Monday, July 13, 2009 | Ink By the Byte

“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel” – newspaper adage

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“Lights, camera, history: Clio is ready for her close-up”

COMMENT: KATV will release its extensive archives to the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. Decades will become available online, direct artifacts of the past accessible with a click. The editorial applauds KATV’s decision and says revisiting the past in this way won’t be such a bad thing.

One question though – I understand the reference to Clio, the Greek muse of history in the editorial subhead, but then the writer addresses “Karina” in the body of the editorial. Is that another reference? Because I’m not getting it and I don’t know one person from Arkansas named Karina – just folks in Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Milan Kundera novels and Anton Chekov short stories. That’s not very Arkansan.

“A welcome change of course”

COMMENT: The paper expresses gratitude that the new University of Arkansas chancellor David Gearhart appears to be putting academics back on the lofty perch it deserves at the university. This is in contrast to his predecessor John White.

“Chancellor White’s order of priorities seemed to be drawn up on the theory that, in order for research to thrive, scholarship had to be starved. To hear education being talked up again for its own sake fills some of us with new hope.”

Gearhart’ has earned some “attaboys”  in local editorials lately. Seems the consensus is that he’s doing a good job.

“Dante’s Inferno, revised”

COMMENT: To the Democrat-Gazette, slow death in hell means listening to bloggers discuss campaign prospects for Sarah Palin in 2012. The New York Times is in experimental mode online in communicating with their audience and giving ways for them to communicate with each other. It’s one of the New York Times‘ bloggingheads video pieces that the Democrat-Gazette scoffs at with such venom.

Be careful, Demozette, your contempt for your audience is poking out.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas

“Permit transfer will be good for Springdale”

COMMENT: The Morning News says the Arkansas Beverage Control Board should transfer an alcohol permit to Macadoodles despite objections from former State Sen. Jim Holt and current State Sen. Sue Madison. This would allow the store to open a shop in Springdale. After the loss of Sam’s to Fayetteville, the city needs the business, the paper argues.

The issue is before the board Thursday.

The Northwest Arkansas Times

“Please vote yes: Madison’s anti-Macadoodles arguments ring hollow”

COMMENT: Hey, we get an editorial two-for today in favor of Macadoodles’ coming to Springdale. The Northwest Arkansas Times says Sue Madison’s argument that Macadoodles must pay taxes to Arkansas for the years they’ve lured residents across the state line to their liquor lair in Missouri holds little weight.

Fayetteville’s Madison likely doesn’t understand how very unpopular she is in Springdale these days … Madison’s words could do harm to Springdale’s future. Simply put, we do not understand why someone who does not represent Springdale before the state would launch a public fight to keep a tax-generating revenue stream from starting up right down the road from her town. Acting out in this way just seems so … unneighborly.

Note to Sue: Among my friends there are some who are very supportive of you, but in a recent car trip we made, no one had your back on this issue. Everyone was confused on why you got involved in the first place. Just sayin’.

Ink by the Byte is an ‘almost daily’ media criticism and editorial roundup column focused on three newspapers in Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas Times. All comments reflect the opinion of Christopher Spencer, publisher of Ozarks Unbound.

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