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Diabetes and me. Maybe, help for you?

Posted on April 28, 2024 @ 8:07 pm by David Esrati

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Everybody has a different diabetes story- and everybody is different. So what worked for me, may or may not work for you. I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV. But, within 6 months, I got off Metformin, dropped weight, and had my A1c go from 8.8 to 5.5 (currently at 5.9). I got a ton of conflicting advice- and the worst of it was from health care providers who almost always prefer pharmaceutical solutions to actual solutions.

I’ve been high risk for diabetes from birth. My mothers side has plenty of folks with it, my father developed it around the same age I did- 60. He ended up on insulin and it contributed to his death at 89. He and I have much different lifestyles- I never smoked, I’ve always been active, and I never ate a stick of butter wrapped in a piece of bread in my life.

My A1c had hit 6.0 almost 2 years before, but for some reason, the VA didn’t check it in the year between. This is why it’s important for you to check on what the doctor orders. When I hit 8.8, they delivered Metformin to me before even having a discussion about the diagnosis and what it meant. After a few days of gastro discomfort, I tolerated it. But, at the same time, I radically changed my diet- giving up carbs. I went keto. Meats, fats, veggies, but no potatoes or bread. Out went pasta, pizza, and the granola I ate in the morning. I also started monitoring my blood sugar with a meter- that arrived much after the metformin (go figure). A fellow vet who was a diabetic gave me one of his old meters long before the VA gave me one- and I started sticking myself 3-5x a day. My blood sugar was all over the map- but, data was very helpful.

In fact, the idea of healthy people monitoring their blood sugar isn’t a bad idea either- because having a numerical reading of how your body is feeling/feeding is cathartic- mind blowing. At first, I realized that I could actually feel high blood sugar (170+). When it shoots up, I get a tension in the back of my neck- just behind my ears. Time to walk and drink water was what I learned. When my blood sugar used to drop to 100- I’d feel like crap, and sluggish. Eat a piece of fruit or some protein and things got better. Now, it had to fall to mid-eighties before I feel out of it. I started learning that if I eat enough protein, a little bit of carbs isn’t bad. I also learned, there’s sugar in EVERYTHING- and finding out that the ketchup is as bad as the fries really ruins everything (except I’d given up french fries- and ketchup).

Less the 4 months on Metformin, I’d dropped from 230lbs to around 205/210. And then, the awaking happened. I’d missed my morning dose in the AM, and taken it around 1pm. At 7, I took my evening dose. Next thing you know- I’m sitting in my recliner shivering, shaking and in a mental fog. I couldn’t figure out what to do- or what I needed to do. My friend Pam, who’s a nurse, is also my housemate. Luckily she came in- found me blubbering- and started stuffing carbs in me. It took about 45 minutes to come back to the world. At that point I decided that I’m going off the metformin and doing this without big pharma.

The VA had a fit. First, keto was bad. And my cholesterol was already high- and I don’t do well on statins. Well, a year and half later- while my cholesterol is still high- it’s dropped, thanks to diet, exercise and weight loss. So here’s the rest of what I’ve done- and my suggestions to you.

I started swimming daily. A half mile every day. It takes me 30 minutes in the pool. City of Dayton rec pass for a veteran of my age is $60 a year. They have 2 pools, but are not competent enough to keep both open 6 days a week. I like swimming because it’s low impact- and because I almost find it to be like meditation. I have an Apple watch that tracks my laps and calories burned. I do it first thing, before I eat in the morning. BTW- my morning blood sugar norm is now around 115, down from the 140-160’s when I started.

I use the app MySugr which links to my meter. If you stick yourself 3x a day for a week, it will estimate your A1c. However, the cost of test strips is insane (luckily the VA pays for mine) and sticking yourself that many times a day sucks.

I eat the same breakfast every day. And, if you don’t have a Costco membership, I highly recommend one, they have lots of amazing things that people on Keto or low sugar diets will love.

