This blog printed on 100% recycled electrons.
MySiouxFalls.com, the local media splash of the summer, has faded and fallen with the October leaves. After soldiering on with a dwindling number of news posts, the site this morning presents mostly blank frames. A visit to the site is like a trip through abandoned post-Katrina New Orleans or the radioactive urban landscapes of the post-apocalyptic movies of my youth. The video screen and crawling headlines on the front page are blank. The video channel links pop up nothing but a blank box of abbreviated technohaiku: "undefined undefined." The text menu has been decimated down to two links, Home and Local News. And in Local News, "There are no items to display."
The only remaining sign of life on the site: the weather forecast. 51° now, thunderstorms today, showers tomorrow.... Wouldn't you know it? Against whatever plague, pestilence, or pillage has befallen South Dakota's big swing at New Media, only Shawn Cable -- or at least his weather widget -- has survived. And for the moment, the weather page still links to the old classifieds and the last Health and Sports stories. (Last headline: "Augustana Places Three on All-NCC Women's Golf First Team," 2007.10.10.)
The Madville Times extends its best wishes to Shawn Cable, MySiouxFalls.com owner and vision-man Joe Prostrollo, and everyone else at Sioux Empire News LLC who made a go at expanding the media voices in our little market. We can only hope that MySiouxFalls.com was not, as rumored by one commenter here, the victim of some predatory action by the media powers-that-be trying to protect their market share. Media concentration is the sour legacy of Larry Pressler's 1996 telecommunications "reform," allowing the corporate owners of KELO, the Argus, and other mainstream (i.e., big-money) media to erect more walls to maintain their grip on the American psyche. We can only hope Prostrollo, Cable, and other info-entrepreneurs will continue to loo for ways to crack open those walls. And we bloggers will be happy to help!
Drinking Liberally Update (11/15/2024)
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In Politics: Nationally: The Election is over and the wrong side won. I
have nothing to contribute to the barrels of ink being used by Pundits to
explain a...
3 days ago
Cory,
ReplyDeleteWe did the best we could. I guess the stars just didn't line up for us the right way. It was new, different, and very expensive to run. That was my fault and I take all the blame. The salaries were the highest in the industry. But I needed to attract experience people who would take a chance with a start up. If there was any satifaction, and not laying off 12 people being one of them, I did have the MSM take notice. The Argus came out with their "Morning Express" and KELO TV encoded Flash video into their player. They will tell people, "Oh, that was in planning stages before MYSF came along." Maybe so...I doubt it. Were mistakes made with MYSF? You bet! And, I will take full responsibity for it. It wasn't the investors, or Shawn or the employees. The buck stops at the top and that was me. So until I decide what my next great adventure will be, I'll just sit back and read blogs like Madville Times, SD Watch, SD War College, Straigt Talk, and others and think...Wow, I could have had a V8. Again, thanks Cory. You were very fair to me and the company.
Joe Prostrollo
Former KJAM'ers Chuck Harmer and Jim Hockett are part of the demise of MySF.com too. I give Joe credit for trying to starting something important, but hiring so many big hitters right off the bat without the advertising income created a route for financial disaster, unless you were prepared to lose money for at least 3 years. Too bad Joe can't re-tool and keep it going for awhile as a low-key site, try to generate some income, then ramp up with stronger news and activities coverage.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I haven't seen or heard of anyone take as much credit for being the person responsible for the demise or success of a business or idea in a long time. Mr. Prostrollo I commend you for being decent enough to admit that you were a large part of the unfortunate circumstance of MYSF.com. I hope not too many people have negative feelings against you regarding this after reading your comments but I'm sure that your experience will tell you that sometimes people will bring out the worst in anyone if they can even if it's unintended. Anyway, I didn't much care for MYSF.com but only because it seemed difficult to navigate through the few times I did actually go to the site. Perhaps in the future if you come up with a better marketing strategy or more innovative ideas for the site it could be a success. Either way, good luck in the future and thanks for NOT "passing the buck." It's nice to hear someone take responsibility or accountability for a change. Even if it was at the expense of a business or other people's jobs. Take care.
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