My tt comment from july 2007

http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/12/4033#58391

This Top Whatever list of Lake Erie West communities is bogus. I made it up. No one did a survey or study. I'm peddling crap. Besides, a real list would have Ann Arbor as the #1 community. Personally, I'd put Elmore near the top.

I'm reading an entertaining book about the media titled It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News, which is written by Drew Curtis, the founder of Fark.com.

One of the media's favorite "news" articles is the Top Whatever list that, as Curtis states, is usually nothing more than an unpaid placement masquerading as an actual article. So in my case of crapola, this Top Whatever list is promoting the Lake Erie West region. I never mentioned the words: northwest, southeast, Ohio, Michigan.

I mentioned 14 communities in my initial posting, even though it's only a Top 10 list. Other communities mentioned in other comments in this thread include: Oregon, Port Clinton, Bedford, Findlay, and Ann Arbor. I have visited all of these communities and many others in the Lake Erie West region, and they all seem like fine towns, including Toledo. I'm not radically interested in any one community. They all have their good and bad points. My interest is in the region. I moved here for what the region offered: Lake Erie and the Maumee River.

I have a lot of info and old news stories about Lake Erie West that I plan to post here this summer. So this Top Whatever list was using a corporation/organization/media tactic to start a conversation.

And besides, since it's fine for our local media to peddle crap, why can't I? This brings me to the real, hidden purpose of this thread: listing some recent examples of bad local journalism.

One : The Jun 19, 2007 bogus WNWO story titled Outcry After Raunchy Band Performs in Downtown Toledo.

This alleged "news" story aired on June 19 even though the concert was on June 15. Why didn't WNWO air the story on the 11:00 p.m. news on June 15?

A person who attended the MT-TV concert, debunked the WNWO story. And the Toledo City Paper published an interview with a member of MT-TV in a Jun 27, 2007 article titled MT-TV responds to criticism about its allegedly indecent Rally by the River performance, which also shreds the WNWO story that was partly based upon the word of anonymous police officer.

On Jun 20, 2007, I said:

"I don't think there's anything here for the almighty Czarty to look into. It seems the Citi Fest person did nothing wrong."

One-A
Yet, just last week, July 11-12, one of the WSPD talk show hosts more than once asked the question about why the Citi Fest person wasn't fired for booking Rockbitch whose lead singer wasn't wearing underwear. This question was asked because of the uproar by some or many over the Lucas County Democrat fund raiser with waitresses from strip clubs. The WSDP host thought that if people should be fired for bringing strippers to a golf outing, then why not fire the Citi Fest person for booking a half-naked singer?

Multiple problems exist with this WSPD host. One, Rockbitch did not perform downtown last month. MT-TV played. Two, the WNWO story about the singer not wearing underwear is fiction. But that doesn't stop the WSPD host from advancing the lie.

The writer or reporter for this WNWO story was Aaron Brilbeck who also does news updates on WSPD.

Two - Related to strippergate, the stories about Allison Dow and the "Vote Naked" campaign.

Here's my Jul 11, 2007 comment from the strippergate thread about this Dow thing. Basically, it appeared that a John Irish supporter exploited the absurdity of some local media in an attempt to discredit Dow who was wanting Irish to resign.

WUPW ran their version of this story on the 11:00 p.m. news on July 10. Here's the link to their story that I posted on July 11, but that link no longer points to the Allison Dow story. Either I posted the wrong link last week or something changed on the WUPW site. I cannot find the WUPW story on the WUPW Web site.

An anonymous e-mailer gave WUPW some info about Dow. Here is what I posted on July 11 that is from the WUPW story:

"A main rival trying to remove Lucas County Democratic Party chair John Irish has used sexual innuendos in her own campaigns."

My comment about the WUPW news story: The Fox 36 reporter says the anonymous viewer is "raising questions about Dow's judgment regarding exploitation after the flyer appears to be using sex to catch voters' attention."

Here's the thing, from what I can tell, "Vote Naked" is a slogan to encourage students to vote online. It's not unique to Dow, and it's not unique to the University of Toledo. It seems other universities use this "Vote Naked" phrase to encourage students to vote in school elections. And it may be used for other voting initiatives around the country. I don't see how this became a news story on WUPW. I don't see how it's suppose to discredit Dow.

WTOL also ran a similar story. Here's the Jul 12, 2007 WTOL story on their Web site titled Some Question Dow's Stance in Democratic Scandal. Excerpts from the story:

"The stripper scandal is also making news over at the University of Toledo, and specifically, the leader of the College Democrats. Some critics are calling her a hypocrite, after looking at a campaign advertisement Allison Dow made in an unsuccessful run for UT Student Government."

"When Dow ran for Vice President of the UT Student Government, she created a campaign advertisement that showed her with her running mate, looking at a computer screen with their campaign slogan on it. Both give the impression they are unclothed from the waist up."

"On the other side of the advertisement, it says "Vote Naked." It was meant to be a play on the fact UT voters used the Internet to vote, meaning they could vote from anywhere, and in theory, in any state of dress."

