Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilman Rosendahl - Occupy LA Isn't Moving

Occupy LA was dealt a stunning blow one day after police action in Oakland left an Iraqi War veteran seriously injured. City Councilman, Bill Rosendahl and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave LA occupiers notice that, like a pushy relative, the group had worn out their welcome.

Meanwhile, 24-year old Scott Olsen suffered a fractured skull in a skirmish with police in Oakland, California, when demonstrators failed to leave the site where they were protesting. 

After 26 days of unrestrained and relatively peaceful occupation on the lawn at City Hall, Rosendahl told KABC TV, “It is time to move on. The trees are in the process of being impacted. The grass is being impacted. Other activities that we need to do on the lawns are being put on the back burner.

At Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s office, Communications Director Tony Arranago said, “We are working on a statement right now. Please check the councilman’s Twitter (@Bill_Rosendahl) and Facebook account.” Well, no more statements have been forthcoming, but Mayor Villaraigosa chimed in. “The protestors are welcome to stay, but they don’t have an open invitation to stay indefinitely,” said his spokesman, Peter Sanders.

OccupyLA protestors have vowed not to move in statements made at the open mike in their Wednesday evening General Assembly meeting. The group claims no leadership, so it’s hard to tell, but the unfiltered shares throughout the evening reflected a solid “hunker-down” attitude. Occupiers are gearing up for a fight that could get nasty on both sides.

The group did issue a statement on their “official” website in response to Villaraigosa’s remarks, saying this: “As for a time stamp on our departure, there is none.”

Some OLA supporters who are experts in different fields have been offering advice to the occupiers to help them avoid confrontations as in Oakland, Atlanta and New York. Live stream chatterers texted throughout the night, like this:

dave494: if we were to break camp every day,,then we would save the lawn, and it would push out the shiftless and lazy....

batsheva: we need a MOD in the morning.. freakazoids abound

ED335: Stand LA Stand LA stand LA

jk_la: i think it would be strategic to negotiate use of the vacant lot across the street

They also exchanged opinions about the tactics City Hall might use to move the occupations:

Republic1776: the city and LAPD want us to go down by ourselves. they dont want to have to evict us

Who are these guys, anyhow? 

Well, a New York Times/CBS poll finds that 43 percent of Americans agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement; there is too much money concentrated in the hands of too few people and they are dissatisfied with politicians and feel betrayed by government.

Charles, an OccupyLA protestor said, “You can’t understand what’s happening politically in our country unless you are aware that over the past 30 years the corporate elite, representing the top 20 percent of income earners in our country, have been able to cement their influence over our political process to such an extent that they have been able to capture virtually all of the increase in wealth that has occurred over that period of time. The attacks on public services and government in general, presently underway, must be viewed in this context.”

Negative Neal, a citizen journalist, tried to figure out who these guys really are. 

And to top off all the drama, there is an election coming up in Los Angeles. Villaraigosa is termed out, but Rosendahl? He’s up for re-election. The gauntlet is down:

@zumadoggZuma Dogg

BREAKING NEWS: L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl is will be forced to endure MOST UNCOMFORTABLE REELECTION CAMPAIGN IN POLITICAL HISTORY.

25 Oct via yoonoFavorite Retweet Reply

Electric Daisy Carnival Riot in Hollywood-

Kaskade’s Block Party Reverberates Through Hollywood

Los Angeles Times Photo Essay of the Riot

June 27, 2011, Los Angeles

A near-riot broke out Wednesday night when a block party/publicity stunt got too big to handle on Hollywood Boulevard during rush-hour traffic. Partiers were tweeted to celebrate at the private screening of a documentary on the Electric Daisy Carnival with electronic music super-wizard Kaskade. They showed up in droves to dance to the music and crash the invitation-only screening.

Organizers were entirely unprepared for what happened when Kaskade tweeted:

@kaskadeKaskade 

Today@6pm in Hollywood @Mann's Chinese Theatre. ME+BIG SPEAKERS+MUSIC=BLOCK PARTY!!! RT!

