What You're Saying on the Street

Hello! You all may be aware that I host The West End Report (Wednesday edition; 6pm) on WCOM 103.5 LP FM -- Carrboro's all-volunteer, Community Radio station.

But did you also know that I now report for WCHL 1360 News-Talk Radio?

My wonderful News Director just gave me the popular segment, 'What You're Saying on the Street" to revamp in my own personal style.

WYSOS will feature opinions of Chapel Hill-Carrboro residents on hot-topic issues in our community. Recently, I produced the segment to find out your thoughts on Carrboro passing the same-sex marriage resolution and if Chapel Hill should follow suit. 

I would like to know what topics you think we should be asking on the street. What issues matter most to you in our community?  What locations do you think are best for me to go to get people's opinions? What topics are important to you but are not being addressed in other media outlets?

Also, I would like to see this post become an open thread on OP. I will be checking it daily for your opinions on our community issues and will produce the segment accordingly.  

Thanks for your input.

Issues: 

Comments

From Ron Stutts: Maybe the "What
You're Saying on the Street" feature might be a good way to reach some
of the people who like to do a commentary for my show. I usually describe it
as "an audio version of a letter to the editor."   Just so everybody knows: it's 90 seconds max, say "This is (your name)
at the beginning and the same at the end. As long as the topic is a
local one, and as long as someone is taking a stand with which somebody
out there could possibly disagree, I don't care what they talk about
(as long as it's relevant to our local community.)    “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

"to find out your thoughts on Carrboro passing the same-sex marriage resolution and if Chapel Hill should follow suit."

...but I think Ron is probably tired of me coming in there to do marriage equality commentaries all the time already!  =p

Ron would love to have you do a commentary on the same-sex resolutions. Coincidentally enough, Lynda-Marie's first WYSOS asked residents, "do you think Chapel Hill should follow Carrboro in passing a resolution in support of same-sex marriage."

At our Chapel Hill Town Council meeting last night we passed a resolution in support of same-sex marriage.   Laurin www.laurineasthom.wordpress.com

Sounds like I've got a new topic for my next segment. Thanks Laurin!Keep them coming OP! “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

great news! Maybe we can convince the state of NC to follow suit.

LMT, This forum was not designed to serve as a fodder factory for your latest pursuit.  You might consider digging up you own material, same as other news reporters do.   

Catherine, are you aware that reporters come to OP to get ideas for their stories?  The segment is called, "What YOU'RE saying on the street." I want to know what people are saying about hot topics in our community. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't OP a forum for what people think about issues in our community?Since you are a woman of many opinions, would you like to come in and do an audio commentary? “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

There's a difference between coming to OP to get ideas for WYS, and crowdsourcing your work to OP participants. Of course local reporters come here for ideas - it's as good a public record as any. But the questions you want help with are taking normal reporting research an extra step. You, as a reporter, are supposed to do the critical analysis of destilling  the OP forums for information you can use in your segment. Otherwise, you're asking OP members to do that extra step for you. Are you proposing to split your paycheck with those who help you produce your piece, or giving OP a WCHL sponsorship for allowing you to do that here? This is an interesting trend among news outlets. WUNC's Public Insight Network is another version of this idea, but I think you could take a page from their book. I admire WCHL for looking for new ways to keep WYS fresh by utilizing social platforms, but it's dubious that OP is the appropriate place for that to happen. I suggest starting a forum on the WCHL website for that purpose, and/or soliciting questions on air during the actual segment. Your snappy retort to Catherine above illustrates that you haven't thought this through completely, which, frankly, could endanger the good will that some here may have towards WCHL. I know it's hard to walk the line between being a community member yourself and being a reporter for WCHL - I used to do that segment myself. But it does mean you need to be especially sensitive to how you engage with the OP community and potential commercial conflicts of interest with the OP mission...and I do think that what you're proposing could qualify as such. Even if you and your news director don't feel that way, is it worth alienating those here who do feel that way?

Well put, Mike. There are lots of reporters that get information and ideas here, but if you're not going to add any analysis, information, or connections, why not just tell your audience to visit OP?

