Weather-related irony is lurking out there somewhere

Whatever national media might have reporters here in town to cover fans reaction to The Big Game, you know someone will write the story, should Our Team prevail, “As the sun came out after months of rain in soggy Seattle, football glory finally broke through the home team’s clouds of trophyless years.” Or something like that.

In other semi-weather-related news, the Beach Drive water woes merited just one little line in this Times report. Blink and you’ll miss it.

Can anyone tell me why even a small paper like the Herald, equipped with a 24/7 online site like just about everyone else in this day and age, can’t add breaking news like a storm damage report? Even a blog, for heaven’s sake. If they want to be the community’s source for news, it would be so easy to do.

As for that hideous WestSeattle.com — which pompously declares itself “the official site for the West Seattle community” (when did we vote; did I sleep through it?) — storm? what storm? Even tiny Caribbean island towns use their community sites for storm reports.

Rant off … for now …

PR March 28, 2006 (10:34 am)

We actually DO sometimes update the site with news more recent than that assembled for our print edition. But it’s a question of people, resources and time. We operate the Ballard News Tribune, the Herald, the White Center News, the Highline Times, the Des Moines News and the Federal Way News too. Many of the corresponding sites have more timely updates…but getting the facts, and getting the story written and posted online involves the time and schedules of a few people (believe it or not) and we are really not configured that way at this time. That may change and I’ve been urging the editorial staff to give this more consideration when a local angle can really add something. They very likely will do so when events warrant it. I hope this answers your question, and thanks for reading the paper both online and in print. We appreciate it.

Patrick Robinson
Robinson Newspapers

Truth Be Told June 16, 2006 (3:03 pm)

Truth be Told the Herald does not update online after their news is released into cyberspace. The Robinson Brothers appear to be running their editorial staff on a shoestring budget which limits the paper’s ability to function. Just look at the top heavey management in their staff listings. Poor Tim St. Claire and Jack Mayne appear to be slaving away for to support the management.
Where did their true photojournalist Matt Durham disappaer to? It appears there is no longer photojounalism, just “harry-homeowner” snapshots.

PR September 30, 2006 (6:41 pm)

Overlooking your poor spelling and grammar I’ll just say that the various sites of the Robinson Newspapers are updated when it is necessary or warranted. After the elections two updates were posted to the Highlinetimes.com reflecting the election status.

A weekly newspaper works on different schedule than other news organizations and with a smaller staff and budget as well. In the past year the newspapers moved two offices, changed computer systems and production environments, changed a significant amount of staff, launched four websites, and several new products. That’s a tremendous amount of work in anyone’s book. As for Matt Durham, he’s an outstanding photographer whose work is genuinely admired. As it should be.
The arrangement that was in place previously became more difficult to work with and had to be changed. It was no reflection on his talent, contribution, or personality. Photographer Amber Trillo has been the photographer for the Herald for some time.
It’s also worth noting that each of the Robinson brother’s has won numerous awards for writing, photojournalism, advertising and more since they have all been in the newspaper business since the 1950’s. It’s also worth noting that in 2005 the combined pageviews for the robinsonnews.com website were around 5000 per month. Today they regularly exceed 160,000 per month with this number climbing. If you’d like more information about the newspapers and some genuine facts please write to info@robinsonnews.com.

Matt Durham November 28, 2006 (10:43 pm)

Let us clarify what a “…difficult…” “…arrangement…” is. The Robinson boys found value in my photos and attempted to strip me of “100%” of my copyrights” with no compensation added compensation. This was the difficult arrangement, no more and no less. I have a saved Email’s verifying this fact.
After eleven years of dedicated, award winning photo-journalistic services and many hours volunteerring additional services for the Robinson Newspapers I was rewarded with such an ultimatum.
I would not normally roll with the pigs but felt less than clean in Pat Robinson’s response.
Stay tuned. I am close to releasing an online magazine serving West Seattle. We will cover current events, schools, seniors and many of the other corner of our thriving community.
Matt Durham (publisher) got his start in journalism at age 16 reporting for fishing magazines and newspapers. He earned a B.A. at the countryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s 2nd ranked school in photojournalism, San Jose State University. He has worked as a daily staff photographer and has been published by the San Jose Mercury News, Seattle P.I., Seattle Times, S.F. Examiner, S.F. Chronicle, Stranger and the Seattle Weekly. He is also a full-time firefighter/EMT and HAZMAT Technician. He is also a member of the FEMAÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Washington Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (WA Task Force 1).
The “genuine facts”.

Mr. Dale December 1, 2006 (10:25 pm)

I’m sorry to see Matt Durham leave. I ran into him several times, while he was reporting for the Herald, and he was always proffesional and kind. His photos were in a league of their own and his formal education clearly showed in his photojournalism. The Herald has lost some of its luster, not to discount Mr. St.Claire and Mr. Mayne’s efforts.

Sorry, comment time is over.