The promoters seemed to think that the event would be a peaceful gathering on the sidewalk or something! But alas! The party quickly turned to a mob scene, blocking commuters from using the thoroughfare and severely tying up traffic in the area. Police came out to restore order, only to be met with an angry mob throwing bottles and debris until riot police were summoned to control the growing melee. Revelers turned uber-angry when the event was canceled and orders were given to disperse.

The “block party” was a permitted promotional event that was part of the screening of the documentary, Electronic Daisy Carnival Experience. Kaskade is one of the most popular electronic music artists around, with thousands of twitter followers. He arrived with his mobile DJ station and dozens of costumed dancers to get the action going. Like the Pied Piper, he tripped down the boulevard in mezzo forte, gathering followers by the dozens.

But his tweets went from defiant and happy - to cautious - to horrified:

 kaskade Kaskade  I am so close. Getting on the truck now. Mad traffic. On my way to the block party.  

kaskade Kaskade 



Funktion - One on a flatbed, that is what I am talking about.
4 hours ago 



kaskade Kaskade 

Not a semi truck BUT those speakers KNOCK! What's up Hollywood?!? http://twitpic.com/5wv92k
4 hours ago 

As events unfolded, his tweets registered Kaskade's increasing alarm:

@kaskade literally shutting down hollywood #flashcrowd”
Everybody CHILL OUT!!! The cops are freaking out. BE SAFE AND LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!


"I AM REALLY CONCERNED FOR EVERYONES SAFETY AT THIS POINT! PLEASE RELAX!"
EVERYONE CHILL NOW!!! The block party has officially been shut down! BUT THIS IS TOO CRAZY AND WE NEED TO BE SAFE!



The promo event began at the Jimmy Kimmel Theater and snaked down the street gathering followers. By the time they reached Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where the premier was held, revelers blocked the street. Things quickly turned ugly.

Riot police flooded the streets, firing pellet guns and swinging nightsticks. It was a scene right out of Los Angeles, ca. 1965! Kaskade tweeted from his mobile DJ station:

@kaskadeKaskade 

EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO HOME NOW! I DON'T WANT THIS TO REFLECT BADLY ON EDM OR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT. BE RESPECTFUL AND CHILL OUT!!!

No one heeded the call. Dozens were hauled off and booked, though it seems only two rioters were charged with vandalism for jumping on police cars. 

Meantime, bystanders were sealed inside Madame Tussaud's, retail stores and restaurants until the streets were cleared.

Comparison of LA Observed over a 3-day period, Oct-10-12

LAObserved, October 12, 2011

Now that I have had the opportunity to see the daily journal for three days in a row, I am getting the hang of it. I did not understand the layout to begin with.

The Front Page (above the fold)

Three columns – in a vertical format –

This blog doesn’t use the splash page well. I don’t see enough information on that page to make me want to go further. I would like to have more navigational clues to be able to pick what I would like to read from the front page first, without wasting time. Many of the navigational clues/tags are actually cross-referenced.

For example, what does an article on “Feds vow to prosecute media that advertise medical pot” have to do with the tab called “A Sense of Place”? I would expect an article about Los Angeles, very specifically, and maybe a historic or cultural perspective from that tab name. The same article appears on the front page and on the welcome page for subsequent tabs, including media, politics and LA Biz.

I found the tabs a little misleading, confusing and difficult. I may be too “old-school” to understand this, which is precisely what this class in general, and this exercise in particular, is about. I hope that it will help me to understand the navigational differences between the print-to-online websites and blog websites. I see a huge difference. The old way is hierarchical; there are sections and within the sections there are logical sub-sections, ie. Sports –football, baseball, horseracing, etc.

This webpage has cross-references beneath the tabs, probably for optimization.

I am unclear, even three days into it, what this website has to do with KCRW. There is a radio show and the host has this website. One of the reasons I may be so clueless is that I don’t listen to KCRW on Monday at 6:44 p.m. Evidently, there is a radio show entitled LA Observed that is hosted by editor Kevin Roderick. There is a bio link on the front page that is long and full of bona fides that explains three-quarters of the way down the page that he has a weekly radio program that earned the Golden Mike Award, entitled LA Observed.

