Comments on: PasadenaNow.com hires two reporters in India to help cover Pasadena news; Eye Level Pasadena approves

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:01:39 +0000

On the whole, I think it’s a horrible idea. Local journalism is probably the least amenable part of journalism to foreign outsourcing. Good, investigative journalism is a necessary compenent in healthy democracy. If its all outsourced gone are the meeting with sources, the in your face questioning at press ops etc. Plus, their are a number of severe technical limitations. What if the audio or sound cuts off? What if something important happens outside the view of the camera? Since this particular instance doesn’t destroy US jobs, I suppose it is better than nothing, but not by a lot.

By: Dr.Balakrishna M.H.

Dr.Balakrishna M.H. — Fri, 30 May 2008 06:24:33 +0000

Sir,
Sub: Application for the post of Reporter in Shimoga, Karnataka, India.
sinece 15 years I am in Journalism field and contributing news to reputed news agencies and national news papers in India. I am well versed in English, Hindi, Kannada and Marathi language.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Dr.Balakrishna M.H.
Cell:9448181492

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:27:56 +0000

hi jill,
i was wondering if you ever got to e-party with the indian Pasadena Now reporters. have you been able to get to know them, at least virtually? just curious how they’re working out at PN. i’ve been out of the loop. Thx.

By: Pasadena Weekly « West Coast Grrlie Blather

Pasadena Weekly « West Coast Grrlie Blather — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:04:06 +0000

[...] maybe we need the guys in India more than we think we do. Eyelevel Pasadena is ready to e-party with them and Rattling the Kettle will probably want [...]

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:07:55 +0000

I heard this on NPR yesterday evening as we were driving home from Sac…and I thought of you! Your initial reaction is much closer to mine than your later open-mindedness. NPR interviewed a tech professor from UCLA who said he regularly farms out copywriting/editing to India. He said he thought the Pasadena things would work if it was simply a matter of fleshing out facts (reporting on police blotter items, etc.)…but that it obviously wouldn’t work if it was news that required an in-depth understanding of the local area. I still don’t get it though–why outsource at all? With so many people looking for writing jobs of all sorts, wouldn’t SOMEONE local work for the pay involved? Or maybe I’m wrongly assuming those jobs are being outsourced strictly to save money. What concerns me is: are the writers going to present themselves (in print) as being local?

By: Kelly L.C. Russell

Kelly L.C. Russell — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:43:23 +0000

Well, at least we’ll know that ONE person actually made it through an entire city council meeting (no mean feat).

Most of all, kudos to you Jill for being open-minded!

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 11 May 2007 03:56:03 +0000

I think you are right. Covering meetings, especially late night meetings, is probably extremely expensive for newspapers. I know that I’ve attended dozens of Monrovia School Board meetings and never saw a Star-News reporter, presumably because the cost is too high. With good editing by someone familiar with the area here, I think having someone watch the City Council webcast and report on it is a great idea. It would undoubtedly be better to have someone with feet on the ground at the actual meeting, but it seems to me that its more a trade-off between not-quite-as-good and non-existant. With those options I’ll take not-quite-so-good any day of the week. And I should add as a matter of full disclosure, James is a friend of mine, just in case anyone would like to discount my thoughts.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 May 2007 03:55:03 +0000

…which means that only a local blogger will take note.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 May 2007 03:52:09 +0000

So far, I’m having a cow. I may have to let it wander the streets of Pasadena…