Jason's DeBlog

Help Rename My Blog

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:07:51 GMT

Several years ago, we had a contest to name this blog. The winner, was Bob Moffitt, who selected the name "DeBlog." Like "DeRusha." Clever.

But here's the problem. I don't know of anyone who ever calls this thing "DeBlog." We call it "Jason's Blog" internally, but I'm thinking I need a new name.

Soonish, the blog is moving from this MZinga platform to our in-house wcco.com system. It'll look like Crystal's new blog, Bite of Minnesota. The cool thing is that my Good Question videos and video e-mails will populate in a video player on the right of the page. And if I write a great post, they'll be able to link to it on the home page of wcco.com.

Anyway, I'm asking you guys: should we rename this thing? What names do you like?

REPLY ALL: Hair Questions

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:13:49 GMT

By Allison Janney, WCCO-TV Good Question Intern

My first attempt at hard-hitting journalism will tackle hair questions we have received from viewers. Not to worry, I’m going to save “What determines gas prices?” and “How will health care reform help everyone?” for later blog posts.

“When we don't trim our hair, why do we get split ends?-- Ali Michael from St. Paul.

The official term in the hair industry for split ends is trichoptilosis. Split ends occur when the protective cuticle is destroyed at the end of the hair.

Bryce Jermain, owner of Tres Jolie Salon in Minneapolis said, “Think of your hair as a fine washable or the end of a piece of rope.”

Longer hair has more split ends due to age. According to Jermain, hair grows at a rate of 6 inches a year. If you have shoulder length hair with no layer, the ends of the hair have been there 18 months to 2 years.

Although some products may promise to repair split ends, the solution is a simple trim to get rid of the damage.

“What causes an individual strand of hair to turn gray?” -- Sue Limpert from Rochester.

Graying happens when the part of the follicle that produces pigment is depleted, leaving us with gray or white hair. Two reasons for gray hair are hormones and genetics. Genetics cause premature graying but would most likely not be the cause of an individual strand to gray.

“Hormonal changes in our brains and body can also give us natural silver highlights. Menopause, life change, drastic health change and stress can all affect our hormonal balance,” said Jermain.

Hormone changes from stress explain how misbehaving kids can actually turn your hair gray. Apologies to my mother.

What is the difference between luxury shampoo and value brands?

My guy friends, and even girlfriends, always make fun of me spending $20 on a bottle of shampoo.

But, according to a Dove Hair Care survey, one out of every four women has avoided an activity due to unruly hair and 88 percent say good hair boosts their confidence, so I am not alone in hair vanity.

“The main difference between a luxury hair product and value brands is the ingredients. More research, development and technology will raise the price of the final product,” said Jermain.

Though hair professionals advocate pricy products, their effectiveness isn’t necessarily proven. Consumer Reports tested 1,700 ponytail samples by washing them in a range of shampoos and concluded the expensive options did not produce any better results than the drugstore brands.

I will not be sharing this report with friends who want to discourage my fancy shampoo habit.

“Your hair is worn every day and night to every event or hot date, which is why it deserves the very best,” said Jermain.

Why Don't Young People Give To Charity?

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:10:37 GMT

I do a lot of fundraisers - either as an emcee, a guest, or a speaker. Usually the rooms look pretty similar: people in suits or tuxes, usually over the age of 45. This weekend, a couple friends of ours invited us to a fundraiser for a group called Drops Fill Buckets. (they raise money for specific projects - keeping the total money needed lower, and the benefit of your donation clear).

It was interesting. The fundraiser was in the lower level of a Warehouse District bar. It cost $50 to get in, including 2 drinks and heavy appetizers. The room was almost all people under the age of 45. It got me thinking about why young people often don't take part in fundraisers.

Part of it is the cost. Some of you are thinking $50 for a fundraiser is steep. Of course, will you go out and blow $50 on dinner and a couple drinks? For some reason just giving away money is hard to younger people.

Maybe we see ourselves as in need. Many of my peers are up to their eyeballs in credit card debt, school loans, day care bills; it's hard to imagine carving out money to give to charitable projects.

