A small sign of the times...

By Larry Miller

Another setback for journalism has occurred with news that the New Orleans Times-Picayune is cutting back to publishing a print version of the newspaper just three days a week.  That sad news was delivered by visiting southern friend Jimmie Ray Gordon, whose late husband Bob was a respected veteran wire service reporter and newspaper editor in the south.

I confess that one of my long-time pet peeves has been the abandonment of local community service obligations by radio stations in favor of becoming part of a larger corporate operation.  Typically, such stations rely on satellite programming and minimal overhead to meet the bottom line profit expectations of shareholders.  Serious local news coverage is often the first “belt-tightening” step.

Clearly, technology evolution and a bad economy have significantly and negatively impacted many newspapers and broadcasting stations – particularly those that were not well run in the first place.

It was no big surprise, for example, to learn that KZMX Radio in Hot Springs, South Dakota, was slapped with a big fine last month (May 2012) by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its “failure to make the stations available for inspection” and for “failure to operate in accordance with station authorization.”   The forfeiture was set at $21,500.

For those of us who remember the early years of the station, then KOBH-AM in Hot Springs, it stirred memories of a station that was once well-operated and reached a pretty good audience across the Black Hills and beyond, including many listeners in Wyoming and Nebraska.

We don’t know about the other properties owned and operated by Mt. Rushmore Broadcasting – licensee of KZMX-AM-FM – but the notice from the FCC seemed to make a compelling case that KZMX fits the profile of a station that “willfully or repeatedly fails to comply with…the provisions of the (Communications) Act.  They wrote the following in their Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture:

On Tuesday, May 31, 2011, in response to a complaint, an agent from the Enforcement Bureau's Denver Office (Denver Office) attempted an inspection of the Station KZMX(AM) and Station KZMX-FM main studio, during regular business hours. The Stations’ main studio is located approximately one mile north of Hot Springs, South Dakota, and is clearly marked in large letters “KZMX” and a sign on the front door reads “Mount Rushmore Broadcasting.” The door to the main studio was locked and there was no staff or management present at the building. There was no contact information posted at the main studio location, consequently, the agent was unable to gain entrance to the main studio. The agent stayed at the main studio site for several hours, monitoring Station KZMX(AM), which was operating on the frequency 580 kHz, and Station KZMX-FM, which was operating on frequency 96.7 MHz.2 The agent telephoned multiple phone numbers, including two published phone numbers associated with Mount Rushmore and the Stations several times, but none of his calls were answered.3 During the time the agent was at the main studio location, an individual identifying himself as a former employee stopped by the main studio location and informed the agent that no one had been present at the main studio for more than a year.

On June 1, 2011, during regular business hours, the Denver agent returned to the Station KZMX(AM) and Station KZMX-FM main studio and again attempted an inspection of the Stations’ main studio. The agent stopped by the main studio several times throughout the day, during regular business hours. Each time, no employees were present and the agent was unable to gain access to the main studio.  Both Stations were in operation and during each visit, the agent telephoned several phone numbers associated with the Stations but his calls were not answered. The agent then visited a non-affiliated business in the area owned by the president of Mount Rushmore. After being informed that the Mount Rushmore president was in the area, the agent left his business card with an employee who agreed to have the president contact the agent, however, the agent never heard from the president.

You can go to the FCC web site to read their Notice of May 17, 2012 in its entirety, but it’s not a happy story.  Not for Mt. Rushmore Broadcasting, nor especially for the public, which apparently has been shortchanged by KZMX for a long time.

I received a copy of the FCC Notice from a long-time friend on May 19 – just a few days after it was adopted – so I thought I’d share it with a news outlet that purportedly covers news in the Black Hills region.   I sent a copy of the notice to the Rapid City Journal, which also owns the Hot Spring Star newspaper.  I was operating on the assumption that Hot Springs area residents were not likely to hear about the event from KZMX-AM-FM, and it seemed logical to me that the Journal might have an interest in the FCC action.  I e-mailed the notice to Kevin Woster at the Journal.

