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Nov
30
Bright spot for newspapers
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
From the Center for Media Research:
Despite readership declines, newspapers are, by a substantial margin, the leading destination for people interested in checking advertising and shopping information. This pattern is consistent across several indicators, including:
- Usage of different media in both the previous 7 days and previous 30 days
- Primary shopping and advertising information source among media in general
- Primary shopping and advertising source for major store categories individually
- Preferred media source for preprint delivery, and
- Preferred media source for nongrocery coupons.
My experience, when I got the local paper, mirrored this information. In fact, in addition to the aggravation I feel as I try to navigate Cleveland.com to find all the pieces of the Plain Dealer’s print Metro section, I miss the inserts. Not for me – I never read the inserts. Another family member who shall remain unnamed and otherwise unidentified because although he doesn’t read my blog, he doesn’t want to be in it much either, reads the inserts (that is, used to read the inserts) religiously. (Hmm, in fact, if I wait long enough, I might be able to use that as an excuse to have to re-up. That’s for another post.)
Anyway – congrats. This area of advertising hasn’t migrated to the web. Yet. I imagine that it’s somewhat like online stores versus bricks and mortar. For some things, you just still really want and prefer what you can see, feel and tear up to take with you (although of course if you could find it online, you could print it out and take it with you).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:16 pm November 30th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
30
Bright spot for newspapers
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
From the Center for Media Research:
Despite readership declines, newspapers are, by a substantial margin, the leading destination for people interested in checking advertising and shopping information. This pattern is consistent across several indicators, including:
- Usage of different media in both the previous 7 days and previous 30 days
- Primary shopping and advertising information source among media in general
- Primary shopping and advertising source for major store categories individually
- Preferred media source for preprint delivery, and
- Preferred media source for nongrocery coupons.
My experience, when I got the local paper, mirrored this information. In fact, in addition to the aggravation I feel as I try to navigate Cleveland.com to find all the pieces of the Plain Dealer’s print Metro section, I miss the inserts. Not for me – I never read the inserts. Another family member who shall remain unnamed and otherwise unidentified because although he doesn’t read my blog, he doesn’t want to be in it much either, reads the inserts (that is, used to read the inserts) religiously. (Hmm, in fact, if I wait long enough, I might be able to use that as an excuse to have to re-up. That’s for another post.)
Anyway – congrats. This area of advertising hasn’t migrated to the web. Yet. I imagine that it’s somewhat like online stores versus bricks and mortar. For some things, you just still really want and prefer what you can see, feel and tear up to take with you (although of course if you could find it online, you could print it out and take it with you).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:16 am November 30th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
Print This Post
Nov
30
Bright spot for newspapers
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
From the Center for Media Research:
Despite readership declines, newspapers are, by a substantial margin, the leading destination for people interested in checking advertising and shopping information. This pattern is consistent across several indicators, including:
- Usage of different media in both the previous 7 days and previous 30 days
- Primary shopping and advertising information source among media in general
- Primary shopping and advertising source for major store categories individually
- Preferred media source for preprint delivery, and
- Preferred media source for nongrocery coupons.
My experience, when I got the local paper, mirrored this information. In fact, in addition to the aggravation I feel as I try to navigate Cleveland.com to find all the pieces of the Plain Dealer’s print Metro section, I miss the inserts. Not for me – I never read the inserts. Another family member who shall remain unnamed and otherwise unidentified because although he doesn’t read my blog, he doesn’t want to be in it much either, reads the inserts (that is, used to read the inserts) religiously. (Hmm, in fact, if I wait long enough, I might be able to use that as an excuse to have to re-up. That’s for another post.)
Anyway – congrats. This area of advertising hasn’t migrated to the web. Yet. I imagine that it’s somewhat like online stores versus bricks and mortar. For some things, you just still really want and prefer what you can see, feel and tear up to take with you (although of course if you could find it online, you could print it out and take it with you).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:16 am November 30th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
Ohio #3 State Business Climate Rankings
Filed Under Politics | 11 Comments
When I read this comment on Buckeye State Blog, well, if you know me, you might imagine my reaction (big, loud, wet, PFFFFTT). Actually, I thought, “Duh. I would never do that (look at press releases and sort the true from the PR). I’d email people I know at think tanks and research centers I trust and ask, what’s the 411 on this Ohio Department of Development? Good? Bad? What?”
