Voting Local and Keeping My Own Council

Today is election day in our town, and turnout's expected to be low -- really low. First, the only decision on the ballot is which two people to elect to replace openings on the town council. Second, it's raining, which always tends to discourage those with an under-developed sense of civic responsibility.

It's too bad that more of my fellow citizens won't be participating in this election, because in many ways it's one of the most important. There's no real money for being on town council -- most do it out of a desire to make a difference in their community. And that difference can be substantial. Road repair, trash pickup, and general infrastructure maintenance all happen (or not) at the direction of the town council.

Is there money in the budget to fund another town police officer? Council decides.

What should the town real estate tax rate be? Council decides.

Should there be a meal tax, and if so, how much? Council decides.

How much money and effort should go into economic development? What can the town do to attract and keep businesses? Ultimately, the council decides.

In essence, the quality of life for each and every person living in the town is affected by the policies and decisions of the town council.

And interestingly enough, the party affiliations that so critical on the national level don't really count for much on the local level. Probably because the issues facing the town are very far removed from the national debate. There's no real issue about runaway government -- the town's budget has always been so modest that it never could support an inflated bureaucracy. Sweeping social changes simply can't happen at the local level -- they're beyond the scope of the town council's authority (not that any member has ever expressed an interest in doing so).                    

But the primary reason these local elections are so important is that this is where the effects of national and statewide polices are felt -- and dealt with. Mandates (usually unfunded) from Washington and Richmond force the town to take on projects it hadn't budgeted for, or take over funding for services it doesn't have the tax base to support. And trying to cover the gap between what's mandated and what the town needs to do to stay healthy is a real challenge.

How should the town meet that challenge? That's up to the town council. And the makeup of that council is up to the citizens.

At least, the few who turn out on a rainy Tuesday in May.

Re-TOOT

You may recall the little dust-up in the Town of Orange concerning the use of the town's public transport system to transport students to a private Christian school -- an agreement made by the former town manager without the knowledge of most of the town council.

Well, according to the Fredricksburg Free-Lance Star, the story gets even better. In the most recent council meeting,

Greg McGowen, transit manager with Virginia Regional Transit, the nonprofit owner and operator of the bus system in Orange and many other localities told council members that former Town Manager John Bailey had told him the council would agree to the bus being used by students because members had children who attended the school.

None of the council members have children in the school, and Bailey did not consult the council about the arrangement.

The council fired Bailey Sept. 20.

The town council voted to discontinue the service at the end of the December, but as mayor, Chuck Mason said, "The issue was that the bus was being taken away from the people it was meant to help. But we left the door open for the school to come back with an alternative, such as buying or renting a bus."

Which, in my opinion, is what should have been the arrangement from the start.

One vote, no tea

Yesterday, I voted in our local Town Council elections. Voter turnout for such elections is traditionally low, which is a shame. Because in one sense, these are the elections that matter very much. In this case, 27% -- about 600 voters -- of the electorate turned out.

While policies of the Federal Government have some impact on our lives, our local governments do so even more. In the area where I live, members of the Town Council have to decide the town's resources should be managed, and consider ways to expand them. And ways to fund them. And many other rulings that directly affect my life.

For example: in order to make ends meet the town imposed a meal tax. That changed our eating habits. We don't go out as much (going to the next town doesn't help -- they do it too). Trash collection is the town's responsibility. What I can put in the trash is regulated, which in turn determines how often I have to go to the dump as we renovate our house.

We have a big problem with deer, groundhogs, and other wildlife. Even though we're not close to other houses, we can't invite a hunter in to take care of the problem -- town ordinances forbid discharging firearms within town limits.

Property taxes, town stickers for the car, water and sewer rates are all set by the town. (yes, we have county taxes too, but let's keep on topic). The success or failure to keep businesses in town impacts the economic health of the community. And the type of businesses allowed in also color the character of the community. Those are all decisions ultimately made by the Town Council.

Snow removal, street repair, law enforcement -- all services provided by the town. And the Town Council determines the budget. The Council hires the Town Manager.The competency of that person can play a big role in how desirable the community is to live in.

What about development? Should we keep that open space, or put up another housing development? What the Council ultimately decides makes a big difference if the property under discussion is across the street from your house!

One final thing: while it's popular to characterize politicians as greedy, lying careerists, it works a little differently on the local level. No one ever got rich (legally) by serving on a town council -- not at $300 a month. Because its extremely local, and you run into your constituents everywhere -- in a restaurant, at the grocery store, at a gas station, at a party, or even just walking down the street. And few of them are shy about telling you in detail how good or (more often) how poor a job you're doing.

So yes, I voted in the local elections. And may I say that I'm grateful to the entire field of candidates for being civic-minded enough to run. It's a step further than I care to take.

- Ralph

Local Legends

How much do you know about the area you live in? Could you give a guided tour?

Just wondering.

Orange County isn't the cultural, political, or even geographical center of the Commonwealth of Virginia. And yet when friends from out-of-town came for a visit, I surprised myself with how many points of interest (both important and not) we were able to show them.

Like many localities, Orange County does have some historic places. Montpelier, the home of James Madison is probably the most famous. But as we drove around, places and stories just spilled forth.

Montpelier, for example, was also one of the locations used for the filming of "Hush" with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange (the murder weapon came from Faulconer's Hardware in downtown Orange). If you look carefully in the background, you'll see many Orange County residents (and many Four County Player thespians) working as extras in the background.