My breakfast is Greek yogurt (protein) with a half to whole teaspoon of cinnamon mixed in (cinnamon is supposed to help process sugar), on top of that fresh blueberries and fresh strawberries. The finishing touch is a keto friendly granola that is the best granola I’ve ever eaten, NuTrail Blueberry Cinnamon (I’ve included an Amazon affiliate link, but your Costco membership will save you about $4 a bag).

I also usually eat a banana. Now, here’s where I get bad- another product that I found at Costco- made by a company called Catalina Crunch out of Indianapolis is a little treat. I order these by the 16 box case about once every month. They are their Vanilla Creme keto cookies- and with bananas – oh so good.

I can’t get these at Costco- but, I became a Catalina Crunch affiliate, so here’s the link to them. Shop Our Keto Sandwich Cookies! I also get the Chocolate sandwich cookies. They don’t taste like Oreo’s- but if you are eating keto- they are the next closest thing. What I can get at Costco is their version of “Cinnamon Toast Crunch” without the sugar- and again, a Costco membership will save you money, but here’s an affiliate link:

KETO FRIENDLY CEREAL from Catalina Crunch: 0g Sugar, 8g Protein, 5g Net Carbs and 7g Fiber. Gluten & Grain Free I eat this sometimes for a snack dry- or for dinner when I’m too tired to cook. I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk with it. Sometimes I add strawberries or blueberries or both- or some of the NuTrail granola. Pure heaven. I’ve never tried any of the other cereal flavors. I love this stuff.

Usually by 11am I’m starting to get hungry again. This is where I eat a piece of string cheese, sometimes with some beef jerky (I’d like to cut the jerky out- because while it adds protein, it also almost always has too much sodium). There are also some Costco Kirkland protein bars that I probably shouldn’t eat- but they have 10g of protein- and keep me from having a blood sugar drop.

I never drank a lot of soda, I don’t drink coffee or tea, I don’t drink alcohol either- so it’s been water for me. I’ve always tried to drink a few quarts a day. and it’s even more important now. So while a lot of you think diet soda may be ok- I’d rather eat protein- even if it includes some dark chocolate (which is keto friendly).

For snacks, another thing that Costco has that’s interesting is chick pea based products. They have pasta and a fake cheese puff made out of them. They also have hummus, but if I have time I make my own. The pasta is from Banza and is passable for pasta (you are talking to someone raised on pasta). The cheese things- are from Hippeas, who have the brilliant tag line “give peas a chance.” They aren’t crunchy- but they are tasty. This is my normal side for my lunches.

Some neighbors who eat low carb turned me on to Aunt Millie’s Live Carb Smart breads. I can eat the white bread, I can say I like the wheat, and I love the hamburger and hot dog buns, but I would marry their Hawaiian rolls. Sometimes I find the Hawaiian rolls at Meijer, sometimes I find the buns at Kroger, but no one ever has them all at once. However, their bagels and English muffins- I wouldn’t feed to my dog- you’ve been warned.

For lunch- I’m usually in a rush- so it’s either an Italian Sausage or a burger on the Breville pannini grill that my dear friend and neighbor Amanda gave me. It makes quick work of heating frozen burgers, and generally drains the fat. The other device I find useful is an air fryer- but, mostly for warming things up.

Dinner is often grilled meat, or homemade chilli, or a cauliflower crust pizza in desperation. Salads, steamed broccoli, etc. One of the things about eating keto for a while- is that I get full faster on less. Smaller portions have been the norm.

Eating keto is expensive, so eating out has decreased considerably. Treats out include sushi, or the occasional Popeye’s chicken sandwich, or salad and kufta at Olive Mediterranean Grill downtown.

For rewards, I’ve come to like the Rebel brand keto ice cream (check out the flavors) I can usually get it at Meijer or Kroger. It’s almost $6 a pint. Pro tip- let it sit out for about 5 minutes after you scoop it into the bowl. For added fun, I sometimes toss some crushed nuts on top.

I’ve also found the Yasso brand frozen treats at Costco. Their “Poppables” which are little frozen pieces of yogurt dipped in dark chocolate are amazing- with restraint. Unfortunately, they don’t always have them- and sometimes I have to settle for the yogurt on a stick.

