Dixie Fix

NCTV Director Resigns

Michael LaMarca has resigned as the executive director of Nevada County Television. LaMarca replaced Lew Sitzer, the station’s founder, on July 1, 2008.

 Here’s a statement released today by LaMarca:

“My tenure here at NCTV is coming to an end. I have resigned my post and will soon be moving on. 

 “NCTV is seeking an energetic person to step in and tackle the development and fundraising challenges of this young organization.  The board and the staff and I are optimistic that this is a great opportunity for NCTV to find a person experienced in developing revenues and securing grants to help our local station overcome its built-in operational handicap. 

“It’s been a pleasure following Lew Sitzer’s footsteps and serving our community here in the capacity of ED. I’m convinced that fine local talent will step up to take my place and drive the station on its steady path to maturity.

 If you know of a good candidate, please pass along the posting below and direct them to our web site for detailed information.”

 Position Available:  Executive Director of Nevada County Television (NCTV).  The Executive Director leads a non-profit community media center with an established public access television station, serves as the chief executive officer and principal spokesperson, and drives NCTV toward becoming a 21st century “new media” hub for Nevada County. Fundraising and revenue generation are the Executive Director’s top priority.  Desirable candidate is experienced with developing revenue streams, a seasoned administrator, and well versed in current community media landscape.  Salary range $28 – 36 K. Hours and salary negotiable.  Visit http://www.nevadacountytv.org/ for application details.  Send letter of introduction and resume to info@nevadacountytv.org by 5:00 pm October 23rd.

-- This was on the NC Advocate's Web site. Good scoop, Pat!

 

Two Respected Journalists Leaving Local Newspaper

And it will be a shame to see them both go. David Mirhadi is doing his 2nd stint at the paper, having left to go to Wyoming and return again to Grass Valley. He is a talented writer, especially features. David can tell a story and paint a picture that puts you right there! He is awesome. And just about the nicest man you will ever meet. I just heard about an "act of kindness" he performed a couple weeks ago, from the surprised recipient. A class act, all the way.

The other reporter is Zuri Berry, who was hired for sports (his first love) and later moved into news when Laura Brown abruptly left a few months ago. Zuri has many talents, including his journalism skills. He is extremely adept at social media, and managed the paper's Web site with style and grace -- not an easy feat in the Wild West of the Internet. Zuri is young and ambitious and I think he will go far and we can say we knew him when he was starting out. He was hired by the Boston Globe (!) to produce sports for the Web.

If you see either of these gentlemen around town, thank them for their hard work and contributions to the community! They will be missed -- but not forgotten. 

The Future of Investigative News?

From www.poynter.org

Group launches nonprofit Investigative News Network

WatchdogsatPocantico.com | Content Bridges
The Investigative News Network's mission is very simple, says the group's declaration: it's "to aid and abet, in every conceivable way, individually and collectively, the work and public reach of its member news organizations, including, to the fullest extent possible, their administrative, editorial and financial wellbeing. And, more broadly, to foster the highest quality investigative journalism, and to hold those in power accountable, at the local, national and international levels." Twenty-seven nonprofit news publishers were at Pocantico to discuss the venture.

Posted at 4:07 PM on Jul. 1, 2009

Lance Armstrong 'Branding' Nevada County & More

Celebrities do make a difference! The Nevada City Classic was limping along, and Lance and Levi put Nevada City on the map, big time. Local merchants have told me in the past that the bike race doesn't bring in money, but this year was different. The owners of Las Katarinas on Broad Street TURNED AWAY 400 people on Sunday! Wow!

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The Nevada City Advocate, our cute little town's new weekly, will appear Friday, July 3. Look for it. Pat and Stacy Butler are working hard, and they said some advertisers are calling them. Nice problem to have in a recession!!

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The "new" 5 Mile House will re-open in September. Look for a more road-housy menu.

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Support The Center for the Arts and attend its fundraiser Friday night -- Club style atmosphere. Don't worry, Julie Baker says you don't have to dress up. Just like any other Nevada County function -- everything from tux to T-shirts will prevail.

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Weight Watchers IS amazing. The fact I could go to Reno, eat at a buffet , and still lose weight shows how they make their eating plan easy. It's something that works everywhere. The organization has changed a lot over the years and made it much easier to follow. It's also fun to watch your energy level go up.

Former Union Editor Starting Weekly Newspaper in Nevada City

Pat Butler, who used to be the Editor of The Union (a great editor, by the way) is starting, with his wife Stacy, a weekly newspaper to be called the Nevada City Advocate. Stacy will sell advertising and Pat will write the stories. He expects it to be about 16 pages and feature entertainment and news, primarily. It will be delivered by bulk drop to places people hang out, like Java Johns. It will be free. I don't know if there is an exact starting date, but you may find it about July 3. Interesting concept, eh? What do you think?

Horrible Accident on Freeway in GV Near Kmart

I didn't see it happen, but saw a red SUV that either fell off the overpass near McKnight or rolled over -- totaled and beaten up completely. Looked like 1 car accident; cops weren't there yet. This was about 2 p.m. Nothing on KNCO or KVMR. Went home and checked all Web sites -- still nothing. Hmmmmm....

Wish KVMR's Steve Baker a Happy Birthday! Plus other Stuff

His age? I hear he's calling it "not 60." 59 perhaps?

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Too bad about Judge Julie McManus falling off her deck and hurting herself. A speedy recovery -- she's one of the good gals!