Near Montpelier is Mount Athos, current home to Donna Somerville. Did she really murder her husband, Ham Somerville, the squire of Somerset? The court ruled not, but the jury of public opinion is still out.

And then there's St. Thomas Episcopal Church in the town of Orange, which features stained glass windows by Tiffany and Company. Across the street is the Orange Presbyterian Church, which has the pew that Robert E. Lee sat during worship services (with an appropriate plaque).

And speaking of the Recent Unpleasantness (known as the Civil War in other parts of the country), there's the Exchange Hotel in Gordonsville. This vacation destination was converted into a field hospital, with a chute connected to one window that shunted severed limbs into a pit.

The Battle of the Wilderness happened in Orange County, and near the town is an overgrown arched stone bridge. This is the now abandoned replacement to the wooden Fat Nancy railroad bridge, which collapsed as an excursion train crossed it in 1888 -- a train full of Civil War veterans returning from a reunion of Gettysburg. One of the survivors was General James A. Longstreet.

There's also the building where a kayak factory used to be -- the first enterprise of Peter Rice, who would later founded the Plow and Hearth. We showed our guests the remains of the narrow gauge railroad right-of-way that hauled timber from Wolftown at the base of the Appalachians to the furniture factory in the Town of Orange.

We dined at the Silk Mill Grill, one of the many businesses occupying the old silk mill building, at one time the town's biggest employer. We drank Barboursville Vinyards wine, grown on the former estate of Governor James Barbour of Virginia. His home, designed by Thomas Jefferson, burned in 1884. The ruins still stand, and in addition to providing a graphic for the vineyard's label, also serve as an outdoor stage for summer productions.

And there are many more stories we could have shared, too. I know that my father could give an equally detailed tour of his home town, which got me thinking. What about you? What stories would you share about where you live? Because every location has at least one.

- Ralph

(And if you have a great story about where you live, please share in the comments field)

Social media grass taking root

If all politics are local, then something interesting is going on in politics. Although this post is about something that's happening in Orange County, VA, I'd very much like to know if similar things are going on elsewhere.

The fallout of our falling economy has left the Old dominion with a projected shortfall of $2.9 billion. Naturally, this has meant the state will be cutting funds to counties, and pretty drastically. In Orange, the superintendent was told to trim as much as $5 million from the school system by reducing services and personnel.

Now this isn't a new story -- localities all across the country are facing similar difficult choices. But what happened next isn't, I don't believe.

In the past, such budget struggles might be played out in the issues of our weekly local paper, and a few folks with the passion and desire to follow such things might turn out to a meeting or two if they happened to see the notice for it.

But this time, school employees and concerned citizens have harnessed the power of social media. Within a very short time, a Facebook fan page appeared for the Orange County Education Association, a group that "is an organization of dedicated teachers and support staff in Orange County Schools, Virginia."

They've been diligent in providing links to news stories, and cultivating their followers to help get the word out, and encouraging supporters to attend meetings en masse. They also have links to relevant legislators, and so on.

Now the OCEA is, according to information on its website "a VEA (Virginia Education Association) community."

So does that make the sudden flowering of the OCEA astroturfing?

I don't think so. Rather, I think it's simply showing a tighter focus for the VEA. OCEA isn't hiding it's affiliation to the VEA. But it is using local people to talk to local people. Orange County educators are contacting to their friends and colleagues -- the ones who ultimately will have to foot the bill for the shortfall -- directly, which has greater impact than the message coming from a statewide organization.

[For those who might be wondering, Virginia is a Right To Work state, so -- for better or worse -- there's no teacher's union with any kind of political clout.]

There's still much that OCEA could do with social media to rally the troops. There's no Twitter feed (that I could find). While there are links and contact info provided, there's not a lot of deeper level information available or detailed courses of action outlined.

But still, compared to the last time I wrote about how Orange County politicians used the Internet, it's a big improvement.

In olden times, a group like OCEA would have depended on the newspaper getting their story out, and would have had to come up with funds to take out newspaper, radio and/or TV spots to get their message out.

Facebook fan pages and Wordpress websites are free. And, potentially these days, reach more people who might respond.

So how are non-political interest groups using the Internet in your area?

The WJMA Website – 344 Days Later

Longtime blog readers know that we’ve been keeping watch for the return of the WJMA radio website. The earlier version of the site was something of a textbook case of how one can miss the mark moving from one medium to another. And now, after a significant redesign, the site has been relaunched.

So how is it? On the whole, a major improvement.

The Home Page
The home page should make a good first impression -- and it does. All the important information is there – weather, cancellations, music news and an engaging poll question. All pluses. And there’s a calendar with regional events tied to it. Nice!

Across the top, there’s a scrolling picture display, interspersing country artist headshots with photos from the WJMA coverage area. It’s an effective way to tie the station into the locality. My only complaint is the scrolling, which very quickly started to annoy me. And that header is there on every single page. After a while, I had to fight the urge to bail on the site just to make the *#($&@ scrolling stop. I ended up pulling the window down so the header wasn’t visible. Not sure if that’s the solution the station hoped for.

WJMA Country Club
There’s now something for the listeners. WJMA now has a County Club which, in exchange for registration (read: valuable marketing info for the station) you can become eligible for exclusive offers, contests, etc. Very smart.

Disc Jockey Pages
The air-talent page has a little bit of misstep – the main page has the schedule, but no links to the individual bios. That’s about a five-minute fix. The jocks’ bio pages look good. There’s a way on JD’s page to submit birthday notices (gathering more marketing data, very smart). Unfortunately, the “E-Mail J.D. here” text is just that. There’s no link (that’s another five-minute fix).