Costco also carries the Skinny Dipped line of low sugar treats. The Peanut butter/dark chocolate cups are really good, but the lemon bliss yogurt covered almonds are like crack. You’ve been warned.

A few other things that really have made a difference is that I try not to eat after 8pm- and I’ve been working super hard at getting more sleep. My Apple watch has an App called AutoSleep that tracks my sleep length, type and quality and I it does seem to make a difference when I’m not in sleep debt (I aim for 6 hours a night) and I get 100 on the “sleep-o-meter.” Note, the watches Apple sells now do not have the pulse ox sensor – so try to find an older one if you don’t have one that does it now.

I know my body is changing, I feel better, leaner, and stronger. I could still lose some more weight- but, it’s coming off slow- which means it will more likely stay off. When I was down to 205- I wasn’t feeling great, but then again, I was still on Metformin.

The VA diabetes coach fired me in November- she said there was nothing more she could help me with, I was doing great. I do think I need to add in some more exercises- either the rowing, weight lifting (now that my rotator cuff is fully healed) and possibly resubscribe to Supernatural on the Meta Quest headset which I loved before the rotator cuff went south.

I don’t feel like keto is very hard to maintain- I can always eat a salad anywhere. The hardest part has been cutting back on bread and pizza. Est Est Est in the Arcade has one of the best cauliflower crust pizza’s I’ve ever had, and Dayton’s Original Pizza Factory has both a chick pea crust (ok) and a cauliflower crust (really good) with their funky toppings, but only in a small pizza.

I know this post is a bit long as it is- but I hope that more than one of you finds it helpful- especially, anyone who has recently been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. If you have any products you love- or suggestions- please leave them in the comments.

Here’s the song for this post. Sweet Freedom Diabetes.

Dr. David Lawrence given a disgraceful contract

The “contract” for DPS Superintendent Lawrence- that no one’s talking about

Posted on April 25, 2024 @ 10:10 pm by David Esrati

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If the Dayton Public School board was playing poker- they were doing it with all of their cards on the table and no money to bet. This contract isn’t so much a contract but the actions of some wildly confused folks who think that they are power brokers. Dr. David Lawrence is a poker player, and also does quite well at fantasy football- he knows his odds at every turn. Luckily, he’s not even playing at their table, he’s in the high-stakes room, getting complimentary drinks, food and winning.

Instead of realizing when past superintendent Lolli quit, they had very few options (as in next to none), instead of moving quickly to secure Dr. Lawrence’s services on a permanent basis, they instead, introduced him to a nationwide headhunter at their own expense. If they don’t want to keep Lawrence, the Alma Group would be happy to trot him out to their clients across the country- many of which will be willing to pay Lawrence considerably more, with bigger districts and ones with less problems. Lawrence has the resume of a superstar, and the shtick to go with it.

Instead of signing Lawrence to a long term contract, the board instead decided to do a one year deal with some performance incentives and a possible 2 additional years at their will. There is no retention clause, or any mention of remuneration for the value provided by continuity- or saving the cost of another national search. There is also no mention of a requirement to identify and train his potential replacement as part of his duties.

The base pay is slightly under what Lolli was making at the end of her contract ($215K base). Note, Lolli was never put through any kind of screening process, search, she was just promoted after the board had picked Rhonda Corr through one of these dog and pony shows 8 years ago. Corr was an absolute disaster, she hired Lolli, who was also, in retrospect, an even greater absolute disaster.

Lawrence, was handed a district on life support at the last minute, and had to step up and lead, with just a few weeks before school began. The only reason he could do this was that he’d been the business manager for almost a year- and besides growing up here, attending and graduating from DPS, and working in the district for over 20 years as qualifications, none of those advantages seemed to register with this School Board.

There was no one else who could do it. And, if they don’t realize that he’s in the drivers seat, not them, they may be in the same position next year if they don’t learn to respect the man who saved their bacon. Now, this isn’t to say that Lawrence walks on water or is perfect. Full disclosure, Lawrence and I had been friends for almost 25 years, up until he assumed the throne at DPS and seems to have changed from the person I knew, to someone I don’t.

The new contract has two indexed bonus performance metrics that seem really odd.

