Archive for January, 2009
January 30th, 2009
It’s your turn to vote for the 2009 What Rocks contest, which was on hiatus for a few years.
A form is in today’s newspaper, too, though it’s just as easy to use the link above.
What is this all about?
For years, Register Star readers have filled out ballots telling us their favorite just-about-everything, from golf course to Italian restaurant to local band. You’ll see businesses around town hanging up their certificates with pride.
You must fill out at least half the ballot to qualify … and you have a shot at $500 from Rockford Bank and Trust.
Deadline is Feb. 15.
January 30th, 2009
The Saltimbanco show will be here Feb. 24 through March 1. Try shooting an acrobat from a cannon for your chance. It’s not as easy as it looks, but it’s doable.
January 29th, 2009
Starting today, you can place a Love Line to run from Feb. 14 to 21 on rrstar.com. Yep, they’re online only this year.
Love Lines are the little classified ads people buy each year to tell their Honey Bears and Smoochie Pies that they “heart” them. Great for messages to your beloved or your offspring.
The cost is $12 for 14 lines and an attention getter. Go here to place your order.
But wait, there’s more.
If you place an ad by 5 p.m. Feb. 11, you will be entered into a drawing for a pendant from Crimson Ridge. The grand prize will be a pendant, plus roses and dinner from Giovanni’s (all courtesy of Crimson Ridge). Ads will be taken until 5 p.m. Feb. 12.
Note: You must be 13 or older to place an ad, and you can’t use last names unless it’s something like “Grandma Smith.”
January 28th, 2009
Here’s an interesting Poynter column on journalists’ responsibilities when it comes to contributing to social networking sites.
There’s only one comment posted, but it’s a good one. Here’s an excerpt:
“Objectivity is now a barely relevant word in journalism. The important and, I believe, more noble goal is fairness. … Pretending I do not hold any biases or (gasp) that I haven’t publicly expressed thoughts of my own would be folly. I do not hide my work experiences or ideas from my sources, and my professional relationships are stronger as a result. But I always strive for fairness in my work, even when I write/record/post with a perspective or point of view.”
There’s also a link to the New York Times’ policy regarding social networking sites. It’s a good guideline.
Curious what our readers think about journalists using sites like Facebook for personal and professional uses. Is it OK? Wrong? Why?
January 27th, 2009
A colleague shared this link from NYTimes.com last week with newsroom staffers. Have to say I snickered even though the headline told me I shouldn’t. It got me thinking. Do we have embarrassing place names in the Rock River Valley? Britain is certainly full of ‘em.
January 26th, 2009
Our own Movie Man, Will Pfeifer, kicked off his annual “Beat the Movie Man” contest Sunday.
As usual, he dressed up for the gig — this year as the Joker. Graphic “stylist” Margo Morgan handled his transformation (we had hoped a girl’s Hannah Montana wig would do the trick, but alas, no).
In years past, he’s been…
In a tux and Chucks…
A “Million Dollar Baby”…
And a naughty barber.
I can’t find the photo from his Borat impression for some reason. Anyway, have fun and good luck.
January 26th, 2009
We announced this Sunday:
The Register Star will stop delivering the Sunday TV book in ALL copies of the newspaper starting Feb. 15, as a cost-cutting move. All single-copy newspapers will continue to carry the book, but home-delivery subscribers will only receive it by request.
So how can you get yours?
1. Send an e-mail to tvbook@rrstar.com.
2. Go to www.rrstar.com/tvbook.
3. Call 815-987-1332 or 815-987-1335.
4. Fill out the coupon appearing regularly in the newspaper.
The last day to sign up for TV book delivery without missing an issue will be Thursday, Feb. 12. You can opt in at any time.
January 23rd, 2009
Sure, everyone listened to President Obama during his inauguration, but no one missed Aretha Franklin’s hat.
Someone decided to get clever and start a gallery of photos with the hat placed on them. Above is the News Tower with it, thanks to our graphics guy Chris Soprych. My favorite one is Darth Vader, so scroll through!
January 21st, 2009
We’ve been sharing our inauguration coverage with you over the last week, and I told you already that the Register Star’s Scott Morgan was there.
But did you see that Scott had not just one but two opportunities to photograph the president Tuesday (after an hour and a half of sleep and five hours in line for security)?
The first came along the parade route, where he was stationed to capture the Illinois float and Illinois performers. Barack and Michelle Obama just happened to get out of the car at the right time. Ta da! This graced the cover of our special 10-page section today; you can get extra copies at retail locations that carry the newspaper.
The second came at the Home States Ball. I love this shot because of all the glowing cameras and camera phones.
Great job, Scott!
Note: If you’d like to buy page reprints, they’re available here.
January 20th, 2009
Today’s the big day. Scott Morgan delivered great photos of Illinois folks yesterday here and here. One of them was of WREX-13’s Eric Wilson, who is in Washington, D.C., as well. See installments from him here, including phone interviews from the news casts.
Stay with rrstar.com’s special inauguration site today.
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