First, some questions I’d appreciate y’all’s feedback on:
QUESTION: Does anyone find this daily feature valuable? I enjoy doing it, but it does take up a lot of time.
ALSO: I’m trying to figure out a time of day to do this. I’ve thought about getting up really early in the morning to do it, but 59 percent of voices in my head scream NO! to that one. Besides, I think these are better, and newsier, when I do them on the p.m. cycle. In which case, what’s the best time? noon? 5 p.m.? (Afternoon newspapers used to get their first edition into racks by noon so downtown workers could read it over lunch, and the final edition was waiting on most folks’ doorsteps when they got home from work. Both are good frames of reference… or not: The Web turns such old assumptions on their heads. The peak reading time for blogs tends to be during hours that people are SUPPOSED to be working…)
And does it matter whether I do it at the same time every day? I sort of think I should, because if readers DO like it, it would be reasonable to expect them to look for it at a certain time each day. But that presents an additional challenge. I have to work to earn bread, and every day my schedule is different.
All of which are factors that make me really want to know how much y’all value this daily briefing…
Now, to your virtual front page:
Maliki Holds Edge in Iraq, but Results Are Challenged — The prime minister’s coalition seemed likely to win a plurality. But fraud was alleged even before any results were available.
Uncertainty Remains About Cromartie-replacement Election — Yesterday’s report didn’t go into enough detail about the uncertainty that continues to surround the April 6 date, with both the attorney general’s office and the U.S. Justice Department in a position to delay the vote. So you might want to go read Adam’s story from this morning. Also, Adam blogs about the four candidates he’s heard about for the seat.
Bill Gates No Longer World’s Richest Man — That distinction belongs to a Mexican. And no, it’s not one of those Mexicans who irritate you so much by coming here to pluck our chickens and speak Spanish in Wal-Mart, but tycoon Carlos Slim.
U.S. Household Net Worth Rises — Well, none of us are as rich as Carlos Slim, or even poor little ol’ Bill Gates, but on average we shed debt and got richer, for a third straight quarter.
Chile Inauguration Jolted by Aftershocks — In an inauguration ceremony disrupted by three strong earthquakes, conservative Sebastian Piñera took Chile’s presidential oath Thursday and vowed to rebuild the country better than it had been before last month’s massive temblor. His first official act was to issue a tsunami alert — something his predecessor was criticized for failing to do in a timely manner.
Comprehensive 2010 Climate Bill Highly Unlikely, Murkowski Says — This might seem like too much of a turn-of-the-screw story for the front page — a single senator making a statement. But this was a key moderate Republican, and she was diminishing hope for the compromise legislation pushed by our own Lindsey Graham, John Kerry and my man Joe Lieberman. Yep, the very piece of legislation that got Lindsey censured by some Republicans back home, for the unpardonable sin of actually working with a Republican. It would be a great shame for this true Energy Party approach to fail after our senior senator has risked so much on it.
That’s the news for today. By the way, Mike Fitts shared with me today Slate’s version of this kind of feature. I like mine better. But what matters is what YOU think. Should I keep doing this?
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Thank you for doing this–I appreciate it, since I cannot pull in All Things Considered at home. I like afternoon news–I’m with you 100% on that.
Brad. keep doing something regardless of the time of day. I still remember the Record after a day in the State House. It was the only way we knew what was happening! Ah, Hugh Gibson, etc. Keep them coming and figure out a way to pay for them. Tom Smith
It was wonderful, wasn’t it, Tom — reading today’s news today? I still don’t fully understand why afternoon papers died so long before morning ones. To me, they were clearly a better, more immediate, product.
I like it (and appreciate it). And I like when it is published in the afternoon, like the Columbia Record, which I preferred as a child. i think it had better comics. I know you don’t have comics and that’s OK, but I do like to see your “front page” later in the day.
Do what slate.com does and make it possible to send the headlines to my email. Then if there’s something I want to click on it goes to the Slatest (like your blogs blurb) then for further info I click on the piece itself). They seem to come at odd times but I know exactly when it’s ready because I check my email a lot more than someone’s website.
I think I’ve commented before. I love this. I prefer afternoon. You’re right – most news occurs during the day. If we get most of our news from the morning paper, we don’t know about it until the next day. Reading this when I get home from work is great.
@ Kiki–there’s an app for that. Lifehacker posted something that can make a blog an email feed. A Firefox extension, I think.
I appreciate it very much! I think afternoon is better, but I’ll take what I can get.
As someone who sits in front of a computer screen all day most days, I’ve seen most of the headlines.
Between NYT, WP, Washington Times, The State and Slate, the morning is well covered. I like the late PM approach.
I do enjoy your input.