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Congressman takes credit for Rocky Mountain News closing

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by JayFarrar, Mar 3, 2009.

  1. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    To be fair, journalists -- even the ones on the scene -- did a pretty piss-poor job of telling us what was going on in the Superdome. The overwrought tales of cannibalism, rape, murder, dogs and cats living together, etc., weren't exactly a gold-star achievement for the notebook-and-credential set.

    Also, y'know, lots of bloggers HAVE embedded (cq) with military units in Iraq and Afghanistan. So...maybe not the best examples of the greatness of traditional (or dare I say "mainstream?") journalism.

    Not saying Polis was write for cheerleading the Rocky's closure. But maybe, just maybe, this kind of smugness is what makes so many people cheer him for cheering it.
     
  2. Magic In The Night

    Magic In The Night Active Member

    I say we give these bloggers the opportunity to do all their own work by blocking our Web sites' content. And also, the opportunity to work without editors. Perhaps they know the difference between write and right?
     
  3. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

  4. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    Not buying it. First of all, plenty of Republican politicians are persona non grata on Limbaugh's show -- that is, after all, sort of the point of being a populist talk-radio guy. Second, Michael Steele is entirely capable of committing career suicide on his own, as detailed today in Politico:

     
  5. Winger --
    You're really trying too hard. The events of the last week belie your premise fairly thoroughly. When one Republican politician -- I was going to add "of note," but I'll take any of them -- thoroughly and vigorously repudiates the FJST and then, when attacked, fires back instead of capitulating, I'll believe you.
     
  6. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    I have no idea what a FJST is. Google seems to think it's the Father Junipero Serra Trail, but that'd be a fairly inscrutable reference, even by your standards.

    http://www.mtrp.org/directions.asp?idno=9

    As for your thesis that Limbaugh's the GOP's Svengali because members of Congress aren't lining up to rip him and offend his thousands of listeners, I have a alternate theory. Maybe, just maybe, iRepublican politicians -- despite their many other failings -- are smart enough to know opposition parties are better served by unity than internecine squabbling.
     
  7. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    FJST = Fat Junkie Sex Tourist
     
  8. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    I'm not a Limbaugh listener, but he seems to yo-yo like Oprah. Is he fat again?
     
  9. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    And more to the point, is that relevant? Or mature?

    I never cease to be amazed at how many of our resident lefty intellects sink to "Ann Coulter is ugly" and "Limbaugh is fat," in lieu of actual discussion of the "issues." And here I thought the time had come to put away childish things...weird.
     
  10. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    He's certainly not thin, but he's not as massive as he was there for a while.

    And it's not like GOP types don't mock liberals for their looks (Chelsea Clinton=dog, Hillary Clinton=ugly, etc). It's a pretty easy thing to fall back on.
     
  11. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    All's I know is, it's not my style. And I wouldn't have thought it'd be F_B's either.
     
  12. Luke_Knox

    Luke_Knox New Member

    Brilliant response from Kathy Bogan, who was design director at the Rocky:

    "Dear Congressman:

    Looks like you are in need of a new speech writer.

    You could have avoided that whole messy apology thing this week if you’d only gotten the spin on the story right in the first place. Forget “bloggers killed the Rocky Mountain News;” go with “bloggers are saving the lives of hundreds of journalists and protecting the security of their families every day.”

    After all, now that newspapers are ‑‑ thankfully ‑‑ dying, journalists won’t need to go to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to find out what’s going on; bloggers can do it.

    When “all of Colorado is burning,” journalists will be safe somewhere while bloggers flying around in helicopters are taking pictures of walls of flame and recording the stories of hundreds of displaced families in school gyms, telling the community how the refugees are doing.

    When a category 5 hurricane hits New Orleans, journalists will be at home to protect their families and property while bloggers grab their camera phones and jump into their canoes to let the world know what’s happening at the Superdome.

    When Chernobyl blows up, bloggers will be the first ones on the ground to record the devastation. Meanwhile journalists won’t be needing their personal radiation levels checked.

    Bloggers can fly to Baghdad, imbed with troops, hop in a Humvee and write about those IEDs in their own words. Journalists can be home looking for jobs.

    Which brings me back to your own needs – that speech writer. I know about 200 journalists who were laid off last Thursday who would be happy to try to help you spin your speeches, if you could help them with their mortgages, health insurance and college tuition payments. Or maybe you can pay them to blog for you."
     
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