The first is enrollment growth: “$1,000 for every 100 student increase in student enrollment over the prior school year, which will be measured after each October 15” So if the district adds 1000 students, he’d pocket $10K. Hardly an incentive for someone making $195K a year base, and one that brings additional costs and challenges. The district just put out an RFP for a “Digital marketing campaign” to increase enrollment- and they are asking for the moon and the stars from bidders- on a contract which is asking bidders what they would do for $75K. (while they’ve been handing out no bid contracts for $50K left and right).

The second bonus schedule is downright scary: “a teacher-retention bonus, which will be measured based on teachers retained from the prior school year as of September1 in the following school year, based on the following schedule”

Before I tell you what the schedule is, let’s be clear, without teachers, you have no schools. While Lolli oversaw one of the largest exoduses of teachers in DPS history- the board did nothing. While she shuffled principals (one year she moved 24 principals of her 28) and destroyed morale in the district- no one said a peep on the board. The district is currently seriously short on teachers, and the importance of keeping every single one should be foremost on every administrator and the board. You’d think this is where the real bonus money should kick in, but, it doesn’t.

Number of Teachers Leaving DistrictBonus Amount
Less than 300 $1000
Less than 250$2,000
Less than 200$3,000
Less than 150 $4,000
Less than 100$5,000
The Retention bonus schedule

This is saying, they expect to lose 300. They’d have about 900 teachers if fully staffed. So losing 1 out of 3 is still bonus material? This is almost like a participation trophy prize.

I’m baffled. Losing less than 100 teachers should be worth about $1,000,000 to them, if you think about hiring and training costs. Of course, the people who really need the money, are the ones who choose to stay, or ones who buy in and come to work in a district that’s close to dead last in the State in all performance indicators.

The hardest thing to admit is that there are teachers in the district who’ve been here forever and probably need to leave. In fact, Dr. Lawrence may be suggesting they do. Had the board had half a clue when looking for things to measure and incentivize, maybe it should have been based on some employee survey/assessment data about culture and perceptual changes. The problem they’ve had with surveys of this type in the past is that many teachers refuse to participate based on the lack of trust in leadership. Even when promised anonymized data, they still wouldn’t complete the surveys- because retribution was Lolli’s standard operating procedure.

Adding the $15,000 in bonuses to his contract, just puts Lawrence at par with Lolli- and considering she was the cause of the enrollment drops and the loss of teachers, it’s not a bonus plan- it’s a confession of how little respect this board has for Lawrence.

There are zero incentives for some of the most critical measurements of a districts health: a functioning transportation system that delivers the kids on time, attendance of both students and staff, performance on standardized tests, reductions in violence, disciplinary issues, improved school safety. This board apparently doesn’t think those things are important.

It wouldn’t be hard for Lawrence to find another job, make more money, and have less headaches and here’s the most important one- work with a board that respects him, the community, the staff, the students- and doesn’t continue to waste our time on their grandstanding speeches and nit-picking stupidity.

The best indication of a district turnaround, where parents want to send their kids, and teachers want to work, is stability at the top, and this contract did nothing to guarantee us anything. Luckily, Lawrence has a love for this community and a passion for the actual process of education that’s not been seen in this district for decades. He’s obviously not in this for the money, but, the goals between the board and the superintendent need to be re-aligned pretty quickly if they hope to keep him past next year.

Here’s a little song about the situation:

Here’s the contract:

Will kids show up if the teacher is a robot? Are we teaching effectively?

Chronic absenteeism is only the symptom

Posted on April 14, 2024 @ 9:35 pm by David Esrati

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From the NY Times:

Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic, according to the most recent data, from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason.

The increases have occurred in districts big and small, and across income and race. For districts in wealthier areas, chronic absenteeism rates have about doubled, to 19 percent in the 2022-23 school year from 10 percent before the pandemic, a New York Times analysis of the data found.

Poor communities, which started with elevated rates of student absenteeism, are facing an even bigger crisis: Around 32 percent of students in the poorest districts were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year, up from 19 percent before the pandemic.

