What is news?

[Cedwards38]

I see the thread about the Villages News online service got closed. Who makes that call and based on what criteria?

A wise newspaper editor once set me straight when I contacted him to complain about lack of coverage of a local public school event. He said when things go well, that's not news because that is what is supposed to happen, and does happen nearly every day. News is when things do not go well or as they are supposed to happen.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:

(1) Seems that every time a thread gets the least bit controversial on TOTV it gets closed, because, heaven forbid, we might have different opinions and it would sound like argument, and someone might not be able to control their temper.

(2) I love the Dailly Sun, and will continue to subscribe to it for as long as I am a resident of TV, but they do not provide thorough reporting of the infrequent darker side of our community (sex on the square, neighbor against neighbor violence, alcohol and drug abuse, crime against residents, troublesome children living with residents, mental instability of some residents, etc). Truthfully, they do not provide any reporting of the darker side of our community. Do you want to know these things?

(3) WVLG AM. See # 2.

(4) The Villages is a wonderful place to live, but it is not perfect, and I do not want to be censored from information about our community, or the world, that some consider to be inconsistent with the model of perfection.

(5) It's not trashing our community to report the truth. That's what news people do. Maybe a headline might seem sensationalized, or not, but the real service of the media is telling the facts of what actually happened.

(6) Let's not "shoot the messenger." When we are exposed to something we don't want to hear, it is all too easy to blame the source of the information. The bad things in life are not because someone told you about them, but rather because they actually happened, and it's not the fault of the news media. If your community, your government, your political party, your political candidate, your religion, or your life in general is bad, it's not the fault of the source that told you about it. Just receive the facts and judge the facts, and make up your own mind.

(7) Finally, the world always seems biased to those who disagree.

[Kahuna32162]

IMHO the other thread was probably closed because a small group of posters had started to attack each other's views which had nothing to do with the OP. It's hot out there, what better things to some have to do right now then to stay inside and post.

[alwann]

Another old saying is news is what the editor says it is. More often, it is what the publisher says it is.

Many years ago I left my news reporting job to take a position as editor of a corporate publication. More money, benefits, etc. I clearly remember my new boss saying we run a newspaper, but it's based more on the Pravda model than the NY Times. I believe that same philosophy applies here. But, with social media and other sources, the truth always comes out.

[billethkid]

IMHO the other thread was probably closed because a small group of posters had started to attack each other's views which had nothing to do with the OP. It's hot out there, what better things to some have to do right now then to stay inside and post.

Also don't overlook the power of a few complaints being sent to the powers that be.

[Bogie Shooter]

These are the "Breaking News" headlines on the other web site, August 1-5.
How do these stories effect ones life, one way or another?
If I missed reading any of them I wouldn't know that I had missed them.
Just what is the value..........................

Firefighters cut off van door to remove driver from wreckage
I75 near Bushnell

Pair arrested after police officer smells marijuana during traffic stop
North of Leesburg

Speeding driver on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 found to have suspended license
US27/441 near Rolling Acres

90-year-old Villager escapes injury in rear-end collision on County Road 466A

Wildwood woman arrested after caught driving on suspended license

K-9 assists in arrest of Fruitland Park woman on methamphetamine charge

Man arrested after alleged attack on woman at Wildwood motel

Man found to have meth in pocket after traffic stop on Sunset Harbor Road

Woman pleads for help from deputy after alleged attack by live-in boyfriend

58-year-old Fruitland Park man arrested after fight with woman

[Bonny]

These are the "Breaking News" headlines on the other web site.
How do these stories effect ones life, one way or another?
If I missed reading any of them I wouldn't know that I had missed them.
Just what is the value..........................

Firefighters cut off van door to remove driver from wreckage
I75 near Bushnell

Pair arrested after police officer smells marijuana during traffic stop
North of Leesburg

Speeding driver on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 found to have suspended license
US27/441 near Rolling Acres

90-year-old Villager escapes injury in rear-end collision on County Road 466A

Wildwood woman arrested after caught driving on suspended license

K-9 assists in arrest of Fruitland Park woman on methamphetamine charge

Man arrested after alleged attack on woman at Wildwood motel

Man found to have meth in pocket after traffic stop on Sunset Harbor Road

Woman pleads for help from deputy after alleged attack by live-in boyfriend

58-year-old Fruitland Park man arrested after fight with woman
I also read the on line news.
I am a lover of the Villages, but not so blind sighted that I don't want to know what's going on around me. Good & bad things happen everywhere.
Yes, they print the "kool-aid" "developer's greed" stories. If I don't want to read those, I scroll on by. :D

[graciegirl]

I see the thread about the Villages News online service got closed. Who makes that call and based on what criteria?