WJMA News
The news tab has some good features. In addition to the bio of newscaster Phil Goodwin, there’s also a place to submit story ideas. Good interactivity.

The sports page is just a collection of links to the sports team websites of the various schools (the Orange County High School link is currently broken – another five-minute fix). It would be nice if there was a scoreboard with all the local scores aggregated, but this is a good start.

And it looks like they’ll be podcasting their news. I’ll definitely check that out and report on them in another post.

Local Photos

There’s a photo section – another great opportunity for local content. It’s not clear where the images are coming from, though. And there doesn’t appear to be a way for listeners to submit images (which I would recommend reviewing before publication). Another suggestion – how about some picture captions and tagging? Get some SEO going here!

The Community Section
The community pages look good. There’s info on local events, ways for organizations to submit announcements, and a list (with links) of area charities, schools and organizations.

There’s also additional content for country music fans, such as artist links and music news.

And the new website makes it easy to contact account representatives for advertising (they even have e-mail addresses now).

At the bottom of the page, there are logos for Piedmont Communication’s other radio stations, SAM 105.5 and AM1340 WCVA. Don’t bother clicking on them, though – they just go to the WJMA homepage.

All in all, a very nice, professional-looking website. I’m not sure if it was worth a year’s wait, especially as it appears to be somewhat an off-the-shelf solution. But for new listeners and potential advertisers, it presents WJMA in a very good light – and that’s really what counts.

The only thing I find surprising is the lack of ads. Hopefully, they won’t eventually clutter it up like a NASCAR driver’s jumpsuit, but a few well-placed ads should generate a decent amount of traffic. I’ll check in from time to time and see how it develops.

And that’s the end of the WJMA web watch.

- Ralph

You know, I outlined a lot of this back in 2007 "Creating Compelling Content," "Ted Mack's Original Website," "Radio Websites -- Odds and Ends" et al. Wonder if I should submit a bill for consulting?

A Veiled Threat

Not everyone understands the concept of transparency, and why it's important on the Internet. Here's a perfect example of our local area (although the concepts discussed here can be applied anywhere).

Orange County, Virginia has been fought over for some time by pro-growth and anti-growth factions. Both groups are politically active, and both have powerful allies outside the county helping their respective causes.

Now there are many pro-growth people who just want what's best for the county. They see new residents and new businesses coming in as a healthy thing. Then there are some large land owners who see subdividing as a way to make a lot of money -- and a lot of it. And then there're the developers, of course, who just want to come in, throw up structures as quickly and cheaply as possible, and move on to the next project.

Recently the Board of Supervisors tried to tighten up the regulations surrounding development. A lawsuit was filed to overturn those regulations.

The people behind the lawsuit may have the purest of intentions. But the lack of information about them creates problems -- especially in a world where most information is readily available online. Accidental and innocent, or purposeful and sinister?

1) According to the news story, four families have filed the lawsuit, claiming that it unfairly restricts their rights as land owners. That sounds straightforward enough. So who are these people? I can't find any information anywhere that lists their names.

Most anyone involved with this issue in Orange Country could easily rattle off the names of four big landowners who have a vested interest in looser development regulations. Is that why these families are remaining anonymous, because if their names were known it would seem as if this was a ploy to forward development rather than an issue about property rights? I don't know, but the question sprang quickly to mind.

2) Although the news report said four families filed the suit, the link provided with the story goes to the "Orange County Citizens for Freedom."Great, a website! Now we can get some information.

Well, not really.

So who is the OCCF? There's no "about" link. The site tells us nothing about what the group's mission statement is, or how it's organized, or what its purpose is or anything. The homepage claims that the OCCF filed the lawsuit. So is the organization just the four families? And if so, what four families would that be?

The website also doesn't say if it's a non-profit group, for profit group, just some individuals, a PAC or what. There are no officers listed, nor any contact info save for a neutral e-mail address. There are links to some pro-property rights sites, but nothing especially illuminating.

Is this group trying to remain faceless for some nefarious purpose, or are they just clueless as to what information an organization website should hold?

3) There was only one name connected with the site. On the home page, people are encouraged to contribute to the OCCF by sending checks to the firm of Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C. Now there's no indication as to what the money will be used for, or how much is needed. And it isn't clear whether this is a tax-deductible contribution or not.

But from that one piece of information, I found out a little more about Vanderpool, et al. A simple search revealed that they're a law firm based in Manassas (part of over-developed Northern Virginia), and their  specialties are land use, zoning, and development.

So is the OCCF really concerned about property rights, or is this just another way for developers to get rid of inconvenient legislation?

The OCCF had none of the information I expected to find on an above-board organization website. It could be an oversight (and if it is, I suggest they fix it quickly), or it could be the OCCF/nameless four families have something to hide. Given the little bit I had to go on, I suspect the latter.

- Ralph

Day 167 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WJMA -- Its history

The website devoted to the history of WJMA is without question a labor of love. This online museum was created by Ross Hunter, former program director for the station.

It's a site well worth exploring, even if you don't remember the golden days of "Radio Orange." Anyone curious about radio operation, or life in Central Virginia, or even those just looking for a good story will find lots to look through on the site.

In addition to an overall history of the station, there's plenty of source material documenting day-to-day workings of this small, independent radio station, and even some audio samples. And there's a chat room, which has become something of a living history archive as former employees share experiences and add their information to the site.

Ross Hunter's recently asked for help, putting out the word through letters to several regional newspapers. Hunter writes:

A year from now, in September of 2009, 60 years will have passed since WJMA-AM radio in Orange signed on the air for the first time. 

