I wanted to send a brief message to those of you who followed my news coverage here at Mojo that I am writing again.
That's right, my daily blog posts are now being featured at WLKY-TV's Local Voices section. It's a great new opportunity for me, and I appreciate that Keith and Chuck have graciously allowed me to do this post to encourage you to check it out.
I've also recruited some other interesting local voices to the site, so it could become an interesting place to visit, just like the good old days at Mojo.
There is no good way to say this, so here goes. Mojo's news operation ceased to exist, as of this morning.
I'm really proud of everything we accomplished during my six months and change at the helm of our news operation. I believe Mojo has become a reliable, interesting news outlet, fueled by a team of outstanding and respected writers. That was my goal when I started here.
The business plan I bought into was simple -- if you create and provide an interesting product that people want to read, and you build up a huge audience for the product, advertisers will support it.
More simply, eyeballs = revenue. The hard truth is that the premise is not true in the real world.
It would be easy to blame Mojo's ownership for giving up on a promising venture, but Keith and Chuck gave it a good run. We had great plans to change the site and make it more appealing to advertisers, but the economics of it all just wouldn't support the idea.
I'd like to express my appreciation for Jeffrey Scott Holland, Billy Reed, Steve Coomes, Beverly Bartlett, John LaFollette, Abby Miller, Chas Andrews, Brigid Kaelin, Kirk Kandle, Sherry Deatrick and everyone else who believed in what we were doing and provided great content to the site.
During the last six months, we experienced monumental increases each and every month in every measurable metric, but it just wasn't enough. By every measure except revenue, we were successful.
It was a great run.
As for my future, I'm open to what's next, wherever it takes me. If anybody is looking for a smart-aleck writer/editor who knows a whole lot about what's going on around town, I'm easy to reach and available immediately.
Well theres goes another good thing on mojo. So is it strictly back to people trying to find booty calls and all the lovely "baby-daddy" drama? Mojo has always had the potential for alot more, just seems like it always gets used for garbage. Oh well gave me something interesting to read for awhile when I got bored.
Sorry to hear. The advent of this news operation was very good news for Louisville, and the product that has come from it has been of high quality. Now, of course, that means other websites trying to stay on top of local news and issues will have a lot more work to do, which is good in terms of higher traffic, but it's also bad, as that will ultimately mean that fewer stories will be covered by independent web media. Hopefully, we'll see another new entry come forth soon, and even better, with Rick heading it up.
I really liked signing in on Mojo and being able to access local news, some of the stories that Mojo had were hidden or small on other sites, and those seemed to be the ones of interest to me. I hate that this is happening, but Mojo is not alone on lack of revenue, just look around, it is very hard to find anyone not in need of something, but our lovely government keeps stating that the economy is getting better, I want a pair of those rose colored glasses too. Rick, I really enjoyed your style and you will be missed. Hang in there, good luck on your hunt, as I am hunting too.
Sorry to hear the news, Mr. Redding, it had evolved into such a super site, great writers, interesting sites, and a wonderful way to tune in to the recent news. Thanks for all you did and tried to do, and my best wishes for your successes in the future. Hang in there, something better will be around the bend. Best always.
Well, I'll be dipped... 2000 folks online right now, seeking better insight on the latest local news - or NON-news. Very valuable perspectives GONE. And Louisville Mojo had become a daily habit with me - a FIX, if you will. Sh!ttttt....
I checked in daily to Mojo for news from my hometown. Rick and his team provided entertaining blogs and features short enough to read on my break and interesting enough to keep me coming back. Rick, I plan to follow you to your next online site...
So, why exactly would people be on this site if not for the blogs you and your staff provided?? I can't imagine that revenue is going to improve if Mojo loses all of the 'traffic' that checks in daily like myself to see what you, Abby, JS, Bev, Steve and Company had to say... Makes no sense to me... Best of luck to all of you!!
It's hard times and it's not without more than a little sadness, that much is certain. This goes doubly so for advertising which is one of the first things to be cut during a downturn.