A wise newspaper editor once set me straight when I contacted him to complain about lack of coverage of a local public school event. He said when things go well, that's not news because that is what is supposed to happen, and does happen nearly every day. News is when things do not go well or as they are supposed to happen.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:

(1) Seems that every time a thread gets the least bit controversial on TOTV it gets closed, because, heaven forbid, we might have different opinions and it would sound like argument, and someone might not be able to control their temper.

(2) I love the Dailly Sun, and will continue to subscribe to it for as long as I am a resident of TV, but they do not provide thorough reporting of the infrequent darker side of our community (sex on the square, neighbor against neighbor violence, alcohol and drug abuse, crime against residents, troublesome children living with residents, mental instability of some residents, etc). Truthfully, they do not provide any reporting of the darker side of our community. Do you want to know these things?

(3) WVLG AM. See # 2.

(4) The Villages is a wonderful place to live, but it is not perfect, and I do not want to be censored from information about our community, or the world, that some consider to be inconsistent with the model of perfection.

(5) It's not trashing our community to report the truth. That's what news people do. Maybe a headline might seem sensationalized, or not, but the real service of the media is telling the facts of what actually happened.

(6) Let's not "shoot the messenger." When we are exposed to something we don't want to hear, it is all too easy to blame the source of the information. The bad things in life are not because someone told you about them, but rather because they actually happened, and it's not the fault of the news media. If your community, your government, your political party, your political candidate, your religion, or your life in general is bad, it's not the fault of the source that told you about it. Just receive the facts and judge the facts, and make up your own mind.

(7) Finally, the world always seems biased to those who disagree.

Excellent post. We must have a new moderator.

[Bonny]

I see the thread about the Villages News online service got closed. Who makes that call and based on what criteria?

A wise newspaper editor once set me straight when I contacted him to complain about lack of coverage of a local public school event. He said when things go well, that's not news because that is what is supposed to happen, and does happen nearly every day. News is when things do not go well or as they are supposed to happen.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:

(1) Seems that every time a thread gets the least bit controversial on TOTV it gets closed, because, heaven forbid, we might have different opinions and it would sound like argument, and someone might not be able to control their temper.

(2) I love the Dailly Sun, and will continue to subscribe to it for as long as I am a resident of TV, but they do not provide thorough reporting of the infrequent darker side of our community (sex on the square, neighbor against neighbor violence, alcohol and drug abuse, crime against residents, troublesome children living with residents, mental instability of some residents, etc). Truthfully, they do not provide any reporting of the darker side of our community. Do you want to know these things?

(3) WVLG AM. See # 2.

(4) The Villages is a wonderful place to live, but it is not perfect, and I do not want to be censored from information about our community, or the world, that some consider to be inconsistent with the model of perfection.

(5) It's not trashing our community to report the truth. That's what news people do. Maybe a headline might seem sensationalized, or not, but the real service of the media is telling the facts of what actually happened.

(6) Let's not "shoot the messenger." When we are exposed to something we don't want to hear, it is all too easy to blame the source of the information. The bad things in life are not because someone told you about them, but rather because they actually happened, and it's not the fault of the news media. If your community, your government, your political party, your political candidate, your religion, or your life in general is bad, it's not the fault of the source that told you about it. Just receive the facts and judge the facts, and make up your own mind.

(7) Finally, the world always seems biased to those who disagree.
One of the best posts I've read !! :thumbup:

[gerryann]

I don't believe (in the original post) that anyone was complaining about the online paper itself. Tha complaints came regarding the sleazy way that the "reporting" was done. And I personally don't like the way they repost over and over on Facebook with the nasty mug shots....over and over. And I certainly realize that I don't have to open those links up and I certainly realize that I don't have to read the online news source. I and others are simply saying they report things in an unprofessional, sleazy manner with misspellings, poor grammar, etc, etc.

Other folks from all over the country who may(or may not) be interested in moving here, read this garbage. It does absolutely no justice to the community. I'm tired of folks back home assuming we are a bunch of VD infected, sex obsessed drunks. Remember how long it took to get the VD stories to (somewhat) go away? Then the "sex on the squares" and utility boxes, then a murder in the square? A small blurb on page 23 in the Sun is all that is needed...not a barrage of smutty articles over and over in this online rag.

