You are viewing an old revision of this post, from October 27, 2009 @ 23:32:12. See below for differences between this version and the current revision.
[photo from twitpic via Larfo]
I have a very personal relationship with the ups and downs of the Bay Bridge replacement project. This is not only because I’m a Berkeley resident who often depends on the structure. And it’s not only because I’m lucky enough to have a view of the bridge (distant but majestic) from my back window.
I used the project as a framing device in Dreaming in Code. You see, there are always people pounding the table complaining, “Why can’t we build software the way we build bridges?” It’s a fair question, but it forgets a couple of things. There’s the obvious: software is abstract, bridges are physical, and therefore they are constructed differently and behave differently. But the table-pounders are also forgetting about the long history of bridge failures. As I watched the Bay Bridge project unfold during the time I worked on Dreaming, I began by wondering what made bridge-building and software construction so different. Three years later, as the bridge project had quadrupled in cost, been redesigned several times and been put on hold for many months by a political dispute, I ended up asking whether the two undertakings were really so different after all.
Now the bridge even has its very own bug, and some down time. They could hang a big Fail Whale from its girders!
As it happened, I spent this evening playing a new game with one of my sons, so I was relatively off the grid, and found out about the bridge’s sudden closure only when I scanned Twitter a little while ago.
I first turned to the SF Gate home page, where I found a solid and informative lead story that must have been assembled and posted by the Chronicle’s reporters and editors very quickly indeed. The Chron story also leads the Google News block on the event.
The Oakland Tribune also had a reasonably thorough piece, with a focus on commute details, that the San Jose Mercury News — now part of the same chain — reprinted, along with another Trib feature that basically compiled people’s Twitter messages about the event. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat has a solid take posted, too.
KRON had a fairly full report of its own and easily accessible video from its newscast. CBS5 had an AP story and some raw video. KGO/ABC had a brief story. Yahoo had a fuller version of the AP’s story. KTVU had a story credited to itself and Bay City News.
Over at SFist I found a bloggy take on the event, with more links but less hard info than the Chron story (which SFist linked to). Other local blogs, like Berkeleyside, also did some linking and summarizing.
CNN had a brief story. As I write this, the New York Times’ new Bay Area blog doesn’t have anything up. Wikipedia’s Bay Bridge page already has a sentence about the news. And over at Spot.us you can find a pitch — out for a while now but likely to see fresh wind in its sails — for an investigative project by some veteran journalists, backed by the Public Press and McSweeney’s (whose founder, Dave Eggers, seems to have kicked in a generous grant), looking into why the bridge project has had such problems.
So there you have it. The longterm investigative pieces that might once have come from the big-paper newsroom must now be funded by other means (I kicked in my $20!). But the papers are still doing some valuable spot-news work. With a story like this, at least, the best combination of speed and depth in an early report still comes from the leading local daily newspapers.
We knew that, of course. But we also know that we simply aren’t going to be able to count on having those sources that much longer. This week brought news of a precipitous decline in the Chronicle’s circulation. We should be planning (as Dave Winer has been urging for a long time) for life without it.
And that means figuring out how to make sure that our community has a way to find out what happened, and what’s going on, the next time a cable breaks on the bridge.
