Okay, here’s the idea and tell me what you think.
I think it would be cool to have a website affiliated with this one and DW that deals purely with military news. I was kinda gonna do that with DW, but I found that it wasn’t fun to continually scope the web looking for that stuff.
Here’s how it could work:
-The stories could be manually entered or automatically pulled from several RSS feeds (or a combination of both) and displayed on the front page in a manner that puts the most stories “above the fold” but doesn’t look too cluttered or busy. It also has to look cool and have some color.
-The site will have different sections or categories, but will be pure news– not links to people commenting on news or mere opinion, but actual news. I don’t see it as a blog, but rather a news/information resource. Since it will already be tied to this site, an opinion resource will already exist.
-It should be integrated somehow with this one and/or DW. That’s one thing I could never figure out how to do effectively. How do you integrate two things without having them wash each other out and confuse the user or have one become ignored on the displayed page? If I could figure out a good way to appropriately display both and not have it look like ass, that would be really cool.
-Anyone should be able to contribute to the news site, but that brings up a problem: trolls. Should the software incorporate a mod feature, meaning that the whole of the registered users would have the power to vote or “mod” a story to the front page (like digg) or should certain people have the mod function (like Slashdot)? Or should it be a free for all and let the dice fall where they may?
-It should have a cool name that’s not already registered. It should be short, catchy, and easily remembered.
Anyway, it’s just an idea. And no talk of bulletin boards. I already tried that and it didn’t work.
MilNews Site…One Each
in big generic letters…or big friendly letters if you prefer
Comment by Timmer — 20050505 @ 1321
OK, but you guys get to figure out how to do it….
Comment by Sgt. Mom — 20050505 @ 1324
Thesandbox.com
Comment by obershyster — 20050505 @ 1326
It’ll probably hit me later on how great an idea that is…I just found out that one of America’s greatest Soldiers, and maybe its most opinionated, has just passed away. David Hackworth, a highly decorated veteran of countless battles, passed away today at 74. After being forced to retire due to his criticism of the mis-handling of the Vietnam War, he spent the 1970s in Australia before returning to the United States in the 80s to start a one man crusade to seek justice for Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines. His critical eye and caustic pen helped bring about reform in countless military organizations. He forced leaders to take the hard right over the easy wrong, from taking time to personally signing condolance letters to investigating accounts of friendly fire and sexual assaults. May God welcome him home.
Comment by steven — 20050505 @ 1439
What a shock when I read about Hack’s death. Folks, we have lost a real leader - one who didn’t read polls, he just knew what was right and fought for it. We’re gonna miss him, but those who will miss his leadership most are the AD people. It was them who he helped most.
Comment by Joe Comer — 20050505 @ 1453
As for MilNews, here are my thoughts. First, after looking cool and being eye-catching, it must be professionally written. By that, I mean having enough of a vocabulary to NOT use profanity in writing stories/articles. You have no idea how badly that turns people off and sends them scurrying for the exits. Take a look at the site started by Robert Hayes in Colorado Springs, “BNN” or Blogger News Network. He has a flock of registered contributors, and he looks over the content much like a newspaper editor, to assure proper form and good content.
The idea is good, and it is needed. I’d be glad to help as much as needed. With good, current, well-written stories, we could catch the attention of people like Malkin, Hewitt, the Opinion Journal, WAPO, FNC, maybe even the badly-misguided MSM. But ya gotta be good!
Comment by Joe Comer — 20050505 @ 1503
That’s good, Joe, but I would really, really like to stay away from opinion. I know the thing is going to be biased when it comes to story selection, since I’ve yet to see a site of similar build attain anything approaching objectivity or even balance, but opinion is worthless to someone just looking for facts and hard information.
I can’t tell you how ticked I get when I’m trying to search for something on Google and I have to go through page after page of blog links before I hit anything substantial. I think a lot of other people are the same way– they just want facts and info divorced from BS.
One thing that’s important is that it has to offer something– either through style, editorial culling, breadth, focus, or whatever –that’s different from every other mil site out there. I’d like it to be something more than a generic piece of crap that you can find everywhere else. I’d like it to be unique and have its own style and flair. It’s gotta be something that when someone looks at it, they’ll think, “This is what I want. This is what I’m looking for. Why should I go anywhere else?”
Back to Joe:
With good, current, well-written stories, we could catch the attention of people like Malkin, Hewitt, the Opinion Journal, WAPO, FNC, maybe even the badly-misguided MSM.
Truly, that would be the worst thing in the world IMO. I’ve done WAPO, CNN, FNC, etc. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and the fleeting fame garnered from attention whores is more than worthless. If it were to catch the notice of respectable people, that would be another thing. Hell, if it were to catch the notice of real, regular people who are just looking for a good, concise, and interesting resource, that would be worth its weight in gold.
Comment by Stryker — 20050505 @ 1610
Perhaps something like a strictly military oriented “Rantburg”… basically, anyone can put up an interesting article, but it seems to have devolved to a stable of about fifteen or twenty regulars, and the emphasis is on a brief excerpt and a link, with amusing comment provided by readers and regulars, but only a very small amount of opinion… and it is very severely moderated, which knocks down the idiocy/troll factor to a barely perceptible level. Your thoughts?
Comment by Sgt. Mom — 20050505 @ 1704
Yeah, that’s on the track I’m thinking about, but it’d have to look better, though.
If I could get access to the server, I could install something and use it as a sandbox to play around with.
Comment by Stryker — 20050505 @ 1753
Play away, then. Something like Rantburg, but strictly military. We would probably have to work up (and post!) the criteria: something sourced from military media, about the military, etc. Something with a holding bin, so someone responsible could have a quick look-see before being posted. A clearly established rule for the nut graf and a link, Comments? Amusing graphics? your choice, really. Have fun and all that….
Comment by Sgt. Mom — 20050505 @ 1818
I’m all about the amusing graphics.
I’ll probably do something this weekend and see what happens.
Comment by Stryker — 20050505 @ 1820
Good, just what is needed. Go John!
Comment by Joe Comer — 20050505 @ 1918
There’s a LOT of pixel landscape here compared to other blogs. Add a third column and run the “headline” links down that.
Or…there’s that News tab up top that no one ever clicks. If we link to stories there…
Just thinking out loud…
Comment by Timmer — 20050505 @ 2055
I agree with Sgt Mom about something with the functionality of Rantburg, but not necessarily with the same format or style. How about headlines, a 20-word lead-in, and a link to the full story? That way a lot of material can be displayed quickly, people can pick and choose what they want to read, yet all the details are there.
I can get tons of stuff just from the local newspaper, the base papers from Peterson, Carson, and the Academy, and things I can pick up on radio or television. The Springs is a good town for the military - there’s always a good write-up whenever any of the units do something worthwhile (or screw up).
Comment by Old Patriot — 20050505 @ 2138
[…] ofanity in this post. Though I can’t imagine I agree with Joe on much else, I think he’s right in this regard (BNN sucks though). I would have posted […]
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