I would rather see the spot entitled “Quick Scan” with all the tabs to one side or at the top – for the front page. At least that way I can get some idea of what is going to be there when I leaf through the website. I can make an informed decision about what I want to read because there are more than tags, there is a short dek-to describe what is in the article.

I am much more comfortable, to my horror, with the old-style newspaper-type of website. I find it easier to get it when there are clear headings, deks and sections. I find it easier to understand when I am not hampered by colloquialisms and hipster language. I love the shortcutting and the creativity, but in the end, most of the time, I spend a fair amount of time trying to look cool while I am deciphering a word grafted together from two other words. (I was also slow to using a mouse – I had worked hard to learn DOS and I didn’t want to admit there was another way.  So things can change.)

In addition, I found that the pages were not all refreshed like a daily. Monday and Tuesday had the same “if you missed it,” articles. Wednesday was better. That may have had something to do with Monday being Columbus Day, I don’t know.

I am still a bit confused. For example there is a big photo today (Wednesday) of “Mark Lacter on business and money.” This is not an attractive or recognizable fellow. I wouldn’t buy a used car from him, I think. The article is entitled, “Universal dumps plan for early video release of ‘Tower Heist’

I don’t know what that is, but I guess it is Universal Studios. I guess that Tower Heist is a movie. I would have to be a media insider to understand what that is about. And for that, there is the Variety and the Reporter. 

LA Observed October 11, 2011

LA Observed

October 11, 2011

Having reviewed my overall impression of the “Above the Fold” section yesterday, I now better understand what this website is about.

I think this blog is for ‘Tweeners – neither the very young nor the very traditional. It’s for busy people who want their news shortened, aggregated and localized-but not TOO local. Their model is to include many articles that will be picked up by out-of-towners. They do not have the same constrictions as, say, the Patch.com – on hyper-local.

It is also kind of insider and hip news, not necessarily the most important. There is, for example, an emphasis on the medical marijuana situation in Los Angeles these past two days. That speaks to a certain group of people who use it, believe it is a good business, or wish it to be legalized for other reasons. I don’t think the tone of the articles is militant legalization. So it is not aimed to those leftover hippies and potheads who are Johnny-one-notes on this thing. This is a more sophisticated crowd of educated professionals who have really developed their opinions through other means.

It is not the snarky tone that is evident in Gawker, which is definitely a gossip rag. This is geared with the young, hip professional or savvy businessperson or media person in mind. This pot issue may be something that affects their business, their clients or their neighborhoods.

There are also articles – a lot, actually, on Bay Area stuff – like Steve Job’s life and death. But they are articles that give us a rare inside view into the man, like what kind of car he drove (2007 MB) and that the license plate was not on it. I think that speaks to the awe that most of us feel naturally for this very private man and his creative genius. Jobs persona is inspirational to all of us, not just the techy crowd. But a lot of techy business professionals may be targeted.

Otherwise, there is an article on the Elizabeth Taylor jewelry, something most of us are curious about. Once again it is the spotlight on the private life of someone who iconic and rarified. It is human nature to want to look in to their private world. I don’t think this is a gossip rag; I think it is optimization to use Jobs and Taylor on the front page and subsequently under other headings.

There is a media-savvy component to this audience. These are people who are interested in the pop culture. That would explain the article combining surfing with the aerospace industry. The combination would seem way off base were it not for the fact that truly, Southern California insiders know that a lot of these aerospace companies were created by surfers and began at the beach. RAND is still in Malibu, although it is more of a think tank now. 

On the other hand, there is an article on kicking hybrids out of he carpool lanes in the Bay Area. I gather that this is to generalize that how it affects San Francisco is how it affects Los Angeles. I am not sure if that is a legitimate conclusion or assumption. The idea is that having hybrids in the carpool lane was good for traffic. Then again, that business of rewarding people who have extra money to buy these expensive vehicles puts the onus on those of us who cannot afford them. So it leads the reader to question what kind of car the author drives, and how he got that one in there about the Bay Area drivers.