Source: ?Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere – The New York Times March 29, 2024

We’ve been “educating” children in America the same way, on the same schedule, since before the automobile, airplane, nuclear bomb and the internet.

And we wonder why schools are failing in so many ways?

Maybe we’re using the wrong metrics to measure our children’s intellectual and social growth? Perhaps, in an attention economy, we fail to give them the recognition and attention they are screaming for?

Standardized testing works great for those making widgets but fails to measure something as complex as an autonomous- intelligent life form? We’re so enamored with Artificial Intelligence right now, that we seem to have relegated developing real intelligence in our population to low paid, overworked civil servants (ie teachers) who are competing with technology built to engage and entertain non-stop. I’m guessing AI will eventually be entrusted to teach our children, since we don’t seem to value teachers or their products: an educated electorate. Will a robot teacher be a better solution, or just a cheaper one?

The need for critical thinking skills has only grown with the complexity of the information landscape. The ability to discern the important and authentic from distraction and disingenuous is more important than ever since a former leader created the misnomer “fake news” and destroyed the credibility of the Fourth Estate which provided a critical check and balance on our government. A government that relies on trust, in it- and even “in God we trust” to maintain a civil society.

If you wonder what the solution is to re-engage and re-connect with children, it’s to stop trying to manufacture mechanical cogs for an industrial society in the information age. Put more emphasis on arts, culture, athletics, collaboration and team work, and less on individual accomplishments in memorization and the regurgitation of rote learning.

Expand our school year and day- providing a safe, healthy environment to bond and socialize, allowing parents the ability to concentrate on the increasingly difficult job of providing for their families in a society where the wealth gap is expanding faster than ever before. Cut down the instruction hours per day and increase the time spent on things that interest children from making music to movies, or creating software or sewing sleepwear.

I made a video about 7 years ago that addressed this for my local school district, it fell on dead ears. “There Ain’t no “F” in Dayton”

And while absenteeism wasn’t the main issue I was addressing, it was part of the big picture.

America can’t continue to ignore this issue if it wants to survive. Democracy doesn’t work without an informed and educated electorate, trust me, I just lost a primary to a woman who thought a video of her holding a baby was a good reason to vote for her.

My 8.5 minute video “The Power of US” talking about solutions was “too long”

America needs a “Manhattan Project” to solve our educational systems failings now, not later. This may be the most critical test of our system of democracy in a day and age where instant gratification and attention has overtaken substance and successful outcomes.

It’s not just about being there, it’s about being present, engaged, and feeling that there is something bigger and more important to be a part of, instead of just being a participant on something we call social media- which is neither.

While we’re struggling to decide what to do with children who are failing to fit in and are disrupting the classrooms in Dayton- with talks of “alternative schools”- including a possible “military academy” we’re missing the message from this generation that is struggling to find a voice. They want desperately want to be a part of something, to feel empowered, without understanding what true empowerment is. Other than the Marines (the few, the proud) the other military branches are struggling to recruit. It all comes down to the same thing: What’s the point of showing up if it doesn’t mean anything anymore?

What part is there out there for them to play?

Solve that, and we’ll start to see a change.

Michael Harbaugh gets on Ballot for OH-10 congress, Dayton Daily News doesn't mention it

Turner, Cox face independent challenger Michael Harbaugh

Posted on April 10, 2024 @ 9:42 am by David Esrati

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Independent Candidate for Congress, in Ohio’s 10th congressional district, Michael Harbaugh’s signatures were certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections on Monday, April 8, 2024. This is real news. You read it here first, seeing as the Dayton Daily News doesn’t know what news is anymore.

Harbaugh accomplished the near impossible, turning in enough signatures to get 3000 approved by the Montgomery County Board of Elections that finds fault with at least 20% of all petitions turned in by challengers- and sometimes as high as 50%. His signatures, collected in the three counties that encompass OH-10, all of Montgomery and Greene and a part of Clark, involved all 3 boards of elections. In a conversation on March 28th, he lamented that Greene County was dragging their feet. He claimed only 2-3 signatures per petition (Form 2-E) were getting thrown out according to sources in the BOE. The petition has 32 lines to sign.

