From The Upside of the Seattle Paper's End - The Daily Beast:

This dramatic shift could be the catalyst behind a new era in the news business. The single most important message sent by this action is that the news business has changed, and it may be possible to better serve an audience digitally than in print, and do it profitably.

Hearst says it can serve the Seattle audience with an editorial staff of around 20 people on its website, a fraction of the number it employs on the newspaper. Which 20 they pick will have a lot to do with the ultimate success of the online venture. They will need to capture the essence of what makes people read the PI, which will be a different mix than, say, the 20 most important employees to the newspaper.

But the fact is, a website can take more advantage of everything else that happens on the web and link to content from outside sources, bloggers and other publicly available sources of information, like movie listings or little-league scores. Some things the paper did well can be provided on the web with little or no staff effort through links to outside sources.

I've highlighted the parts that caught my eye because I'd like you to tell me if you read this the same way I am : That the plight of newspapers is not only that content can't be updated once printed on paper but that the very idea of having to have paid editors, writers and staff is what's really ruining them. The assumption being that, if you can easily get it for free online why not just go ahead and build a whole media empire on the blood, sweat and tears of others?
 more this way»

January 19th, the day we celebrate Martin Luther King, jr. and his dream, and the day before Barack Obama takes office as President of the United States, Democrats around the country are declaring a day of service to America. What a cool way to show your patriotism the day before Obama is sworn in! I want to highlight some events around the country where people can give back to their local community. I posted this as part of an earlier diary but realized that since the diary was aimed at people in Washington, D.C., no one who would be interested would see it. So, if you live in Washington, D.C., you can find some community service events for January 19th here. But if you live in Arkansas, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Wyoming or Washington State, read on:

Democrats Work connects Democratic volunteers with visible, tangible service projects in their communities – cleaning up neighborhoods and parks, supporting schools and teachers, planting trees, sponsoring soccer clinics, and working at food banks. Democrats Work has events on Jan. 17th-19th in:

* Arkansas: Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock

* Colorado: Denver Rescue Mission; Canned Food Drives in Denver with House District 5 here, here, or here (all on January 17th); Serve Lunch at The Crossing in Denver; Food Bank of the Rockies; Jeffco Action Center; Cleanup Tollgate Creek in Aurora

* Florida: New Smyrna Beach Cleanup

* Virginia: Clifton Road Cleanup

* Washington State: Work at the Northwest Harvest Foodbank in Kent; Restore Cheasty Greenspace in Seattle; Planting at the Duwamish Riverbend Hill in Tukwila (January 17th)

* Wyoming: Help at Interfaith-Good Samaritan in Laramie

America is about to enter a new era, leaving the Bush fiasco behind. Start this new era by reconnecting with your local community.

Well, I think 21 states is about my limit. Was considering trying to put together West Virginia and Oklahoma pages, but I think the following are all I can do before election day rolls over us. Look for your state. I cover whatever caught my attention from school board and port authority up to Governor and Senate races. It is compiled from Progressive Majority, INDN List, Daily Kos efforts and my own research. The only controversial one I endorsed was in Washington State, and you can see the contrary comment in that section (from a Republican with a chip on his shoulder, but still with a valid point). So here they are, the 2008 Culture Kitchen Twenty-One State Endorsement Roundup:

NORTH CAROLINA ENDORSEMENTS

MINNESOTA ENDORSEMENTS

ALASKA ENDORSEMENTS

MONTANA ENDORSEMENTS

OREGON ENDORSEMENTS

COLORADO ENDORSEMENTS

WYOMING ENDORSEMENTS

VIRGINIA ENDORSEMENTS

NEVADA ENDORSEMENTS

OHIO ENDORSEMENTS

IOWA ENDORSEMENTS

PENNSYLVANIA ENDORSEMENTS

WISCONSIN ENDORSEMENTS

MICHIGAN ENDORSEMENTS

WASHINGTON STATE ENDORSEMENTS

MISSOURI ENDORSEMENTS

NEW JERSEY ENDORSEMENTS

CALIFORNIA ENDORSEMENTS

ILLINOIS ENDORSEMENTS

ARIZONA ENDORSEMENTS

TEXAS ENDORSEMENTS

Please forgive me if I skipped your state or skipped candidates in your state. I am just one person!

Seems that Washington State Republican gubenatorial candidate Dino Rossi is a bona fide part of the Republican Culture of Corruption. It is hard, these days, to find a law-abding Republican anymore! From Daily Kos:

It's well known in Washington state that Republican gubenatorial candidate Dino Rossi is essentially a subsidiary of the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). Check that--a subsidiary of the corrupt BIAW. Washington's attorney general has filed suit against the organization, along with the tweedle dum to its dee, the Master Builders Association (MBA), last week. The two organizations have been funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into Republican campaigns, particularly Rossi's. The state's Public Disclosure Commission found the BIAW and MBA guilty of multiple "egregious" campaign finance violations, which led to the AG's suit.

So, was Rossi an unwitting beneficiary of these illegat activities, or was he an active participant? Well, we can get it right from the horse's ass (yes...that's the name of the website):
 more this way»

Howard Dean put it this way: "You have the power!"

His brother, Jim Dean, now head of Democracy for America, put it this way: "We have to take ownership of the process."

Since the highly flawed 2000 election, progressives have slowly, ever so slowly been waking up to the need for taking ownership of the political process. At first, in all honesty, we were pretty lame at it at first. As recently as 2005 I saw the progressive grassroots, at least in NYC, largely unable to get its act together in any effective way. But by 2006 we started to see real results from what began in 2000.

The extreme right wing of the Republican Party took some 30 years to take nearly complete control of our political system. They did it by patiently and doggedly focusing on every elected position, no matter how low, in every state. They did it by repeating their agenda, their talking points over and over until people started absorbing it without even realizing it. They did it by taking over the media, station by station, newspaper by newspaper. They did it by focusing on LOCAL politics.

Progressives had lost that connection with local politics. But they have been rediscovering it. And that has led to a wave of new organizations that are revitalizing grassroots politics and reconnecting Democrats with their local community, a connection that should never have been lost.

Democracy for America, Wellstone Action, Blue Tiger Democrats, and Progressive Majority are, each in their own way, probably the most effective of these new organizations. Each has its own focus, its own strategy, and collectively they are making a real impact.
 more this way»