Robert Paterson's Weblog

Autumn Leaves - Grand daughter Style

The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan - A lesson?

The minutes of Akhromeyev’s meeting with the Politburo were recently unearthed by American and Russian scholars of the cold war — these and other materials substantially expand our knowledge of the Soviet Union’s disastrous campaign. As President Obama contemplates America’s own future in Afghanistan, he would be well advised to read some of these revealing Politburo papers; he might also pick up a few riveting memoirs of Soviet generals who fought there. These sources show as many similarities between the two wars as differences — and may provide the administration with some valuable counsel.

via nytimes.com

Compelling article on the Soviet experience - What was that line about "History"? Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

Happy Halloween - The Price?

Are journalists bloggers etc - A false question - follow up to CBC PEI Debate

This debate is being conducted beyond PEI with great vitriol - why I was impressed by the manner of the discussion here. Peter I think that there is in fact no line really in what we do but only in the label. Some bloggers comment - some follow stories as journalists do. Where is the line and why the passion?

If we look at schools we see the same line. A “real” teacher has to have a Teaching degree and get paid working for a “real” school. The explicit assumption is that only such a “professional” training and only such an “accredited” organization can safely “teach”. Of course this is utter rubbish. Most good teachers have a natural ability and learn to be really good by teaching. The actual course work for a B of Ed is merely a guild barrier. Good teaching does not need a school either - another guild barrier.

Journalists at the heart are only story tellers.

I say only not in a deprecating way but to define what it is that they do. So are good bloggers.

A myth about journalism is that they are careful about the truth. This may be true in a micro sense but has never been true on a macro sense. Newspapers etc exist to sell advertisng space and to pay their owners. Nothing wrong in that per se. But as we have seen in our own lifetime, they have a deep systemic bias to the status quo and to pleasing those in power.

One of the aspects I enjoy about the press in the UK is that no one pretends to be unbiased. Each organ stakes out ground and speaks to that. Here in North America, the bias is cloaked.

More recently even the micro facts - balloon boy etc - are not checked. But the passion to draw the line is fuelled mainly by the reality that the old media is dying and is lashing out and looking to protect itself. A natural response but still nasty. They claim that they have been undermined by losing revenue to Craigslist and attachment to Google. But if you look at the numbers, they have lost their audience and their readers.

I think in our now very complex world, the “News” offers only a commodity headline - Flu!!!! Risk!!!! Get Vaccinated!!! - Market’s Up Buy Buy Buy Markets Down Sell Sell - More Killed in Afghanistan More Killed More Killed - Michael Jackson/OJ/Jay Lo As they lose resources, this frantic search for headlines gets worse and the cycle continues. As they lose circulation and ad revenue, they are faced with their systemic costs.

The paper, the studios, the union rules, the guild practices. They all totter now. In reality, papers and stations will close all over North America. Canwest cannot even give their stations away! Thousands will lose well paying jobs. Those that are left feel cornered and have to lash out - it must be someone else’s fault - those Bloggers!

The debate at the CBC was polite, but I live with this every day in the US where passions are high. Why so high?

I think that this is more like the Reformation than any other precedent. A once invulnerable institution who defined their power by claiming to be the only connection to God, whose leader was appointed by God, whose Priests were the only true priests were being assaulted by an idea. The idea was that all could find and converse with God directly. That there was no need for such an institution. That being a priest began in the human heart. Now that is not what the reformed church became but that was the idea that shook the Mother Church.

So as I see it, it’s not really about the bloggers versus the papers or the TV or Radio stations. It is the death of an industrial idea. The death knell for all such institutions. Soon there will not longer be this debate about who is a journalist because there will be only a handful of papers and other traditional organizations and there will be a void. Like planets forming from stellar dust, new institutions will form - many bloggers will find a place in this new system as will a few “journalists”. This will happen soon enough here on PEI.

via ruk.ca

There is a really good debate going on at Peter's blog and this compelled me to launch this response

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

Duration+of+Unemployement -More than a lagging indicator?

via 1.bp.blogspot.com

This is off the chart (source St L Fed via http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2009/10/national-economic-trends-october-09.html) - it is going to take an age to get back to work. Surely work is the issue facing us. In many cases the old jobs will never come back.

This is why I am banging on about ideas like Local Food. It starts with a simple but real issue that confronts the unemployed - how are they going to eat? The answer today is Food Banks. But these are at their limit now.

So what next - grow the food locally. But that needs people with time on their hands....

So what then will happen - a new food system will emerge that might offer great work for many and of course food.

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

Former Citi Chairman in favor of re-imposing Glass-Steagall - Credit Writedowns

To the Editor:

Re “Volcker’s Voice, Often Heeded, Fails to Sell a Bank Strategy” (front page, Oct. 21):

As another older banker and one who has experienced both the pre- and post-Glass-Steagall world, I would agree with Paul A. Volcker (and also Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England) that some kind of separation between institutions that deal primarily in the capital markets and those involved in more traditional deposit-taking and working-capital finance makes sense.

