worldwide pablo

That is the question

To tweet, or not to tweet? MoDo asks the question.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

Okay, so this has been all over Facebook and the interwebs today, but WWP cannot resist sharing it again. Watch it all the way through. If you're not the slightest bit choked up by the end, you might want to check to see if you still have a pulse.

Bailing but not sinking

A interesting description of The Zero.

Not with a bang but a whimper

One needn’t listen to the news much to know that newspapers and other so-called “dead tree” media have fallen on hard times, the victim of changing technology, evolving readership habits and a sour economy. Today we have another example, this time a little closer to home: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (simply called “The P-I” in Seattlese) announced today that it is being put up for sale, and that if after 60 days it has not been sold, it will either be turned into a web-only publication with a greatly reduced staff or discontinued entirely. “One thing is clear: at the end of the sale process, we do not see ourselves publishing in print,” one executive said.

Two thoughts come to mind. The first is: WWP is mighty glad he left print journalism some years ago. And the second: What will happen to all those newspaper carriers?

If you’re wondering why WWP is concerned about the carriers, here’s the explanation. WWP’s first-ever job was as a newspaper carrier, for the P-I, in 1968, back when it was the only morning newspaper in town struggling against the more dominant then-afternoon newspaper, The Seattle Times. If memory serves, in the neighborhood where WWP delivered the Hearst paper served by one paper route there were four routes for the competitor. Of course, labor laws have since all but eliminated paper delivery as a young person’s chance at earning extra cash; the job has since fallen exclusively to adults with cars, in Seattle and elsewhere.

Still, we cannot help but mourn the jobs that will be lost, to say nothing of the vanishing memories of a boy, a bicycle and a paper route.

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[The ghoulish joke now circulating Seattle posits that the P-I has exactly three assets: one popular long-time columnist, a Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist and an 18.5-ton paperweight. Read more about the last here, and about the P-I’s long history here.]

Some people get 16 minutes

They don't make war correspondents like they used to, do they?

"They dared to cover the news and went out of business"

Depending on who you talk to, the blogosphere is either a salvation from mainstream media monopoly or it's a slippery slope to certain chaos of under- or uninformed "newsiness." Being a former newsman himself, Worldwide Pablo has his own opinions [which shouldn't be so hard to figure out], but we'll save those pithy comments for another day.

In Bellingham, Wash., the local independent newspaper -- the aptly named Whatcom Independent -- has published its last issue, a victim of falling readership and flagging advertising revenues. This is the sort of "death to the dead-tree media" rallying cry that normally cheers the blogging class. But we wonder: Is this such a good trend? And moreover: When the last of the these newspapers is gone, what exactly will bloggers actually have to write about?

What's more, who's stepping up to the plate? Well, as it turns out, no one, really. As Editor Sheri Ward notes in her farewell column:

"Web-based news blogs may fill some of the need, and the quality and reliability of those is evolving. One can hope the bar for quality local news coverage rises enough to render news-oriented blogs useful for the general community."

She adds:

"It's time to pass the baton. Unfortunately, at this point, there's nobody on the receiving end of that pass."

Exactly. Whatcom County is something of a media test tube, when you think about it. Retrenching mainstream newspaper, other shrinking and disappearing media, no one really stepping up to fill the void. That's something to celebrate?

WWP will take Walter Cronkite over that any day.

Nuts to you

You just can't make up stuff like this. [On live television, no less.]

ThURLsday returns

YouTube grows a pair: Obama myths, explored. And discredited.

C'est moi?: What happens when a third-person blogger [a la WWP] turns to first person.

Portland in the New York Times ... again: But this time, it's not very flattering.

Of course, it wouldn't be a park without a bioswale: Portland's newest [and most P.C.] park is unveiled.

Quote of the day:

"My sense at this point is that Obama is more capable of strength than McCain is of subtlety. And that McCain's domestic weakness with his own base may force him into cruder measures than are appropriate to the threat we face."

The rationale is here.

A valuable timewaster

Here's a rock music quiz that will put your musical memory brain cells to the test. It starts out easy enough ... but then it becomes one motheryouknowwhat. Try the 50-question exam for yourself and see how you rate.

As for WWP? Turns out he's merely a "roadie." How 'bout you?

Power down

Amazing how something as regular as a summertime power failure can bring ginormous websites to their knees. Even at this hour, Craigslist -- the vaunted classified "ad killer" -- is not yet fully functional [especially to its outer rings and levels]. In fact, deep in the bowels of Craigslist, one still encounters error messages that implore, "We are aware of the situation, and the happy craigslist elves are scurrying to make it better, even now."

Imagine all the frustrated couch-sellers and sexaholics tonight...

Disclosure: The afternoon meltdown in S.F. also affected WWP's host, Typepad, preventing viewing and posts to this site for four or five hours. Our apologies to those who attempted to connect here during that time. But, we must stand by Typepad. Great site, great service, terrific people. We're not leaving, and we stand by them.]