Post Revisions:
- October 27, 2009 @ 23:38:48 [Current Revision] by Scott Rosenberg
- October 27, 2009 @ 23:32:12 by Scott Rosenberg
Changes:
| October 27, 2009 @ 23:32:12 | Current Revision | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Content | |||
| <a href="http:// twitpic.com/n7hv3"> | <a href="http:// twitpic.com/n7hv3"> | ||
| <img src="http://www.wordyard.com/ wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ 38980911.jpg" alt="Bay Bridge cable down (via Twitpic)" title="Bay Bridge cable down (via Twitpic)" width="600" height="450" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2305" /></a> | <img src="http://www.wordyard.com/ wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ 38980911.jpg" alt="Bay Bridge cable down (via Twitpic)" title="Bay Bridge cable down (via Twitpic)" width="600" height="450" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2305" /></a> | ||
| [photo from twitpic via <a href="http:// twitpic.com/n7hv3">Larfo</a>] | [photo from twitpic via <a href="http:// twitpic.com/n7hv3">Larfo</a>] | ||
| <p> </p> | <p> </p> | ||
| I have a very personal relationship with the ups and downs of the Bay Bridge replacement project. This is not only because I'm a Berkeley resident who often depends on the structure. And it's not only because I'm lucky enough to have a view of the bridge (distant but majestic) from my back window. | I have a very personal relationship with the ups and downs of the Bay Bridge replacement project. This is not only because I'm a Berkeley resident who often depends on the structure. And it's not only because I'm lucky enough to have a view of the bridge (distant but majestic) from my back window. | ||
| I used the project as a framing device in <i>Dreaming in Code.</i> You see, there are always people pounding the table complaining, "Why can't we build software the way we build bridges?" It's a fair question, but it forgets a couple of things. There's the obvious: software is abstract, bridges are physical, and therefore they are constructed differently and behave differently. But the table-pounders are also forgetting about the long history of bridge failures. As I watched the Bay Bridge project unfold during the time I worked on <i>Dreaming,</i> I began by wondering what made bridge-building and software construction so different. Three years later, as the bridge project had quadrupled in cost, been redesigned several times and been put on hold for many months by a political dispute, I ended up asking whether the two undertakings were really so different after all. | I used the project as a framing device in <i>Dreaming in Code.</i> You see, there are always people pounding the table complaining, "Why can't we build software the way we build bridges?" It's a fair question, but it forgets a couple of things. There's the obvious: software is abstract, bridges are physical, and therefore they are constructed differently and behave differently. But the table-pounders are also forgetting about the long history of bridge failures. As I watched the Bay Bridge project unfold during the time I worked on <i>Dreaming,</i> I began by wondering what made bridge-building and software construction so different. Three years later, as the bridge project had quadrupled in cost, been redesigned several times and been put on hold for many months by a political dispute, I ended up asking whether the two undertakings were really so different after all. | ||
| Now the bridge even has its very own bug, and some down time. They could hang a big Fail Whale from its girders! | Now the bridge even has its very own bug, and some down time. They could hang a big Fail Whale from its girders! | ||
| As it happened, I spent this evening playing a <a href="http:// www.boardgamegeek.com/ boardgame/34635">new game</a> with one of my sons, so I was relatively off the grid, and found out about the bridge's sudden closure only when I scanned Twitter a little while ago. | As it happened, I spent this evening playing a <a href="http:// www.boardgamegeek.com/ boardgame/34635">new game</a> with one of my sons, so I was relatively off the grid, and found out about the bridge's sudden closure only when I scanned Twitter a little while ago. | ||
| I first turned to the SF Gate home page, where I found <a href="http:// www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article.cgi?f= /c/a/2009/10/ 27/BAO81ABJTF.DTL&tsp=1">a solid and informative lead story</a> that must have been assembled and posted by the Chronicle's reporters and editors very quickly indeed. The Chron story also leads the Google News block on the event. | I first turned to the SF Gate home page, where I found <a href="http:// www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article.cgi?f= /c/a/2009/10/ 27/BAO81ABJTF.DTL&tsp=1">a solid and informative lead story</a> that must have been assembled and posted by the Chronicle's reporters and editors very quickly indeed. The Chron story also leads the Google News block on the event. | ||