So, not only did I do that in about 60 seconds (and I’ve already received a response that requires a few more contacts), but I also spent three minutes or so on the DOD’s website (not bad, actually – some very cool collections of data in there). While there, I saw, in the upper left-hand corner, a continuously changing tidbit about Ohio – how well it ranked on this, how well it ranks on that. It changed too quickly for me, so I had to google the words I could remember (which of course I can’t remember now), and look what I found at Site Selection Online:
Not only is Ohio ranked #3 on this list, but in the criteria that was weighted 50%, survey of corporate site selectors, Ohio came in 12. (The other 50% came from “the state’s overall rank in total qualifying new or expanded projects in 2005; New Plant performance from 2003-2005; rank per million population; and rank per 1,000 square miles.”)
So, you know, I went back to Brewed Fresh Daily, because I thought that I might have seen something on there about this type of ranking, but I couldn’t find anything (remember? after 5pm? not so lucid – so it might be there but I couldn’t find anything specific to site selection preferences). Then, I thought, well, maybe I’ll just post this chart there, but George doesn’t often post big charts like this one. And besides, this post came about because of trying to refute a point made on an entirely different blog.
Okay – so what’s my point?
There’s a lot of chatter, often on BFD, about how Cleveland ranks, or Ohio ranks, or the Midwest ranks. I just saw some numbers today about how old we’re getting in the Midwest and we’re going to get less populated and older as time goes on. And the GOP turned Cleveland down for its national convention. And boohoo boohoo boohoo.
So – go ahead. Tear apart this ranking. Tell me why you think Ohio actually does stink for business. Is Site Selection magazine a paid-for kind of thing, like those apartment booklets you can get at the grocery store or the inserts in all kinds of magazines now that look like articles but are really advertisements? Is Site Selection an infomercial that Ohio folks, like in the ODOD, are able to influence?
Or can we accept that maybe it’s not as bad here as we thought?
I’m not the econ-business-entrepreneur-Web 3.0-venture capitalist-incubator-grow me-homegrow me – make a money-based revolution blogger around here.
What’s a chart like the one above and an article like the one that accompanies it mean? (Just let me down easy if the chart really is bunk, okay?)
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:53 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 11 Comments
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Nov
29
"Most dangerous phenomenon not anti-Semitism, but the tolerance of anti-Semitism"
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The open letter in support of the law suit reads: “Leszek Bubel’s anti-Semitic propaganda offends my sense of responsibility for my country, as it makes Polish society an easy victim of manipulation, distracting society’s attention from real problems. I also feel degraded, as a Polish citizen, by the fact that Leszek Bubel’s unpenalized activity on the international scene confirms Poland’s reputation for anti-Semitism.”.
The letter goes on to say that the “demoralising hate” disseminated by Bubel “lowers ethical standards and leads to an escalation of oral and physical aggression in public life”.
What remedies do they seek?
Danuta Stolecka, secretary to Stowarzyszenie Otwarta Rzeczpospolita, an NGO that is filing the law suit, said: “This is a groundbreaking case because we want to break the ongoing practice of the courts, which say that anti-Semitic texts can demean only Jews. We think that they demean every citizen, and we’re going to try and prove that in court.”
…
The prosecution demands that the publishers print an apology in each of the publications and also in the national daily “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Andrzej Folwarczny, president of the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations Foundation, which aims to foster Polish-Jewish dialogue and eradicate anti-Semitism, said that, if successful, the case could affect other publications and broadcasters in Poland who continue to voice anti-Semitism.
I’ve written before about the need for communities to engage in group therapy because of such issues. But does the lawsuit involve a permutation of impermissible, illegal hate crime and hate speech, or does it aim to improperly restrain free speech? What difference, if any, does it make that the suit is being pursued in Poland, versus if it was being pursued in the United States?