"The anonymous e-mailer also sent us another photo -- not a campaign picture -- that shows Dow in a t-shirt saying "Blondes do it Better." "

It seems that anonymous e-mailer apparently contacted most or all of the local media with its supposedly scandalous info about Dow. Neither the WUPW nor the WTOL stories mention that "Vote Naked" is used at other universities. Both stations did a poor job of researching this story and providing the public with the necessary background information related to "Vote Naked." The anonymous e-mailer was in complete control of these two stations, and the anonymous e-mailer must have had a good laugh over this.

WUPW did not mention Dow's "Blondes do it Better" t-shirt like WTOL did.

The Jul 11, 2007 Hildo column in the Toledo City Paper contained a subsection titled "Allison, my aim is true". Some excerpts from that column:

"One of the organizers is Allison Dow, president of the UT College Democrats. Ms. Dow is furious at the disgusting and immoral antics at her fellow Dems...but then what about this picture from her Myspace page? A T-shirt reading ‘Blondes Do it Better,’ sandwiched between two dudes — we smell a rat."

That t-shirt again. Did the same anonymous e-mailer contact the anonymous Hildo, or was Hildo the anonymous e-mailer who contacted WUPW and WTOL?

I don't understand how this was suppose to discredit a college student. I don't understand how this was considered "news."

Anonymous police officer. Anonymous e-mailer. Where's the research from these "news" orgs to verify and to provide additional information related to the issue?

Three Strippergate was a non-story for the Toledo Free Press.

Have you seen any stories from the Toledo Free Press related to the Lucas County Democrat golf outing fund raiser? The Toledo Free Press is a local weekly newspaper, isn't it?

On Thursday afternoons, TFP Editor in Chief Michael Miller spends some time with the WSPD host, discussing what stories are in the upcoming issue of the Toledo Free Press. I don't have Miller's exact words, but about strippergate, Miller said last Thursday something like, the TFP chose not to cover the story because the TFP considered it a non-story or a non-issue. Miller said this area has more important issues to discuss.

Really, like what? I'm guessing the biggies: fire, police, garbage, roads, sewers. Which party is in control locally that will make decisions concerning these issues? Of course, that would be the Lucas County Democrats. And the leaders of this party select, promote, or endorse people for political positions that will make decisions concerning these "important" issues. So what about the judgment of these leaders when it comes to bringing waitresses from a strip club to a Democrat fund raiser? How do we trust their judgment when it comes to selecting candidates? How is this NOT a story?

The leader of the Ohio Democrat Pary, Chris Redfern, got involved and basically put an end to Irish and Montalto. It became an issue for the statewide party. How is this not a story? This happened in Ohio, the state that probably determined the 2004 presidential election, and may be an important factor in 2008. If the Democrat candidate takes Ohio in 2008, then that person probably wins the White House.

So Miller said strippergate wasn't important enough for the Toledo Free Press to cover. So what's on the cover of the current issue of the Toledo Free Press that Miller thinks is so important to this area? That would be Harry Potter.

Nothing against Harry Potter, but why put Potter on the cover of a newspaper? I could see a special insert section dedicated to Pottermania, and a mention of this section on the cover. To the TFP, Potter is more important to the area than the bad judgment of the Lucas County Democrat leaders.

An article in last week's issue of The Sojourner's Truth, another local weekly, had this gem that I don't think appeared anywhere else in the media:

"The Truth has been told by members of the party who were privy to the original planning that the Spuyten Duyval course has 27 holes and the women golfers in the outing were deliberately routed away from the nine-hole portion of the course where the strippers were providing services."

Apparently, the TFP was too swamped with Pottermania to uncover additional facts like the Sojourner's Truth did. Maybe the TFP realized they made a mistake not investigating strippergate, and Miller tried to dismiss the work done by other media outlets with his comment about strippergate not being an important issue for the TFP.

Potter means money for a lot of businesses not just the author and publisher. Putting Potter on the TFP cover makes sense from a marketing and business standpoint. The TFP probably figures that with Potter on the cover, more people may pick up the TFP from stores, and more people may open it who receive it at home. This means more eyes looking inside at the ads that fund the TFP.

Harry Potter sells. I think the madness surrounding Potter is fun.

My July 2005 Toledo Talk posting about the previous Potter book.

I'll soak up the Potter articles in the current issue of the TFP, and my wife and I may go to one of the stores this Friday night for the fun of it all. Maybe we'll tailgate in the parking lot for a while, grilling roadkill and drinking adult beverages. I wonder if an adult version of the Pottermania Party is being held somewhere?

But Pottermania is also big business. Is that why the TFP considers Potter a more important "news" story than strippergate? In fact, the TFP published today (July 17) on its Web site a story titled "Final 'Potter' book leaked on Web." Breaking news from the TFP about the final Harry Potter book, but zippo about what local political party leaders are doing. On their Web site, the TFP has eight Potter stories dated July 13, 2007.

Is Harry Potter news or entertainment? What's the difference today?

"It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News"

Will future Toledo Free Press cover stories feature Toledo's most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes?

I say hold the local media accountable in addition to public officials.

And Saline, Michigan is a nice town. Long live the LEW.
posted by jr at 05:07 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 17, 2007 #

#humor