| The Oakland Tribune also had a <a href="http:// www.insidebayarea.com/news/ ci_13654754">reasonably thorough piece</a>, with a focus on commute details, that the San Jose Mercury News -- now part of the same chain -- reprinted, along with <a href="http:// www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ ci_13654929?nclick_ check=1">another Trib feature</a> that basically compiled people's Twitter messages about the event. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat has <a href="http:// www.pressdemocrat.com/article/ 20091027/NEWS/ 910279919/1065/ NEWS06?Title= Bay-Bridge-closed">a solid take</a> posted, too. | The Oakland Tribune also had a <a href="http:// www.insidebayarea.com/news/ ci_13654754">reasonably thorough piece</a>, with a focus on commute details, that the San Jose Mercury News -- now part of the same chain -- reprinted, along with <a href="http:// www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ ci_13654929?nclick_ check=1">another Trib feature</a> that basically compiled people's Twitter messages about the event. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat has <a href="http:// www.pressdemocrat.com/article/ 20091027/NEWS/ 910279919/1065/ NEWS06?Title= Bay-Bridge-closed">a solid take</a> posted, too. | ||
| KRON had <a href="http:// www.kron.com/ News/ArticleView/ tabid/298/smid/ 1126/ArticleID/ 3672/reftab/564/ t/Caltrans%20Shuts%20Down%20Bay%20Bridge/ Default.aspx">a fairly full report of its own</a> and easily accessible video from its newscast. CBS5 had an AP story and some <a href="http:// cbs5.com/video/ ?id=57235@kpix.dayport.com">raw video</a>. KGO/ABC had a <a href="http:// abclocal.go.com/ kgo/story?section= resources/traffic&id= 7086117">brief story.</a> Yahoo had a <a href="http:// news.yahoo.com/ s/ap/20091028/ ap_on_re_us/us_bay_bridge_ cable_snaps">fuller version</a> of the AP's story. KTVU had a <a href="http:// www.ktvu.com/ news/21445114/ detail.html">story</a> credited to itself and Bay City News. | KRON had <a href="http:// www.kron.com/ News/ArticleView/ tabid/298/smid/ 1126/ArticleID/ 3672/reftab/564/ t/Caltrans%20Shuts%20Down%20Bay%20Bridge/ Default.aspx">a fairly full report of its own</a> and easily accessible video from its newscast. CBS5 had an AP story and some <a href="http:// cbs5.com/video/ ?id=57235@kpix.dayport.com">raw video</a>. KGO/ABC had a <a href="http:// abclocal.go.com/ kgo/story?section= resources/traffic&id= 7086117">brief story.</a> Yahoo had a <a href="http:// news.yahoo.com/ s/ap/20091028/ ap_on_re_us/us_bay_bridge_ cable_snaps">fuller version</a> of the AP's story. KTVU had a <a href="http:// www.ktvu.com/ news/21445114/ detail.html">story</a> credited to itself and Bay City News. | ||
| Over at <a href="http:// sfist.com/2009/ 10/27/snapped_ cable_shuts_down_ bay_bridge.php">SFist</a> I found a bloggy take on the event, with more links but less hard info than the Chron story (which SFist linked to). Other local blogs, like <a href="http:// www.berkeleyside.com/2009/ 10/27/bay-bridge-closing- down-after-cable- snap/">Berkeleyside | Over at <a href="http:// sfist.com/2009/ 10/27/snapped_ cable_shuts_down_ bay_bridge.php">SFist</a> I found a bloggy take on the event, with more links but less hard info than the Chron story (which SFist linked to). Other local blogs, like <a href="http:// www.berkeleyside.com/2009/ 10/27/bay-bridge-closing- down-after-cable- snap/">Berkeleyside</a> and <a href="http:// oaklandlocal.com/blogs/2009/ 27/oct-27-pm- daily-brief- bay-bridge-according- twitter">Oakland Local</a>, also did some linking and summarizing. | ||
| CNN had a <a href="http:// edition.cnn.com/2009/US/10/ 27/california.bay.bridge.accident/">brief story</a>. As I write this, the New York Times' <a href="http:// bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/">new Bay Area blog</a> doesn't have anything up. Wikipedia's <a href="http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_ Francisco_–_ Oakland_Bay_Bridge">Bay Bridge page</a> already has a sentence about the news. And over at Spot.us you can find a <a href="http:// spot.us/pitches/ 289-bay-bridge- explained">pitch</a> -- out for a while now but likely to see fresh wind in its sails -- for an investigative project by some veteran journalists, backed by the <a href="http:// sfpublicpress.org/blog/2009- 10-12/public- press-and-mcsweeneys- seeking-publics-support-on- bay-bridge-investigative- repo">Public Press</a> and McSweeney's (whose founder, Dave Eggers, seems to have kicked in a generous grant), looking into why the bridge project has had such problems. | CNN had a <a href="http:// edition.cnn.com/2009/US/10/ 27/california.bay.bridge.accident/">brief story</a>. As I write this, the New York Times' <a href="http:// bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/">new Bay Area blog</a> doesn't have anything up. Wikipedia's <a href="http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_ Francisco_–_ Oakland_Bay_Bridge">Bay Bridge page</a> already has a sentence about the news. And over at Spot.us you can find a <a href="http:// spot.us/pitches/ 289-bay-bridge- explained">pitch</a> -- out for a while now but likely to see fresh wind in its sails -- for an investigative project by some veteran journalists, backed by the <a href="http:// sfpublicpress.org/blog/2009- 10-12/public- press-and-mcsweeneys- seeking-publics-support-on- bay-bridge-investigative- repo">Public Press</a> and McSweeney's (whose founder, Dave Eggers, seems to have kicked in a generous grant), looking into why the bridge project has had such problems. | ||
