I’ve been struck by an idea, and I hate keeping ideas to myself. Especially with fun communication toys like blogs and Twitter so easily available. But I’m very enthusiastic about this idea, and I think it might be best presented through the Knight News Challenge, which offers moola to ideas that will push journalism forward. I believe this one will — and I believe it might need the funding the challenge’s grants would provide. I know my idea will be better once it’s tossed around in more brains than my own. But since we’re talking about a competition, I truly don’t know if it’s better to throw it into the Knight News Challenge garage or just pass it through some people I trust. That’s where I’m hoping you come in. I’d like to set up a small circle of trusted friends, colleagues, bloggers and Twitter users to whom I could, in confidence, present my idea. I’m looking for journalists specifically, and would be extra grateful for college students or recent graduates in particular. All I ask is that you’re willing to get an e-mail or two from me. Send feedback if you have it, or you can ignore it if you don’t. Mostly, I just want to have a few people to tell me whether or not I’m nuts. Doesn’t that sound fun? E-mail me or leave me your address if you’d be willing to help. Thanks.

According to a news release from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, local residents would “welcome John McCain to Harrisburg by unveiling a new video called ‘Jobs’ at a press event.” As the reporter who covers local Obama events and issues, I was dispatched. I quickly realized it wasn’t much of a story. The room consisted of two city council members, a school board member, an Obama delegate, and three or four other people used as sign-holding props. The press who took the bait on this thing were myself and a local TV cameraman. The event itself was quick and unremarkable. Turns out Obama people don’t like McCain’s record on jobs. At the end, a Democratic staffer played the DNC-produced, Web-only video on a laptop. So at this point we have a few local politicians talking about their opinions of John McCain, and standing around watching a video on a laptop. If you’re anything like me, you’ve already come to this conclusion: There’s no story here. Then I got back to the office, did a little research, and realized there was no freaking way this was a story. You see, one of the few moderately interesting quotes that I scribbled down came from the school board member who said:

“John McCain’s claims that he’ll put jobs first are laughable with his history of putting his lobbyist friends first.”

You know who else thinks that? DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney:

“John McCain’s claim that he’ll put ‘jobs first’ is laughable in light of his history of putting his lobbyist friends ahead of America’s workers at every turn,” said DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney.

Much of the content of the event also matched the DNC news release, right down to mentioning the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Oh, plus there’s the little matter of this news release being sent out nationally Sunday morning, over seven hours before this press event in Harrisburg. Oh, plus there’s the little matter of that YouTube video being posted a full day before this “unveiling.” So now we not only have an uninteresting story, we have the Obama folks claiming to unveil a video that’s already been online, and local officials acting as intermediaries to get the DNC’s words through local mouths to hopefully get the local media to repeat them to a wider audience. What followed was a newsroom tango. I argued that there was no story, editor argues it’s worth a short story. I write a short story focusing on the similarities with the DNC news release, and the fact the event was pitched to media as an unveiling but really wasn’t at all. Editor quickly wonders if it shouldn’t be recast as a straight “Dems respond to Mccain” story. I argue phony news events don’t deserve real news coverage. Editor finally sees it my way, the story is spiked, and you won’t read about it in my newspaper. Thank goodness for that. We in the media can do our part to actually aid the discussion by checking these events out, then promptly ignoring them when they turn out to be duds. Just because local politicians are speaking, and just because a reporter spent an hour listening to them speak, doesn’t mean we need to report on it. That the standard “Dems respond to McCain” story was considered, and that a TV station apparently aired the comments, is a signal that we need to be more vigilant in setting the standards of this campaign. The campaigns can put on these events because local media keep drinking it up. When we decide we’re not going to be used, when we make clear our own standards are rising, they’ll have to move on to a better strategy.

Patriot News reporter Daniel Victor wrote a story about the negative effects the weak economy is having on restaurant servers and bartenders tip monies. The story ran on the front page, above the fold of this past Sunday’s Patriot News. Within that story, a server and a bartender from the restaurant Spice in Downtown Harrisburg were interviewed [...]

