As I recently explained, San Jose Inside has joined an alliance with other local news and information outlets that we will be sharing content with, including Metro Newspapers, Boulevards, NBC11, and the Los Gatos Observer. This means that anything that is posted on San Jose Inside might appear in some form in the publications or broadcasts of the other members.
Although we encourage bloggers to identify themselves upfront, we recognize that some of you may want to remain anonymous for reasons of your own and we respect that. Anonymous posters will stay that way.
Several people are involved in the running of this site who have access to the back end as site administrators. This list now includes executive members of our alliance as well as the technical staff at Boulevards who maintain the site.
For the moment, I remain the gatekeeper for all content and user comments posted here. I try to post comments at least once every hour or so throughout the day, but that is not always possible. I usually do not post between midnight and 8am because of my need for sleep, so if you submit something in the middle of the night, I won’t put it on until the next morning.
Anyone who does not wish to have a comment appear in the Metro or another alliance outlet can contact me directly by email and I will honor your wishes. Or, you may write “SJI Only” at the end of your comment before you submit it for posting on the site.
By April 1, we will have a brand new site design with many new features. The new site will post the following amended policy, effective immediately, for posting comments:
Please read before posting comments
1. This is a moderated forum, meaning comments are reviewed before they are posted. As a result there will be a delay before your posts appear on the site. It can be within an hour or take several hours, depending on what time of day you post your comment.
2. We will not publish comments that incorporate the full text of articles from other sources. For articles, provide a maximum of 3-4 paragraphs and a URL.
3. We will not post racist, sexist or sexually explicit comments, obvious commercial promotion, off-topic comments or comments that constitute a slur against a person or group.
4. We will not publish comments that deride a person or group of people for their physical characteristics, and we will not post comments from “cyberbullies.”
5. Comment posters grant rights for their material to be posted on San Jose Inside as well as reposted and or excerpted on the web sites of other members of the Virtual Valley Network, including the print edition of Metro Silicon Valley, a free weekly newspaper distributed in the greater San Jose area.
I suggest that you add a check box to comment posting so that the commenter can explictly indicate whether he or she wishes to allow the comment to be reused in these other places.
If you’re posting your words wisdom here, I can’t imagine why you’d object to them being printed in Metro. Of course, I’m not sure why Metro would want to print them either.
I just hope the new format allows for irrelevant posts and cryptic rants against government conspiracies. Otherwise, I’m out of commission.
The new format is not a radical redesign but rather an evolutionary one that plays on the existing strengths of San Jose Inside. Overall, it will look much the same, and some readers may not even spot the differences.
The designers have widened the screen, increased the size of the headlines and improved the contrast of the body copy. The changes will accommodate more content above the fold, and make it easier to read and find things.
Additions will also include a cartoon and tabs for additional contributors. The changes will enable SJI to expand to include more information and a wider range of thought-provoking opinions.
George (#3) will be happy to know that not only will the new format provide for irrelevant posts, rants and conspiracy theories, it will accommodate even more of them, of all stripes and colors.
#7 Alfred
I am sorry if you are unhappy about the way your comment was presented. The situation you are referring to was my doing not the Metro’s. First off, space is limited in print publications. I left off your first sentence referring to an earlier post because it was completely unnecessary as you then went on to express your opinion which I thought was very well put. That was the crux of your post. The column you were commenting on was quoted and to me the context and circumstances were clear, as was your opinion. Nothing was twisted as not one word of your opinion was altered. It was exactly as you wrote it.
If you would like to opt out of future appearances in Metro, please just tell me and I will respect your wishes. It would be a shame though because your posts are always interesting and well thought out and I think they deserve a wider audience. However, we get hundreds of comments every week and we can only use 5 or 6 in the Metro so the chances are still slim that any particular post will make it into Mashup. I like to choose opinions that are representative of various views on the thread and are well written.
We think this is great advertising for our site and will bring in more bloggers. If we can widen the discussion and get a few more serious particpants, it will be good for everyone.
You have definitely taken a step WAY down from the respectable forum you used to run.
I, for one, will be looking elsewhere for local articulate political debate.
Let’s hope Mr. Pulcrano is not referring to the designers responsible for metronews.com. That has to be the sorriest web site around.
I agree that it would be a huge mistake if SJI becomes Metro-light.
#5 Devon
With all due respect, I think you are very wrong. San Jose Inside will still have the same regular daily columnists. We will also continue to publish informed guest columns as well.
Our alliance brings other regular professional writers, news and information on to our site that we would not otherwise be able to provide.
Our aim remains the same as it was when we started this site more than three years ago: to provide the community with a free-access site to discuss issues of interest to citizens of San Jose and Silicon Valley.
Tom McEnery spearheaded this effort and he remains engaged in the running of SJI. I am still the editor and gatekeeper. Many of the changes are superficial, like a new design and more user-friendly technology. The difference is that we are able to provide more and deeper coverage of serious current issues, as well as some entertaining and whimsical additions.
I hope that you will reconsider, give us a chance, and continue to participate in the discussions here.
I’d also like a box where I can designate myself as ‘pro-communist’ or ‘anti-communist’, just to save everybody some time.
#2. The reason is that when you print them in Metro, you take them out of their context. This may or may not give a different slant to what you say.
For example, they made me look like someone who starts right in complaining about Quetzalcoatl when I was actually joining a discussion that was already under way, and the first sentence of what I said was a direct reference to something somebody else said previously.
If I had planned to write a letter to Metro on this topic, I would have started with a reference to what I was responding to, whereas here I just put a number at the beginning and you can scroll up to see what prompted my comment.
#9 Jack: I wish I could share your enthusiasm but I can’t. My unease with your alliance is rooted in a more basic concern.