His response came two days later with a terse question:  “So what’s the issue?”

I replied that I thought the Notice of Forfeiture from the FCC was self-explanatory.  He responded that he gets a lot of mail, indicating that he hadn’t bothered to open or read the attachment.

Kevin is a good reporter.  I think he’s an even better writer.  But I was disappointed that nothing ever appeared in the Journal. Perhaps it was a pure editorial judgment call that this $21,500 forfeiture by a federally-licensed station in Hot Springs was too parochial – that the significance of the story was minimal.  And  maybe he’s right.

I never saw a story appear in the Rapid City Journal about the forfeiture.  Admittedly, I don’t read the Journal from front to back, so maybe I missed it.  Nor do I subscribe to the Hot Springs Star, where it may well have appeared. 

When I cranked up various online search engines to see just who might have reported the forfeiture, I found only the FCC website and…….Wikipedia?

The fact that Wikipedia somehow captured and shared information about the KZMX forfeiture order – and not the Rapid City Journal or Hot Springs Star – may well be a subtle clue as to why traditional media are struggling…….and online sources are thriving.  Even the likes of Wikipedia.

...a battle worth fighting, nonetheless

by LARRY MILLER

Every now and then we read something in the newspaper that catches our eye, and which we think is worth repeating.

That was the case this week, when Aaron Orlowski of the Rapid City Journal penned an article quoting a couple of folks about the Rocky Mountain pine beetle infestation that has devastated much of our beloved Black Hills of South Dakota.  Flights of the pesky beetle are a recurring event and seem to plague the region a couple of times every century or so.

John Ball is a forestry extension specialist with South Dakota State University.  He was quoted as saying, “Every 40 years we have this problem,” suggesting that the infestation is part of a natural cycle for the beetles.  He noted that thinning the forest is one thing that definitely helps the situation, but that the Black Hills National Forest in recent years has had particularly dense stands of trees.  

He said that the only way to slow tree deaths would be to kill 97 percent of the beetles, but that would be an "unfathomable feat."

Ball concluded by observing that mixed stands with different species of trees and different ages of trees will help the forest be more resilient, once the current outbreak has subsided.

Wisely, Ball said that doesn’t mean that we should give up and not try to combat the beetle.  In fact, there have been workshops across the hills advising property owners about how they can fight the beetle and help protect their property.

It reminds us of another hot topic that Mother Nature has had on our plates since the beginning of recorded time:  global warming.  And global cooling.  Fears of a looming “ice age” caused some concern back in the mid-20^th century – much the way global warming has stolen headlines in recent years.

Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle

I believe we have a better chance – slim though it might be – of sending the pine beetle into oblivion than we do of having any significant impact upon the climate.

Nonetheless, it’s wise to be good stewards of the resources we enjoy on our planet, and to do whatever we can to preserve and protect a healthy environment.  So we’ll continue to engage in recycling and other environmentally-friendly activities.

And we're all for thinning the forest, making life a bit more difficult for the pine beetles, and maybe combating another hazard in Mother Nature’s arsenal:  forest wild fires.

Terry Cemetery area targeted

With gold prices nearly double what they were 10 years ago, Wharf Resources indicates they're moving forward with plans to expand their mining operations near Terry Peak -- and that could have implications for the Terry Cemetery.  

Although Wharf started its application process in September, it's been pretty much under the radar ever since.  That is, until a story by Kevin Woster emerged last week in the Rapid City Journal.  Woster wrote that the proposal "worries some nearby landowners and could force the relocation of more than 200 graves in the Terry Cemetery."

Above is a bit of history regarding the Terry Cemetery as depicted in the LCHS 1994 publication "Cemeteries and Graves in Lawrence County and Environs," edited by Irma Klock.  You can click on the image to see a somewhat larger version.

