September 2009 Archives

Stephen Regenold has slogged his way to the top of the tallest peaks in the United States, including Washington's Mt. Rainier and California's Mt. Whitney. But in April, the Minneapolis freelance writer will be journeying to the tallest mountain in the world: Mt. Everest. And he'll be tweeting about his experience from a tent at 17,700 feet.

Former KARE-TV anchor Rick Kupchella's new BringMeTheNews.com site made a big splash in the local media pool last week when it announced its launch in tandem with breaking the story of former Sen. Norm Coleman's Bell's Palsy diagnosis. Since then, the site has also waded into the social media space, with an aggressive presence on Facebook and Twitter.

New post at City Pages: Political reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger raised a few eyebrows among politicos and Twitter freaks alike recently when she hopped from her position covering the Capitol for the Pioneer Press to the same beat for the Star Tribune. The dust has settled now, and she's talking about how important her online friends and followers are to her new post.

New post at City Pages: The Online News Association hands out annual awards for what its judges believe to be the best Internet-based journalism and practices, and the The Daily Juggle, "the blog from moms in the Pioneer Press newsroom," is the only entry from Minnesota to make the list of finalists this year.

New City Pages post: There are those among us (and you know who you are) who establish their social pecking order according to the number of friends on their Facebook pages. Now, an Australian company is offering a solution for those who believe that size matters. uSocial will find you some Facebook friends for price.

New post at City Pages: Ever felt socially inadequate because you can't rattle off Twin Cities music trivia the way they do at The Current? Ever wanted your bottomless pit of local music lore posted for posterity on the Internet? Folks, step right up. We have the answer to both of your prayers: Minnewiki.

New City Pages post: Wow, Facebook is so over -- really. Virginia Heffernan said so in The New York Times. She should know, she writes about these kinds of things. A lot. She wins awards, too. Here's what she said last week: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Facebook, the online social grid, could not command loyalty forever. If you ask around, as I did, you'll find quitters. One person shut down her account because she disliked how nosy it made her. Another thought the scene had turned desperate. A third feared stalkers. A fourth believed his privacy was compromised. A fifth disappeared without a word."