Over the last couple of years I’ve been involved in a project to document WJMA’s history and locate former employees. To date more than 300 former employees have been identified and about half of them have been located. Almost 90 former WJMA staffers are part of a Yahoo list serve exchanging memories about WJMA. 

A Web site to collect the history of the radio station has been set up. Information is being adding to the online collection as it becomes available. Go to wjma.radiohistory.net to see what has been collected thus far. 

I’m writing today in a effort to locate more WJMA history. Anything you might have: pictures, newspaper ads, newspaper articles, prizes, bumper stickers, audio tape, videotape, movies...it’s all valuable and I’d love to have an opportunity to copy it. Your originals will be returned. Personal stories are also welcome. 

Please contact me via e-mail at wjmainfo@radiohistory.net or by phone from 6 to 10 p.m. at (540) 672-2822. And if you are a former employee and have not yet been contacted, please do get in touch. 

Much has changed in the broadcast world since WJMA AM first went on the air. In 1949 WJMA was an AM only radio station with just 250 watts of power. While the call letters WJMA now belong to an FM station, the former WJMA-AM is now WVCV, but is still broadcasting at 1340 on the AM dial, just where it’s been since noon on Sept. 10, 1949.

Ross Hunter
WJMA 1971 to 1986
Orange

There's been some response to the letters, but of course, not everyone's still in the area. So I'm happy to contribute some space to help get the word out.

And no, I didn't make a mistake in the title -- that apostrophe's absent for a reason.

- Ralph

Day 99 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Orange PACs whacked

The political scandal in Orange County, Virginia has finally been resolved. While this might be old news for some county residents, here's the wrap up for our readers around the world (and we got 'em -- just check our StatCounter map).

As you may recall, in the hotly contested Board of Supervisors race, two websites popped up. The URLS, teelgoodwinforsupervisor.com, and thomasgravesforsupervisor.com lead one to think these sites were supporting those candidates -- the opposite was true. Although both sites have been expunged from the Internet (you can't even find them at Archive.org), I did manage to save cached versions from Google of both the Teel Goodwin and Thomas Graves site (text only, I'm afraid).

The sites were amateurishly done, and it's not clear how much they affected the election. Nevertheless, when the dust settled, and the state police completed their investigation, the origin of both sites was traced back to two political action groups run by Supervisor-elect Zak Burkett and his wife, Marcia Landau.

Awk-ward.

In May Burkett tried to spin things. He called the charges "bogus and even a little silly," and demanded the Commonwealth's Attorney bring the Board (which he's on) the results of the investigation before going public (which, as the CA politely pointed out, was illegal). Could he feel the hounds closing in?

The investigation probably wasn't very challenging. I'm sure the offending parties just plunked down a credit card to buy the URLs. The amateurish nature of the sites suggests they figured since the content was anonymous, that there would be no way to trace them back to the source.

So the two PACs have been fined for their misdeeds and their ham-handed attempts at misdirection.

Personally, I don't think the $8,800 fine was enough. I think there should have been an additional $1,000 fine for painfully poor website design, and a mandatory $500 fine for attempting to operate on the Internet while under the influence of ignorance.

- Ralph

Day 59 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Start the Revolution Without Me

Representative Eric Cantor's not tweeting me anymore. Yesterday it was all about the Republican revolution gone viral! Angry citizens all over the country were going to CallBackCongress.com and signing Cantor's petition, demanding that Speaker Pelosi reconvenes the House so Republicans could vote on crucial legislation to lower gas prices!

For a while, I was getting a Twitter update from Cantor as another 1,000 joined the protest. And then the updates came a little less frequently, and then....

Well. After two days, almost 29,000 folks have signed up. And while there's a small group of bloggers and pundits electronically high-fiving each other, I must say it's nothing like the real revolt of the HD-DVD code protest.

And while 29,000 may seem like a lot of people, let's put it in perspective -- it's a few thousand less than the population of Orange County, Virginia where I live. So not quite the popular revolt it's being billed as.

And that's the strength -- and the weakness -- of the Internet. Everything's quantifiable. Is this a successful campaign? Check the numbers and judge for yourself.

The stats report, you decide.

- Ralph

Day 54 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Video for radio websites -- the easy way

I've talked before about how radio stations can use videos to add valuable content to their websites (and thereby increase traffic). Recently, I was reminded that this video doesn't necessarily have to be generated by the business itself.

JD Slade is the morning DJ at WJMA-FM in Orange, Virginia -- the station we're using as a case study to see what works (or doesn't) online. JD's posted some videos on YouTube. They're not official WJMA videos, just clips shot by private individuals. While not great art, they're the kind of fun, casual videos many people post.

However -- even though these are personal videos, they can be potentially valuable content for WJMA's website.

Here's one of JD Slade having fun in the studio while a song plays.



So what's the takeaway?

1. JD Slades's a person who knows how to have fun.
2. JD Slade's full of energy.
3. If you look carefully, you can see that he's not just flailing his arms -- JD really knows how to play the guitar. He's a musician.

Now if this video was embedded in the station's website with info about JD Slade's morning show, the augmented takeaway could be:

1. WJMA's morning show is fun.
2. WJMA's morning man, JD Slade, is full of energy.
3. WJMA's staff (at least one of them) is a musician. They must really know a lot about the music they play.

Here's another one of JD Slade dancing at a local event.



The immediate takeaway?