We suspect Wharf's proposal will gain additional attention in coming days as folks have an opportunity to comment on their plan.  If you wish to be heard, you should act by Tuesday, January 11th.  For a wealth of information -- and an opportunity to comment -- go to the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources web site.

As a sidebar, we are reminded of the appropriate steps taken some years back by Hershey Food Corporation when they discovered an old cemetery on land they were preparing to convert to a parking lot near their west plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  As it turns out, it was an old Hammacher family cemetery, ancestors of many Hamaker families now living in western South Dakota and western Nebraska.  Hershey stepped up to the plate and did the right thing by taking leadership in helping to preserve this historic cemetery.  We believe their actions serve as a model of corporate and civic responsibility.  

We hope Wharf Resources will display the same kind of leadership, but a public nudge in that direction might help.  

Accepting the Journal's "Page Too"

My bride and I often vote for opposing candidates in elections, thereby cancelling any impact our votes might have upon public office holders from U.S. president to mayor.

But politics isn’t the only place we’ve seen things differently.

When the Rapid City Journal created its shrine to wayward celebrities on “Page Too,” my spouse became an almost instant fan. Curmudgeon that I am, I would not allow myself to forage through these juicy tidbits of “human interest” stories that have little relevance to my life. As a journalism school graduate, I thought there was just too much weightier stuff that I should be reading – everything from health care issues to the plight of Social Security. And surely the war in Afghanistan and our faltering economy deserve more of my attention!

But to get from the Journal’s front page to local and state news on page A3, I’ve always felt I had to hurriedly ignore “Page Too,” lest my eyes and curiosity be aroused by those fluffy features.

Alas, it’s no use. The longer that I worry that the Journal is only feeding the frenzy over all things celebrity, the more I catch myself shamelessly devouring the latest gossip about David Letterman, Lady Gaga, or Barbra Streisand.

I am a reluctant, if guilt-ridden, convert.

So now it’s time to pay homage to the Rapid City Journal for hatching “Page Too.” Without it, I wouldn’t know about the tax woes of actor Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), the non-injury accident outside the home of author Stephen King, or the seemingly endless drug problems of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, rapper T.I., and a litany of other celebrities.

Commercial television long ago realized the value of dumbing down its programming to “give the people what they want.” And it’s so much less expensive than providing all that confusing news stuff.  Newspapers have just been slower to abandon their journalistic souls in adopting this “eye candy” media strategy.

Tomorrow, I may even discontinue my search for elusive world news in the back pages of the Journal, while also cancelling my subscriptions to Time and the Wall Street Journal. That way I can focus more on Page Too, contributing my “Two Cents” worth of anonymous opinion, catching up on “The Odd” blurbs, and maybe even digressing to more on-line computer time, Twittering and exploring Facebook.

Maybe Paris Hilton will be my friend.

Seat belts and your money

Good friend Roger Whorton has written in the past about health care, offering a very personal perspective. Here’s another topic which Roger takes personally: seat belts. In the long wake following a public debate on the topic last year, Roger returns to Black Hills Monitor and shares this pithy piece he sent to the Rapid City Journal some months back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released statistics for 2006. Seatbelt use saved the lives of 15,383 people. Since 1975, belts have saved 226,567 folks.

One was our daughter, so I take personal interest.

Drivers who do not wear seatbelts are costing you money. Accidents involving those not wearing seat belts cost the U.S. $20 billion per year, and their hospital costs are 50% higher than patients who use belts. You, the taxpayer, pay 74% of the tab.

About 28% of South Dakotans do not wear seatbelts, and yet this group made up 77% of the fatalities (117 or 147 total deaths) in a recent year’s statistics.

I’ve heard the arguments saying seatbelts should be a personal choice, but not when not using belts is costing all of us money, and killing young people.

Are we now turning down $5.2 million in federal funds that could be used for road improvement, if we do not allow police to stop motorists not wearing seatbelts? Sometimes the feds push us into doing something because they know it is for the public good, and will save money and lives.