I was on OP way before I was with WCHL. So, I like to consider
myself part of the OP community. I do not understand why there is such
a backlash. I really do not. I also do not know why all of sudden
people want my name or my picture. To be quite honest, I think it is
ridiculous. I was trying to tie in OP with WCHL. I think OP is a great
resource to our community.  I personally cannot do anything about the
WCHL website other than to say your comments and ideas have been noted.
What I envisioned was to have people who are obviously well
informed and vocal about local issues tell me what THEY wanted to hear
from the WYS segment on WCHL. Was that so wrong? It's not a segment
about what I am thinking or saying.  Frankly, having known Catherine through another outlet, she was a bit personal with her comment towards me. And since she does comment with WCHL, we ran one of her commentaries (which I did not know at the time of the comment.) So, my response was not snappy. It was sincere. Catherine is a smart lady who knows a lot about our community and yes, she is a woman of many opinions. There is nothing wrong with that. The confusion was why she made it personal. There are several people on here including Ruby who could have personally emailed me and said that perhaps I was not using OP wisely, if indeed that it is the case, especially since I have been on the OP community for a while and have had Ruby guest on WCOM. Again, it was not my intention to "abuse" OP ... not at all. I am very confused and taken aback by the backlash. I would say that the danger is pushing somebody who was part of this community out and making it unnecessarily personal when all she wanted to do was extend YOUR voice in the community.   “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

Nobody said you were trying to "abuse" OP, for the record, and nobody's trying to force you out of the OP community.  I think it's a pretty interesting ethical grey area, actually. At least one person here has already offered some WYS gems for you - maybe everyone else here will be happy to do the same and this will become the springboard for your segment (although, honestly, I feel the issue will be moot in a few weeks once this thread fades to the archives). I'm certainly not the arbitor of all things OP, and I could be dead wrong on this.However, I'm pretty amazed that you don't see the potential conflict with this. WCHL is a commercial station and OP is not a commercial endeavor. Having worked at WCHL, I know there are good people there and that you guys are genuinely interested in the thoughts and well-being of the community...and I don't buy the idea that for-profit businesses can't make positive social contributions. But Jim's still trying to make a buck. Which means that if you really want to "tie in OP with WCHL," you have to consider the journalistic and financial ethics of such an arrangement (not to mention making sure that people on OP are comfortable with that arrangement before you assume you're entitled to it). What if the Carrboro KFC manager was on here asking people for regular feedback about what kind of fried chicken novelty is best for Orange County? He's an Orange County resident, and he's trying to make it a better place, so is it OK? Is it advertising for KFC? Obviously, I'm taking this to a logical extreme to try to prove a point, but you really should think about the differences between your roles as a WCOM DJ, an OP community member, and a WCHL reporter. Although you may be all three, they are not all the same thing. For instance, a reporter for WCHL shouldn't say that I'm making a fuss by expressing my opinion, although that language would be par for the course from a normal ol' OP commenter. You know what I mean? And that's all I've got to say about that. Good luck with the WYS segment. It's not easy to do, that's for sure! Look at all the grief you get!

Other for-profit media interact with us here all the time - and reasonably so. For example, Kirk Ross will occasionally link us to The Carrboro Citizen's story on a relevant story. Also, I think at least two non-profit WCOM radio shows routinely have promoted their shows here (in a reasonable manner).  As a matter of fact, I have sometimes posted information on OP about when I am going to be on WCOM as well.My point is: As long as it's Orange and it's Politics, then I don't see any problem with LMT's efforts toward cross-over of media.

LMT--For whatever it's worth, I see no conflict at all with your efforts to recruit OP posters to share their opinions on WCHL. In fact, I see it as the type of community journalism Ruby has always promoted through OP. The first time I ever heard of OP it was on WCHL, and I've heard Ruby promoting it there many times since.However, I do think you should use your full name. It's not clear to me how  anyone who wanted to do a commentary would contact you without that info.

Mark and Terry made their points very well--and I agree. 

I'm not familiar with your work but would encourage you to use something closer to your real name for this, maybe at least on your OP profile. It's a bit weird that you're doing this pseudonymously. And your photo isn't of you, is it?

“Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

It's never about the content of the discussion, it's always about your name and photo.  No wonder the local newspapers quote this site.