Harbaugh, 39 lives in Kettering and is an Ohio University grad. He owns a food truck, and announced his candidacy on Reddit. He has a Ballotpedia entry, a website, and has raised about $3K reported. He also has some past legal issues that will come up and more than likely be ignored by voters.

Congressman Mike Turner will not debate him, or Cox, unless either raises at least half a million. At least that’s been the 20 year history of this seat, since it was abdicated by former Congressman Tony Hall, a pro-life Dem who saw the writing on the wall of redistricting by the Ohio legislature that had been bought by the Koch Brothers. Turner was again aided when they took out Congressman Steve Austria through the redistricting process when Ohio lost a Congressional seat due the 2010 census.

The question of if Cox and Harbaugh will debate, or even attend a forum will be interesting. Cox was evasive at best in the only primary forum, hosted by the South Dayton Dems.

The real question is will one of the national attempts at a third party decide to back him- ie The Forward Party, The No Labels Party. It’s been a long time since anyone has attempted this, although a libertarian or two has slipped on the ballot in the past to no effect.

He posts a “11 laws to introduce on Day 1” on the front page of his site. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t quite understand how things work in DC. I am only posting these for posterity and in case they change over time (you really should do your own homework and look at his site:

11 Laws to Introduce Day 1

  1. Ranked Choice Voting and Term Limits to stop career politicians
  2. Get Dark Money out of politics, End Citizens United
  3. Make it a felony for members of Congress and their spouses to Buy/Sell Stocks while in office and 1 year after leaving office
  4. Members of Congress lose their Federal Health Insurance until they pass universal Healthcare Coverage for all Americans
  5. Tax breaks and grants/loans small-medium size family farms
  6. All States need to use paper ballots to protect their elections
  7. Spending cuts and transparency reforms to the corrupt military defense contractor system ripping off taxpayers
  8. End the War on Drugs and implement a Harm Reduction/Healthcare Strategy like in Switzerland
  9. Give Americans $100 tax break to vote and make election day a paid holiday
  10. Pay immediately the pensions + damages + interest to the 20,000 non-union Delphi workers screwed out of their retirement during the Bankruptcy of GM in 2009. Attach it as an amendment to must pass Federal spending legislation
  11. Pay all medical bills and buy homes at double market value to compensate every victim in East Palestine, Ohio for the train derailment that poisoned the entire town
https://www.harbaugh4congress.com/

Considering neither party believes in true presidential primaries, at least it’s nice to have a choice for Congress. We’ll have more on Mr. Harbaugh as time and funds permit.

Farewell to the Dayton Daily News

Dayton Daily News on life support

Posted on April 7, 2024 @ 9:25 pm by David Esrati

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If the Dayton Daily News was a patient in a hospital, the doctors would be trying to move it to hospice as fast as possible so it won’t die in their hospital. It didn’t have to be this way, but, there never has been anyone digitally savvy in charge and it’s getting worse (as if that was possible) daily.

The old argument not to argue with anyone who buys ink by the barrel went away when they sold their print center in Springboro and started printing in Indianapolis. That moved the final news deadline to 6 pm. A few months ago, they switched to printing in Detroit- cutting another hour off their deadlines. Calling it the Dayton Daily- when it was more like the Dayton Day-Old was bad enough. But, in a grand cost cutting move, they then killed off the Saturday print edition, and started shrinking the newspaper, little by little.

The problems started long ago, when venture capitalist started to pick the Cox news empire apart. Not, that Cox knew what it was doing- the envious position of having the number one tv station, the number one FM station, the number one news talk AM station and the newspaper in the same market should have been the keys to the kingdom, except, none of the pieces wanted to work together, and there wasn’t a leader that understood the fact that these were no longer multiple entities- but one, just with different viewports.

Instead of doubling down on their extensive multi-media capability, they kept expanding their footprints- with different websites for each. Here’s the sad and honest truth- good websites are hard enough to build and maintain, and doing many is just a giant sucking sound for your resources. There never should have been a Dayton.com, a DaytonDailyNews.com a WHIOTV.com etc- it should have just been Dayton.com and done. Video, audio, news, restaurant reviews, classifieds, obituaries, real estate, legal notices all in one. With all the talent, working around the clock to continue to have one site with the mostest, up-to-datest, latest, greatest coverage of everything from high school sports to the courts and even the old “if it bleeds it leads” news that they still think is the thing for local TV news.

