Bristol editor gives one-fingered salute to Washington Post

[Keystone]

Considering my resume has ended up in the WaPo shredder a few times over the years, I found this a little funny.

http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/opinion/columnists/article/j._todd_foster_column_this_is_the_little_paper_that_could_..._and_did/45097/

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

That is ****ING awesome!

 

[big green wahoo]

Outstanding. Enjoyed it very much.

 

[YGBFKM]

I think that column makes a lot of us around here proud and fills us with a little bit of much-needed hope for the future. Especially the 38-year-olds among us.

 

[Ace]

I thought it came across as a little whiny.

 

[cranberry]

Childish. Dude held a grudge against the Post because he was passed over for a job a long time ago and projected his feeling of inferiority into the Post's story (Shapira's implied premise...) about a Pulitzer Prize.

You want to write for the Post? Please construct better sentences than this one:

It’s also afflicted with the same drive-by journalism that we all can be victims of if we allow ourselves, because of the current unfortunate economics of newspapering and just plain shallowness, to fall into that trap.

 

[spnited]

I thought it came across as a little whiny.

Not to mention a little unprofessional.

 

[YGBFKM]

I think it walked the "How do you like me now" line, but ultimately didn't cross it. Foster used a personal anecdote pretty effectively to make a great point -- that you can do great journalism outside the ivory towers of New York and Washington. Given the state of the industry in recent years, I think that's something we need to remember.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

This is probably why the Cleveland Plain Dealer almost never does profiles of smaller newspapers.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Who is J Foster whoever?

 

[YGBFKM]

Who is J Foster whoever?

The answer's in the byline. Couldn't get that far?

 

[Ace]

I thought it came across as a little whiny.

Not to mention a little unprofessional.

Yeah. If I ripped everyone in print who gave me a 10-hour interview and didn't hire me, I'd have to farm out the work to freelancers.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Who is J Foster whoever?

The answer's in the byline. Couldn't get that far?

I thought if he was some awesome journalist who went on to greatness after the Washington Post told him he already was all that he could be, I wouldn't have to read his bio.

 

[YGBFKM]

Who is J Foster whoever?

The answer's in the byline. Couldn't get that far?

I thought if he was some awesome journalist who went on to greatness after the Washington Post told him he already was all that he could be, I wouldn't have to read his bio.

The guy is the editor of a small paper that won the Pulitzer. He should be proud. Why begrudge him that? Have you heard of the reporter before, now a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter? I'm guessing you didn't. Does he not rate in your book as an "awesome journalist" because you didn't immediately recognize his name?

 

[I Should Coco]

As someone who has always worked for "little papers that could" AND who is 38, I liked the column.

There IS good reporting happening in the hinterlands, if you're willing to look among the local-kid-makes-good features and columns after columns of obits and police blotter. I think that was the overall point, more than a one-fingered salute.

Congrats to the Bristol Herald Courier and its staff!

 

[WriteThinking]

Not everyone loves J. Todd Foster, but I do.

I'd work for him any day, and he knows it.

I also believe he'd be happy to have me work for him. That means a lot.

He's rightfully proud of his reporter's and paper's accomplishment, and the column makes some good points.

I have to say that I could have done without that last visual/paragraph, however, despite the point that it makes...

 

[playthrough]

I liked it.

If he writes that column without that lede, maybe he hears from readers (or some on this board) who say, 'you bashed the Post because you're jealous and wished you worked there.'

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

Loved it. But didn't the reporter, Gilbert, go to University of Chicago? That defeats part of his "we didn't go to Princeton" anti-elitism argument. Then again, U of C doesn't churn out many journalists.

 

[Ace]

I liked it.

If he writes that column without that lede, maybe he hears from readers (or some on this board) who say, 'you bashed the Post because you're jealous and wished you worked there.'

Well, it sounds like he bashed the post because he's spiteful and wished he worked there.

 

[YGBFKM]

I liked it.

If he writes that column without that lede, maybe he hears from readers (or some on this board) who say, 'you bashed the Post because you're jealous and wished you worked there.'

Well, it sounds like he bashed the post because he's spiteful and wished he worked there.

I think you may be projecting.