Sometimes — and I know this is going to be hard for some of you to believe — companies do colossally stupid things. Take Spice, for example. A few days ago, two Spice employees — Molly Turner and John Burkholder — spoke with a Patriot News reporter about how the economy is affecting their tips.  It was an interesting story, and the fact that the employees were actually willing to give honest answers made it somewhat refreshing in this era of watered-down press-release-driven commentary.  Nothing is more droll and un-insightful than reading a corporate press release, so when actual employees give actual answers, it’s always a welcome change of pace. Today, Nancy “Serious Business” Eshelman is reporting that both employees were fired.  Not so much “fired” as in “somebody called them up and told them not to come back”, but “fired” as in “Spice management took their names off the schedules and apparently didn’t bother to let them know until they arrived.”  When asked for a reason, Eric Desrosiers — CEO of Capitol Entertainment Group, owners of Spice — simply stated that their comments were not in line with Spice’s business principles. That’s an interesting point.  They weren’t fired for talking to the media; in fact, the reporter actually had the manager’s permission (who in turn led the reporter to the waiter).  Rather, it appears that they were fired for not saying what Spice wanted them to say. Naturally, Spice has a right to fire their employees for any reason and at any time.  If Eric Desrosiers doesn’t care for the fact that one of his bartenders drives a car, for example, he would be well within his legal rights to fire said bartender.  Pennsylvania is an “at-will” state which, with a few tiny exceptions, means that you can be fired without cause.  Unless the employer terminates over a protected class (such as firing an employee because she’s a woman), or violates a written employment contract, the employer is in the clear.  So with what I’ve read so far, it appears that Spice is entirely legally in the right. But that doesn’t mean it was a wise decision. Second Street is a picomarket driven by nothing if not PR.  My axiom for wireless applies to the downtown scene as much as it did to my stores:  The only metric that matters is customer perception.  All of the marketing, all of the sales, all of the P&L, all of the ARPU, all of the EBIDTA forecasting, all of the inventory, all of the specials — it’s all irrelevant if your customers don’t like you.  And Spice’s actions certainly aren’t going to win them anyone’s praises. I’ve done a lot of time in corporate America.  From small regional companies with barely a hundred employees to large-scale international mammoths.  I’ve seen managers lash out at their employees in anger.  I’ve seen employees fired without so much as a phone call because said employee is dating the boss’s boss’s ex-girlfriend.  I witnessed one employee terminated because her boss got a speeding ticket on the way to the office and needed to lash out at someone.  It’s not businesslike, and it reflects very poorly on the business at hand — to say nothing of the manager.  It’s tacky, it’s classless, and, like the schoolyard bully who beats up the other kids as a means of venting his own frustration, it’s indicative of a lack of grip on reality.  And professional standards. But as some less-ethical types will quickly point out, it isn’t technically illegal.  Therefore, they’ll continue, it must be okay. A better approach would have been to find and resolve any underlying problems that might have been the root of the commentary in question.  Is Spice failing?  Are the prices too high for the crowd?  Is the crowd too high for the prices?  Are there too many fights?  Is the staff allocated in an inefficient manner?  Any manager worth half his or her paycheck would look to eliminate any underlying cause of the problem.  And since the problem is our slowing economy, there’s little that Spice can do. Short of reflect back on the idea of launching a new mid- to high-price restaurant in a recession, of course. So rather than take the comment for what it was — a realistic observation on the real-life impacts of the worsening economy — Spice got mad.  Real mad.  They lashed out.  For a comment that did not reflect poorly on Spice at all, Spice fired two employees, then tried to cover the matter with some corporate babble about the Spice experience. Good job, Spice.  Some high-class ethics you’ve got there.

I guess things didn’t pan out so well after his departure from Wink 104:

The 65-count indictment charges Bruce Bond with forgery, attempted grand larceny, identity theft and other charges that allege he worked the scheme over the past 15 months with accomplices in Nigeria and Europe.  The former afternoon drive-time talker for WNNK radio in Harrisburg was arrested at his apartment on Wall Street on May 20. Bond’s lawyer, Patrick Megaro, said his client “is absolutely not the ring leader. He is merely a cog in the wheel.”

I never had a problem with Bruce.  I know opinions on him always polarized one way or the other, but for the 15 minutes in my entire life that I actually talked to him, he seemed all right (although he did steal my liner cards one night when I was filling in for Mike, but that’s forgivable because my improv was far better). For the record, I think Wink had a good thing going when he was on the air — AC by day, the four-hour all-talk Late Afternoon Show to break the flow, and Hot AC by night.  An all-talk show on a Top 40 station, and he actually made it work. Oh well.  Times change, I guess.

1. Not only do they show my favorite rerun show, Law & Order (all three, please, with Criminal Intent at first priority), but several years ago, concocted Monk, featuring former Wings taxi driver, Tony Shalhoub. I don't follow Monk as much, but it's returning on July 18 for its seventh season.
2. Last year, USA debuted Burn Notice, which is my latest obsession. I have the Tivo all set up to record the season one marathon on July 3. Don't tell, but I totally have a crush on main character Michael Westen. How could you not? Hot ex-spy, repeatedly avoids attempts on his life, saves others' lives. The next season starts July 10.
3. Psych, which kicks off its third season on July 18, is sprinkled with just enough cheese to be surprisingly entertaining. If the video below doesn't make you smile, well, you need to start watching Psych. The duo Shawn and Gus (James Roday and Dule Hill, respectively) is hysterical. See video below as evidence.
4. And finally, the much-hyped In Plain Sight, is really shaping up to be worth its weight. After the several month-long promotion, I was a little disappointed in the first episode. However, I didn't give up, and the show is really coming into its own. Check out last Sunday's episode with guest star Dave Foley.
5. Even better, because it's the USA Network, they rerun things all the time (so you don't have to be tied to your TV in the summer) and they stream everything online as well.