What's about name and photo? (You know we've only had user icons for almost a year).  Mostly the papers just snag our perspectives and occasionally cite us, I've noticed they do the same with the few other blogs that address public affairs in Orange County (like Mike Nelson's for example).Normally, I don't allow baseless attacks on OP, but I approved this comment to ask to you explain what you're talking about. Please elaborate.

First, the reason OP can be treated as a reasonable if not authoritative source regarding local debate is that people ARE identified.  If all were anonymous, this could (and on occasion did) degenerate into the run-of-the-mill blog/chat room where extreme opinions begin to vie for worst language and most personal attacks - so long as no one knows who anyone else is.  It sometimes takes courage to sign your name to a comment you know some will attack, but ultimately it makes you (or most people) think carefully about what you say and how you say it. It also enables people to see who the source is and skip reading it - as with people who routinely post rather long-winded comments, like this one. Second, possible topics:  A. Are newspapers and magazines - i.e., print journalism - dying?   If they are, is this okay with you?  B.  Property valuations -if I were on the street and you asked me what I thought about the new property valuations, I'd say I really doubt that I could get anything like that amount if I put the house on the market anytime in the next six months.  Then I'd say, "there ought to be a way to recognize that things are very very different now - I shouldn't be paying taxes on what I might have gotten for the house more than a year ago."  Of course, I now know that the the assessment is "preliminary" and there are things I can do to appeal it, but the steps for that appeal are complicated and time-consuming, just to arrrive at a level based on what common-sense might have suggested. C.Senior care: This may seem of slight immediate interest and not especially local, but trust me - it is both imminent and local.  Babyboomers are currently caught in caretaking of two generations, and the experience of caring for aged parents has caught us up short as we get a glimpse into our own future.  The economic crisis has worsened the outlook enormously at all levels - how do we pay for current care of no-longer-independent parents? If we're getting close to that age ourselves, how do we find care for ourselves?  In Florida, people unable to sell their homes suddenly can't finance longterm care, and the facilities available are split between a very few that accept Medicaid and the large majority that are high-end and beyond the reach of the middle-class.  Bringing it home to OC:  if my mother can no longer stay where she is in Florida, what options would she have if I tried to move her here to OC?  What options would I have for myself down the road if I stay in OC?  We have some extremely nice but fairly pricey possibilities, but the number of LTC facilities in all price ranges and in all levels of care hasn't grown proportionately with the population.  Developers have begun to notice the opportunities here, but they've preferred to target high-end populations.  What's going to be available for everyone else?  Is there anything that should be happening in town and county government to plan for the demand for services and supports?   

We did do Property Valuations. Senior care is a good one. Thanks  “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

Sorry I missed that - excuse: out of state on Senior Care Duty.

"We have some extremely nice but fairly pricey possibilities, but the
number of LTC facilities in all price ranges and in all levels of care
hasn't grown proportionately with the population.  Developers have
begun to notice the opportunities here, but they've preferred to target
high-end populations.  What's going to be available for everyone else? " When the BOA proposed that six month moratorium on developments so they could brainstorm, I wrote a letter with exactly that point in it (as well as some others - like maybe my child might want to live and work here ever.)  Moving my mother has been on  my mind for years. I begged her to move a decade ago, because nothing was getting cheaper. She owns her home but now it doesn't even translate to a condo here (or where my sister lives in NOVA.) I vote over at Carolina Springs, which is a lot like the facility in which my own grandmother lived in Virginia. It's a multi story building with limited access (you get buzzed in) and small one bedroom and two bedroom apartments. Very small. We could probably use a few more of those set-ups.And it's not just the Boomers who are taking care of two generations at once. Gen X is too. Some X-ers have parents who are not staying well until retirement age -- injuries with surgeries required, cancer - and are out of the job market for the short or long term. Others X-ers are the children of parents who had kids in their mid-to-late thirties and did the same thing. And we're going to see more and more of that with our current child-bearing trends. People who are 40 with a 78 year old parent and a 2 year old kid.  In our family, one 78-year-old parent is still caring for a 90-some-year-old parent and the differentials between what pensions, SS and medicaid cover and the actual costs of LTC and medications is rather terrifying.

Carrboro,Listen to what you had to say about the Anti-Lingering Ordinance this Monday & Tuesday at 7:39am, 3:32pm, 5:39pm  “Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” Helen Keller

 

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