While I admit that I rely on the Dayton Daily News as a source for primary news, and give credit to them for all articles that stimulate posts, they don’t do the same.

Two days ago, I wrote a follow-up on the Stivers School of the Arts concert hall fiasco, and did a little research in the inadequately accessible Montgomery County Public records- and uncovered that the architect had been sued for other problems. The story appeared in today’s Dayton 2 Day Old News.

I’m wondering how long it will take the DDN to do an expose on the failure of local governments to place documents from court filings to minutes of the Dayton City Commission online in a searchable, accessible and legal fashion? I’ve now posted about this flaw several times.

There is a reason newspapers are losing readership- and part of it comes from product quality. Although the recent redesign of their website is a step in the right direction, until they realize that their value is dictated purely on the size of their community, and that they need to come off their high horses and learn how to integrate the community with the news (Business Week is pioneering this new form of journalism) they will be forever doomed.

In the pioneer days- and I mean when Dayton was first settled, security was found in size of community. Those days have returned thanks to the Internet. Until the newspaper realizes that its relationship with the community is primary to its existence, its days are numbered.

If the editors would understand this concept, maybe they’d know that running the three negative comments about what’s great about Dayton in today’s Chatterbox “feature” is not only stupid and irreverent, but just another nail in the DDN coffin.