The Contra Costa Times – Meeting with News
Categories: Bay Area News
Written By: Mayor Concord California
I had the opportunity today to meet with George Kelly the online coordinator at Bay Area News Group (Contra Costa Times). George and I met through Twitter where he manages the CCTIMES profile. He asked if I would be interested in hanging out and meeting some of the people at the newspaper. “Um…Ya!”. Even with the baby I had to make some time to get over to their offices and meet with George and see how a real newspaper runs.
I report on the news and I get a lot of my news from the Contra Costa Times and other mainstream places but in contrast to mainstream news, I am not bound by the bureaucracy of reporting that these others are held to. I’m not saying I write all about rumor and gossip, but I could. Mainstream news has so many levels of checks they have to run through that chances are if the story is based on a rumor, it gets canned.
George and I had lunch at the cafeteria and talked about social media and how it is shaping the way news is spread. Granted most of the users of social media are younger, the gap is being crossed by the older generation more so now than even a year ago.I was a bit unsure of what to expect from the meeting but we spent a lot of time talking about my blogs, how I find the time to manage them, the future of newspapers and how blogging is really a part of that puzzle.
I was walked around the entire news floor and got to meet reporters and staff writers from all different areas of the news, from politics, sports and even the local Concord team Tanya Rose and Robert Salonga. I think I spent the most time talking to these two since they cover the news in my city. Very interesting team with desks cluttered with post-it notes memo pads and a hanging poster of Iron Maiden. They have a genuine interest in local news, we talked about my site, Claycord and even some current events.
Next we were off to the 2:30 news budget meeting. I went upstairs and was introduced to a few more people and then went into their video conference room. The conference room reminded me of a scene from a TV show where the walls were covered in a dark wood and the massive conference table was surrounded by some very plush chairs. I could picture some men sitting in the room smoking cigars and discussing how to take over the world. I mention the chairs in the conference room because most of the chairs on the news floor were not so decadent.
The conference room filled up with people from all different areas of the paper and they opened up the phone lines for the other newspapers to get involved. The entire meeting took about 30 minutes and in that time they covered about 50 news stories and decided what would get placed and where it would go. Obviously the inauguration of President Obama was the key topic and they had several mockups of what tomorrows front page would look like. It was so interesting to see how all if this takes place.
George, thank you for extending the invitation and showing me around. I have a new found respect for the newspaper and glad that you and I had a chance to talk about how blogs and the mainstream news go together.
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January 20th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I’m glad you took me up on the offer. My co-workers and I enjoyed your visit. Showing you around felt at times like seeing parts of the newsroom (and parts of its animating processes) anew. I missed introducing you to the graphics folks, who are putting in long hours on those inaugural fronts; had they been freer today, I’m pretty sure you could’ve had a smart exchange with several of the managing editors, whose experience and instincts help hone reporters’ stories. But you’re more than welcome to stop on by again, and soon.
George Kelly’s last blog post..A glimpse into Afghanistan’s past
January 20th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Great job mayor! With more exposure you’ll have the biggest blog in the Bay Area. I love the format and the respect you give to your bloggers. I haven’t seen you delete any posts yet. I really like that. The other ones forget that you cannot call yourself a community blog site and then censor us, just because you don’t like what we write. I know at first you didn’t care for the stuff i was writing about the Concord police dept. But, what i wrote was true. I appreciate you allowing me to have my say on your site that is democracy in action! Great job, I wish you much success in 2009!!!!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:56 am
Everyone can give their opinion here. Minus any hate speech, I want to give people a place to talk about anything they want even if they disagree with me.
Concord Blogger’s last blog post..Danville Teen Shot in Front Yard
January 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
HA! I can’t believe you outed me as an 80s metal fan! Good to meet you yesterday. Glad you had fun. -Tanya
January 21st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Nothing to out. I had to come home last night and make sure Iron Maiden was still a band. Maybe you just had a REALLY old poster in your office.
Turns out they still go on tour. Who would have thunk?
Really it was great meeting you yesterday. What type of police scanner is it that you have sitting on your desk? I’m looking for one.
Concord Blogger’s last blog post..3 East Bay Blogs You Should Read
January 21st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
the poster is really, really old… and came from Chile, of all places. As long as they’ve got it, they might as well keep touring!
no idea on the scanner – radio shack something or other.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:49 pm
[...] with bloggers covering their local areas from Walnut Creek out to Oakland. After talking with the Contra Costa Times yesterday the onslaught on local blogs coming on the scene is almost impossible to keep up with. [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Tanya – I asked a friend that is into the 80’s rock scene and he looked at me like the anti-christ when I acted surprised that Iron Maiden was still around. I guess they have a HUGE following all over the world. In Japan they are treated like gods or something.
Concord Blogger’s last blog post..Planned Fights at Highlands Park
January 27th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
[...] his posts for clues and trying other ways to crack the Claycord code. When I was meeting with the Contra Costa Times, I was told that Concord Mayor Laura Hoffmeister has spent days trying to figure out who Claycord [...]
January 31st, 2009 at 9:46 pm
[...] I met with the Contra Costa Times a couple weeks ago, they let me know they had a story coming up on Claycord. I wasn’t [...]
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:34 pm
[...] just meeting with some of the great people from the Contra Costa Times, it’s saddening to hear that business is that bad and money is coming out of their pockets. [...]