[TOTV Team]

Thanks for asking this question regarding threads being closed. The moderators attempt to follow the site rules as close as possible when moderating.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/cmps_index.php?pageid=rules

When a thread has numerous users violating site guidelines in many cases the entire thread will be closed due to the amount of time it would take to address excessive rule violations. A thread can also be closed when if it has gone off track of the original thread to such an extent it isn't relavant to the original topic any longer and too time consuming to sort.

I would challenge any user to find a thread that was closed where the site rules were not violated and there were excessive users/comments involved. Also know that when users are violating rules we address those issues privately. We don't feel that it is respectful to publicly criticize or share corrective actions or conversations we have with users.

As always thanks for your support!

TOTV Team

[bbbbbb]

I see the thread about the Villages News online service got closed. Who makes that call and based on what criteria?

A wise newspaper editor once set me straight when I contacted him to complain about lack of coverage of a local public school event. He said when things go well, that's not news because that is what is supposed to happen, and does happen nearly every day. News is when things do not go well or as they are supposed to happen.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:

(1) Seems that every time a thread gets the least bit controversial on TOTV it gets closed, because, heaven forbid, we might have different opinions and it would sound like argument, and someone might not be able to control their temper.

(2) I love the Dailly Sun, and will continue to subscribe to it for as long as I am a resident of TV, but they do not provide thorough reporting of the infrequent darker side of our community (sex on the square, neighbor against neighbor violence, alcohol and drug abuse, crime against residents, troublesome children living with residents, mental instability of some residents, etc). Truthfully, they do not provide any reporting of the darker side of our community. Do you want to know these things?

(3) WVLG AM. See # 2.

(4) The Villages is a wonderful place to live, but it is not perfect, and I do not want to be censored from information about our community, or the world, that some consider to be inconsistent with the model of perfection.

(5) It's not trashing our community to report the truth. That's what news people do. Maybe a headline might seem sensationalized, or not, but the real service of the media is telling the facts of what actually happened.

(6) Let's not "shoot the messenger." When we are exposed to something we don't want to hear, it is all too easy to blame the source of the information. The bad things in life are not because someone told you about them, but rather because they actually happened, and it's not the fault of the news media. If your community, your government, your political party, your political candidate, your religion, or your life in general is bad, it's not the fault of the source that told you about it. Just receive the facts and judge the facts, and make up your own mind.

(7) Finally, the world always seems biased to those who disagree.

VERY GOOD POST
The best Engineering manager I ever worked for would say in meetings: Please do not come in here and tell me all the good things that are working, those items speak for themselves and they do show well. What I want to hear is what are the problems and what are you doing to correct them. Very good. :smiley:

[graciegirl]

VERY GOOD POST
The best Engineering manager I ever worked for would say in meetings: Please do not come in here and tell me all the good things that are working, those items speak for themselves and they do show well. What I want to hear is what are the problems and what are you doing to correct them. Very good. :smiley:

And your Engineering manager was correct. However at a sales meeting, people are encouraged to share their successes.

If you are a teacher of small children you try to encourage and reward good behavior. If you are a teacher of teens, you try to...I don't know, I would have smacked them. I liked teaching little ones.

If you are a parent you try to balance the heavy job of directing those put into your trust from doing harm and try to have them live successful lives independent from you. You have to be harsh at times, but it must be balanced with hugs and honest praise.

If you are a neighbor, you need to think long and hard before you are critical. You will be living there and attending parties and events. It could be uncomfortable if you point out that they have terrible taste with their bending over plump lady cut out in the front yard.

If you are on a Forum you can be anonymous and even make things up. People don't know if you are an alcoholic, a drug user, someone who works for a competing business, a disgruntled employee, someone who has been thrown off the forum a dozen times, someone that the police visit their home a lot.... Or a nice normal person.

I don't think you should shoot the messenger, especially an unknown new messenger, but having been a teacher, a parent, in sales, a neighbor and have met a lot of good people and a few rascals, I see nothing wrong with probing for more information if someone is making a statement of fact unknown to most of us.

[Buffalo Jim]

And your Engineering manager was correct. However at a sales meeting, people are encouraged to share their successes.

If you are a teacher of small children you try to encourage and reward good behavior. If you are a teacher of teens, you try to...I don't know, I would have smacked them. I liked teaching little ones.

If you are a parent you try to balance the heavy job of directing those put into your trust from doing harm and try to have them live successful lives independent from you. You have to be harsh at times, but it must be balanced with hugs and honest praise.