1. JD Slade is man who knows how to enjoy himself.
2. JD Slade is a good dancer (decidedly better than me, that's for sure).
3. This looks like a fun event.

Now suppose that video was taken at a WJMA remote, and posted to WJMA's website (with accompanying info identifying JD Slade as the WJMA morning DJ). Now the takeaway's changed slightly.

1. JD is a man who knows how to enjoy himself. His morning show must be fun to listen to.
2. JD is a good dancer. He sure has a lot of energy. I bet his morning show does, too.
3. Looks like this is a fun WJMA event. The next time they're going to be out broadcasting somewhere, I'm going to stop by. They know how to have a blast.

Of course, the more videos of this nature the station has on its site, the larger the cumulative effect. By also placing them on YouTube (yes, I know that's where these originated), the station makes the videos available to other folks as well. And every time someone links to it or embeds it in their own blog/email/Facebook page/etc., it just serves as another free plug for, and another link back to the station. And in the realm of social networking, that's the most effective kind of branding there is.

So the simplest (and cheapest) way to generate unique content for a website? Let the staff do their thing with camcorders -- and post the videos that work.

- Ralph


Day 27 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Pardon our mess

A friend of mine e-mailed me today. He thought that perhaps WJMA-FM, our local radio station, had been reading my posts on their site. The old site is down, and there's an "under construction" placeholder at the URL.

Well, perhaps.

I'm looking forward to the new site will look like -- but I still have some trepidation. If Piedmont Communications read the commentary about their site, they didn't read very carefully. Back in November, I explained why "under construction" signs were not professional.

that page [on WJMA's website] is still under construction. Which is a real web design no-no. Keep the freakin' page offline until the content's finished. An "under construction" notice is like asking someone if they want a soda, and when they say yes, responding that you don't have any.

Well, it's not the first time. In October of 2001 WJMA still had the "under construction" sign that promised the site would be ready by May 2001. In 2006, there was another "under construction" sign that hung around until April of 2007. It promised they were "in the process of developing a site that will complement our radio broadcast." Um, well.

In the early days of the Internet "under construction" signs were common, but not now. For the past several years the use of "under construction" signs for long periods of time have not been considered good professional practice. Have to take the site off-line? Have a backup ready. If that's not possible, make the switch at the lowest traffic times (around 2:00 AM). And it's not just me.

All good web pages are always under construction, but some web designers still insist on placing a under construction icon on their site. This graphic comes from the designers feelings of insecurity. They know their page is incomplete or not functioning, so they put up a little sign that is supposed to excuse them from any problems their site may have. Problem sites are recognizable with or without under construction signs. Good web designers should not put up a site until they feel comfortable enough to display it without the under construction warning. [emphasis mine]

Yes, the Apple store always goes offline before Steve Jobs talks, but that's deliberate. It's down for less than a day, and its back online with the new content the minute Jobs has finished his presentation.

A site that's "under construction" for any length of time suggests poor organization and understanding of how the web works.

Oh. And one more thing.

The current "under construction" sign has a copyright date of 2006! Didn't we talk about that already?

- Ralph

Day 1 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Clearing the air in Orange

Diana Wheeler, the Commonwealth's Attorney here in Orange County, Virginia, has finally dropped the other shoe. Long-time readers of this blog may recall the scandal surrounding two spurious websites that appeared during our recent board of supervisors elections. This spurred an investigation, the results of which were just announced.

The sites' URLs seemed to be for two candidates, Thomas Graves and Teel Goodwin (Goodwinforsupervisor.com was one example). When you went to the sites, however, you quickly discovered that they were anything but. The single-page sites were simply a list of charges against the candidates, and as I've previously discussed in detail, very poorly done.

As expected, although the sites were anonymous, the state police were able to determine who put up the sites and paid for them (with a credit card, no doubt). In my opinion, the construction of the sites showed the hand of someone only minimally conversant with the concepts of the Internet, and the conclusion of the investigation does nothing to change my opinion. The average person simply can't be anonymous online -- particularly if they're paying for services. And only those who are ignorant about web technology think otherwise.

Now things get sticky. Because the person who admitted to setting up and paying for the sites is Marcia Landau, head of the Orange County Taxpayers Alliance, an anti-growth PAC. She's also the wife of Zach Burkett, who won his seat against Thomas Graves (one of the subjects of the website).

Did Burkett have knowledge of his wife's activities? Does this taint his win? How likely is it now that Burkett and Goodwin can work together on issues for the common good of the county? And that's just for starters.

In an early post on these sites, I said it was a stupid thing to do, and would probably backfire on the posters. It has, and now we all have to deal with the collateral damage.

Great play, Shakespeare.

- Ralph

Some People *Really* Don't Get It

This post may seem like a rant about something very small and local, but it's really not. At the heart of it is a concept that's relevant to any business looking to increase traffic to its website -- especially a media company.

According to a recent We Media/Zogby Interactive poll (as reported by Reuters)

Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news.... While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

Radio stations and newspapers across the country are looking at shrinking audiences and circulation numbers as more people move to the Internet for information and entertainment.

As content creators, these businesses have the potential to successfully transition to this new market. But only if they understand why it's important to do so, and how the demands of the Internet differ from their offline business models.

Let's make it country simple: people go online to get instant information. And if potential customers don't see it on your site, they'll search on until they do -- and it's not likely they'll be back.

Real world example (rant time).

Tuesday we had Town Council elections in Orange, Virginia. Wednesday I wanted to find out the results. I started with the two local sources of information -- the Orange Review, and WJMA FM.