The biggest crime has been their total lack of value in their collective historical content stretching back over 100 years. No, this isn’t just for the little “this day in history” half-page, it’s about unlocking the foundational stories that built this city. Knowing who did what and how it happened is almost as important as today’s news. They’ve seemingly sold off their history, killing one of the best reasons to subscribe and “be a member” of their community.

I tried early on to talk to their then digital genius- Ray Marcano, about the advantages of using the open source content management system- WordPress (the backend of this blog), to manage their nascent digital footprint. He blew me off- he knew what he was doing. Apparently, his overly expensive proprietary system was so much better. Turns out, there’s a little newspaper in New York that not only started using WordPress- but invested heavily in it- you might have heard of that paper- the New York Times.

And while it’s taken the New York Times 2 decades to refine their digital offering, they still haven’t fully figured out how to replace and optimize the advertising revenue that content manufacturers like good news organizations used to depend on. With more choices of where to be “infotained” hiring great talent and making destination worthy content isn’t cheap. You can’t just find writers like Tom Archdeacon on every corner. Sadly, really bad content created by amateurs is raking in the bucks while news organizations are struggling to keep their lights on. You know, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube have all figured out how to monetize their digital sharecroppers who post cat pix and dance videos, while necessary journalism sits sad and brokenhearted on the info highway off ramp, with a sign “will work for food.” And yet, their content is being scraped and marketed with impunity by the Technorati.

Recently Reddit had their IPO- and made a whole bunch of billionaires- all with User Generated Content- while the Dayton Daily still can’t figure it out- and keeps making their content less valuable and desirable.

They’ve had a string of Chief Marketing Officers who don’t understand marketing, editors who don’t know what real news is, and reporters who don’t have enough time or institutional knowledge to tell stories worth reading. I remember campaigns trying to tell people to buy the paper because the coupons are worth more than the subscription. Seriously. The only bread and butter content of value for them now is the state mandated pages of legal advertising (which is absolutely worthless) and the obituary page where they overcharge and under deliver the eulogies to the last of their die hard readers. That realtors still buy ads in the Sunday paper “real estate” section is quaint, as their once proprietary listing database has now been co-opted and their commission structures de-regulated.

So, Mr. Smarty Pants, what’s the answer?

This ship sailed long ago- but, they should have stopped trying to turn bits into atoms. This was explained long ago in a book by Nicholas Negroponte called “Being digital.” Negroponte was leading the MIT media lab- and said don’t take things that are digital- like words and video- and try to turn them into something physical- atoms, dead trees, paper.

They could have saved all that money on paper, ink, printing, delivery and bought every reader a tablet- with full time two way cellular connection and come out ahead by shiploads of cash. This also would have given them real stats on what was consumed by whom- which is the holy grail of targeted marketing in the digital age. You read a lot about gourmet cooking- we sell ads to makers of gourmet products, you read about sports, we sell your eyeballs to online gamblers, you read about politics, we sell your ad space to the political machine etc etc.

The key is, they had the greatest way of developing real user profiles of any media out there- by watching what you click on and how long you connect. Plus, they knew where you lived, and who you were. But that ship sailed long ago- and the social media sites don’t charge you for the right to read and interact- it sure is hard to compete with free, right?

But, they still can’t get over their lack of digital chops, and keep thinking “if we could only build a higher paywall” we’ll win. The Dayton Daily recently broke any last smidgen of usefulness to the world when they broke the “share a story” feature to just deliver a link to the home page of the digital edition. Plus, even if you navigate to the story, they think they’ve made it impossible to cut and paste too, which is only what a moron would believe. The fact is, for the most part, what they publish isn’t worth talking about anymore- and the talking about it- is where the hyperboost is. Comments and engagement have always been the hidden secret to growing a community- which is what a newspaper was supposed to do- be the voice of the collective community.