If you are a neighbor, you need to think long and hard before you are critical. You will be living there and attending parties and events. It could be uncomfortable if you point out that they have terrible taste with their bending over plump lady cut out in the front yard.

If you are on a Forum you can be anonymous and even make things up. People don't know if you are an alcoholic, a drug user, someone who works for a competing business, a disgruntled employee, someone who has been thrown off the forum a dozen times, someone that the police visit their home a lot.... Or a nice normal person.

I don't think you should shoot the messenger, especially an unknown new messenger, but having been a teacher, a parent, in sales, a neighbor and have met a lot of good people and a few rascals, I see nothing wrong with probing for more information if someone is making a statement of fact unknown to most of us.

:bigbow: Well stated !

[Bonny]

And your Engineering manager was correct. However at a sales meeting, people are encouraged to share their successes.

If you are a teacher of small children you try to encourage and reward good behavior. If you are a teacher of teens, you try to...I don't know, I would have smacked them. I liked teaching little ones.

If you are a parent you try to balance the heavy job of directing those put into your trust from doing harm and try to have them live successful lives independent from you. You have to be harsh at times, but it must be balanced with hugs and honest praise.

If you are a neighbor, you need to think long and hard before you are critical. You will be living there and attending parties and events. It could be uncomfortable if you point out that they have terrible taste with their bending over plump lady cut out in the front yard.

If you are on a Forum you can be anonymous and even make things up. People don't know if you are an alcoholic, a drug user, someone who works for a competing business, a disgruntled employee, someone who has been thrown off the forum a dozen times, someone that the police visit their home a lot.... Or a nice normal person.

I don't think you should shoot the messenger, especially an unknown new messenger, but having been a teacher, a parent, in sales, a neighbor and have met a lot of good people and a few rascals, I see nothing wrong with probing for more information if someone is making a statement of fact unknown to most of us.
Totally agree. :thumbup:

[rubicon]

I see the thread about the Villages News online service got closed. Who makes that call and based on what criteria?

A wise newspaper editor once set me straight when I contacted him to complain about lack of coverage of a local public school event. He said when things go well, that's not news because that is what is supposed to happen, and does happen nearly every day. News is when things do not go well or as they are supposed to happen.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:

(1) Seems that every time a thread gets the least bit controversial on TOTV it gets closed, because, heaven forbid, we might have different opinions and it would sound like argument, and someone might not be able to control their temper.

(2) I love the Dailly Sun, and will continue to subscribe to it for as long as I am a resident of TV, but they do not provide thorough reporting of the infrequent darker side of our community (sex on the square, neighbor against neighbor violence, alcohol and drug abuse, crime against residents, troublesome children living with residents, mental instability of some residents, etc). Truthfully, they do not provide any reporting of the darker side of our community. Do you want to know these things?

(3) WVLG AM. See # 2.

(4) The Villages is a wonderful place to live, but it is not perfect, and I do not want to be censored from information about our community, or the world, that some consider to be inconsistent with the model of perfection.

(5) It's not trashing our community to report the truth. That's what news people do. Maybe a headline might seem sensationalized, or not, but the real service of the media is telling the facts of what actually happened.

(6) Let's not "shoot the messenger." When we are exposed to something we don't want to hear, it is all too easy to blame the source of the information. The bad things in life are not because someone told you about them, but rather because they actually happened, and it's not the fault of the news media. If your community, your government, your political party, your political candidate, your religion, or your life in general is bad, it's not the fault of the source that told you about it. Just receive the facts and judge the facts, and make up your own mind.

(7) Finally, the world always seems biased to those who disagree.

Cewards: I saw what you did:D Shut out on a thread just start another to keep it going so kool:thumbup: that's one of those "I won't be denied moments":D

[Villager Joyce]

What is important/interesting/news to one person obviously isn't to everyone else. One of my first posts had to do with a bad car accident and road closures on 44 toward Leesburg. I was put in my place and told in no uncertain terms by posters the sheer stupidity on my part for posting about something off property. I got thick skinned pretty quickly. I still rarely post.

[Bonny]

What is important/interesting/news to one person obviously isn't to everyone else. One of my first posts had to do with a bad car accident and road closures on 44 toward Leesburg. I was put in my place and told in no uncertain terms by posters the sheer stupidity on my part for posting about something off property. I got thick skinned pretty quickly. I still rarely post.
Same thing on a Villages Restaurant Review Facebook page. One person said she didn't think anyone not living in the Villages should be allowed to post a review. :ohdear:

[goodtimesintv]

Cewards: I saw what you did:D Shut out on a thread just start another to keep it going so kool:thumbup: that's one of those "I won't be denied moments":D

You are wrong.

