Before we get to the numbers, here’s the most important thing you should know about the News & Observer publishing company: It’s still making money. Notwithstanding all the worry and wonder about what sort of business model will pay for journalism in the online age, as of this moment, many print newspapers — including Raleigh’s […]
Fiona Morgan
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Right wing rhetoric on sex education
Right wingers in the state legislature are grandstanding over a bill that would offer comprehensive sex education to students across the state. Under the bill, every school district would offer parents a choice between the old abstinence-only track and a track that emphasizes abstinence but also teaches medical facts about preventing pregnancy and STDs. In […]
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Internet for Everyone event brings out tech populists
In his opening remarks at a town hall meeting promoting affordable access to high-speed Internet service, the president of the state’s NAACP tied the notion of universal access to civil rights struggles for inclusion in education, public accommodations and housing. “Y’all do know that what you’re doing here today is pretty radical, because there are […]
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Putting a face on the rural broadband problem
Anyone reading Triangulator is probably not suffering the agony of a dial-up connection. But millions of people across North Carolina are lucky to get any connection to the Internet at all. In rural parts of the state especially, high-speed Internet often isn’t available. This week, the national consumer advocacy group Free Press posted a set […]
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Campus copyright cops
Since 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America has launched legal proceedings against approximately 35,000 people suspected of swapping copyrighted music files illegally over the Internet. Last December, however, the association announced it would no longer continue its massive legal campaign against such downloaders. But that doesn’t mean you should grab that album off BitTorrent […]
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Legislative update
Bills governing sick leave for workers, same-sex marriages, coal mining controversies and pet euthanasia are winding their way around Jones Street this week. Find more details at ncleg.net. Paid sick days A coalition of health care organizations, women’s groups and advocates for children and senior citizens are backing House Bill 177, the Healthy Families and […]
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Another note about Vaden’s depature from N&O
Gary Pearce at Talking About Politics thought my post about Vaden’s departure from The News & Observer was snarky. So did Laura Leslie at Isaac Hunter’s Tavern. Perhaps it came out snarkier than intended. I really do wish Ted Vaden well. He has more than three decades of experience as a serious and thoughtful journalist, […]
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Chatham’s information highway is made of dirt
“We had everything we needed until the Internet came along,” Andy Upshaw says while walking past the pond on his idyllic 28-acre homestead. For three decades, he and his wife, Vaughn, have lived off a gravel road in rural Chatham County between Pittsboro and Siler City. Andy earns his living doing landscaping and growing perennials […]
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N&O’s public editor to become DOT flack
After 32 years as a journalist, editor and publisher at The News & Observer, Ted Vaden is leaving for a public relations job at the Department of Transportation. We wish Vaden well. After all the anxiety over layoffs at the paper, the new opportunity (and $117,000 annual salary) must be irresistible. The work public information […]
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Ways and Means and … broadband connectivity
Speaker of the N.C. House Joe Hackney has decided the House’s standing Ways & Means committee should become the Ways & Means/Broadband Connectivity committee. That may seem more than a bit random. Here are two explanations: Broadband access is a big issue for Hackney, who says lack of access to high-speed Internet service in tops […]