Mitch Albom and guest Charles Eisendrath, director of Michigan’s Knight-Wallace Fellows, discussed the Ann Arbor News situation on WJR.  Audio from earlier this week: [display_podcast] Eisendrath: “I think we’re going into the Final Four.   The big ones will be The New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post probably.” Interesting, Eisendrath is “wildy optimistic” about the future of local journalism. After Eisendrath hangs up Albom admits (go to about 10 minutes in) he doesn’t agree with “90%” of what Eisendrath said.   I agree that it’s a stretch to project that the future of online news will be pay-subscriber based.  But then host starts to lose me. First, Mitch gives zero credit to you, the reader: “You can’t tell me that the average person, who already has got the attention span of a gnat, can distinguish between whether they’re reading a blogger or [an accredited journalist].” Sure, it’s the wild west out there but give some credit to the consumer.  It’s natural selection.  How many times can a blogger write garbage or cry wolf on a bogus rumor before you don’t go back?  And it’s not like word/reputation doesn’t travel quickly on the internet. Then he argues that a newspaper is more portable than online media and that readers don’t want to go to “14 different…

Yesterday the official U-M site mgoblue.com announced the election of former Michigan baseball coach Branch Rickey to the college baseball Hall of Fame.  Rickey is best known for his role in breaking baseball’s color barrier by bringing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers while he was the team’s general manager.  From mgoblue: Rickey, who coached the Wolverines from 1910-1913 while attending the Michigan Law School and compiled a 68-32-4 record, is the Hall of Fame Vintage-Era inductee. The Vintage-Era designation is for those who played or coached prior to 1947. Rickey’s college experience influenced his role in promoting Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier years later as general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey is also known for the development of the farm system and the introduction of the batting helmet. Rickey’s professional career saw him lead the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1920s and 1930s, the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940s and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1950s. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967 as a Pioneer and Executive. Due to his role in this historic event and his place in Cooperstown, Rickey memorabilia is quite valuable and you’ll find it constantly being peddled on eBay.   One interesting item up right now (with a steep asking price of $1,995) is a program from a…

A few new panoramic photos of the stadium construction via mgoblue.com.

Check out this auction of an ash tray dating back to the 1930s or 1940s.  The outside is carved out of wood.  The inside contains a raised carving of Michigan stadium along with the likeness of a Wolverine.  Check it out

A somber discussion on John U. Bacon‘s ‘Big Show‘ this afternoon, with Bacs spending much of the show reflecting on the fate of the Ann Arbor News. It made for some great radio. Here’s parts I and II of an interview with AA News hoops beat writer Jeff Arnold who was noticeably still a bit shell shocked from his meeting earlier in the day when he learned the paper would close its doors in July. They mostly talked about the changes at the News and the state of the print industry before closing with a little Michigan hoops. It’s worth a listen: [display_podcast] Update 3/24: Jim Carty interviews Tony Dearing, the man heading up AnnArbor.com.

An excellent press conference featuring Michigan wrestler Steve Luke, shortly after taking the NCAA championship at 174 pounds: So he wrestles at 174, that makes his “walking around” weight about 185? Is it too late to throw a winged helmet on this gent have him roam the secondary? Great interview, an impressive lad. Update 3/26:  Luke joined Sam Webb on WTKA: [display_podcast]

Head spinning a bit. Looks like a closure of the traditional newspaper and a rebranding as “AnnArbor.com”. A paper will be produced a couple days per week. From MLive: The Ann Arbor News will close in July and will be replaced by a Web-based, media company called AnnArbor.com, Laurel Champion, publisher of The News, announced in a 9 a.m. meeting with staff. “While this is an incredibly difficult decision for us, this is by no means the end of local journalism in Ann Arbor,” Champion said. Champion described AnnArbor.com as an innovative, community news and information service. AnnArbor.com also will produce a twice-a-week newspaper, published on Thursday and Sunday and a total-market coverage product once a week. The Ann Arbor News will continue publishing a daily newspaper through July, she said. Thoughts are with the many employees that produce the paper. I’m sure former AA News columnist Jim Carty will have beaucoup reaction on Paper Tiger No More. I’m guessing most of you in the area viewed the News through the prism of the sports page and judge the merits of the paper on the quality of that section. I’m guessing most of you aren’t crazy about the sports page and therefore not too broken up over this announcement. That’s fine maybe even fair, it’s not a charity case it’s…