  Rotation_slim Member Username: Rotation_slim Post Number: 80 Registered: 10-2005 |
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20080208/O PINION03/802080395 Did you know that Mekeisha Madden Toby, the woman who writes for the News on Detroit TV moved out of the city.. no, not to the suburbs.. but to CALIFORNIA. And the news still has her writing her column from Cal? Is that not the weirdest thing... can she even see Detroit TV in Cal? (Maybe slingbox??) There is no possible way she could have any kind of finger on what is going on in media in this community from 2,000 miles away. I find it truly bizzare! Can the News not find someone qualified here locally? It shows in the REALLY bad article that I have linked where she talks about Fox 2 winning last Tuesday night, she swallows 2's Kool-aid, and attributes the victory to excellent "super Tuesday" polictical coverage.. and never Mentions the fact that it was actually American Idol ratings that boosted them to the win. How could a beat writer be so clueless.. even from 2000 miles away. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 556 Registered: 11-2003 |
Doesn't surprise me with the consolidation of media. All the stuff she reported on is from widely available sources and could be garnered from a simple phone call. Probably, deadline was coming and some column inches needed to be filled. It could make some sense being LA as most of the TV is actually produced out there. However, this is not unusual. The Chicago Sun Times tech writer Andy Ihnatko is based in Boston, for instance. Staffs nationwide are being slashed at media outlets, especially print media, and especially at firms who haven't quite figured out how to make the online portion as profitable as the print was moons ago. My big beef with the Detroit news is their blog house - it totally does not function like a proper blog should. None of the comments match the stories, you sometimes can't get a direct link to an individual post - completely messed up. I'm sure it's because they're shoe-horning their content management system into something it's not designed to do. | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 120 Registered: 11-2007 |
One good thing about Mekeisha being in California, is that she can give first hand accounts of what's going on at the Grammys, Oscars, etc. because she can actually be on the red carpet and in the audience. Mekeisha is also in the office in Detroit quite often. In fact she was in Detroit during Super Tuesday. ...and you can get a direct link to individual blog posts. At least I've never came to find a broken link. (Message edited by Melody on February 12, 2008) | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 308 Registered: 03-2005 |
I didn't think it was any big secret that she moved to L.A. recently. It's not like somebody was fired in Detroit and not replaced. She moved, and the News managed to keep her on in her same job, since most of TV coverage is based in L.A. anyway. It's not much different than newspapers having a Washington D.C. bureau. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2716 Registered: 01-2005 |
Newspapers are in difficult times. Readership drops daily due to alternate news sources, so they have to do whatever they have to do to keep costs down since subscriber and advertising revenue is declining. Just out of curiosity, how may DYers subscribe to one or more paper? I get the hard copy of my local paper daily (LV Review-Journal), and read the News and Freep on the computer nearly daily. | ||
Treelock Member Username: Treelock Post Number: 273 Registered: 03-2005 |
Susan Ager of the freep was writing her columns for years from her home Up North. Although freep execs probably would have justified it by saying they wanted a local voice in those Northern Michigan markets where they sell their papers anyway. I write this in the past tense because it dawns on me that I haven't seen her name in the paper in a while and I suspect she may have taken one of the company's recent buyouts. Anyone know whether this is the case? | ||
Ro_resident Member Username: Ro_resident Post Number: 300 Registered: 11-2003 |
It looks like Susan Ager took last week off by looking at the datelines on the columns on her section of the Freep. Possibly the strangest media consolidation move--Fox Sports Network having the nightly Detroit Sports Report based out of Seattle with some aspects of the production controlled out of Houston. http://www.detnews.com/2005/me tro/0507/10/A02-242222.htm | ||
Evelyn Member Username: Evelyn Post Number: 101 Registered: 02-2005 |
Ray- haven't had a subscription to a paper in years- but I read the Albuquerque Journal and Detroit Free Press almost online daily, and the NY Times a couple of times a week. | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1596 Registered: 02-2005 |