The title quote is from the article and sociologist Sergiusz Kowalski: “The most dangerous phenomenon in Poland is not anti-Semitism but widespread tolerance of anti-Semitism in Polish society.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:30 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
How to write well: advice from a Harvard economics prof, of all people
Filed Under Politics | 6 Comments
This advice comes from Harvard economic professor Greg Mankiw. Now, I’ve written a couple of times about how I nearly flunked freshman micro-econ in college. It was taught by a newly minted Harvard Ph.D. in econ and he was a terrible, just a terrible, terrible teacher. I’m sure he was brilliant, is brilliant. But as a teacher, he was terrible. And it was one of those massive classes with the big, thick standard text – it’s probably the same text now.
And I just really never recovered my enthusiasm for learning more about economics. I like it, I like numbers, it all intrigues me. But I developed a complex that I just would never be able to learn it.
Well, with a hattip to Case law school professor, Peter Friedman of the RAWBlog, I’m pleased to say that this advice for how to write well, particularly if you’re going to write about economics to people who don’t do economics, is spot-on. If you’re a writer of any kind, you’ll recognize a number of the items. But here’s a few I’ve never seen before that make good sense:
Never make up your own acronyms.
To mere mortals, a graphic metaphor, a compelling anecdote, or a striking fact is worth a thousand articles in Econometrica.
Keep your writing personal. Remind readers how economics affects their lives.
Remember two basic rules of economic usage:
-“Long run” (without a hyphen) is a noun. “Long-run” (with a hyphen) is an adjective. Same with “short(-)run.
-“Saving” (without a terminal s) is a flow. “Savings” (with a terminal s) is a stock.
And, my absolute he-must-have-known-me-or-taught-a-lot-of-students-like-me-favorite:
Keep it simple. Think of your reader as being your college roommate who majored in English literature. Assume he has never taken an economics course, or if he did, he used the wrong textbook.
I love annhilating my fears. Thanks, Professors.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:02 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 6 Comments
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Nov
29
Here’s the info. If you go, I hope you’ll blog about it. Wilson is the head of the White House Project. The group is looking at Ohio as a new site for helping women get into politics and political office via their Vote, Run, Lead program.
You can listen to her appearance on WOSU Radio’s Open Line program (this morning) here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:37 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 1 Comment
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Nov
29
"Most dangerous phenomenon not anti-Semitism, but the tolerance of anti-Semitism"
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
The open letter in support of the law suit reads: “Leszek Bubel’s anti-Semitic propaganda offends my sense of responsibility for my country, as it makes Polish society an easy victim of manipulation, distracting society’s attention from real problems. I also feel degraded, as a Polish citizen, by the fact that Leszek Bubel’s unpenalized activity on the international scene confirms Poland’s reputation for anti-Semitism.”.
The letter goes on to say that the “demoralising hate” disseminated by Bubel “lowers ethical standards and leads to an escalation of oral and physical aggression in public life”.
What remedies do they seek?
Danuta Stolecka, secretary to Stowarzyszenie Otwarta Rzeczpospolita, an NGO that is filing the law suit, said: “This is a groundbreaking case because we want to break the ongoing practice of the courts, which say that anti-Semitic texts can demean only Jews. We think that they demean every citizen, and we’re going to try and prove that in court.”
…
The prosecution demands that the publishers print an apology in each of the publications and also in the national daily “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Andrzej Folwarczny, president of the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations Foundation, which aims to foster Polish-Jewish dialogue and eradicate anti-Semitism, said that, if successful, the case could affect other publications and broadcasters in Poland who continue to voice anti-Semitism.
I’ve written before about the need for communities to engage in group therapy because of such issues. But does the lawsuit involve a permutation of impermissible, illegal hate crime and hate speech, or does it aim to improperly restrain free speech? What difference, if any, does it make that the suit is being pursued in Poland, versus if it was being pursued in the United States?