Why would any legislator or the RCJ be against that?

Ink for needless art

One of our pet-peeves while working in radio news years ago was the gratuitous use of what we called “actualities” -- small snippets of sound, or comments by newsmakers or observers.

When they really added substance to a story, and they often did, such devices were invaluable. But using an actuality just for the sake of using an actuality was – and is -- sloppy. It adds nothing to the story.

Such is the case with unnecessary “art” for daily newspapers and other print media.

I was reminded of this yesterday (1/26/10) when the Rapid City Journal ran a photograph of Chris Nelson, South Dakota Secretary of State. It was attached to a short story in which Nelson reminded candidates, political parties and others, that the deadline for campaign finance reports is just around the corner. The story was likely a routine press release out of Nelson’s office. Certainly not a big story, but probably worth some ink. But Journal editors could have done without the photograph.

Is it important that I know what this guy looks like? If so, I could take a peek at any of the 100+ photos of him that the Journal has used over the past few years (Okay, okay, I didn't really count them all).

I’ve never met Chris Nelson, but I suspect he’s doing a pretty good job as Secretary of State, based upon what I’ve heard and read.

Oh, yes, did I mention he’s running for Congress? Now that’s the Chris Nelson story that deserved an accompanying photo!

Fighting "...irrational negativity"

This has been an interesting week.

The Denver Post’s parent company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The New York Times is positioned to start charging for its on-line content. And the Rapid City Journal’s owner – Lee Enterprises – reports revenues for 2009 dropped by 18.2 percent.

In fact, Lee indicated that its yearend report was actually encouraging news. Fourth Quarter revenues were down by 14%. Lee owns the Rapid City Journal, the Bismarck (ND) Tribune, the Casper Star-Tribune, and several Montana papers among its stable of some 53 dailies. They also operate more than 300 “specialty” publications in 23 states.

Lee CEO Mary Junck, in a letter to stockholders, ticked off a wide range of Lee accomplishments, including the refinancing of $1.3 billion of debt and streamlined operations.

“Through intense collaboration, our editors redesigned our pages to a reduced width of 11 inches, gaining approval from readers and advertisers,” Junck wrote. That move helped Lee shave newsprint usage by 31 percent.

Interestingly, Lee has launched a public relations campaign to combat what Junck called the continuing, “irrational negativity” about the future of newspapers. One of the PR steps was producing the "business card" similar to the one shown here for the Rapid City Journal, touting the audience and performance of Lee. Click on the card to see how the Journal and other Lee papers are attacking that negativity. Similar cards were done for all of Lee’s 53 daily newspapers.

Meanwhile, over in Colorado, Denver Post CEO Dean Singleton is promising no layoffs as a result of imminent Chapter 11 bankruptcy for MediaNews Group, a Denver-based organization that owns the Post, Boulder Camera, and 52 other daily newspapers. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that MediaNews has been “teetering for months.” The bankruptcy will reportedly reduce MediaNews debt from $930 million to $165 million, and Singleton suggested employees play up the positive aspects of the Chapter 11 filing.

Perhaps Singleton and Junck – and many newspaper executives have been talking with one another about how to paint a rosier picture.

To be sure, we’re hopeful that newspapers can re-invent themselves into a sustainable product that endures for years to come. Perhaps I’m old fashioned (perhaps??!!) but thumbing through and reading the morning paper is a joy I don’t want to give up.

On-line news just isn’t quite as cathartic. Especially if you have to pay for it, after having enjoyed free access to the New York Times for such a long time. One of the last holdouts offering free access to its on-line version, the Times will likely announce within the next few weeks exactly how it expects to monetize its on-line services.

We support charging for these services. But exactly how such fees are assessed and at what level will be a challenge. We like the “tease” approach being used by the Black Hills Pioneer (a Seaton publication), whereby you can read a paragraph or two – and possibly enjoy a photo – before being prompted to click a link to “…read more.” That’s when readers can subscribe to the full-meal deal and read the entire paper on-line.

