Answering Email Questions Already Answered in the Email
I keep answering questions whose answers are already in the email. Somewhere between the bullet points and the reply, I still hope to be understood.
Editorial
Railway Security Attack: Changing Every Key and Leaving
Railway lost control of the place where its customers' keys are kept, then told me it would be prudent to change everything. I spent Friday afternoon doing it. Then I left.
Farmington Police Blotter: The Cleanest Test of Local News
A year building editorial machinery, and this week's most important piece is about a police blotter. The least glamorous beat in local news is the cleanest test of who's doing the work.
Why Charlotte Needs Better News Coverage
Charlotte makes decisions like a big city and gets covered like a small town. "Agenda" is Latin for things to be done. Nothing in it about telling anybody.
Why the Next Great Media Company Will Be in a Tier-2 City
"Tier 2" is what you call a metro of nearly 3 million people when you're calling from New York. It's also where the next great media company is going to be built.
The Charlotte Mercury's Most Important File Is Markdown
The most important file at The Charlotte Mercury has the same format as a grocery list. The model is a commodity. What you write down for it is not.
AI Newsrooms: One Article Is Easy, the Operation Is Work
Anybody can get an AI to write an article. The work is the operation around it, and like Neurath's sailors, you rebuild it at sea while it runs.
News Deserts Don't Need Saving. They Need Infrastructure.
212 counties have no local news, and the industry named the problem after the weather. The deserts were made by people. What they need back is the plumbing.
Charlotte Mercury's First Six Months: Back to the Sources
The Renaissance humanists had a cure for institutions that lose the plot: go back to the sources. Local news could use the treatment. A year-end ledger from The Charlotte Mercury's first six months.