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Soroptimist Garden Tour was hot, but a lot of fun. I must say, however, that one garden on the tour should not have been there. Not much garden to speak of, and obviously a vehicle to sell her garish metal sculpture. Another one of the houses was for sale -- I thought that was a no-no. But the others were fab, and most had great veggie gardens to boot. I loved seeing the artists at each location, too! And came home with a piece of garden art. Only in Nevada County = the artist said I could take it without paying and just send her a check. Gotta love the honesty here.

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If you have been in the Grey Goose in awhile, go immediately!! She's got so much great stuff, always something new. I couldn't pass up "The Crazy Cat Lady Game" for my Game Night friends, and the ear buds for the iPod that look like weiner dogs and skull and crossbones for my visiting friend's daughters. MLP got a "Funky" plate and cup (He's Uncle Funky and the band is Sgt. Funky); Carrie Riffey at KNCO got a "while you were out" pre-filled in message pad (The Gender Transition doctor called about your appointment), it is hysterical!! I also got Steve Baker's birthday present there...shhhh, don't tell him!

Would a Statewide Newspaper Work in California?

Everyone is wringing their hands over the demise of the printed paper and no one seems to have a plan to stop the rising tide of red ink. This idea was suggested by a reader of the San francisco Chronicle in a letter to the editor.

Why not combine the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee and The San Francisco Chronicle into one great California newspaper? Printing and delivery costs could be shared, and it could have "local" sections with news of events important to certain communities.

This, of course, would have to assume that readers under 40 pick up the printed newspaper habit. And that does not appear to be happening. Ideas? Suggestions?

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The word on everyone's mind these days is "garden," Particularly vegetable gardening. Many people who have never planted food are now doing so, realizing that locally grown food is better for us, and better for the environment, not to mention the savings on groceries. We have a pretty big fenced area devoted to a vegetable garden, and we have one every year. My favorite is Heirloom tomatoes. There is nothing like a homegrown tomato. What they sell as the regular market tastes like nothing. But you can easily grow tomatoes in a pot on a deck or balcony and you will be rewarded with tomatoes all summer long. All our local nurseries sell tomato starts, so it's easy to get going.

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There is a lot going on this weekend -- we're getting into Nevada County's busy with events time -- but I have 2 lesser-known things happening that you might be interested in. One is Saturday's "Women and Water" workshop. To read more about this, go to www.yubanet.com. The other is the Gold Rush Book Fair, also taking place on Saturday. This will be posted on Yubanet later this week, but it is much more than just books! It is a historical treasure trove of gold mining stuff, documents, maps and more with a lot of emphasis on this area and California in general. History buffs: Check it out at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

'State of Play' -- The Role of Journalists

This movie got so-so reviews but i thought it was terrific! Russell Crowe was awesome and believable as a grungy newspaper reporter working on a Big Story. I have to say it all seemed a little sad seeing the big old printing presses and the delivery trucks and there was kind of a nostalgia feeling.

No spoilers here, but I do have 2 questions for the Blogosphere.

1. What the heck does the title of the film refer to?

2. What did the wife know and when did she know it?

It also had an old/new journalism feel with the Internet reporters in an entirely different room.

More on Susan Boyle by Huffington Post

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Ok, by now you've heard the story of Susan Boyle, the British churchlady/spinster who wowed the crowd at Britian's Got Talent. If you haven't - then take a minute and look at the clip to understand the pure power of what an unexpected talent can do.

But the Susan Boyle story has a lot more going on than just the music phenomenon, thought that's interesting to be sure.

Take, for example, the story of Paul Wood.

Paul Wood is a construction worker in London, who's got the bug for building video networks on the web in his spare time.

So on Saturday night in London last week Wood decided on a lark that this Susan Boyle woman he read about might 'take off' when Britain's Got Talent would be broadcast. He'd seen her in the auditions and decided to take a risk. He bought the URL Susan-Boyle.com and Sunday night - moments after the broadcast - he had a fan site for her up online.

What Wood didn't know and couldn't know was that some how Susan Boyle connected with a wide variety of people in a deep and powerful way. Why is that? First, you need to see the clip to understand. We can spend a sec and try and psycho-analyze the public: For some, the music is what it's all about. For others, it's the ugly duckling who spreads her wings. And then, it may just be given the economy, with people feeling so beaten up, that watching an underdog totally triumph was just too hard to resist.

It hardly matters. She totally owned the gig - and now she's a rocket. And the best part? This isn't some contrived media event from the pop-culture factory. This is real.

Susan-Boyle.com has created a pop-up destination where people can connect, share stories, record videos, and watch Susan Boyle's video experience. It is a feel good site with most comments gushing with enthusiasm and support. There is something that feels good about watching a community grow organically around such a positive media moment and personality. We just don't have enough of this stuff these days.

Four days later he has a website that is getting close to a million page views a day and has over 12,000 registered members.

The Wall Street Journal reports here that the site's fast growing traffic is the #1 site for Susan-Boyle fans worldwide, providing a unique mix of network clips, user-submitted video testimonials, and a live twitter stream of Susan Boyle fans that updates round the clock from a fast growing worldwide fan base.

It is also worth pointing out, that only in the technologically adept world we live in could such an event be possible. Millions of people flocking to a virtual destination and forming a "flash mob" style community - never meeting each other, but finding a real outlet to come together and share in the moment. Who says technology is making us numb to personal interaction?