The Orange Review is a weekly paper, but on the bottom of their website's front page is a box titled "from the Continuous News Desk." So how current was the Orange Review's news? Over 24 hours after the election, the top story was:

Six scramble for two seats - Published 6 days, 11 hours, 40 minutes ago

News flash: a weekly post is not equal to continuous news.

So I went to the WJMA website and clicked on headline news. Their news was even less helpful:

Incumbents won in Culpeper and lost in Orange in yesterday's town council elections in Culpeper & Orange

WTF?!? We've had this discussion about WJMA's "news" before, and things haven't changed. WHO WON? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? They won't tell us who won, but they repeat the names of the counties twice in the same headline!

So I went to the Daily Progress, which is the regional daily paper based in Charlottesville (about 40 miles away). Their headline?

Orange voters pick Gibson, Higginbotham

Thank you. That's all I wanted to know (although the rest of the story was well worth reading and had lots of additional helpful information).

So count me into that 65%.

And there's an economic impact to this story as well. In the future, I'll go to the Daily Progress website for local information. Which means traffic for their site will go up, and traffic for the Orange Review and WJMA sites will go down. And since traffic impacts online ad revenue, the Progress' site just generated a little more money for their company. Sure, I'm just one person, but how many others in Orange County have learned the same lesson?

- Ralph

I Voted -- Did You?

While the Democratic primaries dominate the headlines today, a democracy of a much more humble sort moves forward. Today was election day for the town council of Orange, Virginia (and I expect a number of other localities across the country).

It wasn't a hotly contested race (that I'm aware of). Just some local folks looking to help lead the town in the direction they think best. All the candidates have a vested interest in the community. Some are pro-growth, and (not coincidentally) are involved with businesses that would benefit from that. Others are concerned about higher taxes and are in positions likely to bear the brunt of said increases.

You could say that all the candidates share the same platform -- enlightened self-interest. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unlike national or even state officials, members of the Orange Town Council reside and work in the area they govern and, therefore, have to live with the consequences of their decisions.

And unlike most political leaders, town councilmen are anything but inaccessible. Their constituents have no problem voicing their concerns, not just at public meetings, but in the check-out line at the grocery store, on Main Street or wherever they run into their representatives.

I got to the polls about an hour after they opened -- and I was number 20. Not many participate in these "small" elections, and that's very foolish. While the future president may decide what happens in Iraq, and the next governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia may impact road construction, it's the local officials that most affect daily life.

Our new town council will have to make some tough decisions concerning our infrastructure. With stalled or even shrinking revenues, what gets funded and what gets cut? Fewer police officers for a growing population, or less street repair? And what about new development, and the shifting of traffic patterns? What's the balance between a tax rate high enough to pay for everything that needs to be done and one that most people can afford?

It's a big job, and the decisions made by these non-professional politicians can make a huge difference in my disposable income, the character of my neighborhood, and the quality of my daily life.

You bet I voted.

- Ralph

WJMA - Some News is No News

Bless their little hearts. The folks at WJMA seem to be trying their best to get their website up to speed, and I want to give them credit, but still....

Longtime readers know that I've been using our local radio station's website as a starting point for several discussions on what not to do online. Even if it won't benefit WJMA, perhaps it will help some others with their business or organizational websites.

The other day I talked about the long-awaited arrival of staff info on the site, and how it missed the mark. Today, the news is that there's news!

It wasn't always this way. Until about the end of February, the local news page has been blank, save for a date of November 9, 2007.

The good news is that news is being loaded to the page Monday through Friday. The bad news is that whoever's in charge of the website at Piedmont Communications still has no idea of what to do with this Interwebtube thingy.

In our example (pulled from Friday's site), there are three stories (or "headlines" as their called on the site). The style suggests these are just the first lines from the radio news broadcast.

Why is that bad? Because they don't tell us anything. As teasers they're fine. But these are lead-ins that don't lead anywhere.

"Judge Edward Carpenter denied bond for a Culpeper man who held police at bay for 2 hours on Wednesday in the White Shop area."

This is the Internet -- where's the supporting info? Who's the Culpeper man? What happened Wednesday that held police at bay? Where's the White Shop area? Why did the judge deny bond? This headline gives me no information, and no way to find out.

Here's a web-friendly version (which took about five minutes to do):

"Judge Edward Carpenter denied bond for a Culpeper man who held police at bay for 2 hours on Wednesday in the White Shop area."

Now I have a link where I can find out:
1) What happened on Wednesday
2) Who the Culpeper man was
3) Where the incident took place
4) More details about Carpenter's ruling

And that's all it takes. The headlines on WJMA's site are only useful if they lead to more information. They don't. Which leaves us with just enough of the story to be frustrated by the lack of any further detail.

I know I've said many times that "content is king," but perhaps I should revise that. Quality content is king.

WJMA may be putting more content on their website, but it's not going to add to their traffic.

And one other thing.

I don't know when this story took place. We've gone from being perpetually stuck in November 9, 2007, to having no date at all. When did the judge make this ruling? Friday? Thursday? February? 2008?

The prominence of the copyright notice leads us to an unfortunate (and erroneous) conclusion: "copyright 2006." So first-time visitors to the page would conclude that these stories have been sitting here for two years. And with no links to provide context, why would they think differently?

- Ralph

WJMA - Sooner and Later

While we've been analyzing John Amos' essay about his thoughts as a disaffected radio listener, our local radio station's been busy.

I first looked at WJMA's website back in November and have checked it monthly since. It's been a fascinating look at the disconnect between commercial radio and the Internet.

