Archive for the ‘jim balsillie’ Category
Pixels are cheaper than paper
Adam Dread has shared more thoughts on my post from earlier this week. Here’s a quote, and the rest is in the comment on the original post:
“I’m not a “blogger” per se (not enough time in the day) but thanks for giving me the opportunity to clear up what I consider an uncalled for attack on me, followed by a ridiculous “false-light” accustaion, when I responded to the first attack. Yes, they may buy “ink by the barrel”, but I don’t take much sitting down, and will jump into battle if I think I am being unjustly slighted…
Upon reading this attack, I had a flurry of back-n-forth emails with my friend Clint Brewer, the editor. He admitted error and promised a retration of sorts for Tuesday. That didn’t happen. The damage had already been done. Both my wife and I were worn out with calls and comments about some BS reporting. The retraction didn’t run the next day as promised, but Wednesday. Yes, I commented on his timing in bashing me in one sentence, and in the next one, asking me to vote a particular way. That is ironic no matter what the issue.”
If I were Adam, I wouldn’t be happy to see these writeups in print, either, but I stand by my point in my original post: I don’t know whether the events at the concert are accurately portrayed in the articles or not, but I don’t think much benefit has come from attempting to set the record straight.
But that’s just me: I get that Councilman Dread wanted to respond, and I fully respect his right to do so. At least now you can read both the articles and Dread’s take, if you are so inclined.
Update: I can’t find the City Paper’s clarification from the paper’s April 18th issue online, but here it is from the hard copy:
“In Monday’s ‘Rex and the City’ column, an appearance by Metro Councilman At-Large Adam Dread onstage at a local concert to emcee the show was termed ’self-appointed.’ Dread was acting in the role of emcee on behalf of the show’s corporate sponsor. In addition, Dread tells the newspaper he did not tell the joke from stage: ‘I’m engaged in a 40-year struggle with anorexia.’ Instead, Dread said the joke he told was: ‘I’ve been beating anorexia for over 40 years.’”
Should Adam Dread pick his battles?
Do you know the old saying that “Never start a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel?” At-large Metro Council member Adam Dread may or may not know (or care about the consequences of) this time-honored journalistic maxim, but he (and the rest of us who read the City Paper) are seeing its results this morning:
Dread expressed his anger over the piece at length in a series of e-mails to City Paper managers. In at least two exchanges over Monday and Tuesday of last week, Dread mentioned the anti-news rack ordinance the Council was set to vote on Tuesday night where Metro government would permit and tax all newspaper racks in the city.
“That being said, good luck on your news racks (expletive),” Dread wrote in one exchange with City Paper Executive Editor Clint Brewer over the column. “The last ones I saw were in complete disrepair. Just kidding. Sort of.”
The second comment on the news racks came when Dread was contacted via e-mail by City Paper Publisher Albie Del Favero on Tuesday as Del Favero was making a last minute effort to stem the tide of the Council vote against the city’s newspapers.
“Albie- If this didn’t run…I ain’t voting for it!,” Dread wrote at the head of an e-mail to Brewer he forwarded Del Favero demanding corrections in the original Dread/Spoon concert item.
[Note: Dread did in fact vote for this bill and, consequently, against the City Paper's position.]
The New York Times asserts that the Internet is giving the public the opportunity to reject the “ink by the barrel” philosophy. I agree that the Internet is changing how journalists interact with the public (and vice versa), and I’ve seen what Katherine Coble and an army of angry bloggers can do. I still think the “ink by the barrel” wisdom applies, though, especially when you are working with (or in this case against) reporters on the local level, and when you want to have productive and professional ongoing relationships with them.
Has Dread done anything here other than make more people aware of his behavior and implied what appears to be a pretty unethical tie between his vote on the newsrack bill and the paper’s consideration of his side of the story? I personally don’t think so.
