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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Tell Ron Kaye of Daily News To Please Stop Showing Up At Neighborhood Meetings To Complain About His Low Circulation Because of Blog Competition

1/30 2:30 PM UPDATE: FED CUTS HALF A POINT -- GOLD IS SHOOTING STRAIGHT UP -- DOW ON THE RISE! DOOMSDAY PREVENTED, FOR NOW!!! ENJOY THE RALLY WHILE IT LASTS! THIS WILL BUY SOME TIME UNTIL CREDIT DERIVATIVES/SUBPRIME EXPOSURE PROBLEMS SURFACE!

UPDATE: CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW HAS SOME PRESIDENTIAL PREDICTIONS FOR THIS SUPERBOWL WEEKEND. BREAK OUT YOUR DECODER...IT'S JUICY! (See comment section of this thread. Maybe Daily News or LAzy Times will have this info next month and they can sit on it!)

Can someone please tell Ron Kaye, frustrated editor of Daily News, to please stop showing up at neighborhood meetings, only to complain to people how his newspaper is in such trouble due to declining circulation due to blog competition. Perhaps he should look to within and ask himself why he has failed to innovate and allowed his market to be taken from him. Maybe you should look at your editorial. You can blame it on young people not reading newspapers anymore, but that's just an excuse a loser will use to deflect the blame on lack of innovative thoughts. Meanwhile, Ron, keep reading this blog so you will know what issues are actually important to readers and you can jump on the bandwagon after the fact.

This whole blog was built on stories that people contacted you about, first...but you passed...then they end up here -- and you end up complaining to the community, in public, that you don't know what the hell to do. (Duh!) Try being a leader instead of a follower and figure out how to be innovative.

If you worked at an AM radio station, you would still be playing music, once FM stole the music audience. (AM had to innovate and go "talk". Figure it out Ron before you kill the medium.)

Think about what business you are actually in, then be in that business. But first you would have to be a community leader, instead of a community crybaby.

Featured Comment: Daily News reporting is so much better then LA Slimes. However, blogs are the way of the future and so is cable news. No one looks at the local idiots anymore. They have all become lapdogs to the Mayor so you don't get a true picture of the truth.

30 Comments:

Blogger Joseph Mailander said:

Zuma, I think it's a great topic, but I do want to be careful to state that the Daily News is really the fishwrap of record in the City of LA now. They trumpet many more stories than the LA Times, whose news editors bury civic issues. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water---were it not for Orlov and Cavenaugh, we wouldn't even know half of what we know about the operations of this incarnation of the City of LA right now. All I have to say is, it's a shame they haven't grown into the basin more, but that's the basin's fault, not theirs...

January 29, 2008 12:18 PM  

Blogger Joseph Mailander said:

And by the way, Kaye is up a tree if he thinks it's the blogosphere's fault. Sites like LAist and blogging.la don't cover citywide political issues at all, they are basically devolving into frienster-styled groups. Kevin has them snowed and perhaps even beholden for traffic, but basically, Kevin and the Kids don't adequately follow up on real LA civic issues AT ALL, leaving the DN with a very good hand to play.

January 29, 2008 12:21 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

Thanks Joe,

This isn't a slam on Rick or Kerry. In radio, people will blame the DJs if they don't like the music. But the program director is actually the one behind the scenes picking the music and direction of the station.

Of course DN looks good when you compare it to LAT. Ron keeps things pretty neutered compared to what he could be doing with the paper. This is more of a comment on innovation and lack thereof.

And a guy who has to send emails to people asking them to please go to the DN blog, cause he can't seem to figure out how to use his newspaper to drive that traffic.

Anyway, it's funny that Ron is running around town crying to his readers that he is in between a rock and a hard place when all the answers are within.

And again, they do some good stories...but they ain't setting the world on fire, by any stretch. So stop complaining Ron till you actually start trying and stop blaming the rest of the world.

January 29, 2008 12:43 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Daily News reports so much better then LA Slimes. However, blogs are the way of the future and so is cable news. No one looks at the local idiots anymore. They have all become lapdogs to the Mayor so you don't get a true picture of the truth.