On-line journalism is likely to continue to grow. We trust it will also get significantly better. If newspapers can survive and then thrive in a modified form, that would be a good thing, giving us some choices.

For now, we’re entrenched with one foot in the print world and one in the on-line world. We can live with that.

More bad news for Lee

This has not been a good year for Lee Enterprises. That’s the company that owns the Rapid City Journal, Chadron (NE) Record, and the Hot Springs (SD) Star, among many others. Their most visible property is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Lee this week (7/30/09) reported a loss of $24.5 million during the last fiscal quarter. Its advertising is off more than 24% from last year, and circulation is down by more than six percent.

The company is based in Davenport, Iowa.

In earlier postings about Lee, we noted that they were going through many of the same kinds of problems being encountered by virtually all of the newspaper industry. There were layoffs at many of their properties in Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana.

We paid $2.00 for a Wall Street Journal yesterday and observed that USA Today, the Gannett property started by South Dakotan Al Neuharth, now goes for $1.00 a copy. These hefty newsstand prices do little to offset the record losses being endured by papers across the country.

Leveraging new acquisitions on the backs of papers that are doing well has been a common woe among several big newspaper chains – including Lee Enterprises. It’s something of a “local” chain, and we’re sorry they’ve fallen victim to this trend.

We love newspapers and hope Lee is able to fend off its own demise. But the prognosis is not good.

No local owner -- and no local sports

On-line comments today (1/8/09) to the Rapid City Journal regarding Jake Nordbye's story about the new ESPN radio affiliate in town were glowing. Even near legendary broadcaster Bob Laskowski chimed in with a congratulatory note.

Clearly, lots of folks in the Rapid City area are ready for more sports broadcasting, and absentee-owned KRKI is delivering it. Nordbye quoted KRKI program director Lonnie Glasford as saying that only national programming will air on the station, which is found at 99.5 on the FM dial. They "hope" to add local programming in the future.

It's too bad, however, that KRKI didn't pick up the rights last year to broadcast the Rapid City Rush, the hockey team that seems to be taking the area in a.....well, rush. KRKI has tried country music....then Christmas music.....and now casts its lot with wall-to-wall sports.

ESPN is a well-established brand, and they've done well in satiating the appetites of folks who can't get enough sports.

But KRKI's desire to become an "up-to-the minute source" for local sports will fall flat, unless and until they can add that local component. Stations like KOTA in Rapid City and KDSJ in Deadwood (although it fails miserably on local news coverage) have demonstrated what it takes to become sports leaders in broadcasting.

Localism remains the key to long-term survival, a reality that KRKI owner and entrepreneur Victor Michael (Colorado's Michael Radio Group) doesn't seem to embrace.

Lee stock in the tank

Tough times continue for Lee Enterprises, the media company that owns the Rapid City Journal, which includes a number of associated weeklies like the Lawrence County Star, the Hot Springs Journal, the Belle Fourche Post & Bee, and the Chadron (Nebr) Record.

One year ago, the Davenport, Iowa, publisher saw its stock trading at $14.91 per share. Just before the 2008 holidays, a Lee share went for just 30 cents per share, and it’s been over a month since its stock has seen anything above one dollar.

Lee owns 49 daily newspapers, and its poor financial showing means that it has fallen below standards necessary to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Business Week reports that Lee plans to announce a strategy within the next 10 days that would allow them to keep their NYSE listing. Being forced to trade over-the-counter would be a severe black-eye for the firm, which continues to struggle with lower advertising revenues and declining circulation numbers.

Nonetheless, Lee officials say their circulation numbers are not as bad as the rest of the industry, which has seen a decline of some 20% over the past year.

