that most of the part through Minnesota is soon approaching its 50th year in service and will have to be replaced in the next 3 to 5 years. That could mean another economic shot for all of Northern Minnesota .

I read with interest a newspaper article that appeared in the St. Cloud Times on March 1st. The article stated that a new pipeline that was completed in fall of 2008 that runs from Clearbrook through Stearns and Morrison Counties to the Twin Cities refineries has proven to be an “property tax windfall” for local governments. The portion of the pipeline that runs through Stearns County is expected to generate $1.03 million dollars in property tax revenue, more than double that of the previous year before construction. The article goes on to say that Morrison County will reap $667,400 this year from the pipeline property tax, compared to last years number of $217,340. The State of Minnesota apparently sets the value of the pipeline. The article does state that this doesn’t mean that the counties are flooded with money. It’s simply another parcel of property that is evaluated and taxed into the entire scheme of things.

I have contacted a county commissioner and even Bemidji City council members (as a small portion of the pipeline does run through the city proper and should fall into the city tax rolls) to see if anyone can come up with a guess as to how positively this could affect revenue and taxation. Going from 1 pipeline to 2 pipelines a person would expect the valuation and tax revenue to double?? Living in a county where so much of the land in non – taxable (because of forests, lakes, etc) this could be a real economic shot in a tight budgeting year and could benefit all property tax payers in the county.

Another point several pipeliners have stated is with the trend of going “green” that pipeline construction has probably reached its peak and will be declining significantly over the next few years. Many of these people have lived this life for years. One story told me of a person who drives a fuel tanker truck for the pipeline company, refilling heavy machinery. He lives in Atlanta, GA and worked 7 days a week the entire 6 months he was here. He averaged around 115 HOURS PER WEEK while here in Bemidji and had told people he had not been home for any extended period of time for over a year. The sad part is he had an 8 year old son back there. It’s a difficult, physical, demanding job that pays well and apparently “gets into your blood” as many of these individuals have been doing this for years.
 

article from St. Cloud Times on new pipeline through Stearns/Morrison counties and tax ramifications:

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201003010030/NEWS01/103010029

Posted by: bemidjimike on 3/08/2010 at 9:05 PM | Comments (6) | Permalink

Tags: beltrami, enbridge, local, morrison, news, pipeline, stearns, taxes