The title quote is from the article and sociologist Sergiusz Kowalski: “The most dangerous phenomenon in Poland is not anti-Semitism but widespread tolerance of anti-Semitism in Polish society.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:30 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
Updated: Plain Dealer, Dispatch report more fully on Ohio mental health parity happening
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
I saw all this information (from the Columbus Dispatch article and The Plain Dealer article) on the Gongwer news last night but I was too tired to do a better job condensing it. As you can see, several themes weave in and out of the mental health parity issue. Midnight is not my most lucid time.
-Small business does’t want this but they want that
-Taft doesn’t want that and he’s not sure if he wants this
-Mental health defenders want this
-Mental health sufferers want that
-House Speaker Husted says this, Senate Speaker Harris says that
-Insurance committee chair Stivers says this
And so on. See – just too much for me at the end of the day, or was it the beginning of the next one?
Write your Ohio legislators and tell them to pass the thing already. Stivers says there’s enough support – we need to reinforce it so it gets done.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:49 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
I read blogs that write from every point on the political spectrum and this morning received a lengthy comment that consists primarily of Ohio Revised Code, on the issue of whether Capri Cafaro can in fact serve Ohio’s state senate seat for the 32nd district.
Here is the Youngstown Vindicator story that specifically says that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office said that the decision about her residency would be made by the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus. I don’t know how that decision by the GOP’s failed gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell’s office was reached. I’m only the messenger.
I will say that I wonder if the buck was passed intentionally and what kind of precedent passing the buck in the case will set. No one seems to have written about how such decisions about residency have been made in the past.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:34 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 5 Comments
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Nov
29
To the media on Cafaro and Wilson: tell us something we don’t know
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
Okay. So maybe all politics are local. Isn’t everyone tired of hearing that?
But I’m very disappointed in how the Plain Dealer covered the State Senate appointments made yesterday in Columbus. The Akron Beacon Journal at least had two paragraphs on Jason Wilson, while they had four on Capri Cafaro. And The New Philadelphia Times Reporter had a whole article on Jason Wilson. The Youngstown Vindicator shared the ink between the two the most.
And yet, isn’t the PD the bigger paper, in circulation and readership? Even if the editors want to argue that Wilson isn’t local enough to merit more space, you can look to the Lorain Morning Journal, which wrote an entire Sunday endorsement for Cafaro. They felt that since she’d still be in the Ohio statehouse doing things for all Ohioans, they would do an endorsement for her. So I don’t think my expectations are off.
On the other hand, with the advent of multimedia platforms for delivering news and citizen journalism, maybe the problem is that because I can pick up the phone and get information, and then blog about it and get feedback, corrections and more info, and do sometimes, now there’s an expectation that anyone who wants more news beyond what everyone else can find out? Well, you have to get it yourself. Maybe the ricochet effect is that newspapers no longer feel that they have to meet a standard of revealing and filtering information plain old readers couldn’t otherwise get because there are no more plain old readers. I have to think about that.
But right now? I’m just miffed. Because the Plain Dealer didn’t do a good job for me. And here’s what I wrote:
Dear Editors,
As Mr. Naymik and possibly Mr. Marshall, both of whom I’ve cc’d, know, I have never written about Capri Cafaro with great support. Also, I have confessed and will confess again that I miss my PD subscription. In addition, they probably know that I write a blog that often addresses politics, and has addressed Ms. Cafaro. Barely 300-400 people per day read my blog and it’s obvious that I’m the only one responsible for the content.
I mention these facts because I know these are complex, confusing and fast-moving times for the media and I respect the difficulties you must navigate, partly because of the different standards readers apply to different media. However, this type of coverage by the PD of the Ohio Senate Democrats’ appointment of two new state senators does a disservice to the Plain Dealer’s audience, as well as Ms. Cafaro and Mr. Wilson, and confirms for me why I cancelled my subscription just over two weeks ago.
My concerns:
1. Several paragraphs drip with tabloid-style descriptions of Ms. Cafaro. Such descriptions fail to illuminate any information about Ms. Cafaro that isn’t otherwise already known by many of the PD’s readers.
