In the first few years after the blog started in October 2003, it had a slow, gradual growth as I wrote about state issues, lobbyists' influence, and courts and crime.
The first big change I always cite when I do these reviews was the increased attention the blog received after the Joplin Tornado and then an even bigger growth occurred after I was given the heave-ho by the Joplin R-8 School District and began discovering just how many problems there were with the superintendent and with the Board of Education.
Probably the biggest boost to Turner Report readership, as well as the readership of Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries came when I decided to experiment with publishing through Facebook.
That occurred to me this week after two things happened that caused me to think about it. As I was preparing for the book signing Saturday at Changing Hands Book Shoppe, I did nearly all of the promotion through Facebook and the Turner Report. It never even occurred to me to call in an item to the Joplin Globe.
There was a time when I did that. I never had any readers tell me they came to the signing because they had seen it in the Globe, not one.
The second thing occurred when I bought a copy of the Globe earlier this week (though I no longer feel compelled to read it every day, I do still read it) and found an advertisement for subscriptions.
If you want the Globe delivered to your doorstep, all you have to pay is $18.98 a month for the first six months with their EZ Pay system. That would be a total of $119.88 for six months. No mention is made of what happens after that six-month period ends. My guess is the price does not go down. But even if it remained the same, that would be $239.76 for a year.
To be fair, it is not just the newspaper that people get with that investment- they have total access to the Globe's website and a $10 Wal-Mart gift card.
It's hard to beat that.
That brings me back to my experiment with Facebook. After my days as a classroom teacher ended, I decided to expand my news operation, including the creation of new blogs. The Turner Report was joined by Inside Joplin, which has since expanded to feature news from Newton, Barton and McDonald counties, as well as southeast Kansas, Inside Joplin Obituaries, the only site that offers free obituaries from this area of Missouri, Inside Pittsburg Obituaries, which features the deaths of those from southeast Kansas and Inside Springfield, which covers the area between the local counties and Springfield.
In order for those blogs to be successful, I had to find a way to build readership quickly and the method I decided on was Facebook.
Links to each of the posts on my blogs are posted on my personal Facebook page and on the Inside Joplin Facebook page.
In the days when I placed a news item for my book signings in the Globe, the newspaper always printed them and I have no complaints about the way they were handled. Unless you happened to look in that section of the newspaper, though, you would never know about the signing. Those briefs are easy to overlook.
While I still have people who go directly to the Turner Report or to the Inside Joplin blog, most of my readership comes through social media.
I was not sure at the beginning whether the approach would work. A few days after I began using the new approach, an angry woman dropped me as a Facebook friend, extremely unhappy about my decision to post all of my blog items, particularly the ones from Inside Joplin Obituaries.
"I don't want all of those dead people cluttering up my timeline," she said.
After she dropped me, I waited for the other shoe to drop. It never did.
I am sure there are some people who have dropped me because they get tired of seeing a bunch of items that have no interest to them, but for the most part, people have expressed appreciation for the posts, have shared them, and many of those people who received the shares added me as a Facebook friend or liked the Inside Joplin Facebook page.
I don't pretend to be able to offer the same wide scope of coverage the Globe offers, but at the same time, I should note that even with all of its reporters, for some reason the Globe totally missed out on the problems with Wallace Bajjali, the events that led to the departure of C. J. Huff as Joplin R-8 superintendent, failed to provide any reliable reporting on the matters that were covered in the state audits of the City of Joplin and the school district and the Loraine Report and have completely failed to cover many stories that have been featured in the Turner Report. Consider the following two stories for instance:
-While the Turner Report and KOAM covered the sexual harassment lawsuit against Rangeline Sonic, it has yet to appear in the Globe.
-The Globe also has ignored criminal charges that have been filed against former Joplin pediatric surgeon Guy Rosenschein and local physician Jeremy Goins
What I have tried to do with the Turner Report/Inside Joplin blogs is to offer a daily collection of items that provide information people need to know or might be interested in knowing.
The Turner Report continues to offer investigative reporting, coverage of state and national politics and more in-depth coverage of the kind of blotter/calendar type items that run in Inside Joplin.
Inside Joplin serves to inform people of upcoming events, post records material such as arrests, marriage licenses, dissolutions and bankruptcies, and news releases from area law enforcement agencies or from other area sources.
Inside Joplin Obituaries provides free obituaries, many of which never appear in the Globe.