Despite my arm-chair criticism of some practices at the Rapid City Journal – and the fact that I’ve become a habitual user of internet services – I’m hoping that Lee Enterprises and the Rapid City Journal will get through these difficult times.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe there’ll always be a place for print journalism products. While it’s hard for me to imagine a world without my morning newspaper, it’s clear that the industry will have to become more creative in finding ways to retain its relevancy in this glitzo-techno era.

Who failed?

We were pleased to see the Rapid City Journal, which still seems to be struggling to find its niche in the expanding media marketplace, opine strongly against a closed meeting conducted by a “Finance Review Committee” of the Rapid City School District.

With all the changes at the Journal over the past 36 months, it’s good to see them sticking to their editorial guns when it comes to open meetings.

And then there’s the school district.

According to the Journal, a group of local leaders was selected by the school district to review district financial affairs and make recommendations to the board. That’s a smart proactive thing to be doing in these tough economic times. Dave Janak, budget manager for the district, is reportedly consulting with the committee and is quoted as saying that the committee is “an arm of our office.” Our hats off to these business folks taking time to help the school district.

We’ve often noted that it’s a whole heck of a lot easier to do business outside the view of the media and the public. But it’s dangerous for the institutions to work with that mindset – and even more dangerous for the public. That’s why we have open meetings laws. There are ample provisions for conducting closed meetings -- personnel, legal, and other sensitive topics – but invoking them should be rare.

Most troubling are the remarks by Superintendent Peter Wharton, indirectly quoted in the Rapid City Journal, that he has no say in whether the public is allowed into the meetings. It sounds to me like he may have shortchanged the committee on guidance regarding their work and how to accomplish it legally.

And committee chairman Dennis Popp says the group isn’t elected and doesn’t represent anybody. Usually, school superintendents and chiefs of police aren’t elected either, but they’re required to do the public’s business….in public!

A retired school superintendent friend of mine said it best when I asked him how many folks would likely attend a public meeting of a financial review committee: “Nobody.”

By closing the meetings, the district and the committee have caused us to wonder why.

The Journal quotes Popp as saying “we don’t feel it would be fair to give the recommendations to the media before the board.”

Mr. Popp should understand that the “media” are something of a surrogate for the public, and this is not an issue of fairness to the board. It’s about the law and conducting business within the healthy view of the citizens served by the school district.

Advertising declines...

“Mounting debt and a sharp drop in advertising” sounds like descriptors for the ailing newspaper industry. With major dailies cutting staff and slimming the size of their papers, smaller companies serving local communities – like some Lee Enterprises Rapid City Journal regional papers (Lawrence County Journal) – have turned to publishing just weekly.

But in this instance, “mounting debt and a sharp drop in advertising” characterizes another struggling media enterprise: commercial radio. Unlike the declining circulation of newspapers, however, radio listening -- according to a recent New York Times article -- is actually increasing. Nonetheless, the radio business seems to be struggling big time.

One of the giants of the industry, Citadel Broadcasting, reportedly has laid off 340 people this year, while CBS Radio has chopped 480 staffers. Another radio conglomerate, Emmis Communications, has reduced its staff by 480.

Of course, most of the impact has been in large metropolitan areas, but heartland radio operations are not impervious to these tough economic times. Competition from other technologies – iPods to satellite radio – is taking its toll.

Readers of this site know of our affection for local broadcast services, and we've often waxed nasty about margers and consolidations. We get little solace from the likelihood that media consolidation costs likely caused some of the radio giants to go deeper into debt as they tried to gorge themselves with even more radio stations.

Again, locally-owned and operated stations are certainly not immune to marketplace vagaries, but good local management can help stave off some of the traps that the big guys have fallen into.

A looming challenge for all the radio industry: what to do about digital radio? That’ll have to be the subject of another session

Looking for world news

I’m sorry. I’m just a bit old fashioned and think the media in general -- and newspapers, in particular -- should do a better job of providing us with world news.