We are in an era of media consolidation with fewer and fewer independent voices. How is it a positive development for the users of SJI, Metro, Los Gatos Observer and NBC11 for these once stand-alone local media organizations to now all generate content for each other?
.
Jack,
Does this mean we will begin to see bloggers on both sides of an issue ? It would be nice to see bloggers that respond to our questions like you, Tom and Pierluigi. Open discussions are healthy.
All,
I know change is not always easy, but I think we should give Jack and SJI a chance to see how this goes before condemning them for these changes. Each and every one of you has made SJI what it is today and no one wants to see you leave. I may not agree with you, and some of you are a real pain in the butt at times, but you really add a spice of life to SJI. I’ve learned a lot from those of you who post informative ideas and thoughts on here, and yes, I have even changed my mind on a few things. I’d really hate to see you go.
Jack has been fair and open to our concerns about our postings being put in other medias. He has provided us with an option to opt out if we want it, and has agreed to address any new issues or concerns we might have. I don’t see how much more he can bend to help us through these changes, do you? If you do, speak up!
I too share your concerns about the Metro, and the most recently added columnists, but I’m willing to stick it out and see what happens. I hope you will too because, correct me if I’m wrong Jack, I don’t think Jack is going to allow SJI to turn into a trashy, people bashing, or unreadable blog like some of the ones we’ve all seen around. Not after all these years of good solid columns and postings he’s here on SJI. And of course it stands to reason that we’ll happily let him know if he does!
#11 MC
Thank you for your comment. I understand and share your concerns about media consolidation in our country. However, SJI is not a newspaper. It is an open community forum presenting user-generated content as a platform for discussion and exchange of ideas. Anyone can participate as long as they follow our very reasonable comment policy listed above.
Under the alliance, the views expressed on SJI get a wider hearing in other outlets and we get to print and discuss stories and information from the other sources. This cross-fertilization is the opposite of what is going on with the likes of Clear Channel and Fox News who have a closed-minded, corporate political and financial agenda.
#12 Richard
We welcome views from all sides of issues. I always encourage the columnists to particpate in the discussion if they can. However, all of us have other jobs and there isn’t always time.
#13 Kathleen
Thank you for your confidence. We want this site to be a place for serious discussion and I am very aware of the dangers. Anyone who thinks something inappropriate has slipped through should let me know immediately. I will appreciate it. If we all share the responsibility to “police” the site, it will be easier to maintain civility.
Jack you are good.
At the drop of a hat. BAM! You can name all 2 media outlets that have the audacity to air conservative points a view.
#11 Just to follow up with what Jack said. CBSCNNNBCABCMSNBCKRONKPIXKABCKTVU are kind-hearted fair and balanced outfits run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.
#16 Novice
I thought you were in the hospital from a gas attack? Glad to see you are back to your old self.
Thanks for naming more of the corporate media TV/radio news networks. Every one of the national networks follows their own political/financial agenda and has little regard for the truth or real news. That includes Fox Clear Channel CNN CBS NBC ABC etc etc. Maybe I need to go to the hospital. I think we just agreed on something.
Thanks for the good tidings Jack.
I’m on the mend but Grinder’s still a bit under. If you could find time to light a candle for the little guy that’d be most appreciated.
Have a great Easter.
Just because bigots say ignorant things here, that doesn’t mean they want the world to know they are bigots! Jeez! Respect their privacy!
#11 MC, I share your unease with the corporate consolidation, that’s why we are stepping up to the plate to invest in San Jose Inside. Metro’s record shows that it is a good shepherd of independent media.
Metro purchased around half a dozen community newspapers in the valley in the 1990s and they thrived under our ownership. They improved in quality and coverage and won a ton of awards, including general excellence, the top award in California. We also refused to sell them to the Mercury News and instead sold them to a member of our management team who operated them as an owner-operator until a few years ago.
The Sonoma County Independent grew under our ownership into the North Bay Bohemian, which covers three North Bay Counties. It is locally edited and reflects the community it serves.
With a heritage of 25 years of local ownership, Metro is the San Jose area’s most established local publishing organization. Love us or not, we live in the community we help shape, invest locally and are here to answer for what we do. Try getting Singleton to reply to a blog post about the quality of local journalism!
#13
I can`t wait to see you quoted in the Metro! Think about it friend.
#14 Jack & #20 Dan,
Thank you both for your response.
I accept that the consolidation of Metro and SJI is being done with good intentions, and I wish you good luck. Unfortunately we all know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Dan offers the example of the community newspapers that Metro purchased, developed and refused to sell the Mercury News. That’s great, but in Metro’s role as “a good shepherd of independent media” where did it ultimately lead the flock?
Today each of those newspapers is owned by the Merc’s parent company Media News. Metro is among just a small handful of local print publication not owned by Media News. Good for Metro, not so good for the community papers or the Merc. Or San Jose.
As a result of this media consolidation the articles from the community papers are now reprinted in the ever-shrinking Merc. This allows the Merc to have some semblance of local content while radically downsizing our local newspaper’s news gathering operation. (See policy #5 above.)
Is anyone, besides the usual SJI curmudgeons, prepared to argue that this has been good for San Jose? I think Jack said it well in his 3/7 blog: “We have watched with increasing concern as the new owners of the Mercury News, Denver-based MediaNews, have hacked and cut the once-great paper, reducing it to its present pathetic state.”
Amen Jack but church ain’t over yet.
How long do you think it will take before Media News kills off the community papers in order to save production costs and drive readers the failing flagship paper?
If that happens, and I wouldn’t bet against it, the alliance Metro created in the 90’s will have ultimately killed off the community papers.
Ironic, eh?