So while the Globe is offering its product for at least $239.76 a year (or $143.76 for just the Sunday edition), the Turner Report/Inside Joplin news operation offers the best bargain it can possibly offer. In the past, when I have written these subscription posts, I have promised to use what I receive to help improve and expand the product.
I have fulfilled that promise.
Though there are still limits to what I can do as a one-man operation, I have continued to work to provide a product that will keep readers informed, as well as offer analysis and commentary to bolster that reporting.
So here is the pitch.
For those of you who want to see the Turner Report/Inside Joplin blogs continue to improve and expand, there are a number of ways you can do so.
-You can use the PayPal buttons below or on the upper right hand corner of this page to subscribe at $30 for a year, $3 a month or $1 a week. Or you can make a contribution of any size ranging from a couple of dollars to a more sizable amount on the donation button. If you would prefer not to use the PayPal buttons, you can send a check to Randy Turner at 2306 E. 8th, Apt. G, Joplin, MO 64801
-If you are a reader and have interest in any of the subjects I have written about in my books, they are available locally at Always Buying Books, Changing Hands Book Shoppe, and the Book Guy in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage and they also can be found on Amaron.com.
-Turner Report t-shirts are available at Changing Hands Book Shoppe.
-If you cannot afford or would prefer not to spend any money for this news operation, you can still help by sharing posts you think others might be interested in and inviting readers to like the Inside Joplin Facebook page.
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post. Below the PayPal buttons, you can get an idea of what the Turner Report/Inside Joplin blogs have been doing with the top 10 posts for the past month on the Turner Report, Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries and the top 10 posts all-time on the Turner Report.
You are the ones who have kept this operation going and your support is much appreciated.
| Payment options |
1. Three-year-old Joplin child dies three weeks after alleged abuser arrested for domestic assault
2. Exploration Station owners: Two-year-old was at fault
3. Probable cause statement: Three-year-old had brain injuries, facial bruising, laceration
4. Claim in $75 million lawsuit: Diamond police officers forced Neosho man to undergo public strip search
5. Today would have been Kelli Dorsey's 38th birthday
6. Rowan Ford was murdered 10 years ago
7. Former Joplin pediatric surgeon's child pornography trial delayed, plea agreement being discussed
8. Vote to remove Missouri Commissioner of Education and install charter school supporter set for next week
9. Charges against Joplin man may be upgraded when three-year-old's autopsy returns
10. Lawsuit response: Former Rangeline Sonic manager never showed alleged statutory sodomy victim any disrespect
Top 10 Turner Report Posts All-Time
1. Child pornography scandal erupts at Joplin High School
2. Probable cause statement: North Middle School teacher, 37, had sex with 13-year-old boy
3. Lawsuit claims: Exploration Station pre-school teachers resigned rather than lie to state about abuse of two-year-old
4. Donald Trump Jr. attacks teachers in convention speech
5. Probable cause statement: Teacher shot Hailey Owens, stuffed body in trash bags
6. Joplin doctor pleads not guilty to statutory rape, statutory sodomy
7. Explosive lawsuit claim: Pervasive sexual harassment at Rangeline Sonic led to rape of two underage girls
8, Thirty minutes ago, I was attacked
9. Betsy DeVos and the Blunt connection
10. Grand jury indicts Neosho businessman on child porn charge
Inside Joplin Top Posts for Past Month
1. Lamar R-1 to have support personnel available Monday following sudden death of first grade teacher
2. Woman arrested by JPD hides meth in her buttocks, no crack found
3. Jasper County Sheriff's Office: Do you recognize these burglary suspects?
4. Runaway juvenile may be in Joplin
5. Aidan Leas
6. Three-year-old in critical condition at KC hospital, Joplin man arrested on abuse charge
7. Missouri Southern sophomore/Joplin High School graduate dies from injuries suffered in eight-vehicle crash
8. Armed teenagers accost Joplin couple at 15th and Murphy
9. Autopsy ordered after three-year-old dies at KC hospital, Joplin man arrested on child abuse charge
10. Suspect captured after high speed chase from Carthage to Lamar, deputy injured
Inside Joplin Obituaries Top Posts for Past Month
1. Debra Pope
2. Vivian Wu
3. Steven Middleton
4. Ryan Moore
5. Rex Sidenstricker
6. Bill Hance
7. Kadyn Couch
8. Cory Ward
9. Eric Reed
10. Jeffrey Haase
No comments:
Post a Comment