If you are interested in writing articles for Urban Semiotic, I am making one small change to how that process will work. Everyone will now have “Contributor” status. That will allow me to pre-read the articles before publication and allow some give-and-take in feedback and I can also better determine how the new articles will appear for publication. I thought we’d have many more new articles about the Urban Core than we have but that isn’t proving to be the case so queuing up posts and patterning them out will give all the articles more “face time” on the blog. If you have a new piece for publication, save it online and then let me know the piece is finished. I will then check the piece and clear it for publication to give you the best exposure.

27 Comments

  1. This change in publication policy has nothing to do with the articles that have already been published. This change was ignited by off-blog discussions with authors over the weekend. This new policy should better encourage the new writer to better brave the depths of our understanding here.

  2. Hi David,
    I think it’s a good idea.
    Things like writing a good title could be covered during the editing phase before the post is published.
    Also, I know that I always think of things that I could have covered or written different after I’ve had some time to think about a post. Having built in time to reflect and another pair of eyes can make great posts even better.

  3. Hey Chris —
    Thanks for taking the point! Your work here has been stellar and uncompromised and I thank you for setting such a high standard of writing to inspire others onward and to also serve as a fine template for imitation.

  4. Thanks for the compliment, David!
    I have an idea for a post inspired by a book I picked up from the library over the weekend. I’m going to need some time to think about it and write it up.
    Check out The Cost of Being Poor: A Comparative Study of Life in Poor Urban Neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana. It’s available on Amazon.com for anyone interested — but you can always ask your library to purchase a copy.
    The book makes an argument that even though the urban core is crumbling and poverty rates are high, most suburban enterprises in my county are still dependent upon the dollars that Gary residents spend in their stores. Without the money from the poor, the stores would lose a significant number of their customers.
    People might not want the poor people in their communities, but they always welcome their money.

  5. It’s a brilliant article idea, Chris!
    I love it that you want some time to contemplate an angle. SuperGood!
    I like the ethical split along monetary lines: Poor people are unwanted as neighbors but they are necessary as customers – perhaps the more evil thinkers will propose bussing in the poor from shelters to they can “buy local” and then, when the money is handed over, ship them back out of sight and mind.

  6. Or, could this be a reason why people don’t want Wal-Marts in their communities? I always suspect that’s the reason when wealthy communities say Wal-Mart will ruin their character of their quaint towns.
    The Cost of Being Poor is an interesting book because it makes one realize that it costs a lot to be poor.
    In some ways, having a little money, i.e. being middle class, results in significant cost savings because access to goods and services is easy. Since little commerce is conducted in the inner city, besides smaller shops with limited product lines (i.e. limited produce and meats, etc), people have to spend time and money to leave the urban core to do their daily shopping and business chores.
    Also being poor often results in higher costs to sign up for utilities and phone service. Often, deposits and other fees are charged to people with poor credit (or lack of stable work history) that aren’t charged to those outside of the urban core with better prospects for timely payment.
    It’s interesting that in America, it’s expensive to be poor and cheaper to be middle class.

  7. Hi Chris —
    Yes, the city fathers always say the reason Wal-Mart is not welcome is because it will kill local businesses but the real underlying core behind the dispute is the sort of clientele the store will serve. The wealthy don’t shop at Wal-Mart. People who don’t have a lot of money shop at Wal-Mart.
    I like your argument that it’s expensive being poor. That’s right on target!

  8. This change makes sense. If you don’t have a continuous source of articles then spacing them out is better for everybody reading and writing.

  12. Good idea David. I notice the posts now don’t specify the author is this intentional?
    Our local bigwigs vetoed Wal-Mart moving in down town and then moved in a discount grocers and a Liquidation World into the space. They are in the process of gentrifying the town center, which means local won’t be able to afford to live there.
    Mik

  13. Hi Mik —
    I don’t know why the Author isn’t showing up as an Author! That doesn’t make sense to me. I’ll have to figure out a fix unless you know what’s going on here.
    Your local Wal-Mart story is fascinating, Mik! You should track that for us and then write it up as a post here.

  15. I was just formulating the idea in my mind with a view to a post in fact.
    Not sure on why author names aren’t showing up. Is it because everyone’s status was changed to contributor, although I was showing up yesterday as the author. Hmmmm.

  16. I thought that change in status might have done something, but your status remains unchanged and so does mine — yet we both seem to have written nothing!
    I have a brief meeting to attend now. Then I’ll look into it.
    If, in the meantime, you get a beat on what’s happening here, let me know!

  20. Okay, the problem is fixed for now!
    Big thanks to MichaelH ( http://www.hancockdata.com/ ) over in the WordPress.org support forum for sussing out the problem for us.
    He suggested switching back the users who were Authors but are now Contributors back to Author status — I did — and we’re back! We can once again see the Author of the post. I’m guessing the issue was a permissions problem with creating and editing posts and the roles that were set.
    So if you were an Author, you are now once again an Author. I just ask that when you’re ready to publish you let me know before hitting that button so I can read your work and make sure we find a good time to get you the best exposure.

  21. No I don’t, hmmm I think because I sign the posts and if Carolyn writes something she does so too I didn’t really pay attention.

  24. Already sorted it thanks, so now our names show up when we publish and we don’t have to sign the posts.
    Always learning.

  26. Thanks, and finally got WordPress 2.02 installed. Still trying out plugins here and there and tweaking the layout.
    Mik

  27. Hey, Mik, I’m with you. I’m trying to get my head all around it, too. I’m glad you upgraded to 2.0.2 — that gives you an extra sense of security.

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