The one thing I'm sure of is that Rick is far too good to go "quiet" for long. I'm positive that he (and all the writers) will be providing their unique perspectives again soon and I'll be there reading it again.
i really liked the news and am sad to see it go. loved the unique view of the writers on everything local. the fact that it was local made it pretty cool.
The only surprising thing is that they were actually trying to make money with the "news." I could critique, but nobody is paying me for that. Just one for free: bloggers bleating about how important it is for everyone to slow down, yield right-of-way and stay far, far away from bicyclists is not compelling news.
Yikes! -Is this a DATING/CHEATING site??? No wonder I resented the he11 out of the questions I had to answer or dodge when I joined this site. Like some others, I was ONLY here for local news, reviews, musings, etc. LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL. The local flavor & perspective was the only hook-up I wanted to make. Phooey. Where will I find the likes of the Great Beverly & Momma Abby & Top Snoop JS & Foodie Coomes & Flower Child Bridget...??? Sure didn't feel like I was committing adultery.
It's not like they can't keep making blogs. Hell JS Holland has his own blog and most stuff he copies from there. Hell they got me writing more hoping one day I'd have something goo enough to appear on the main page.
Who knows if they are really goin towards a dating site.. Rob said he did it as a joke but was really trying to be serious and with all the shady shit that goes on who fuckin know's. Hell Rick had t tell us they were dropping the Metro News.
Rick, you were a lot more informative than the courier or any of the other local media outlets. I will miss your writings and the chance to spar with ither MOJOers
Good luck on your future endevors and i am sure if you need any references, tell them to ask
the many readers you had here, we are all going to miss you
Feel free to rake me over the coals for my stupidity, but what exactly does this mean? Is the main home page going to change? I, too, enjoyed all the news blogs and the front page headlines made it much easier to get it all at once. We can still blog though, right? And if we can blog, cant people still blog about whats going on around town and post it into the correct field? and if that's the case, wont we still be able to then read it?
I mean, i just think if people like to blog, they should blog and surely someone will still want to blog about local news. The majority of us that blog do so without pay, and we do it because we like to. So i dont understand why that would have to change. I would assume that certain staff members that might be on pay roll might not blog anymore, such as Mr. Redding *your news reporting will be sorely missed, btw*. But that doesnt mean that other bloggers cant continue to contribute contact.
I dont know. Like i said, maybe i'm just stupid and for some reason i'm not getting the severity of this change. I spend my days teaching children under the age of five, so i'll admit the mental capacities upstairs might be a little rusty. :)
While I won't miss the somewhat xenophobic Right-Wing Ms Miller....I will miss the rest of this format and the news-format. This is the reason that I haven't left Mojo altogether, because it really did help me keep a pulse on what's going on around this "city" of ours.
How will I keep tabs on what Abby's twins are doing? I honestly started to feel like part of their family...like the weird step uncle in-law that no one ever calls but is still on the Miller family xmas newsletter.
Maybe Mojo might think of trying a news op again once business picks up. Starting an operation relying on ad revenue in these troubled times was courageous, but probably doomed from the start. Good luck to Rick and keep trying, Mojo. In the end it will be about whether you can maintain a community with the right demographics for ad selling.
This is bullshit. Offer inner circle accounts for 5 a month to support the news. I promise this will get more paid accounts, and offer cheaper advertisement packages. You must evolve, do not be the next Ear Extasy. Mojo, you dropped the ball.... we regular readers never knew you were in jeopardy. Mojo's spend and fight for good things. You died with a DNR suddenly, in the night.
I am sure there are many talented writers on the site more than willing to write there own stries each day in exchange for inner circle accounts...While I know i am not nearly as talented as Mr.Redding or Mr. read or any of the news staff at this point I would love to report on Sporting Events and possible do a movie review here and there.....Maybe we can keep some local news flavor to the site and one day the advertisers come and you can get some of the talent back that will are gonna dearly miss.
mixed mojo....you are a riot. you will always be on my Cmas list...but no, you're still not going to be allowed to sit at the grown ups table LOL. i'll try and stick around to keep you in the loop...i know you will just be lost without my baby updates. :0)
Sad to see you guys go. I know how dedicated Mojo was to making this work. Ad revenue sadly is not there these days. I know from firsthand experience myself with my radio show and website.