I started the other thread, clearly focused on the WAY the letter to the editor was titled and captioned with the seediest words, in bold and larger type, before readers ever clicked on and read the actual letter as written.

The o.p. of this thread started this thread pointing out the fact that my thread about the other "news" online site was closed quite soon after it started (and got lots of views and replies).

I wasn't going to comment here on this thread, but this is why I am:

Either yesterday morning or the evening before, I was going to comment on the thread I had started, about an above-the-fold article, with giant mugshot covering the front page of the online "news" site, which my friend sent me because they are planning to sell their home, and their possibilities will be damaged by the subject of the article:

The judge released, as predicted on this forum, the mentally disordered male who fired 33 gunshots into an innocent neighbor woman's home a few weeks ago.

When I saw that giant, and I mean giant, mug shot and the article about the foolish judge's judgement of that situation, I went to the thread I had started about the smearing the online "news" adds in, so I could give credit where credit was due.

I went to the thread to post this:

"I'm going to give credit where credit is due. We do need articles that report to us that a potential killer, who could have been diagnosed as lethal to self and others by a 4th grader, was released by a judge who is apparently living in Lah-Lah Land.

But we do not need the perp's mug shot to cover the entire screen when we go to the site." (Later, yesterday, the article was still there but the sensational-sized mug shot was not there.)

But the thread was closed. So you see, when I wanted to give credit where credit was due, I could not.

I hope that this thread will not be shut down quickly, too, due to apparent thinking that we readers and posters cannot discern what we should and should not see.

[circletrack]

I agree with the OP that the Sun doesn't often cover the crime/DUI stories thoroughly, but I'd argue that unless a murder, or major theft is involved, there really isn't much to say.

As I said in the other thread, the running police blotter is essentially the bread and butter of the online news site, and that's perfectly fine. There's clearly an audience for that here.

The Sun seems much more interested in telling the interesting stories of the folks living here. And I don't see anything wrong with that either.

It's great that we have options. I just don't frequent the online site that much because reading about the latest DUIs doesn't interest me.

[Cedwards38]

"What you see is news, what you know is background, what you feel is opinion."
Lester Markel, American journalist, 1894-1977

"Never awake me when you have good news to announce, because with good news nothing presses; but when you have bad news, arouse me immediately, for then there is not an instant to be lost."
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor, 1769-1821

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
― Edward R. Murrow

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

[Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Voice of America; Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, February 26, 1962]”
― John F. Kennedy

“Why were you lurking under our window?"
"Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our windows, boy?"
"Listening to the news," said Harry in a resigned voice.
His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.
"Listening to the news! Again?"
"Well, it changes every day, you see," said Harry.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[2BNTV]

These are the "Breaking News" headlines on the other web site, August 1-5.
How do these stories effect ones life, one way or another?
If I missed reading any of them I wouldn't know that I had missed them.
Just what is the value..........................

Firefighters cut off van door to remove driver from wreckage
I75 near Bushnell

Pair arrested after police officer smells marijuana during traffic stop
North of Leesburg

Speeding driver on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 found to have suspended license
US27/441 near Rolling Acres

90-year-old Villager escapes injury in rear-end collision on County Road 466A

Wildwood woman arrested after caught driving on suspended license

K-9 assists in arrest of Fruitland Park woman on methamphetamine charge

Man arrested after alleged attack on woman at Wildwood motel

Man found to have meth in pocket after traffic stop on Sunset Harbor Road

Woman pleads for help from deputy after alleged attack by live-in boyfriend

58-year-old Fruitland Park man arrested after fight with woman

I don't read the online news but I remember almost all of these stories being in the Daily Sun.

TV is not perfect and that also goes for the surrounding towns. I think the crime rate in TV is extremely low but it does exists. To say otherwise, is to have one head buried in the sand.

The Daily Sun is more of a local paper geared to events happening in TV and does cover some national news. I agree it's more of a happy type events reporting.

One should look for other sources for news coverage if one wants to be informed. I came from NY and am tired of "who killed who", "who raped who", and other sordid news articles, that are covered on a daily basis.

How does anyone benefit from constantly being bombarded with bad news? I make it a point not to watch the news before going to bed. To do so, would be destructive to one's psyche. IMHO

[rexxfan]

How does anyone benefit from constantly being bombarded with bad news?I couldn't agree more. Well said.
--
Bob C