January 29, 2008 1:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Publisher have to be careful. "Slapp Motions" which traditionally protect publishers who publish the truth, are being denied in California. Other States dont allow publishers to be sued unless the guy suing can prove "without a doubt and under the law" that the Publisher dilberately erred.

January 29, 2008 1:58 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen (removes hat and places it over heart):
We are saddened to hear of the death of Ms. Margaret Truman and offer our condolences to her family at this time. (Puts hat back on head and rubs hands with satisfaction) Now lads, let’s carry on. Shall we?
Zuma lad, last evening, a member of the crew had a chance to attend an Obama “house party” where the food and drink were plentiful. Seeing an opportunity to gather some corporate intelligence, our crew member too advantage of the occasion to get certain sots rather liquored up. Now, it bears noting that these sots were not invited to the party….they, at the direction of His Nibbs, crashed the party for the purposes of twisting some rather well-connected arms. And these were the sots our man targeted, savvy?
Here is what our man was able to ascertain: Several notable political figures will be in AZ this weekend for the Super Bowl for the purposes of quietly endorsing Mrs. Clinton, while back home they openly support the “other candidate”. Pictures will be taken and used in mailers and other promotional materials in other areas such as, if you will, Northern California. There is a pre-game luncheon that at least three and for certain one CM will attend that is hosted by them who would like to have things built. And as our Bard so aptly said, “If there’s a building needing building, call Jose…”
But the one nugget of information that we found out was that a certain elected will be traveling to the game in the company of a certain Presidential candidate who is quietly interviewing said elected for a post in the cabinet. Perhaps another special election in the offing (whispers) and a chance to get another winky-winky on another ballot, savvy?
We’ll report back in once we’ve landed at Sky Harbour ourselves for even though we’re ex-pats, we still enjoy a good game of football, savvy?

January 29, 2008 2:19 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

Captain Jack,

For some reason, I find that to be your most rockin' post since last year's superbowl. Ahhhhh, the memories. What's old is new again.

But regarding this year's superbowl...MAN -- sounds like national stuff. I hope you do not sue me for copyright infringement if I copy and paste your post elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a more descriptive email wouldn't hurt, either. But I guess we can leave the "fill in the blanks" to the readers, even though that cuts down on the national appeal.

Captain Jack, I wish I was you guys!

January 29, 2008 3:42 PM  

Blogger Debbie said:

Captain Jack,

You and the other pirates go to such fun and interesting parties!!! If any of you ever need a date for one of these swell soirees in the future, holla at a wench!!! Please!!!!

xoxo
ps. go Pats!!!

January 29, 2008 3:51 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Boy oh boy I bet Big Bad Ron Kaye is crying now that Homeless Dave Elliott has bitch slapped him.

Its kind of a more girly version of Mailader taking on the Times.

They are newspaper people and you are boys on a computer.

Noone will ever notice you.

January 29, 2008 3:52 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"It's kind of a more girly version of Mailader taking on the Times."

Alright, I recognize a LMFAO when I see one! :)

January 29, 2008 4:11 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The frustration is, you expect what you get with the Times.

We should expect more of the Daily News, hence the frustration.

But the person is right who said they are lapdogs.

I guess they need those valuable lies, I mean spin, I mean press releases, I mean comments from the mayor's office and city council.

January 29, 2008 4:32 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Captain would that be Huizar the guy who likes to build with developers money? Let's see Wyvenwood developers are big time Miami guys, then you have all the developers around District 14 that gave tons of campaign money and now you have Broadway revitalization spending $40 million and where that all that money come from? Thanks Captain and happy sailing.

January 29, 2008 4:35 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Zuma, my boy.

I know you are disappointed that I've given you nothing to delete today, but I've been busy with my real job.

Later on tonight, while you are curled up in your comfy van, I'll try to find something deletable for you.

In th emeantime, keep up the stupid rhetoric. And be sure to ignore the words of Mark Twain:

"Never get in a fight with someone that buys ink by the barrel and newsprint by the roll."

Dad

January 29, 2008 4:44 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

4:44 pm,

""Never get in a fight with someone that buys ink by the barrel and newsprint by the roll."