In general, television news has become increasingly glitzier and full of fluff – but that’s nothing new. Radio news, except from public radio, is on the endangered species list. And newspapers have shriveled news content perceivably, particularly world news.

Most of us now acknowledge that we live in a global economy – but you’d never know it reading the front page of the Rapid City Journal.

Never mind that tens of thousands of people were killed by a cyclone in Myanmar this past week. In the minds-eye of the Journal, that story wasn’t worth putting on the front page. Instead, we found stories about:

· Hillary Clinton speaking at a Sioux Falls airport hangar
· A non-fatal vehicle accident in north Rapid City
· Students making pancakes for Teacher Appreciation Week
· Retailers baiting shoppers with rebate specials
· A tourism consultant focusing on “locals” for a city makeover
· An enticement for the Journal’s newest feature – “Page Too”

The front page of the Journal did an excellent job covering the blizzard that wreaked havoc on much of western South Dakota, and other important stories with decidedly “local” angles. But if Christ were to make a second coming, it would be relegated below the fold on page 7.

After considerable public outcry, Journal editors appear to have eliminated the routine front-page placement of area sporting activities and relocated it to the front-page of the sports section. Good move.

Now if they’d only acknowledge that world events deserve a shot at front-page coverage.

The subtle relegation of important world news to the back of the paper is like being shoved to the back of the bus. If it’s out-of-sight, it soon becomes out-of-mind. And a whole new generation of young Americans will continue to know the floor plans of most U.S. Wal-Marts, but won’t have a clue about what’s going on in the rest of the world.

In the past, we’ve justifiably been able to blame television for much of the dumbing down of America. Newspapers – at least the Rapid City Journal – seem to be a witting co-conspirator.

Where's "the rest of the story"?

I was sorry to see the Rapid City Journal provide lots of ink as something of an apologist for Congressional earmarks (Tue. 4/15/08). Their front-page story by Kevin Woster and a sidebar regarding just how “essential” earmarks are for South Dakota missed the point many of us would like to see explored further. I expressed that view in my Oink-Oink posting a couple of weeks ago.

Earmarks tend to avoid the rigors and scrutiny of the budget process, and they are far more subject to the whims of individual senators and representatives – particularly those in power. That’s why it seems half of the public construction initiatives in West Virginia are named for Senator Robert Byrd.

“Whims,” of course, can be a part of political horse-trading. A less delicate way of describing them would be political pay-offs.

Even when visiting the Congressional Pig Book web site, which is stuffed with information about questionable earmarks, I am surprised at the apparent legitimacy of many projects. Certainly, most of those described in the Rapid City Journal seem worthy of funding – particularly to us South Dakotans.

But what about projects that smack blatantly of favoritism and appear to be highly questionable? Just how do they compare with projects that were "cut" from the formal budgeting process?

Perhaps the Rapid City Journal would do well to dig a bit deeper on all earmarks within their circulation area. At the very least, explore the “short-cut” process that goes with earmarks, and shine a bit of journalistic light upon this unsavory process.

Worthwhile projects should be able to withstand the rigors of the budgetary process – whether they’re in West Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi…….or South Dakota.

Harlan & Daly: Better odds in Deadwood?

We've thoroughly enjoyed the business columns of Rapid City Journal writer Dan Daly.

Alas, Dan is the latest in a long list of Journal news people over the past few years who’ve announced they’re leaving the paper. He’s off to join TDG Communications, Inc., an ad agency in Deadwood, where he'll be their Director of Public Relations, according to a piece last week in the Black Hills Pioneer.

As one would expect of a professional, Dan has no unkind words for the Journal. That speaks volumes about Dan, whose work has graced the pages of the Journal since 1990. In Deadwood, he'll likely cross paths with another Rapid City Journal escapee, Bill Harlan, who left the paper earlier this year to go to work at the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory.

Since Karen and I retired and returned to South Dakota three years ago, we’ve enjoyed Dan’s “Talking Business” column, and I’ve also picked up a lot of background information and perspectives from the Daily Business Blog. We'll miss seeing his work in print and on-line.