It will pick up so for now I will choose to believe Mojo is on hiatus until it does.
In the meantime hey guys send me a salesman I can put em to work :-)
I have to say this truly sucks.com. I have nejoyed the frank and up front news. What happens to the mojo now?
kelly downard #315243
tue apr 06 2010
at 7:05 pm
·
Rick, it is hard to se you go. Your professionalism was a nice addition to the Louisville news landscape. You will be missed by all of us who relied on your truth. You were one of the few places we could go where there was not a slant on the story, just the story. Thanks, Kelly
You are gonna be sincerely Missed!....I've gotted so used to reading your news , I now use the C-J to line the cats litter box, thats about all it's good for.
Best of Luck and you know you can always count on us LOYAL readers to help you any way & time we can!
In 1833, when Benjamin Day founded the New York Sun newspaper, the first to rely on advertising to underwrite news, I said it would never work, and everyone who followed his newfangled approach would eventually fail.
I didn't mean to, but I did mistakenly toss my Census form in the trash. And now that our government and political officials are urging me to return the form, I'm feeling a little guilty.
Even Gov. Steve Beshear is devoting his weekly video commentary to the Census, telling us how important it is. He claims it's not just a bunch of number crunching for stat-heads, but that the information gathered is used to decide where to build schools, roads and make other big-money decisions.
I'm not really buying it, though, and I don't think the humongous advertising campaign is going to be effective at getting regular folks to fill out the form. So I know that whatever information the Census pulls will be suspect.
But here's something I found on the Internets that really bothers me --
"Taxpayers are footing the bill of $14.7 billion for 10 years of Census counting. That price tag supports 500 local offices and a peak staff of 1.4 million workers."
Ouch. All that for a bunch of numbers that won't be complete. Oh, well. If I get another form, I just might send it in.
you know, i almost blogged about this earlier this week b/c it boggles my mind why anyone WOULDN'T turn in their census form. it's to be counted. It decides how much money for roads, schools, etc. we get. by NOT sending it in you hurt only yourself and your neighbors.
i don't mean you specifically, but really? is it THAT big a deal? i cannot believe that a little less than half of the people in this country haven't filled out the form and sent it in. why not? i don't get it. it helps those who govern and hand out money do just that.
so the next time someone gripes about our roads, our schools, and our well being...blame the fools who can't fill out a census form.
and lest you forget, it's illegal not to fill it out and we, the taxpayer, will spend even more money to have a bunch of people go door to door to door to get the forms from the people who haven't bothered to fill it out.
grr...can you tell this topic gets me riled up? It's disgusting that we have to have a multi-million dollar ad campaign to get people to send in their form...which helps them in the long run. it's nuts.
Ok I work @ the Census Bureau - Answers are as follows: Names are asked for to make sure we don't count you twice, race is for statistics and grant fundings, yes there is a phone # section - phone number is to contact you for further questions if there is a discrepency, age is for statistics and/or deciphering the difference between son/father with same name. Just fill it out. It helps.
And when you do send it in could you please not wipe your ass with it, smear jelly on it, plop boogers on it, wash it in coffee, or put any kind of "suspicious white powder in it". PSSST, the forms are geo coded, doesn't matter if you give a fake name, if you throw baby powder or flour in it thinking it's funny...you won't be laughing when the Feds and Homeland Security show up at your door. So play nice K? We appreciate it.
I've explained all this on here till I'm blue in the face Clark, seems to go in one ear and out the other though. But you're right, NRFU is the 800lb. gorilla of this whole deal. And what is NRFU you may ask? NON RESPONSE Follow Up.
I am shocked at so-called "intelligent" dumb-a$$eS who would thumb their noses as something as important as a national census. Just think: if everyone in my area completed their form correctly & on time, we could possibly be redistricted into a council district that isn't represented by Jim King or any of the other present council critters!