2. Even if you must assume that the information (she’s wealthy from a wealthy family often associated with corruption) is not widely known and therefore you must publish it, there’s no reason why space was consumed by saying the same thing (she has a lot of money) four or five different ways. It is well-written – that is not my complaint. Mr. Marshall has a nice flourish. But he should have killed some of those darlings because it makes the piece, and your coverage of the situation, sound petty, redundant and devoid of real news.
3. The article fails to describe Mr. Wilson. Period. Nothing about his family’s multimillion dollar business. Nothing about Mr. Wilson’s failure to procure the minimum number of valid signatures to get his father on the ballot for his congressional run. Nothing about how Mr. Wilson was fired from that work on the campaign. Nothing about what he hopes to accomplish. No nod to where he went to school and what he’s doing now. Whereas with Ms. Cafaro, there are references to several of these background items (her education, her history in politics, what work she’s done or is doing, her family). Why not about Mr. Wilson? Why not equal coverage for him?
4. As a woman, and someone who has written about women in politics and how the media covers women in politics, I’m angered by these discrepancies in coverage, especially because of Ms. Cafaro’s already established notoriety compared to Mr. Wilson’s anonymity. How repeating all of her baggage, without any words, phrases or sentences of equivalent information about Mr. Wilson, serves the audience I will let you explain.
Ironically, Marie Wilson, president of The White House Project, speaks today at OSU’s John Glenn Institute for Public Policy & Public Policy Women in Leadership Institute. The White House Project is considering whether to set up shop in Ohio to help encourage, train and support Ohio women interested in politics and seeking political office. I wonder what she would have to say about your coverage of Capri Cafaro, especially in comparison to Jason Wilson.
5. Finally, wouldn’t it have been more illuminating to find out from residents of the 30th and 32nd districts feel about these appointments, rather than re-hash previously published information?
I know you read letters such as this one, and I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I love newspapers, and always have. It sincerely saddens as well as annoys me when I read an article like the one I mention in this email because I just know it could be done better – for everyone.
Thank you for your time and work. (Ted – sorry if I’m a bit overwrought – I know that’s something I still have to work on.)
Very truly yours,
Jill Miller Zimon, JD, MSSA
I post this with some trepidation because I want to know their thoughts. I want to understand how this article could have gone to print in the form it did. How do they make this decision? But I also realize that they probably don’t like having me blog what I’ve written to them. On the third hand, only 300 or so folks read this blog – and I know some of them are even people who’ve received this letter. So, you know, I just want a dialogue to understand. I’ll take it anyway I can get it.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:23 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 4 Comments
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Nov
29
How to write well: advice from a Harvard economics prof, of all people
Filed Under Politics | 6 Comments
This advice comes from Harvard economic professor Greg Mankiw. Now, I’ve written a couple of times about how I nearly flunked freshman micro-econ in college. It was taught by a newly minted Harvard Ph.D. in econ and he was a terrible, just a terrible, terrible teacher. I’m sure he was brilliant, is brilliant. But as a teacher, he was terrible. And it was one of those massive classes with the big, thick standard text – it’s probably the same text now.
And I just really never recovered my enthusiasm for learning more about economics. I like it, I like numbers, it all intrigues me. But I developed a complex that I just would never be able to learn it.
Well, with a hattip to Case law school professor, Peter Friedman of the RAWBlog, I’m pleased to say that this advice for how to write well, particularly if you’re going to write about economics to people who don’t do economics, is spot-on. If you’re a writer of any kind, you’ll recognize a number of the items. But here’s a few I’ve never seen before that make good sense:
Never make up your own acronyms.
To mere mortals, a graphic metaphor, a compelling anecdote, or a striking fact is worth a thousand articles in Econometrica.
Keep your writing personal. Remind readers how economics affects their lives.
Remember two basic rules of economic usage:
-“Long run” (without a hyphen) is a noun. “Long-run” (with a hyphen) is an adjective. Same with “short(-)run.
-“Saving” (without a terminal s) is a flow. “Savings” (with a terminal s) is a stock.