I'll give you that! (I CAN'T HELP MYSELF, Y'ALL!!! If I wasn't as obsessive compulsive as every other nut on this blog...well, then I really WOULD be Dave, and wouldn't be in these fiscal conditions, y'all.

I've been trying to walk away from it all. But like I said... :(

January 29, 2008 4:50 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

By the way, this Daily News thing isn't going to be my life-long obsession...it just hit me bad when I heard what he said, based on how un-innovative these publishers are.

Without being bitter...I'm serious that things could be much better for the medium if they WOULD be a little innovative the way AM had to innovate once FM started playing the music.

Newspapers WILL be a diminishing medium, but they won't be going away, just as TVs didn't put radio out of business. So you have to ask yourself, "What business are we in?"

But yeah, it's not cool how many awesome stories they pass on, that people call me with afterwards.

(ZD is sloppy fourths after Times, DN and Weekly.)

So part of it is bad strategy, and part of it is being beholden to a handful of politicians, instead of their customers. (And that's always a business problem in the end.)

January 29, 2008 4:58 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Spoiled rich kids at USC are crying because LAPD had to go in riot gear after being thrown beer bottles by students who refused to leave after a party was shut down. There were over 1,000 drunk students. They refused to leave and all sat around the patrol cars. If they would have done that shit in a minority community someone would have kicked their butts. About 75 officers responded and I say send USC the bill for babysitting those spoiled rich kids.

January 29, 2008 4:58 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

THE ASSHOLE MAYOR WANTS TO TAX US AGAIN. EVEN THE MEDIA IS MAKING FUN SAYING ISN'T THIS THE FOURTH PLAN ON TRAFFIC HE HAS HAD AN FAILED? THE ANSWER IS GET RID OF THE ILLEGALS. REMEMBER HOW NICE TRAFFIC WAS WHEN THEY MARCHED??

..LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled Tuesday a series of short-term initiatives to reduce traffic congestion, but acknowledged that public transportation is the only real way to move cars and people in Los Angeles.

Standing on Wilshire Boulevard overlooking the Harbor (110) Freeway, the mayor said that in order to pay for major public transit projects, he is considering backing a countywide half-cent sales tax that would generate between $500 million and $600 million a year for public transportation.

Such a measure could appear on the November ballot. "It's one of a number of options we have to look at.

January 29, 2008 5:01 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Hounded By A Dogg
This dogg needs a thicker coat...

Why he would care is beyond me, but Zuma replied.

Zuma: "To think that you just posted an entire thread complaining..."

JH: "Yeah, after five whole minutes of posting an entire thread, my fingers are sweating. I don't know how you do it!"

Zuma: "... that I deleted three of you comments on another blog, when I absolutely did not, in any way shape or form delete any of those comments."

JH: "Has anyone ever told you that you suck at apologies?"

Zuma: "So to recap:.."

JH: "You need to recap two sentences?"

Zuma: "First, I did not delete your posts, then you cry about it on your own blog."

JH: "Those aren't tears, Zuma, I wet myself laughing."

Zuma: "Nice credibility and no one will ever even see this commment except you."

JH: "Thank goodness. What a beatdown! Now crank up that video camera and get back to work threatening public employees, Zooms!"

January 29, 2008 5:01 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Got those IP addresses ready Dave?

Yea, its three of us.

Or noone of us.

January 29, 2008 5:04 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Zuma Dogg's Prediction on Fed Rate Cut for Wednesday: ALL BETS OFF

Alright, so tomorrow, Bertankie may have his name changed back to Bernakie, based on tomorrow's rate cut news. Wall Street has the chance of a .5% point rate cut at 87%. So imagine what will happen if it's anything less. (Wall Street is the biggest bunch of spoiled crybabies on the planet. I know, I know...it's hard being so right in the face of such obvious wrong.)

Normally, I would be saying, "No chance of .5%....25% if anything at all." Reasons being,

* Bertankie doesn't want to appear to be bowing down to a bunch of spoiled crybabies.

* Inflation is on the rise, and a rate cut will make it worse.