Ray, like Evelyn, I read the ABQ Journal daily (although it usually doesn't take very long), as well as the Wall St Journal. I also read Barrons, a financial weekly, and the Sangre de Christo Chronicle (a weekly local paper from the northern mountains of NM). Those are all in print, I still like to get my fingers dirty. I occasionally peruse the DFP and DN web sites, as well as review the wires and more thru Yahoo News and Comcast news at least once a day. | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 87 Registered: 08-2006 |
Nothing new here, one half of a popular radio duo in L.A., Kevin & Bean, has lived on a farm in Vashon Island off the coast of Seattle for 10 years, broadcasts back to L.A. via DSL inhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K evin_and_Bean The Pasadena Star-News was looking for reporters in India a few months back | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 4528 Registered: 12-2005 |
I get a complimentary copy of The Detroit News at breakfast every morning. I vaguely recall reading an article about Mekeisha Madden moving to California yet keeping her job here so I doubt it qualifies as a secret. That article might have shed more light on their justification. I searched for that article to no avail. Sorry. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1491 Registered: 11-2003 |
Maybe she's on the Alonzo Bates work/study plan. | ||
Ro_resident Member Username: Ro_resident Post Number: 301 Registered: 11-2003 |
The quote on the front page of her web site: "Mekeisha Madden Toby is the Los Angeles based TV critic for The Detroit News." And her writing is in full view. So I don't agree that she is on the Bates work/study plan. That is, until she starts making comments about the economic impact of stadia.... | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 121 Registered: 11-2007 |
The Detroit News only keeps articles online for seven days. Access to archives are available, but I think for a small price. I don't subscribe to anything but but I read both papers in print every day (complimentary), as well the Metro Times, The Hamtramck Citizen, Hamtramck's Main Street and Real Detroit every week. I also read all the local music blogs and pretty much any free paper lying around. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11608 Registered: 12-2003 |
I don't see why Susan Ager had to be pulled into this...she writes human interest stories, often mini-novellas, from around the state. I'm sure her output is GREATLY enhanced by her happiness up north. As far as I know, she and her beau keep an apartment in the city, and travel downstate often for her responsibilities with the paper. She was doing that as recently as a year ago. She is a big fan of the people of the city, indeed of people everywhere...even those who dislike her or worse! In an age of electronic journalism, MOST writers do their thang where they can do it best. Kudos to them for having a lifestyle that works for everyone. | ||
Goose Member Username: Goose Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2005 |
nothing new, until just very recently, fox sports DETROIT was based in Seattle...... | ||
Harpernottingham Member Username: Harpernottingham Post Number: 347 Registered: 04-2006 |
FSD is actually based in Detroit now? I'd say it's about time. | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 203 Registered: 11-2006 |
I get the Free Press delivered 7 days a week. My son worked for them earlier last year so he decided to subscribe. He quit after a few months. Were still getting the paper and we never even got a bill. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1164 Registered: 07-2007 |
Good role model. | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 276 Registered: 06-2006 |
We get the Freep hardcopy seven days a week. We figure that, even if the info. is available online, we should pay for them providing it. Plus I enjoy the funnies and puzzles when I have a spare moment. | ||
Ticub Member Username: Ticub Post Number: 22 Registered: 05-2007 |
I get the News, Free Press, USA Today and the Mellus delivered to my house. While I can read these online, it's just never the same for me as holding a paper in my hands. Plus some of the ads are useful. Call me old-fashioned. | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 129 Registered: 11-2007 |
My ego isn't big enough to start a new thread about this, so I'll post it here. I've been given my own blog. If you like reading about local music and the bar scene, then bookmark this.... http://detnews.com/melodyblog/ | ||
Downriviera Member Username: Downriviera Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2008 |
The Mellus? I haven't heard that in years, its now the News Herald covering downriver. |