The Dayton Daily was stupid enough to think that by feeding the masses some tidbits on Facebook- joining the ranks of the digital sharecroppers would somehow be their saving hail Mary. Instead, it’s been a crucifixion of the last of their value. Now people have huge discussions of the Dayton Daily’s content on Facebooks site- not their own. Losing the chance to monetize their engagement.

Others have built communities that do what they could be doing – even better, and know how to steal the Daily’s thunder before the lightning even strikes. With a community and comments, the ability to get people coming back is the secret to being able to run more ads, but, they never figured that out.

The final nail in the newspaper coffin

When the newsroom used to have a hundred people in it- all living fat and happy thanks to the help wanted ads that Craigslist stole, the Real Estate Ads that the MLS, Zillow and Redfin etc stole, the personal ads that dating sites stole, and the sports scores, stock prices and weather that the internet stole, you end up with very few folks left writing and covering a local market that’s gotten bigger and more complicated thanks to sprawl. Think about Dayton before WWII, when there were 250K people inside the city limits, and only a few government meetings that mattered. Now we have 30 political divisions, 18 police forces and school districts, and all kinds of quasi-governmental slush funds all playing around behind semi-closed doors without the guiding hand of the fourth estate. In other words- more to cover with less talent.

Y’all should just throw in the towel right now. But then we’d really be in trouble.

The only real solution left is for government to intervene and realize that without the fourth estate keeping track of the other three, without an educated and enlightened populace, we’re all going to suffer. The NPR/Public Television/non-profit government sponsored news system is long overdue. In fact, it’s probably the only solution left. We’ve seen billionaires buy the Washington Post (Amazon’s Bezos) and LA Times (Patrick Soon-Shiong) and still the bleeding doesn’t stop.

While it’s unlikely that this initiative would come at the hands of the Feds or the State, if the forces of “regional cooperation” were smart, they’d start financing news the way they finance “economic development” with a subsidy. Even better, local government would realize the cost of duplication of so many services, websites, accounting for the public dollars isn’t helping the community grow and thrive. The amount of inefficiency is mind-blowing. The benefit to the community- minimal,.

Take today’s Opinion Piece by the aforementioned Ray Marcano, where he makes a totally arm-chair rant about the firings and investigations in New Lebanon. He suggests that the new Mayor, the new legal counsel, the new interim city manager, all did something wrong by terminating the previous City Manager and her crew. Did he bother to call the Mayor? Nope (I did- he said “Ray who?). Did Ray look into what’s been going on in this banana republic that is totally unnecessary (See Reconstructing Dayton site) he just threw some lazy shade at some people who are actually are doing the work of investigating corruption in their community.

Real journalism wouldn’t let his rant hit the paper. But, so many readers have given up, or lowered expectations. We’ve allowed stupid to suffice for news.

Building back a fourth estate is vital to our survival. WYSO has worked really hard at integrating the community in the production of its content. They’ve got kids doing it, veterans voices, podcast classes, citizen journalism is the start. Yet, the Dayton Daily still ignores those that are doing their own version of citizen journalism instead of embracing them. Creating yet more “Community Advisory” boards and having “community conversations” isn’t the same as creating a safe space for those who are interested and engaged in local politics to have a platform. Filling the paper with press releases pretending to be news isn’t going to win back subscribers- good content is.

And, it has to be multi-media content. Video, audio, words, pushed together through one portal- with comments and discussion managed by the community (see Reddit). And, community isn’t singular- there are sub-communities like those who follow Flyer basketball, or are foodies, or vegans, or movie buffs. If there is to be a successful return of news, it will be because it’s the platform for everything Dayton (as in greater Dayton, not just the city of).

But most importantly, a true news outlet today celebrates the talent and wonder of a community and shares it effectively. With the best writers, videographers, storytellers, connoisseurs and critics helping inform and educate. In an era of micro-payments for advertising per individual view- the secret is to have something people need to go to daily to be a part of their community. Not just the best event calendars- but the place to learn all of what Dayton has to offer.

Doesn’t that sound better than what we have now?

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