Holy Cow! Richard Connor turns in a Unabomber-length manifesto about newspapers -- their past, their present and their future. Something about the Battle of Wyoming. Enjoy.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The TL's Rich Connor waxes nostalgic about newspaper mergers
Holy Cow! Richard Connor turns in a Unabomber-length manifesto about newspapers -- their past, their present and their future. Something about the Battle of Wyoming. Enjoy.
When you get down a few feet to the "FirstStreetOnline.com" ad, you will see R.C. waxing eloquent about free speech and a free press.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same a-hole who tried to get me fired from my day job his first time around because he found I was using a pen-name in the CV as a means of separating my employer (King's) from the strike issue.
So much for free speech in a free press.
Hey, Rich -- the last of my pen-names is still there; Jan Souther hangs in from the strike days. You might even see a regular column by Tom Carten, if things work out.
Please give it up already. Any newspaper worth its salt would not allow pen names.
ReplyDeleteDear Abby, of which there have been at least three, ... Ann Landers, at least two, ... I.P. Daily (wait - that one's a joke). I keep "Jan Souther" only because he was so well-established; I'd love to drop it and be plain old Tom Carten.
ReplyDeleteI should have shot all of them when the strike was over and just come out.
Chris Vail. Bang
Jan Souther. Bang
Bart Somers. Bang
Kim Hayes. Bang
Whoever else. Bang
Hey -- we needed names in the back section of the paper. Beef up the staff, make it look good in the early days. Ah, but it was fun.
Hey Tom, ever use Haywood Jablome?
ReplyDeleteThat's an Olde One. I never liked using any of my Names de Pen, but had to because of the bitterness of the strike and the need to separate my personal stance from the college.
ReplyDeleteAfter about a week, everybody knew who Chris Vail was, 'cuz I was out there in the theaters reviewing. Bart was a newspaper name we all used, but I became "the" Bart after a while. Jan has yet to show his face, but I do mention the real me occasionally.
Even my cat published a few columns, short stories about her life. She has more talent that I thought.
Life's as much fun as you make it. Are we having fun yet?
My, my, he doesn't get the joke.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the Haywood thing? Of course I get it. It's older than 28's news.
ReplyDeletePeople, people, we're losing sight of our true mission here. Our goal is not to denigrate Tom Carten, though there is something wildly pleasurable in such a thing. Our criticism should be principally aimed at exposing Rich Connor and his evil crew of right-wing investors for the unscrupulous, slimy crew of big-money cronies that they are.Let's not lose focus here, people. LEt's get this board back on track!
ReplyDeleteOur goal is not to denigrate Tom Carten, though there is something wildly pleasurable in such a thing.
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree. By the way, how come the TL investors haven't been outed yet? Somebody has to know who they are and if they influence the paper. We've found two, I think, and one apparently did affect a story about General Hospital.
Details pls. re: WBGH.
ReplyDeleteUsing pen names is a sign of cowardice.
ReplyDeleteWBGH in a moment; first, this word for Mike Rosato:
ReplyDeleteDear Mike: Not when you need to separate your own opinion from that of, say, your employer when you are closely associated with said employer. Case in point: The WB newspaper strike, which was very bitter and divisive. I took my stand, but did not wish to have anyone say, "Oh, the college is taking sides, or the Holy Cross guys are taking sides." Had it been simply two competing papers, I'd not have done it. If my new column works out, it will be by Tom Carten.
Meanwhile, back to WBGH.
A report came out some months back about mortality and morbidity at various area hospitals (not just in the Valley) and, while the CV seemed to print the figures as presented, the TL did it in broader strokes and appeared to downplay the fact that WBGH's M&M stats were rather high. If memory serves, they seemed to use two measuring sticks in the article.
At the time, I wondered if someone at WBGH leaned on the TL and said, "Hey, how about making this kinda vague, huh?"
At the time, I wondered if someone at WBGH leaned on the TL and said, "Hey, how about making this kinda vague, huh?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps maybe one of those "silent investors?"
9:54 pm
ReplyDeletePoppycock. Grasping at straws.
Not sure about that; one of the big investors is on the Board at WBGH. I forget his name, but it was made public when (I think) the local Fox/Pegasus tv stations were sold and his name came up as being a stockholder in the TL. AFAIK, only a couple of people have been outed so far.
ReplyDeleteKeeping this in some perspective (newspapers leaning a bit), both laid back when the Fell House was torn down "in the middle of the night," so to speak, and never mentioned the "A" word as the rubble was carried off. You don't have an I-team look into a major advertiser, no matter what the newsrooms know. I knew a now-deceased member of the Board and asked him about it; he didn't want to talk and said it was none of my business.
The CV is the one that crushes the hospital stories.
ReplyDeleteI guess if Connor had left wing investors we would be happy?
ReplyDeletePeople please can we just get back to what matters....denigrating Tom Carten.......come on theres alot of summer left...lets go..(Tom only kidding). Hows the Waltons!!!!
ReplyDeleteCarten, didn't you used to end your "blog comments" suggesting anonymous posters use their real name? Isn't that hypocritical to your days of using a fake, cowardice pen name for fear of . . . whatever you were afraid of then?
ReplyDeleteWhos Jan Souther??? Wasnt he in the Marshall Tucker Band..
ReplyDeleteHeard it in a loooooovvve song!!!
ReplyDelete