* The day they came out with an unprecedented emergency rate cut, last week, turned out part of the problem could have been that rouge trader in France.

* Durable goods number were better than expected.

So they can say, "Well gee, we came out with the full .75% rate cut, last week due to what seemed to be a legitimate global economic crisis.

However, at that time, we did not know about the $7 billion in losses from the rouge trader in France. And since inflation is a major concern -- consider the early rate cut to be the rate cut we were going to do today, since it turned out to be for other reasons than we were aware of at the time.

And further cuts would offset any benefit, by increased inflation, including higher oil prices, because the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia have to make up the difference in the weaker dollar -- so they simply hike the price per gallon -- even though there is no added production cost.

HOWEVER...like I said, that's what I WOULD have been saying, except for this little ditty:

Those of you who know me from my political blogging elsewhere, know that I have immersed myself in politics this past couple years, and you hear a lot of things. (Deniro Voice: I heard things.) If you check the StrategyUpdate.com website, you will see that these contacts allowed my to blog about the subprime mortgage crisis on May 5, 2007 -- predicting a bubble burst that would trigger a year long recession starting in November of '07.

Well basically, it happened to the day of the prediction if you check the headlines. And in October, sources recommended pulling out of the stock market entirely (mutual funds and all), because the market was going to start sinking first thing January '08. And we all know what happened.

We also learned that this would cause a big problem in the credit derivatives and bond insurance market. This next shoe, ready to drop, is scheduled to drop in February of '08 (like, next week), when all these derivative options come due, and if you think we had some down 200-300 this past month...

Well, that was just the little wave warning you that the Tsunami is coming. And it ain't gonna be a one week -- or one month sell off. We have already seen things that haven't happened in 70 years, or so. Some things have NEVER happened. You see people who have traded for 20-50 years saying they have never seen a week like last week.

So Bush can try to keep things propped up by visiting the oil sheiks and asking for a break, fiscal stimulus packages, bond insurance bail out talk (even though there wasn't any real talk) -- and the Fed can cut half a point: BUT THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THE MARKET ARTIFICIALLY PROPPED UP WHEN THE SUBPRIME AND DERIVATIVE MARKETS END UP BEING MUCH WORSE THAN ANYONE WAS LEADING ON TO.

When people start walking away from their homes (since they now owe more than they are worth, once those teaser subprime rates jump to market rate), banks will not only be stuck with all these homes -- they won't be able to sell them, either. (And they won't be taking in all this money, while the homes sink in value.)

People will be later and later on their credit card payments -- and many will simply walk away from those payments, too.

And when these derivative futures come due, it will be like what happened when everyone options were due last week, and everyone was caught short, and we saw a huge sell-off including all the good and profitable stocks to cover the losses on the others.

Bond insurers will be out of business, and we are already starting to see the leaks in the dam start to sprout water this past week.

And I think the Fed knows this. So even though no cut, or .25% would be the right thing to do in these inflationary times; and even though Bertankie would do the wrong thing -- just to show he doesn't bow down to Wall Street ("Revenge of the Nerd")...

Strategy Update feels there IS still hope for at least the half point Wall Street is throwing a tantrum over -- due to the fact that the Fed is seeing numbers that we haven't seen, yet. And the numbers are very, very small where they are supposed to be big. And very, very big where they are supposed to be small.

And maaaaaaaan, if the Fed don't cut by at least half a point, I hope you are near a fire exit or have a parachute on hand. (Set your loss limits now!)

StrategyUpdate.com

January 29, 2008 6:44 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Update: Sorry for the added comment, but Batcomputer now feels the chances of a predicted and accounted for half point rate cut is more likely to happen, than not.

Here's what we added to the equation that a computer was not able to deduce:

The Fed usually does not like to cut when the dollar is already weak, and oil is already so high, at risk of adding to inflation.

However, those are in ordinarily bad times. These are extra-ordinarily bad times. (See: Subprime/Credit/Derviatives)

So in this case, the big white elephant in the room, is the biggest elephant in the room ever (on steroids), so the Fed will have to try and prevent the massive fire they can see currently burning over the hill -- and worry about the next fire that these embers will spark, once those flames get hot enough. So yes, it's a rock and a hard place. And I think they're gonna go with the hard place. (Half a point so the entire planet doesn't have to blame him, and they'll worry about inflation as it rises. But only because they also know what lurks in the shadows.)

