Lamestream Media?

Bradenton Herald, Lamestream Media?

The Bradenton Herald, Manatee County’s newspaper since 1928 is a combination mainstream media and neighborhood newspaper. Recently purchased by McClatchy newspapers with a modest circulation, the Herald serves an area with a population of 350-450,000 permanent residents and a "snowbird" population of ? On the front-page above the fold is "The Bikini Incident", "Public to have say on dress code", "Levitt and Sons a casualty of market", " FPL deal has made residents unhappy", And below the fold is "Looking to the Heavens " and " Property-tax plan’s side effects hurting chances for approval".Also, on the fold is Georgia Gripped By Drought; Governor Decides to Pray for Rain.

All of these except for "Bikini’s" are continued on the inside pages. Inside are sections devoted to BUSINESS, LOCAL, SPORTS, CLASSIFIED, and a special section on tuesdays "BRADENTON NEIGHBORS".

In the latter is a sub-section; MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR, In this case, on Tuesday November 13, 2007, your neighbor is a 91 year old resident of Colony Cove, a mobile home adults only retirement park. The article about your neighbor is "Tee Ross is author, accomplished accordian player"by Richard Dymond. He is happy every day because he is giving back to the world some of what he learned as a big band leader, teacher, music store and studio owner and inspirational speaker. This son of Italian immigrants traveled in circles which included Myron Floren the accordion player for Lawrence Welk and Welk himself.

Ross has written a book entitled, "Its a great Life At Any Age " which took him ten years to write. It does tell his life story but also is a book of encouragement. At the heart of the book is Ross’ feeling that a "higher power" guides our lives. Ross hopes to write more books in the coming years.

"My brother writes from his heart", said Sam Ross, a retired history professor from Sacramento State University. Ross boils down his ninety-one years in one statement. "I believe God answers prayers though people," Ross said.

The "BRADENTON NEIGHBORS" Section also includes other sub-sections such as CLUB MEETINGS, PETS OF THE WEEK, READERS’ PETS, BULLETIN BOARD, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, COMMUNITY CLUBS, COLLEGE NEWS, VOLUNTEERS, SCHOOL NEWS, HOMETOWN CLICK, GOOD NEIGHBORS, NEIGHBORS ON VACATION, MOVIES &ADVICE, HOROSCOPE, NEIGHBORS CLASSIFIED, and HOMETOWN SPORTS. All of this in 24 pages.