Help me figure this one out. What would get you in the door of a fundraiser? What's a reasonable price point? Why don't you give?

My Last Super Bowl

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:02:03 GMT

It's my birthday today, and I'm in a great mood. My wife and kids gave me some great presents, but what I really want is a Vikings win tonight. You have to understand, this is what I looked like the last time my team went to the Super Bowl:

The year: 1986. This picture was taken on Super Bowl Sunday, January 27, when the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots 46 to 10. That's me in the orange, wearing huge glasses, as a newly minted 11-year-old. My brother was 8. And we were hard core. (The headband was in honor of Jim McMahon)

My point: I need another Super Bowl. Tonight should be our night!

Day in the Life as the GQ Intern

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:12:30 GMT

Hi DeBloggers!

In case you haven’t heard, Jason has an intern to help him keep up with the steady stream of Good Question e-mails and daily duties a TV personality of his popularity demands. That intern is me (on the right there), Allison Janney, a senior Communication and Journalism student at the University of St. Thomas.

Last November Jason tweeted about the position and I jumped at the chance to learn from one of the most innovative reporters around. Yet, “They gave YOU an intern?” was a common phrase Jason heard on my first day.

As a new member of the Good Question Team, I represent a younger and more female perspective. (No offense, Jason and Joe) Periodically on DeBlog, you can read some Good Questions I will work on that won’t necessarily air on the 10 p.m. broadcasts.

So what have I learned so far? I’m ready to dish the dirt on my first week.

Monday- There may be a lot of questions but it takes some effort to find the good ones. Viewers send over 50 questions to Jason a day and it’s now my duty to manage the madness. A general rule of thumb: If you can find the answer on Wikipedia, it’s not good enough. There are also a surprisingly high volume of bird questions that don’t make the cut.

Wednesday - Multitasking is key. As we waited for the WCCO Radio segment to begin, Jason checked e-mails on his iPhone, uploaded a Twitpic and set up an interview with new Minneapolis Star Tribune publisher, Mike Klingensmith. Being well connected online is one of Jason’s trademarks and I hope to master this skill too.

Friday – Always make time for charity. Jason’s big heart had him up early to go to Dave Lee's Gutter Bowl fundraiser. After a grueling morning filled with strikes, Jason still came back to the station for an afternoon filled with ‘Reply All’ answers.

On a whole, the first week was full of promise. The days go fast and I have not been sent on a coffee run…yet.

New Strib Publisher: Online Pay = Future

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:23:30 GMT

My Good Question story will publish here at around 11 p.m. tonight, after my story airs on TV at 10, but because many of my blog readers are news geeks, I thought I'd share some of the things that new Minneapolis Star Tribune publisher Mike Klingensmith told me today.

Bear in mind, the guy's been on the job for 8 days and incredibly hasn't cracked the code on what the Star Tribune's going to do to charge readers. But it's clear: the Strib will be charging for more than just the Access Vikings section.

This is an edited version of our discussion, so it makes sense.

Is paying for online news the future?
"I do see that future and I think the people will be willing to accept that."

Really?
"People have always been willing to pay for news historically, be it magazine subscriptions, newspaper subscriptions, business publications. News that's uniquely valuable to them, I think they're gonna be willing to pay for."

The current online news world is 100% supported by advertisers. It's not working for papers.
"The news has never really been wholly an advertiser supported business and I don't see any reason to think it'll be so in the future. I think it's dangerous if news is supported only by advertisers. I don't think you want your news to be paid for by people who may have a vested interest in that news."

Will visitors to StarTribune.com have to pay in the near future?
"In my first week on the job, I hate to make a grand pronouncement like that. But I think for all media, news, and even broadcast, cable television, you're seeing movement in that direction. My prediction is that a year from now, your online experience, not only for star tribune, but for all newspapers, is going to look a little different than it looks today."

There's so much free content out there. What more do we get if we start paying?
"There's going to be an augmentation of what we can do as a news provider for the community, not just historically what we thought about news, but other content, information, community building. And all those kinds of things are going to be a unique value proposition."