The good news is that there's some change. The bad news is that the change still shows ignorance of basic Internet concepts.

At first blush, the site looks the same. But click on "Meet the Staff." The "under construction" notice is gone! We can now "Meet the Jocks."

I hope the higher-ups at Piedmont Communications didn't do a lot of high-fiving when this page went live because it doesn't up their Internet credibility by much.

First off, the layout's confusing. Directly under the header "Meet the Jocks" we have.... the air shift schedule. The eye has to search for the name (it's to the right). OK, we bumped on the flow of the page, but now we understand the layout -- schedule on the left; name on the right. We continue down and find that under Weekends, the names are on the left (and no schedule at all)!

My takeaway from this page is that the person who constructed it doesn't understand the basics of design, or doesn't care -- or perhaps both. Not a good corporate image to project.

Thankfully, there are handy instructions ("click on name to e-mail") in the upper left corner. Hyperlinking is a basic concept of the Internet, and such instructions should be unnecessary. But the way the text is set up, it's not clear that the names are also links. Look -- even if it's a graphic, all you have to do is underline the text, and the reader will know to click on it. Again, this looks like the work of someone who's unfamiliar with the basic concepts of web navigation.

And then there's the final touch: "Pictures Coming Soon." As I pointed out in a previous post discussing "under construction" signs, this is a sure mark of amateurism. Don't offer something you don't have. If that notice was gone, I wouldn't think anything was missing from the page. Many contact pages have e-mail links and no pictures.

The professional approach would have been to post the page without the notice, and when the images are ready repost. But the note calls attention to what's not on the page and tells us this page isn't finished.

Why does any of this matter? It matters because a business' website is their calling card and for many potential clients their first impression.

My impression of the station from this page is not good.

And there's one other thing.

Unfortunately, WJMA's used the phrase "coming soon" before. I think their placeholder webpage promised this site would be "coming soon" for about a year. When I started monitoring the site in November, we were promised other things were "coming soon." And now in March (or perhaps late February) they finally deliver.

So is that the station's definition of "soon"? If a sales representative promises to get back with me "soon," am I in for a three-month wait, too?

- Ralph

"Radio Nowhere" -- Who's listening?

In "Radio Nowhere," the essay we posted yesterday, John Amos articulated the disenchantment he felt listening to the radio. And if you think he's alone, here's a little Internet mashup, placing excerpts from his essay alongside the posted thoughts of broadcast professionals.

Stations try to grab listeners with fizzy promises (“more music, less talk”) and catchy slogans... - John Amos

No one cares about your station or what you do. What they care about is how you make them feel about themselves and their decisions while in your presence. Do you make them feel special, in the know, smart, etc? Whatever it is, ask how you are making people feel while tuning you in or wearing your logo. - Tom Asacker

What’s missing, of course, is any sort of community connection... pre-packaged shows, produced in nameless places, are no substitute for the real, live thing. - John Amos

Programming went from local to homogenous. Making things worse was a decade in which the radio industry failed to program for youth. Bad timing, because it was at this same time that youth were looking for programs they could relate to. Youth still want to know what's happening locally. If radio won't tell them, they have this thing called the internet. And, boy, have they turned to it. - Ken Dardis

So the question is what can be done to save radio.

Get into the local content business. I’d start a website with music, social networks, artist interviews and other embellishments for every college and high school in your terrestrial listening area. Radio folks would do it the other way – one website for all local colleges. Radio works best when it is local. The Internet is your friend. It enables you to reach out to markets that may not ever listen to your terrestrial stations. After that expand by interest or social group. Impossible? Costly? It’s being done all the time in the Internet world by young entrepreneurs on what even today's radio would consider chump change. - Jerry Del Colliano

At issue is how radio companies transform their models from spot-sellers into marketing workhorses with communication assets built around individuals with faces and names rather than anonymous tallies of ears. - Mark Ramsey

In fact, not that long ago radio was a vibrant part of this community.... These folks took their work seriously, and they put out a product that people wanted, maybe even needed, to hear. - John Amos

Generally, listeners like the idea of live and local DJs. 77% said they preferred to have DJs who live in and are a part of their own community and 74% said DJs should be live, not recorded. - Mark Ramsey

Don't even think about more voice tracking -- it will only save money and never attract listeners -- not even if you paid a person carrying a People Meter to stand in front of a radio blaring your station 24/7. - Jerry Del Colliano

Real people, real entertainment, and real information.

Radio, far more than television, relies on an audience’s imagination. Without pictures, it has only words, voice, and human warmth to reach listeners. This requires a person at the other end of the microphone, not a recording. - John Amos

"TV gives everyone an image, but Radio gives birth to a million images in a million brains" - Peggy Noonan

What would a steak be without its sizzle? Radio is the security blanket of the ear. We flip a switch, we laugh, we scream, we sing along. We remember our youth, connect with our community, share our opinions, soothe our pains, calm our fears. Through the radio, our imagination unfolds, we dress for the weather, drive for the traffic, cheer for the team, take comfort when the world is safe and hold our neighbor's hand when it is not. - Mark Ramsey

[Radio] will only survive by cultivating the human connection. - John Amos

When you take out (or never put in) the personality, when you lack the voices that connect us to the music and each other, when there is no promotion, no news, no traffic, no weather, no contesting, no feeling that what you're hearing is in any sense "live" or, for that matter even "living," is that really "radio"?

Is that what we want "radio" to be?

Is that what the audience comes to us for? - Mark Ramsey

Commercial broadcasters won't listen to the professionals. Will they listen to the listener?