Good luck, Dan Daly; best wishes in your new career with TDG Communications.

Behind Closed Doors

How morbidly fitting that the death knell for an attempt to modernize South Dakota open records laws should be determined days earlier behind closed doors.

Apparently that’s what happened this week in Pierre when the House State Affairs Committee, chaired by Representative Larry Rhoden of Union Center, heard open testimony from six proponents of SB 189. They also listened to a single opponent, Jeff Bloomberg of the Bureau of Administration. The measure had already passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

Bloomberg’s last minute sandbag job in the House committee probably wasn’t even necessary. We’ve been told that a closed caucus of House Republicans – days earlier – allowed lobbyists against the bill to wax eloquent in their opposition. When the Wednesday morning public hearing came, SB 189 was pushed to the back of the committee agenda, allowing Chairman Rhoden to frequently chide proponents to hurry along with their testimony because of the “tight schedule.” Despite crossover Republican support, the bill was stopped cold on a 7-6 vote.

At the end of the hearing, Rep. Rhoden gave an almost gleeful benediction, harkening back to his displeasure – or “heartburn” as he put it – over an incident involving the release of public records some time back by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Black Hills Monitor has often criticized the Rapid City Journal, and we’re not always a big fan of the Argus-Leader. Alas, this seemed to be more of a grudge match between the Argus-Leader and Governor Mike Rounds. The Governor won this round. The media got its ears pinned back.

But the real loser was open government and the people of South Dakota.

While virtually all other states have modernized their laws with a presumption of openness for public documents, South Dakota continues to muddle along with a restrictive and confusing set of laws. SB 189 was a good measure, championed by Senator Nancy Turbak Berry of Watertown. Proponents promise to be bring the issue back next year.

Perhaps our biggest disappointment was with Rep. Chuck Turbiville of Deadwood. Our conversations with him led us to believe that he would give the measure a fair hearing. In retrospect, we didn’t know that a “fair hearing” would include a closed GOP caucus meeting with die-hard opponents of the bill.

It was a sad day for open government.

Newspaper Videos Blossom

We received a most welcome e-mail from our niece in Texas today. It provided an internet link to a video produced by the Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal, telling the story of our grandnephew, Sergeant Shawn Walton, who was seriously wounded earlier this year in Iraq. We posted the video on the Galey Archives family web site.

Shawn has spent most of the past four months recuperating at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He’s been going through some aggressive physical therapy, and this video provided some good news for family members far and wide. The production quality of the video won’t win any awards, but it was still good news.

And these kinds of videos may also be good news for the newspaper industry. As the Fifth Estate becomes more adept at using video, perhaps they’ll also land upon a business model that will allow them to continue and expand creative uses of video and other internet tools.

Last week, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, pushed through a new media ownership rule. It will allow newspapers to own television stations in the largest markets of the country. It’s a dumb idea. There already is too much concentration of power within the media.

Chairman Martin waxed eloquent about the plight of newspapers, citing significant declines in subscriptions to many well-known dailies. He neglected to mention that despite such declines, profits within the newspaper industry remain quite high, thank you very much!

While I’m opposed to the kind of increased concentration promoted by the cross-ownership rule, I fully support the blossoming video activities being pursued by newspapers and reported extensively in a recent article in the American Journalism Review.

Even the Rapid City Journal has been getting into the game of late. I find their video offerings -- categorized under "Multimedia" to the right side of their on-line news page -- a bit sparse. The interface is a bit awkward, but I suspect that they’re still taking baby steps with the new technology. Look for them to improve over time.

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Happily, Journal Editor Mikel LeForte told me some time back that the paper plans to continue its emphasis upon print reporting. They view video as merely complementing their print effort. And that’s the way it should be.

But for those of us who’ve advocated converging technologies to maximize journalistic efforts, this is a move in the right direction.