Blogging is quite informal and broad-spectrum. It is immediate, which doesn’t always mean the best judgment is applied. But blogs can be corrected or removed or moved down the queue. It is liquid, not static. And it responds with the events of the day, rather than the events of yesterday and last night. It has a tremendous potential with breaking news and developing stories.

I still don’t get LA Observed yet, though.

Our assignment is to analyze and compare LA Observed over a three-day period, from 10/10/2011-10/12/2011. Here is my Day One Observations:

LA Observed

Monday, October 10, 2011

In order to “analyze” this blog/website, I need to create some categories.

Columns

Headlines

Style/Layout                            

Information

Prioritization

Writing

Headlines:

I expected a headline on the Column One section – and all I got was a
Morning Buzz. What does that mean?

However, I am interested in the , “If you missed it . . .” stuff.

            Villaraigosa (that teeny-weeny schmuck) applauds the Ca Dream Act – he would! Thinking of running for Governor, you little shit?

            Steve Jobs was no friend to journalists… Really? Interesting. He was a real person, not a journalists’ creation. All the better. More reason to admire him.

            Nobel Peace Prize -? Well, who cares? Obama got one. Really? That was it for me!

            Brown Vetoes Villaraigosa Bike Bill – Since when do Mayors of Cities become Legislators?? The Mayor submitted a Bill to this f-d up legislature and it got to the desk of the Governor?? Can we say ONE PARTY? (too many checks and no balance)

Style: It took me at least a good ten minutes to figure this thing out – and I am just above the fold here.  Too much noise on the splash page, baby. Get rid of all that stuff and move it where its not clogging the works up!

Otherwise, get some logical, sensible stuff up under a meaningful column header, not just a listing of tag terms and a meaningless title. But ok. I got it now.

Information: What information? The weather? Nothing above the fold! Is that supposed to make me look beyond the front page?? Because – I wouldn’t if it were not for the fact that I have to for this assignment.

Prioritization: That has already been discussed – see every other comment.

Writing . . . Well, for that, I have to look for it. There is nothing written above the fold.

Columns

This is a 3-column blog site with a banner topper that has navigational tabs and a search engine

Column 1 is the main column, which I determine because of the width of the column and the info box at the top of it. In that info box are photos and navigation tabs.

Beneath that is the Morning Buzz

            Morning Buzz – leaves me clueless as to what it is from above the fold. I am not inclined to look further, either, because of what I see in the first graph. It is a mish-mosh (technical word) of unrelated tags, most of which do not draw my attention.

            I am not curious about Columbus Day closures. Gov. Brown’s ban on handguns may be a liberal political hot button, but I am far more interested in illegals getting preferential treatment in the California State University system when professors have been laid off because of lack of funding and thousands of students have to stretch their education to 5 or 6 years because of lack of availability of courses needed to graduate. Out of state students are receiving preferential admission because they pay more – oh, wait a minute – doesn’t that put those same illegal aliens into that category of in-state tuition??? That means, I guess, that those in-state tuition candidates will be accepted AFTER they fill the out-of-state slots?? Hmm. Who benefitted from that??? Wow. Political coup, Brown! Nice job!

But I digress; back to the analysis.

So the Column Left, then, is the main column, by an editor who has a whole lot of ego-stroking going on there with his bio and his links on that precious real estate above the fold.

I note that there are Follow/Like buttons taking up space as well. Not the best place to put them. Lots of that taking up the info space. Could be smaller, less prominent.

Column 2

Recaps of inside from previous dates and a lot of weather info that is pretty irrelevant in California. (See Headlines) Also could be smaller icons.

Column 3

A terrible photo of the World’s Most Unattractive Waterway, the LA River; and a caption identifying it, but now, why there is a photo of it on the front page, I have no idea. Confusing. And not enticing.

Next is a column by Mark Lacter, “Economic Narrative All Bad. Reality Quite Different” That grabs my attention a bit. But being a journalist, I find it hard to believe there is any good news out there.