And, my absolute he-must-have-known-me-or-taught-a-lot-of-students-like-me-favorite:
Keep it simple. Think of your reader as being your college roommate who majored in English literature. Assume he has never taken an economics course, or if he did, he used the wrong textbook.
I love annhilating my fears. Thanks, Professors.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:02 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 6 Comments
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Nov
29
Looking for afternoon activities: Marie Wilson at John Glenn Institute, 4pm
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
Here’s the info. If you go, I hope you’ll blog about it. Wilson is the head of the White House Project. The group is looking at Ohio as a new site for helping women get into politics and political office via their Vote, Run, Lead program.
You can listen to her appearance on WOSU Radio’s Open Line program (this morning) here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:37 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
"Most dangerous phenomenon not anti-Semitism, but the tolerance of anti-Semitism"
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
The open letter in support of the law suit reads: “Leszek Bubel’s anti-Semitic propaganda offends my sense of responsibility for my country, as it makes Polish society an easy victim of manipulation, distracting society’s attention from real problems. I also feel degraded, as a Polish citizen, by the fact that Leszek Bubel’s unpenalized activity on the international scene confirms Poland’s reputation for anti-Semitism.”.
The letter goes on to say that the “demoralising hate” disseminated by Bubel “lowers ethical standards and leads to an escalation of oral and physical aggression in public life”.
What remedies do they seek?
Danuta Stolecka, secretary to Stowarzyszenie Otwarta Rzeczpospolita, an NGO that is filing the law suit, said: “This is a groundbreaking case because we want to break the ongoing practice of the courts, which say that anti-Semitic texts can demean only Jews. We think that they demean every citizen, and we’re going to try and prove that in court.”
…
The prosecution demands that the publishers print an apology in each of the publications and also in the national daily “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Andrzej Folwarczny, president of the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations Foundation, which aims to foster Polish-Jewish dialogue and eradicate anti-Semitism, said that, if successful, the case could affect other publications and broadcasters in Poland who continue to voice anti-Semitism.
I’ve written before about the need for communities to engage in group therapy because of such issues. But does the lawsuit involve a permutation of impermissible, illegal hate crime and hate speech, or does it aim to improperly restrain free speech? What difference, if any, does it make that the suit is being pursued in Poland, versus if it was being pursued in the United States?
The title quote is from the article and sociologist Sergiusz Kowalski: “The most dangerous phenomenon in Poland is not anti-Semitism but widespread tolerance of anti-Semitism in Polish society.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:30 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
Oops. Jason. Last night, I read this in the Wheeling News-Register:
Wilson said he would work to improve Ohio’s schools if appointed to the Ohio Senate.
This morning, I read in the Youngstown Vindicator, regarding your new position:
Jason Wilson, 38, of Columbiana, said he was excited about the opportunity.
“The No. 1 priority in this Senate district is creating jobs,” said Jason Wilson, general manager of Wilson Furniture in Bridgeport. Jason Wilson, who is Charlie Wilson’s son, said he thinks he was chosen because of his business background.
Jobs and education – very important. Both. Equally important even. But sometimes? Very different constituencies. I’ve never been an appointed public servant, but you might want to polish the presentation on jobs and education and which one is the No. 1 priority for your district since of course they can’t both occupy the No. 1 spot.
And congratulations.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:34 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
How to write well: advice from a Harvard economics prof, of all people
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
This advice comes from Harvard economic professor Greg Mankiw. Now, I’ve written a couple of times about how I nearly flunked freshman micro-econ in college. It was taught by a newly minted Harvard Ph.D. in econ and he was a terrible, just a terrible, terrible teacher. I’m sure he was brilliant, is brilliant. But as a teacher, he was terrible. And it was one of those massive classes with the big, thick standard text – it’s probably the same text now.
And I just really never recovered my enthusiasm for learning more about economics. I like it, I like numbers, it all intrigues me. But I developed a complex that I just would never be able to learn it.
