Thoughts about the Town Talk and it’s future. (RIP)

The Town Talk has been part of Alexandria and Central Louisiana for over a century. Beginning as a small weekly to a large daily newspaper.

It has effected all of our lives in one way or another. I remember fondly my time as a paper boy rushing after school to pick up my route papers at their delivery point and folding them in a square fold that thew well.  A good paper boy could place their paper, throwing it from his bike any where he wanted with precision. It was my first real job and put spending money in my pocket for a movie or a comic book or any thing a young teenage kid desired.  Being a paper boy was a big deal  back then. There was a waiting list to get the job and stiff competition for the better routes. I wish my children could have had that learning experience. The Town Talk converted to a morning paper and that ended the era of the old fashioned paper boy.

Other changes came and went. The paper was sold to a big  national company and lost its local ownership and something else in the sale.

Pride in local ownership and reporting  “our”    news. Small town news around us. Small events in our day to day society. Those things gradually disappeared. “Not worth reporting on, was heard a lot.”  Little Sam Somebody celebrated his 6th birthday yesterday. Attending were:

Alice Person, John Someone, etc. A good time was had by all attending… Those small human interest story’s became too trivial to report on.

The shopping report with Sally Homemaker. Where to find the freshest meat or vegetables in town.

The reporters from all the small towns who filed their story’s on the city hall meetings in Bunkie or Lecompte disappeared.

Reporters were laid off. Even the classified’s  were cut back. Services were  dropped in the name of cutting expenses

Local  stories began to only center on government and what was considered important to keep advertisers happy.

As the big paper publishing company cut expenses to make more profit from advertising, local subscribers to the once popular paper began cancelling.

 So more cuts were made to firm up their bottom line, “profit”".

As electronic’s progressed, it became apparent that if you make up a “form paper” with stock national news and then inserted a few local stores and changed the masthead to a different name.

Low and behold you can cheaply make a generic news paper that can be printed in one location for a number of different towns and city’s.

Wow, all you need now is one or two reporters to do local news story and a sales staff of three or four .

You no longer need to print the paper in the  town of  its origin.

Your expenses are cut by 3/4 and your profit soars at the cost of what a newspaper was created to do.

What do you end up with?

A generic newspaper for the masses that in no way shape or form resembles  what the Town Talk was founded to do. 

I know it’s founders are spinning in their graves and the current owners are skipping happly to the bank.

The end results..We no longer have a local news source.

At the present time, that is what is happening..The Town Talk is being buried.

I wonder if the staff there is aware of their future?

Would you like to borrow my crystal ball?

Rest in peace old fellow, you served Alexandria well.

Sigh!

Alex

How do you promote our local Louisiana History Museum sucessfully? (I took the tour and was overwelmed.)

 

Louisiana History Museum

The director of the Louisiana History Museum here in Alexandria and I have discussed this many  times.

Why in todays world is a museum at the bottom of the list in places to visit?

How do you get people’s attention and get them to experience one of the most mind stimulating things they could do?

(Adults and children.)

The general public has no idea what is right under their nose’s, so to speak.

The Rapides Parish School Board could care less.

Teachers are too busy with rules, regulations and paperwork to teach children history today.

From what I gather, they are  even lucky to get their students fleeting attention.

When you ask a child what started the Civil War, they answer wrong almost every time.

One in twenty will answer the question correctly, if you are extremely lucky.

What about our areas vast and rich past?

The many event’s that occurred here in Central Louisiana?

What do you know about them?

How did Alexandria start?

What made it grow?

What family’s played important roll’s in building the area?

How did the Red River play an important part in the formation of this city?

Have you ever seen a bone from a Saber Tooth Tiger?

Would you like to see a Louisiana Opal?

What role did World War One and Two play in the growth of Central Louisiana?

Where was the first LSU campus and who was the dean or headmaster?

Who was Ralph Smith Smith and what did he accomplish that was so important to transportation?

What did a Civil War Iron Clad look like?

How did Dixie Land get it’s name?

What is a chamber pot?

What did the first light bulb’s look like?

What is a two-bit piece?

What was the gun that won the west and what did it look like?

Who was James Bowie and what did his brother invent?

How many city hall buildings stood in the current city hall block?

Where is the original center of  Alexandria?

Would you like to see something that was owned by the George Washington family and was used by our first president?

Do you know anything about the Native American tribes that lived in Central Louisiana before we did?

Do you know anything about the Louisiana Purchase?

What did Alexandria look like in the 1950′s?

How about 1872?

Did you know there was a steam boat named “Red River”?

What about the side wheeler “Alexandria” and it’s history?

So, how do you advertise a boring, dull history museum?

What is there to say that could possibly interest anyone?

I dont know, do you???

If you have a unique and different approach to promoting the museum,   email me at alexcenla@gmail.com. I will pass it on.

If it is used,      you will get credit for it.        ( and maybe a prize of some sort, who know’s.)

In case you might be remotely interested, it is located at 503 Washington Street, and it won’t cost you anything at all to visit.

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 am to 4 p.m.

Ah, but it’s a Museum and no one cares about things like that.

