Posted on Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 8:21 a.m.
Letter to readers from Dan Gaydou, president of MLive Media Group
By AnnArbor.com Staff
Sunday's edition of AnnArbor.com includes a letter from Dan Gaydou, president of MLive Media Group.
Gaydou leads the media company that, beyond AnnArbor.com, includes 7 newspapers and digital coverage of Detroit and Lansing.
The company was launched in 2012. Gaydou writes: "Now, after assessing our progress, I feel it is important to share how we are doing."
Comments
dsponini
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:37 p.m.
Just a former shill for the Mackinac Center. I'm sooooooo glad he thinks he's doing a fabulous job, I was really worried!!
Brad
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:07 p.m.
So does MLive serve as the unofficial PR arm of local government in all their venues?
PineyWoodsGuy
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 5:39 a.m.
1. It is free, so what do you expect? 2. The PR person who obviously wrote the Executive's Posting should go back and read about "Keep It Short and Simple." The scree is one of the most pompous, self-congratulatory, tortiously l-o-n-n-g and totally lacking in factual knowledge Press Release that I have ever read. Gag me with a spoon!!! 3. The annarbor.com Journalism "Puppies" are dancing as fast as they can! I appreciate their enthusiastic and sincere journalistic efforts!
M-Wolverine
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 11:27 a.m.
You'd think someone touting how well they're doing in Internet reporting would know tl;dr.
Arboriginal
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 11:21 a.m.
You actually made it to the end?
Arborcomment
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:49 a.m.
Just one gripe (so far). I've generally found A2.com responsive to questions on moderation in the comments section. That's good - but not quite all the way there. A recent example was the "undocumented immigrant" saga. Readers commenting and using the term "illegal alien" were deleted - first with no explanation, then because questioning the change in terminology "was not in line with the story" (despite having the new term in the story), then "because a MLive council of editors decided to use the term for consistency" and finally, the "community engagement person" stated the most obvious political speak: "chosen by Mlive editors meeting as most accurate and neutral". So folks, it's one thing to have a little confab of editors decide what terms they want to use in politically correct land - just don't censor others (within reason) that didn't make the meeting - and be prepared to give a straight answer.
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:01 a.m.
I find it rather telling that the A2.com staff refuse to comment on their affiliation with SPARK. They ignore the question each time it comes up. And there is no disclaimer on the SPARK PR pieces indicating whether there is an affiliation.
tommy_t
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 8:51 p.m.
It's free and better than nothing especially on state and local government sneak attacks and local events. It's also improving.
mr_annarbor
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:54 p.m.
DBH is right on. When something online is free, you're the product, and the advertisers are the customers. They do have to keep the readers coming back, so it can't be completely trash, but with very little competition, it doesn't have to be all that great, either. I think that tommy got it right when he says, "It's.....better than nothing." If all of you really wanted the news, and not the "lite" version you get here, you'd be reading the Ann Arbor Chronicle.
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 12:03 a.m.
The Chronicle's recent coverage tends to be more comprehensive. I find many recent important a2 government stories are being skipped by a2.com.
tommy_t
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 11:34 p.m.
Accckkk! You mean I need a better vpn and cookie blocker now?
DBH
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 9:14 p.m.
"When something online is free, you're not the customer, you're the product." See http://tinyurl.com/mopm7j9 for a discussion of the saying's provenance.
DBH
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 8:45 p.m.
The first comment, as is obvious, was deleted though I thought it made some strong and valid points. It is a shame that honest criticism of the moderation is being deleted in a self-congratulatory article. The replies to the deleted comment, though, remain and were not judged to be deletion-worthy. The first is by @Nicholas Urfe and the second by @Cash. You can access them by clicking on @Cash's photo which will take you to her comment history. Then click on her submission at 2:11 PM on 6/23/13 to read hers and @Nicholas Urfe's. Both of them make valid points as well.
Usual Suspect
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 5 p.m.
By definition, censorship cannot occur in private property, which this blog is. However, it is extremely thin-skinned and cowardly, which is not news to any of us here.
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 1:18 p.m.
Censorship is an ugly thing.
Dirty Mouth
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.
Mlive sucks.
Jo Wobble
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 5:42 p.m.
What is truly interesting is that no one can post at all on any of the mlive comment pages. It has been frozen for over 2 hours. And what you say is sooo true, trespass. mlive has toadies out there that flag certain comments by certain posters they agree with, and will eliminate that 'disagreeing post'. It's a set up.
Cash
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 5:41 p.m.
Hmmmm... after an hour the article being posted, I'm unable to comment, reply or like a comment. That's been disabled for some reason.
Usual Suspect
Tue, Jun 25, 2013 : 12:36 p.m.
The MLive comment section uses Gigya Socialize. If you're blocking that with an add-on like Ghostery, like I do, it won't be visible.
Cash
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 9:45 p.m.
The posting shut down lasted for about 90 minutes by my watch.
Jen Eyer
Mon, Jun 24, 2013 : 2:42 p.m.
Hi Cash: Were you able to comment? There were several reports of technical issues with commenting yesterday, but it seemed to resolve itself before I had a chance to get someone to look into it. -Jen
Cash
Sun, Jun 23, 2013 : 5:42 p.m.
I mean on the MLive site.....not here obviously. :-)