Anyway, in all that census money spent on advertising, I don't think I've ever heard them tell folks that it is FREE to mail them back (postage paid).
Regarding the "soiled" forms: I never would have imagined the level of disrespect for anything "governmental" that exists today. But...now I suspect it will worsen.
The Census is required by the Constitution. Therefore, whatever expense it entails is irrelevant. Also, we can't govern this big, fractious country without doing the Census.
Also, don't worry about throwing your form away. You'll be getting a visit from the Census takers before long. They'll get you. Bwahahahaha! :)
Strawberry Burns - DOB/KFI - in other words - Frontline for Anthrax / type my fingers to the bone LOL As far as blatant disrespect for the government - at this point - I've seen it all. I can't comment on what i've seen due to Title 13, however, we are uneducated in so many areas in government due to our lovely school systems lack of education, or people dont give a crap.. well they do, and that might be the problem. bwahaha
Opening Day at Keeneland. Last day of school before spring break. Good Friday. The Final Four this weekend. On Saturday, you can buy an iPad for the first time. And 8,500 people will be running in the Papa John's 10-miler on Saturday through Iroquois Park.
It's 29 days until the Kentucky Derby, so you ought to squeeze in time to watch the Santa Anita Derby and Wood Memorial on NBC tomorrow, or go down to the fancy party at Prime sponsored by the track.
If you haven't been, today's also a great day to go see the University of Louisville baseball team over at Patterson Stadium. The team's good, beer's cheap and the weather is, well, perfect. See you there.
Here at Mojo, we've got what you need to keep your brain stimulated, and maybe have a little fun. Like John LaFollette's piece on last night's debate with Senate candidates, which included this quote from Darlene Price:
“George Bush took a big healthy dump all over this country for eight years, and they're acting like President Obama is just now walking out of the bathroom zipping up his pants."
We've also got coverage of Frank Faris' troubles at Genny's Diner, and plenty of discussion what it means when a gorilla beats up his son.
Also worth noting:
Doug's Logic: Leave it to Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins to find a gray cloud in news about the Olmsted Parks Conservancy's efforts to raise $5 million to fight invasive plants in the park. Hawkins cranked up his e-mail machine to inform constituents that there are Olmsted Parks near the Mayor's house, that Otter Creek Park is still closed due to a lack of funding. He seems to think the Olmsted money should go to Otter Creek, or maybe that the Mayor should move to a home near it.
Frankfort Failures: Lawmakers left Frankfort yesterday without getting the budget done. They did some really important stuff, though, like passing a law banning text messaging while driving. And they eliminated a think tank that had been costing us $500,000 a year.
Really Dumb Stuff: I'm all for having a little fun with the April Fools thing, and most of the LEO stuff was kind of funny. But this. This is just dumb. Juvenile. Stupid.
Tyler Sees It: We're probably not going to get light rail or anything else in this video from Tyler Allen, but it would be nice to have a Mayor with this kind of vision. And check out his impressive collection of campaign video here.
And While You're Away: Somebody might be breaking into your house. The attorney general's office is warning people not to post what you're doing on Spring Break on Facebook, because criminals have discovered it's a great tool for knowing when victims are not going to be home.
Told You Hillary Was Coming: Details are now available for Hillary Clinton's appearance at U of L. She'll be speaking April 9 as part of the McConnell Center's spring lecture series. Tickets are free, but you have to get them through the Center's website. It's a 2:45 at the Brown & Williamson Club at the football stadium.
view locals now online
I didn't mean to, but I did mistakenly toss my Census form in the trash. And now that our government and political officials are urging me to return the form, I'm feeling a little guilty. 
Opening Day at Keeneland. Last day of school before spring break. Good Friday. The Final Four this weekend. On Saturday, you can buy an iPad for the first time. And 8,500 people will be running in the Papa John's 10-miler on Saturday through Iroquois Park.
Rick Redding