Last night around 11 p.m., monthly page views for knoxnews.com and govolsxtra.com hit 10 million. This is the first time we’ve reached that mark since we started using Omniture to track our stats. I have every confidence it’s due to the quality content we produce each day 
A video I co-produced and posted in this blog last week won an internal video competition among Scripps news sites Friday. The prize is a complete camera kit that includes a high definition video camera. Since knoxnews.com currently doesn’t have a hi-def camera, I am so excited to have helped win one for us. Much thanks to business reporter Josh Flory who worked with me on the competition piece.
I’ve really enjoyed reading the results of Will Sullivan’s survey on journalism salaries. He got a cross-section of respondants, with job titles including entry-type producers to seasoned editors. And the overall message is that newspapers should pay for productivity.
As a young person working for a news site, this really hit home for me:
Maybe it’s just me and my web-nerd-bias, but an employee that’s worked for 2 years with 10 skills is worth much more than an employee who’s worked 10 years with two skills. I can’t seem to find the quote right now, but I swear Bob Cauthorn once said something to the effect of, ‘The longer someone’s been in the newspaper business, the more likelihood that they’re a liability.’ Sometimes I think that is very true.
And as many bloggers are talking about who in the newsroom should be doing what and with what training, I enjoy a recent comment from my boss, Jack Lail:
Getting hung up on details is like having fleas.
A decade ago, the sale of three properties on Market Square may have drawn a yawn. But with a resurgence in downtown Knoxville real estate, the auction of these properties at the end of the month could highlight downtown’s progress.
Business reporter, Josh Flory, and I worked on this video together as part of a video competition challenge for Scripps Web sites.
Old time fiddler Clyde Davenport, 85, has been playing for 76 years. Listen as he performs some tunes in his Jamestown, Tenn. living room.
Clyde is performing at the Laurel Theater in Knoxville on Saturday, Oct. 20.