- Ralph

Bonus question: Something that the radio industry trumpets as its savior are significantly absent from John Amos' essay. Do you know what it is? Look for the answer in tomorrow's post.

"Radio Nowhere" by John Amos

I was trying to find my way home,
But all I heard was a drone,
Bouncing off a satellite,
Crushing the last lone American night.
This is Radio Nowhere.
Is there anybody alive out there?

--Bruce Springsteen

Well, is there? Will somebody please answer the man’s question: Is anybody alive out there? I’ve been listening, but it seems pretty dead to me. Commercial radio, once such a potent means of communication, has become an utter wasteland.

I spend two hours a day in my truck, which doesn’t have a working CD player. So I listen to a lot of radio. I’ve got ten preset buttons, but only a couple are worth pushing.

Most stations today play pre-programmed “hits.” Few have live deejays. Of the ones that do, advertisements and silly talk predominate. Crude humor abounds. Once we had Wolfman Jack; now we have Imus, Stern, and a host of other shock-jock wannabes.

Stations try to grab listeners with fizzy promises (“more music, less talk”) and catchy slogans (“Generation Radio,” an inane euphemism for the oldies format). What’s missing, of course, is any sort of community connection. I realize the bottom-line drives a station’s programming decisions, but the fact remains: pre-packaged shows, produced in nameless places, are no substitute for the real, live thing.

Most stations today are owned by huge corporations. That’s why they all sound alike. Can’t take a chance on something original, so we’ll just play another worn out old standby, tell another smutty joke. The result: homogenized play-lists and tasteless talk.

It was not always so.

In fact, not that long ago radio was a vibrant part of this community. Orange’s tiny station had talent that much larger markets must have envied. Arch Harrison, Ross Hunter, and Bill Little were classy broadcasters with made-for-radio voices. The station also developed young talent, hiring high school students as broadcast interns, who learned the ropes quickly and soon became radio personalities in their own right. These folks took their work seriously, and they put out a product that people wanted, maybe even needed, to hear.

My grandmother listened religiously to The Swap Shop, a sort of on-air yard sale. She loved hearing people call in to trade clothes, cars, books, and other odd-and-ends. I once heard an old farmer on The Swap Shop attempt to trade a bushel of sweet potatoes for a 1968 Ford Galaxy transmission. I kid you not.

People tuned in on Friday nights to hear Hornet football games. They listened on election night to local politicos discuss the vote tallies. Teenagers called, requesting songs and offering dedications. People set their alarms to hear their neighbors’ birthdays announced. Churches took turns airing Sunday morning services.

None of it was particularly exciting, but it was genuine. Real people, real entertainment, and real information. Of course, it’s no longer cost-effective; but surely something has been lost.
A few oases still exist in today’s radio wasteland. National Public Radio provides a wonderful medley of music, interviews, and in-depth reporting. A Prairie Home Companion is the closest thing we have to the classic shows of the 30’s and 40’s.

Closer to home, several Charlottesville stations are bucking the trend. WNRN advertises itself as “community radio” and plays a wonderful grab-bag of music. 106.1 “The Corner” lives up to its slogan, “Different is Good.” And you never know what gem you’ll hear next on WTJU. These stations mix passionate volunteers with seasoned, professional deejays to create something worth listening to.

And in Orange, Phil Goodwin continues to report daily on local news. He’s a humane and intelligent voice, crying in the wilderness.

The internet is also trying hard to revive the medium. XM and Sirius offer stations devoted to blues, jazz, sports-talk, and just about anything else you could want. Services like Pandora and slacker.com actually allow listeners to build their own stations. Though I like the concept, internet radio seems a bit sterile to me. Good radio should deliver a sense of place, and who can say where the internet originates?

Radio, far more than television, relies on an audience’s imagination. Without pictures, it has only words, voice, and human warmth to reach listeners. This requires a person at the other end of the microphone, not a recording.

Like the newspaper industry, radio is struggling to remain relevant in the modern age. It will only survive by cultivating the human connection. Abandon that, and all you’ve got left is waves, bouncing off a satellite.

- John Amos

©2008 by John Amos
Reprinted by permission

Orange Odor Update

In Orange County, Virginia the wheels of justice turn slowly -- but carefully. While the ongoing investigation of the spurious websites creating during the recent Board of Supervisors election continues, a new complication has arisen to muddy things according to the Fredricksburg Free-Lance Star.

There's now an additional question of print ads being run without proper attribution, which complicates the case somewhat -- especially if it turns out the same parties are responsible for both the newspaper ads and the websites. And that seems to be very likely.

Related to this story, I must acknowledge a correction. Teel Goodwin had objected to the mention of his son on the website. I said I didn't see the mention, so what was the problem?

An alert reader did, though, and pointed it out to me. Under the header "On Education:"

Teel Goodwin says: "We must provide our citizens the best educational system possible." source: campaign brochure
But, as the privileged son of one of the largest landowning families in the County, Goodwin is a product of private schools. And his son does not attend public schools either. source: public record [emphasis mine]

I could go back and edit my original post, but I won't. Let the record show that I was wrong (like that's a novelty).

But the exchange demonstrated what I like best about the Internet, especially when it comes to op-ed pieces -- accountability. No one has to take my (or anyone else's) opinion at face value. You can always check the supporting facts for yourself by just clicking on the provided link. If I'm wrong, call me on it and show me your documentation.

And if a post or a comment is curiously lacking in links? Well. That should tell you something, too.

- Ralph