Sensational

By: Mr. Wilson on October 9, 2006
7 comments
Don't let it be said that the Journal Star is above a little good sensationalism. There's a small chance of snow mid-week. It probably won't amount to anything, and even if it does, it probably won't last through the end of the day. But that didn't stop the Journal Star from running a photograph that implies something a bit more extreme: Snowplow [Link updated at 10:20am]

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Karin
October 9, 2006 at 3:12PM

Why must they change their links so frequently? why?!? Argh.

I just don’t get it.

Mr. Wilson
October 9, 2006 at 3:37PM

ALREADY?!?!?!

That’s it, I’m pulling out the heavy artillery. The Lincoln Journal Star’s website operators are idiots. Why would a news website want to be so unfriendly to its users, and bloggers in particular? Here I am trying to drive traffic to their website, and they won’t let me.

Idiots.

Steve Smith
October 9, 2006 at 3:47PM

Short answer? Because our CMS is crummy. Hopefully, with some expected upgrades to the CMS, we’ll stamp out the broken links like the cancer that they are.

As for the photo ... um, yeah, that’s probably a bit of an extreme selection for a file photo for a story about a weather forecast. Sensational? It might be a bit of a stretch to affix that term to this story, but, y’know, that’s a blogger’s prerogative.

Mr. Wilson
October 9, 2006 at 4:16PM

Woohoo! You guys DO read the blogs. I’m glad you realize they’re out there. I was getting worried.

Oh, and the idiot thing? Interpret it in the Ren & Stimpy sense. After many moons of frustration with your website, I’m not going to lie and claim the term is one of endearment; it is long past time for the LJS to join the 21st Century. But I know it isn’t easy working with bad tools. I face a remarkably similar problem at my place of employment, and I’ve taken the same heat.

As for the nature of the post, it is entirely tongue-in-cheek. I happen to like the photo you chose, not because it has anything to do with what is likely to happen this week, but because it makes Lincoln’s many winter-haters cringe. I get a kick out of that.

Steve Smith
October 9, 2006 at 5:05PM

No worries.

I share your frustrations with the site. You’re right: It’s about having the proper tools to do the job. Eventually, it becomes a credibility issue if we don’t.

The good news is that we’re fixing the CMS problems, among lots of other things. So, hopefully by the time the snow is *really* on the ground (and sticking), the issue will be no more.

Swid
October 9, 2006 at 7:01PM

Mr. Smith, is the CMS software used by the LJS imposed on you by Lee Enterprises?  I hate to pull the “sweeping generalizations” card out, but it seems to me that every Lee Web site I’ve encountered seems to use a sub-par CMS.  However, some of them *do* seem to be better than others (the Columbus Telegram, for example.)

Steve Smith
October 9, 2006 at 11:00PM

It’s a Lee-based CMS, yes. But we’re working to bend it to our will as much as we can.

I’m not sure if Columbus is on the same system we are.

Share your thoughts with the community.

Commenting is no longer permitted on this post.