In talking with the Director, he says that most of the visitors are curiously enough from out of town.

My answer was, That make’s  sense to me.

If you really want to learn a little about Central Louisiana go to this link.

Then you can spend several hours just looking at photograph after photograph after photograph, each with a short written history.

http://www.louisianahistorymuseum.org/picture-of-the-week.htm

The museum’s collection is at  almost 2000 photographs and climbing every week.

If you have any photo’s  you would like to share, let them know!

Alex

An 11 year old girls speech on freedom.

This link will take you to a youtube speech on the 4th of July in Florida.

No matter how cynical you are or what your political beliefs are, it is worth the four minutes in your life to really listen to.

You may not agree with some of the remarks or scoff at the fact that an 11 year old girl is delivering it, but it is worth your attention.

How many 11 year olds today can pull something like this off?

I am sure she was coached and had a few people help her prepare the content.

She is effective and has presence far past an average 11 year old’s  normal  ability.

Enjoy or dismiss.

Alex

 

 

Bringhurst Golf Course.

Passing  the Bringhurst Golf Course today, brought back memories of my childhood. It was full of players and I remembered taking my dad’s putter and an iron, I don’t remember what number  and playing horribly, but having fun…. Use it, enjoy it, take care of it. It is a part of Alexandria’s  of history.

Alex

Town Talk to ax 40 jobs.

Town Talk axes 40 jobs to improve and streamline as economy continues to improve. Tank. ?

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090916/BUSINESS/90916019/Town+Talk+to+move+printing+to+sister+publication+in+Lafayette

“Approximately 40 positions – the majority of which are part time – in The Town Talk’s production department will be affected by the move.”

(but these are jobs the community depends on! These people have to make a living also…)

Makes no difference if  they are full time or part time.   

 It is still a job.

Un-%$*&^*-believable!

 

Alex

Random Thoughts on unrelated events.

 

Every now and then I stop and say to myself, now why do they do this?

Not that it accomplishes anything other than make me shake my head in wonderment.

I am just astounded by basic stupidity.

 Really.. I do not think other people give these things a second thought.

Like,  why do second rate politicians attack each other  , running for office,

 rather than try to make positive statements about what they would try to accomplish if they are elected?

Usually, when two candidaates  for a position run for that job, they spend more time on telling tall tales about  their opponent than being

honest and straightforward..

By the time election time comes around, you know nothing about either  of them,

 other than they call each  other liars and cheats.

 Truth be known, they  both are..

They base their accusations on their past experience in doing it themselves.

 Everyone know’s that fact anyway.

It is  really  who gets the most money backing and can blitz the other.

I guess that’s the reason few people of any substance at all, run for public office.

And while I am on my make believe soap box….

What do idiot’s think they accomplish by defacing historic sites as was done last week at the old LSU  site?

Spraying painting symbols  and other vulgar signs and words  on markers and benches.

I guess they get their kicks out of the publicity they generate.

Truth be known that is probably the only mark they will make in their miserable life.. other than the police blotter.

Maybe  we  should do like our  past descendents in New England once did.

Instead of branding  a scarlet A on their forehead,

brand them with STUPID across their flat skulls.

There is no rhyme or reason to this rant other than the two above situations are  almost alike.

Alex

A quote on power.

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Cable Channel Four on Suddenlink. (The City Channel.)

I have read with interest the rumblings and grumblings of the Trivial Talk and Bloggers on the Suddenlink Cable  channel four advantages and disadvantages.

I thought I would put my two-bits worth in.

OK, now listen up dummies…this is a public access channel used by the city of Alexandria.

 I do not know what type of deal the city has with Suddenlink, but right now operation expenses are next to nothing.

It is AUTOMATED, do you know what automated means? 

Run with little or next to no personal involvement.

There is someone who oversees the programing and that is it.

There are flaws in even brand new automation equipment. 

Watch some of the local TV stations on cable.

 You will see blank screens and missed overlay of national advertisements with local advertisements  , etc.

 You would have to have a full time paid staff for it to run flawlessly, and even then there would be glitches.

There is a limited audience. People who want to watch it.

 People who accidentally click on to it, and tourist who purposely view it to see what the city has to offer in terms of events and history and entertainment.

All input I get is positive on the presentation of the channel .

 I do know the Louisiana History Museum has produced about six programs at NO COST what-so-ever for the city along with the Alexandria Historical Preservation Commission, that run daily.

If the city had commissioned these popular shows to be made by a local agency it would have cost thousands of dollars.

To put the operation in the hands of students would be totally inadvisable. It would place the operation in a downward sprial.

I admit it needs an upgrade in equipment, that is a given. But leave it as it is. It operates efficently and just needs a bit of tweaking.

It would be a total waste to sink any funds other than an up grade of operational equipment on.

I base my opinion from  input of several people, one with over 30 years experience in the broadcast industry.

To place it in the hands of a local agency would be placing a fox to guard the hen house.

Upgrade the equipment. Train the operator and enjoy it’s benifits.

Keep the city side show circus council’s hands out of it!

But why do I waste my time?

Alex