This, in conjunction with more demanding capital requirements, would go a long way toward building a more robust financial sector.

John S. Reed
New York, Oct. 21, 2009

The writer is retired chairman of Citigroup.

via creditwritedowns.com

More solid folks come to the same opinion

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

New and Old Media on PEI - How the conversation should go

Ocotber 28 - Minding the Media

Wed, 28 Oct 2009

This time around Guardian reporter Teresa Wright, journalism instructor Rick MacLean and businessman and blogger Tim Banks talk about access to the Legislature's press gallery.

via cbc.ca

Hit the link to go direct to the podcast

Polite, thoughtful, considered, productive - Tim Banks, a leading blogger on PEI - Teresa Wright - one of our best print journalists - and Rick MacLean - who teaches Journalism - hosted by Mitch Cormier of CBC Radio PEI do us all proud as they cover a lot of ground in a short time on how to bring the old and the new together.

Outstanding!

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

St Louis - A Pub Media Convergence

Plans are moving forward for a new building for local NPR affiliate KWMU (a.k.a. St. Louis Public Radio) in Grand Center.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis, which oversees KWMU and houses the station in a basement on its campus, said today that it is seeking developers for a new 27,000 square foot building at Olive Street and Grand Blvd., with construction to start in the spring.

UMSL announced its plans to move the station about a year ago, and said it will help the University enhance partnerships with other civic groups already located in the Midtown arts and culture district. The building will be right next door to public TV station KETC, whose building also houses the St. Louis Beacon, forming a little nonprofit media hub right there in Grand Center. Two stories of the building will be devoted to the radio station, with the third for academic uses, UMSL said.

UMSL has raised about $5.2 million for the building - which it originally projected to cost about $12 million. It decided to finance the building through a lease-purchase agreement, rather than owning it outright, because that might prove less expensive and make it eligible for more tax credits, said Martin Leifeld, UMSL’s vice chancellor for University Advancement.

via stltoday.com

St Louis Public Radio (KWMU) KETC TV and one of the first online journalism coops - The St Louis Beacon will form a new "attractor" in the centre of St Louis.

Both the radio and TV station also have a large amount of "Social Space - I expect that this will become the hot house for all sorts of good things for the city and a model for others - a true network.

Posted via web from Rob's posterous

David & Goliath - Making the Very Small Organization Powerful - A Series at the QSC

It is now clear that the many parts of what can be described as Social Media are not merely the fantasies of an elite group of nerds but are a set of excellent tools can help the very small organization - business or NGO or artist etc - to do so much more for less.

An artist of musician can break out more easily - she/he can attract a core of supporters who can act as both an amplifier for their work and also as a sense maker for the scene keeping the artist in context.

A small business can have the marketing and power of a very large one - it can use video online to show what it does, who are the people involved, answer questions - it can use Twitter to follow trends, pick up problems and opportunities - to have the kind of research that a major corporation would die to get. It can use powerful tools to write, present, handle numbers, keep the group in touch that the larger organizations would envy. It can attach it self to a wide range of resources and help.

A small NGO can get its message out, build a powerful support group - it can tell stories that help stimulate change - be more effective for much less money. 

The very small can use these tools to have the power of the very large - for almost no extra cost.

But there is a catch.

Where do you learn this? There are no courses run by the usual institutions.

How also do you get over the fear of the really new?

The place could be the Queen Street Commons and we can get over our fears of the new by helping each other as well as having some experts.

Here is a link to the Queen Street Commons Blog where you can see what kind of place this is.

We will host a series of lunchtime meetings where we will have conversations about how to do many of the things that will enable you to become good at using these tools. Each meeting will have a few people who know a lot but the meeting will also be designed as a conversation. You too will have a lot to offer.

Outside the meeting we will set up a supporting online community where you can try stuff and seek help from the people that you have met face to face.

Our intent is to have not only "teachers" but also people like you who have already put their toe in the water -  fellow explorers who have not got it all solved - people like you who don't have all the answers yet.

With luck you will find an ongoing resource in this group - "go to" experts that can answer a question or solve a problem - confidants - suppliers - new customers - friends.

Some of the topics that we are thinking about might be:

• How to make and use video online
• Leading to how to tell a good story
• How to use Twitter to listen and to influence
• How to use the web - community building - blogging etc
• How to use a wide range of free or close to free tools on the web - from Word Processing to Blogging
• How to create your own "Place" on the web - your TV/radio station - Your Community etc
• Setting up and running networks

We plan to offer these during the lunch hour. The price will be affordable by any individual or small organization.

I have not talked about the details yet because I still have some work to do in staffing and scheduling.

What do you think? Will this help you? Would you like to help.

Planning a Kid's Party - Dave Snowden shows us how silly our plans usually are

via yesandspace.com.au

Did you cringe when he reminded us of how we usually plan? Did it make sense to be sensible?

Posted via web from Rob's posterous