| So there you have it. The longterm investigative pieces that might once have come from the big-paper newsroom must now be funded by other means (I kicked in my $20!). But the papers are still doing some valuable spot-news work. With a story like this, at least, the best combination of speed and depth in an early report still comes from the leading local daily newspapers. | So there you have it. The longterm investigative pieces that might once have come from the big-paper newsroom must now be funded by other means (I kicked in my $20!). But the papers are still doing some valuable spot-news work. With a story like this, at least, the best combination of speed and depth in an early report still comes from the leading local daily newspapers. | ||
| We knew that, of course. But we also know that we simply aren't going to be able to count on having those sources that much longer. This week brought news of a <a href="http:// www.editorandpublisher.com/ eandp/news/article_ display.jsp?vnu_ content_id=1004030291" >precipitous decline in the Chronicle's circulation</a>. We should be planning (as Dave Winer has been urging for a long time) for life without it. | We knew that, of course. But we also know that we simply aren't going to be able to count on having those sources that much longer. This week brought news of a <a href="http:// www.editorandpublisher.com/ eandp/news/article_ display.jsp?vnu_ content_id=1004030291" >precipitous decline in the Chronicle's circulation</a>. We should be planning (as Dave Winer has been urging for a long time) for life without it. | ||
| And that means figuring out how to make sure that our community has a way to find out what happened, and what's going on, the next time a cable breaks on the bridge. | And that means figuring out how to make sure that our community has a way to find out what happened, and what's going on, the next time a cable breaks on the bridge. | ||
Note: Spaces may be added to comparison text to allow better line wrapping.
On behalf of SF Public Press, thank you!
As one of the writers of the Chronicle/SF Gate story, thank you for the kind words and recognition.
We’ve linked back to this article from our site.
Dave Winer sent a link to this article on Twitter and that’s how I came to be reading it. (Thanks, Dave.)
I also have an intense personal relationship with the bridge because it has loomed close and large outside both my master bedroom and living room windows in San Francisco since I moved to San Francisco in 1998. I have always lived in the Bay Area and I remember as a little girl my dad driving us to the Bay Bridge approach on the San Francisco side and seeing the large neon billboards with things like a coffee cup that filled and emptied from a giant pot in a cascade of neon lights. I thought the bridge was beautiful then and now and am bemused by those who think it inferior to its orange cousin to the north.
In 1987, at night, I was on the bay in a large sailboat in a traffic jam of boats angling to watch the fireworks set off to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bay Bridge’s opening. Outside my home, the bridge goes over my head as I walk to the Embarcadero. I drive under the bridge to park my car. I hear it, I see it, and the fine grit from all those cars makes lots of extra dusting necessary. I had a front seat view to the retrofit that followed Loma Prieta. Every night the bridge lights come on, and every night I am struck by the beauty of the bridge and grateful that we still care about ornament and celebration enough to light those lights.
I followed you on Twitter some time ago as I searched for interesting, intelligent people, but I did not know your complete bio until today. Yesterday you sent a Twitter asking people what they were doing when they heard about the bridge and I told you I was in Berkeley relaxing at Cesar and checked Twitter just before I left and found that the bridge was closed. I crossed the Richmond and GG bridges to get home at midnight.
In any case, I appreciated your article. I live in intimate relationship with the Bay Bridge now, and I also for years worked in high tech—I began with a literature degree from Cal and my first job was in the late seventies for Dan Lynch at SRI in a circumstance of culture shock that was most entertaining and enlightening—at startups where we labored to make good software and encountered the problems software creation is heir to. I love that process and the people who work in the field, it was deeply annoying and deeply fun, and surprisingly similar to the real process of building the Bay Bridge and keeping it working.
I also am a news reader who gets the NYT and the Chronicle delivered daily. I read Slate, Salon, Huff Post, Truthout, Politico, and so on daily. I read Wired and The Nation and The New Yorker, and the NY Review. I do worry where we will get the kind of news we can now sometimes still get from our daily newspapers and from our magazines. It was interesting to read that Dave Winer has said we need to be preparing for a new way to get the news. I agree. And, I appreciate your words on the subject and will now read your books.
Just found the site – terrific stuff. Scott, your work deserves credit and I will certainly add you to my favourites list for future updates and entries.
I will now check out ‘Dreaming in Code’.
Twitter’ers seem to be getting all of the ‘action’ shots lately. new york and now this one.