Nick Bergus Thoughts on what media do, and can do better, and other things

Today I’m reminded of a lesson I learned in a reporting 101 class: People die. People do not pass away. They do not meet Jesus. They do not cross over. They are not lost. People die.

Apparently Jim Duncan, the food writer for the Des Moines alternative weekly City View, thought enough of my work to name me best new food writer in his most recent column. This “new media” Iowa journalist wrote old fashioned rings around other young food reporters in traditional media — by practicing self examination without self [...]

For the last six months, The Gazette has done an admirable job covering the 500-year flood that covered downtown Cedar Rapids in June and the city’s recovery since. Local stories by local writers about local people and local challenges. This week, the organization looked back at the changes the flood wrought, and put all of [...]

And he has every right to be. Brian Duffy, recently laidoff cartoonist at the Register whose cartoons graced A1 for a couple decades, is pissed. And WHO, in true TV news fashion, is more than happy to play it big and dramatic.

Earlier this week, Gannett slashed at least 1,900 jobs by one tally. The Des Moines Register and the Iowa City Press-Citizen are among the Iowa newspapers Gannett owns and both saw layoffs; 41 at the Register and 11 at the Press-Citizen. Sure the economy is in bad shape, and newspapers have been shedding jobs everywhere, [...]

It’s offical: Fev at “Headsup: The Blog” agrees with one of my previous admonitions.