The Wheeling Alternative
The “war on coal” is over
Today, May 7, 2020, the Wheeling News-Register published a pro-alternative energy editorial
I think this is significant.
The “war” was never really a real war as much as a rallying cry for the coal industry and its supporters. Today, Ogden Newspaper’s Wheeling News-Register, long a mainstay in the industry’s propaganda battle, signaled that it was over with its editorial “Area Can Benefit From Solar Energy.”
It . . .
Ogden and the continuing decline of newspapers
Last week, S&P Global Market Intelligence documented how the coronavirus was hurting newspapers regardless of size or the community it served:
Over the past two weeks, dozens of local publications across the country have furloughed or laid off reporters, reduced the frequency of their publishing or dropped their print . . .
Posted in: coronavirusogden newspapers
Is the future of Ogden Newspapers online?
Recently, Ogden's Nashua (NH) Telegraph and the Provo (UT) Daily reduced their print schedules. Will others soon follow?
Yesterday, the Nashua Telegraph told its readers that it would cease daily publication (as of today) and only print a Sunday edition. According to The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism:
Saying they are “accelerating our move into the future,” The Telegraph of Nashua is moving online and ending its print . . .
Apparently, nothing much happened in the world this past weekend
As usual, the Monday Intelligencer consists of week-old local news and PR releases
Front-page “news”
The top story:
Wheeling Taking Steps to Fix Flooding Problems
This story tells us that the city is taking steps to fix the flooding that has become a problem in parts of the city. The city announced these steps six days ago.
Underneath it:
Residents Speak In . . .
In today's Wheeling News Register, Ogden rebrands their advertising rate cut as a “grant” then looks for praise for what is simply a business necessity (with 3/30 update)
In tough economic times, businesses frequently cut prices in order to survive – so why is Ogden’s actions front-page news?
Not just in the Ohio Valley, but just about everywhere -- the pandemic has closed most local businesses. As a result, local newspapers, which depend primarily on local businesses for most of their revenue, are hurting badly. (For examples, see NPR’s recent coverage.) Our local Ogden papers are no exception. For instance, last Monday’s . . .
Our local editor tells us that he’s “been the little newspaper editor who cried wolf” on the coronavirus
Has he been? A look at the Wheeling Intelligencer’s coverage of the coronavirus
Saturday’s column by Ogden’s local editor, Mike Myer, is about pandemics and how quickly they can spread. Early in “COVID-19 Is Deadly Wakeup Call,” Myer explains that this is the reason why he is so concerned:
Well, how quickly can a benign virus, unable to even penetrate human cells, develop that ability? As little as two . . .
Trump simply cannot move on
He just escalated his fight with WV's Joe Manchin -- one of few Democrats that have supported him
According to FiveThirtyEight, West Virginia's Joe Manchin leads all active Democrat senators in voting President Trump's way. Despite this, Trump criticized Manchin yesterday morning (see my last post). Not willing (or, more likely, unable) to stop, Trump continued his attack on Manchin last night:
...But, just like the people of . . .