Well, with a hattip to Case law school professor, Peter Friedman of the RAWBlog, I’m pleased to say that this advice for how to write well, particularly if you’re going to write about economics to people who don’t do economics, is spot-on. If you’re a writer of any kind, you’ll recognize a number of the items. But here’s a few I’ve never seen before that make good sense:
Never make up your own acronyms.
To mere mortals, a graphic metaphor, a compelling anecdote, or a striking fact is worth a thousand articles in Econometrica.
Keep your writing personal. Remind readers how economics affects their lives.
Remember two basic rules of economic usage:
-“Long run” (without a hyphen) is a noun. “Long-run” (with a hyphen) is an adjective. Same with “short(-)run.
-“Saving” (without a terminal s) is a flow. “Savings” (with a terminal s) is a stock.
And, my absolute he-must-have-known-me-or-taught-a-lot-of-students-like-me-favorite:
Keep it simple. Think of your reader as being your college roommate who majored in English literature. Assume he has never taken an economics course, or if he did, he used the wrong textbook.
I love annhilating my fears. Thanks, Professors.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:02 pm November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
Print This Post
Nov
29
Updated: Plain Dealer, Dispatch report more fully on Ohio mental health parity happening
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
I saw all this information (from the Columbus Dispatch article and The Plain Dealer article) on the Gongwer news last night but I was too tired to do a better job condensing it. As you can see, several themes weave in and out of the mental health parity issue. Midnight is not my most lucid time.
-Small business does’t want this but they want that
-Taft doesn’t want that and he’s not sure if he wants this
-Mental health defenders want this
-Mental health sufferers want that
-House Speaker Husted says this, Senate Speaker Harris says that
-Insurance committee chair Stivers says this
And so on. See – just too much for me at the end of the day, or was it the beginning of the next one?
Write your Ohio legislators and tell them to pass the thing already. Stivers says there’s enough support – we need to reinforce it so it gets done.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:49 am November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
Looking for afternoon activities: Marie Wilson at John Glenn Institute, 4pm
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Here’s the info. If you go, I hope you’ll blog about it. Wilson is the head of the White House Project. The group is looking at Ohio as a new site for helping women get into politics and political office via their Vote, Run, Lead program.
You can listen to her appearance on WOSU Radio’s Open Line program (this morning) here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:37 am November 29th, 2006 in Politics | Please comment
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Nov
29
I read blogs that write from every point on the political spectrum and this morning received a lengthy comment that consists primarily of Ohio Revised Code, on the issue of whether Capri Cafaro can in fact serve Ohio’s state senate seat for the 32nd district.
Here is the Youngstown Vindicator story that specifically says that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office said that the decision about her residency would be made by the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus. I don’t know how that decision by the GOP’s failed gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell’s office was reached. I’m only the messenger.
I will say that I wonder if the buck was passed intentionally and what kind of precedent passing the buck in the case will set. No one seems to have written about how such decisions about residency have been made in the past.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:34 am November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 5 Comments
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Nov
29
To the media on Cafaro and Wilson: tell us something we don’t know
Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments
Okay. So maybe all politics are local. Isn’t everyone tired of hearing that?
But I’m very disappointed in how the Plain Dealer covered the State Senate appointments made yesterday in Columbus. The Akron Beacon Journal at least had two paragraphs on Jason Wilson, while they had four on Capri Cafaro. And The New Philadelphia Times Reporter had a whole article on Jason Wilson. The Youngstown Vindicator shared the ink between the two the most.
And yet, isn’t the PD the bigger paper, in circulation and readership? Even if the editors want to argue that Wilson isn’t local enough to merit more space, you can look to the Lorain Morning Journal, which wrote an entire Sunday endorsement for Cafaro. They felt that since she’d still be in the Ohio statehouse doing things for all Ohioans, they would do an endorsement for her. So I don’t think my expectations are off.