And he can add, "we are prepared to step in as needed with further rate cuts as needed...", for all the people who know things are worse and will need it, sooner than later. The trend is toward dollar deflation, forget the inflation in '08!

January 29, 2008 9:58 PM  

Blogger don quixote said:

Spot on again Z Dogg! So if the only thing to do is as another infamous ruler once said, "Let them eat cake", and if our more "humane" leader Bush feels that one way to generate the economy is to "throw them some crumbs" like his $600 to $1,200 rebates, then my question is, why not give us peon's a bigger taste, say a $10,000 rebate?
Then us rabble will definitely spend some of that money, and after all the Govt only has to invest in paper and ink, and some overtime for the printers at the Treasury Dept..
Shit yea! It could be like a "beggars banquet"
Start the presses!

January 29, 2008 10:04 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Did you guys know that telemarketers only have to pay 5% phone tax under Proposition S but you have to pay 9%?

January 29, 2008 11:01 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Yes.

January 29, 2008 11:37 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Sorry Kiddies,

Lots of numbers to input into the Batcomputer, this morning (1/30).

ADP & GDP (growth and employment) just came out, and housing numbers, and lots of whatnot.

Here's the headline on the GDP number: "U.S. Economic Growth Skids To Five-Year Low"

So that gives him the excuse to go half a point with dignity. And if not...head for the hills. More at
strategyupdate.com
and updates will be posted there.

Anything less than half a point, and you better head for the hills and hibernate for the next three months,or more, cause the bears will be OUT of hybernation.

January 30, 2008 7:06 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

If Ron Kaye was smart he'd hire Mayor Sam before some other newspaper offers. Oh! Maybe they have.

January 30, 2008 8:52 AM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

Here's something I would like a news reporter to look into:

With the market down big this year, and bond insurers about to lose their AAA rating and will end up bankrupt in no time (more on that later) --

I wonder if any of this is having an effect on the City's LACER pension retirement fund. I know they like to play riskier investments than ZD would ever be taking for a pension fund.

Could be a real disaster. I have NO idea, I was just wondering as I thought about the bond insurer/subprime/etc mess, knowing how LACER invests.

January 30, 2008 10:13 AM  

Blogger ronkaye said:

POINT OF MISINFORMATION FROM RONKAYE:
Hey, all criticism is fair but you got this wrong: I have never complained about blogs or blamed blogs for newspaper's troubles. In fact, I believe blogging is a great leap forward for freedom of speech and democracy. The Daily News has more than 40 staff blogs and they drive nearly as much traffic as the LAtimes blogs: UCLA, USC, Kings, Out in Hollywood, bargainhunter are especially popular and an important part of our effort to reinvent ourselves. What I have said is the Internet has destroyed the business model of newspapers and made it hard to attract new readers, especially younger ones. That's not a criticism but a statement of an obvious fact. Cheers ron.kaye@dailynews.com

January 30, 2008 1:43 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

Zuma Dogg's Batcomputer confirms that is Ron Kaye who posts (not a fake post), because that is indeed what Ron said, according to my Bat-Surveillance device.

Thanks for the clarification, although I still maintain it was a lack of innovation of the part of newspaper publishers, not the internet, that destroyed newspapers' business model. (Or allowed it to be more destroyed than necessary.)

And the paper is still a lapdog compared to where it should be, but thanks for the clarification, and congrats on signing up for a blogger account. Zuma Dogg was the second person to view your profile!

January 30, 2008 3:19 PM  

Blogger Debbie said:

Zuma, My Undisputed Master ...

Your young Grasshopper has info for you ... I've got homework/bathtime/bedtime duty to finish, but just know that the nasty posts you think are from a certain someone are not. Two words for you: phoney baloney.

I'll have more words for you soon.

(I'm lovin' you all madly ... madly, I say!)

xoxo

January 30, 2008 9:27 PM  

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