What do you think about the New York Times decision to go to a metered system?
"I think it's a great business decision. I think it was inevitable. I think the fact they decided to go this way will hasten others to look at the same thing."

Would You Pay For News Online?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:12:49 GMT

For those of us in the news business, this is more than just a "Good Question," it is THE question. Will people pay for news? Today, the New York Times took the first big step, essentially saying that they'll let us read a couple stories a month for free, then they'll shut it down unless we pay for unlimited access.

I asked on Twitter and Facebook if people would be willing to pay for online news, and have been getting some interesting comments. Share yours below, but here's what people are saying:

justacoolcat No. Not unless every single paper charged. Local reporting is often days/weeks behind on major stories and then poorly recycled.

eahoffma if news is worth reading, and the quality and content cannot be found elsewhere, I will pay for it. The subscription model lives. our right to 'freedom of the press' doesn't interpret to 'press is free' - this current model can't work when reporters must eat.

jth I would pay for NYT online. Not a chance in hell I'd pay for Strib online.

AleciaPuppe I wouldn't pay for a local online source, if the strib or pipress charged, I would go to any of the TV network sites vice versa and then get my commentary from a source like minnpost or mnindependent etc.

taulpaul The product would have to increase in value substantially, to take what's free today "strib website" and start charging for it.

ItsDane Yes. But only if it was managed by an aggregator like google using micropayments (iTunes model)

Elena Kibasova I'm a journalist but still I'd say no. There are too many free sources of news, even if the quality isn't as professional as one would like.

John Jansen Yes. If the only information we get is free, we'll get even more corporate sponsored "news".

John makes an interesting point, as someone does pay for our news right now. It's not free. Does that come at a cost? Would we be better off if individuals paid for news and there was less corporate influence? All good questions.

I'm Sorry. So Sorry.

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:56:05 GMT

I don't know where to begin. I'm sorry for my story on why we have snot. I'm sorry for the one on whether doing housework results in a better sex life. And I'm really sorry for that cheap donut joke in my story on police dogs.

Ah, you guys know better. That public apology was a load of garbage. I'm not sorry for any of that!

But Mark McGwire sure is sorry. So is Harry Reid. Tiger Woods too. And they mean it. Really they do.

Tonight's Good Question focuses on public apologies, and how they're different from real, geniune, private apologies. I wanted to know, what your favorite public apology is.

Kerry pointed me to Christian Bale's i'm sorry.

I'm partial to the rambling, 20 minute Mark Sanford apology.

And we all love Bill Clinton's apology for the Monica Lewinsky shenanigans.

What's your favorite?

Reporting Live from my iPhone

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:00:29 GMT

I've been experimenting with the UStream Broadcaster app on my iPhone. It lets me go live from my 3G iPhone, anytime, anywhere. I click the "Go live" button, and my followers get a tweet and facebook message alerting them that I'm live.

We've also added my cell phone stream to my Jasoncam live page.

Today, Joe and I were driving to our story on how rock salt works to melt ice, and we had some fun at about 13 minutes into this recording, when we encountered salt trucks. It records and uploads too. The whole thing is 16 minutes, so click on over and enjoy.

Why Is My House Popping In The Cold?

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:12:46 GMT

When it turns cold, the e-mails start to flood the Good Question inbox, about a weird noise. A scary noise.

Ted Wolfe is one of those who writes: "When the weather stays this cold for this long,we, along with other people I have talked to,hear this very loud noise, almost like a shotgun blast right outside our windows.We only hear it at night.I have been told it is the trees cracking from the frost. Could this true? Thanks."

Ted, it's not the trees. It's actually the wood in your house contracting and expanding. Here's the story we did on this in January 2008. We went to a house and tried desperately to hear the noise. I'd love it if someone would send me audio of their house popping.

You want a more detailed scientific explanation of this? Seriously? OK, Carelton University in Canada explains it. (hat tip to Bob Collins' at MPR's News Cut blog). The only noises I hear in my house at night come from my wife when she's talking in her sleep. And we're not going to talk about that here.