On the other hand, with the advent of multimedia platforms for delivering news and citizen journalism, maybe the problem is that because I can pick up the phone and get information, and then blog about it and get feedback, corrections and more info, and do sometimes, now there’s an expectation that anyone who wants more news beyond what everyone else can find out? Well, you have to get it yourself. Maybe the ricochet effect is that newspapers no longer feel that they have to meet a standard of revealing and filtering information plain old readers couldn’t otherwise get because there are no more plain old readers. I have to think about that.
But right now? I’m just miffed. Because the Plain Dealer didn’t do a good job for me. And here’s what I wrote:
Dear Editors,
As Mr. Naymik and possibly Mr. Marshall, both of whom I’ve cc’d, know, I have never written about Capri Cafaro with great support. Also, I have confessed and will confess again that I miss my PD subscription. In addition, they probably know that I write a blog that often addresses politics, and has addressed Ms. Cafaro. Barely 300-400 people per day read my blog and it’s obvious that I’m the only one responsible for the content.
I mention these facts because I know these are complex, confusing and fast-moving times for the media and I respect the difficulties you must navigate, partly because of the different standards readers apply to different media. However, this type of coverage by the PD of the Ohio Senate Democrats’ appointment of two new state senators does a disservice to the Plain Dealer’s audience, as well as Ms. Cafaro and Mr. Wilson, and confirms for me why I cancelled my subscription just over two weeks ago.
My concerns:
1. Several paragraphs drip with tabloid-style descriptions of Ms. Cafaro. Such descriptions fail to illuminate any information about Ms. Cafaro that isn’t otherwise already known by many of the PD’s readers.
2. Even if you must assume that the information (she’s wealthy from a wealthy family often associated with corruption) is not widely known and therefore you must publish it, there’s no reason why space was consumed by saying the same thing (she has a lot of money) four or five different ways. It is well-written – that is not my complaint. Mr. Marshall has a nice flourish. But he should have killed some of those darlings because it makes the piece, and your coverage of the situation, sound petty, redundant and devoid of real news.
3. The article fails to describe Mr. Wilson. Period. Nothing about his family’s multimillion dollar business. Nothing about Mr. Wilson’s failure to procure the minimum number of valid signatures to get his father on the ballot for his congressional run. Nothing about how Mr. Wilson was fired from that work on the campaign. Nothing about what he hopes to accomplish. No nod to where he went to school and what he’s doing now. Whereas with Ms. Cafaro, there are references to several of these background items (her education, her history in politics, what work she’s done or is doing, her family). Why not about Mr. Wilson? Why not equal coverage for him?
4. As a woman, and someone who has written about women in politics and how the media covers women in politics, I’m angered by these discrepancies in coverage, especially because of Ms. Cafaro’s already established notoriety compared to Mr. Wilson’s anonymity. How repeating all of her baggage, without any words, phrases or sentences of equivalent information about Mr. Wilson, serves the audience I will let you explain.
Ironically, Marie Wilson, president of The White House Project, speaks today at OSU’s John Glenn Institute for Public Policy & Public Policy Women in Leadership Institute. The White House Project is considering whether to set up shop in Ohio to help encourage, train and support Ohio women interested in politics and seeking political office. I wonder what she would have to say about your coverage of Capri Cafaro, especially in comparison to Jason Wilson.
5. Finally, wouldn’t it have been more illuminating to find out from residents of the 30th and 32nd districts feel about these appointments, rather than re-hash previously published information?
I know you read letters such as this one, and I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I love newspapers, and always have. It sincerely saddens as well as annoys me when I read an article like the one I mention in this email because I just know it could be done better – for everyone.
Thank you for your time and work. (Ted – sorry if I’m a bit overwrought – I know that’s something I still have to work on.)
Very truly yours,
Jill Miller Zimon, JD, MSSA
I post this with some trepidation because I want to know their thoughts. I want to understand how this article could have gone to print in the form it did. How do they make this decision? But I also realize that they probably don’t like having me blog what I’ve written to them. On the third hand, only 300 or so folks read this blog – and I know some of them are even people who’ve received this letter. So, you know, I just want a dialogue to understand. I’ll take it anyway I can get it.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:23 am November 29th, 2006 in Politics | 4 Comments
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