Peoria Pundit

This pissy little comment by the Scene’s Pete Kotz seems to take far too much pleasure from the decision by two media companies to close two newspapers in Cleveland and Los Angeles, thereby giving each company a monopoly on alternative journalism (snort):

New Times LA cashed in because it was losing the fight. LA Weekly had an 18-year head start, and the only way to catch it involved fjording a river of red ink. The Free Times died for a different reason. It lost its dominant position long ago through mismanagement, labor problems, and rapidly declining quality. Yet it continued to behave as if it were king, clinging to its boast of being “Ohio’s Largest News, Arts & Entertainment Weekly,” though it hadn’t been true for years. Call it death by delusion.

I have never read either paper, except for their Web sites. I always found the Free Times to be newsier, while the Scene concentrated on fluff. Kotz writes that the Scene was more successful — by which he means financially successful. Forgive me, but I was under the impression “alternative” newspapers were those which judged success by their quality of their journalism, not the bottom line. We have the mainstream press for that.

newspapers,alternative,free times,new times

I read Neil Steinberg so you don’t have to. Neil’s most recent column about his vaunted sense of personal ethics is particularly rancid, especially considering the pasteing he gave Bob Greene over his so-called ethical lapse. Steinberg made some snide comments about the Chicago Tribune’s ethics policy:

Our competition, the Tribune, quite famously by now, has a 12-page ethics statement that reporters are forced to sign. My journalistic ethical creed is far shorter. In fact, there’s only one rule:

1. The stories you put in the newspaper should be interesting.

Got that? The rest, as Hillel said, is commentary. That’s why I had to laugh–we’re laughing a lot over at the [Chicago] Sun-Times lately–when the editors at the Tribune kept pointing to their dozen pages of ethical standards. “Golly,” I thought. “Twelve whole pages! That’s a lot. They must be really, really moral.”

Who needs that? Don’t they trust their reporters? My bosses trust me, and I’ve only got a single moral precept and it isn’t even written down (until now). With it, everything else falls in line.

First, I would like to point about that Neil writes for the Chicago Sun-Times, a group that has no business pointing out other organizations’ ethical lapses. Also, Neil once wrote an anonymous column called “Bob Watch,” in which he pilloried Bob Green for his writing style and hairpiece. Anonymous. So much for Neil’s ethics. Neil recently wrote a Salon article that Greene haunted “trailer parks” looking for stories about child abuse. Does class-based bigotry count as an ethical lapse, or is bigotry just a moral lapse? Well, it doesn’t matter, because all Neil and the Sun-Times care about is whether a story is interesting, even if it is bigoted and unethical.

Actually, there is some truth in Neil’s little rant. If a newspaper employee is not trustworthy, there is no ethics policy in the world that is going to keep them out of trouble.

The problem, Mr. Steinberg, is that relying on good will alone will not work, which is something you would know if you ever had been in a position of authority over anyone. Even good ethical reporters have differing ideas about what is right. Some reporters think accepting free admission to events one covers is always wrong. Others gladly accept free tickets, but only for the purpose of covering an event. There are journalism organizations that promote model ethical standards, but the reality is that different newspapers have different standards.

An ethics statement lets employees know what the rules are.

My problem with the Tribune’s forcing Green to resign is that management hung its displeasure on the fact that Greene had sex with a young woman who was the subject of a column.

That was a technical violation of the rules, although I am sure the rule was written to protect the readers from the sloppy journalism that results from reporters literally and figuratively being in bed with the subjects.

Steinberg ends his column with:

The moral is: Beware of people who take pride in their morals. They don’t trust others because they don’t trust themselves. After they leave the room, count the spoons.

You can cut the irony with a knife

ethics,sun-times,steinberg

Reason Magazine, no fan of liberals, takes on Ann Coulter. The writer says the reasons so many hate her are the reasons she is so successful, despite her problems with accuracy and general shrillness:

Like it or not, in the kingdom of snark, Ann Coulter is queen. She’s never going to be hurting for loyal fans, particularly among those who have the pleasure of hating her. Not surprisingly, Coulter says she thrives on all the negative attention. Indeed, her eyes fairly dance when she’s challenged — though somewhat maniacally, as if she were reaching for her machete.

“As Mao said, It’s a good thing to be attacked by your enemy,’ ” she told a reporter at the St. Petersburg Times. Especially when every barb proves your thesis about liberal hate.

Bring it on, is the subtext of every Coulter utterance and smirk, you’re only helping me out. Certainly it can’t be a coincidence that Slander’s book jacket, featuring Coulter’s large, floating head, seems like it was designed to double as a dartboard.

Ann, by the way, is on the mark this week when she writes that the Dremocrats didn’t have any problems with New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli many ethical lapses until after he started falling behind in the polls.

UPDATE: Following Ricky West’s advice, I can boost the number of hits I get to this site by saying: Ann Coulter nude pics
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ann coulter,Reason

This was reported by BlackPress USA. Braun was villified for her support of dictators who happened to be black:

Mosley-Braun weathered a string of ethics accusations during her six-year term, including criticism of her trips to visit the late Nigerian military dictator Sani Abacha, widely known for his human rights abuses. Mosley-Braun argued that it was America’s responsibility to pursue dialogue and even-handed policies in the interest of human rights.

Questions also arose about the funding of her trips to Nigeria. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee exonerated her, saying she used her own money.

“For all of the vilification that I received in my re-election effort, I was vindicated on every front. And there’s never been any shade of wrong-doing on my part in any way,” Mosley-Braun says. “So, if people talk about you like a dog, you can’t control what people say. But you can control what you do. And I am very proud that my record is clear, my integrity has been vindicated and I have an honorable record of public service to point to.”

She, like Clinton, confuses lack of prosecution with actual vindication. Her support of rulers who repress and murder their black citizens is a moral failure on her part, but not criminal.

There is no doubt that her harshest critics are those who would have found issue with anything she did in office as a senator or ambassador. But nothing justifies the aid and comfort she gave those murders in Nigeria. I found her career in the senate more undistinguished than criminal. But then, freshman senators are not supposed to be stars.

Mosley-Braun became U.S. Senator from Illinois after she defeated incumbent Alan Dixon in a primary race. Regular Dems — especially those in organized labor — were upset with Dixon because of his support of the North American Free Trade Act. This weakened his support base, which let the much more liberal Mosley-Braun capture the party nomination. She lost her re-election bid. Her only accomplishment in office was to make a huge fuss over the use of the Confederate Flag in southern states.

Carol Mosley-Braun,Black Press USA,Sani Abacha,Nigeria,election

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass is considered by many to be the closest that newspaper has come to replacing legendary curmudgeon and political gadfly Mike Royko.

Kass isn’t worthy of rinsing out Royko’s bear glass. Sure, Kass has done some great work on the corrupt administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley. It resembles the work Royko did on Daley’s father, the legendary “Boss” Richard J. Daley. But the resemblance is superficial. Royko didn’t pick sides. He didn’t consider it his job to protect Daley’s foes.

Kass, by contrast, once wrote a column castigating downstate voters for preferring John Schmidt over Lisa Madigan in the Democratic primary race for Illinois attorney general. Sure, Lisa is the daughter of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. It doesn’t matter that Madigan has been pulling strings to get his daughter elected over a man with tons of legal experience. These silly fools, Kass said, don’t realize that Schmidt is backed the evil Daley administration, and Madigan is Daley’s rival for power. Anyone who gets in Daley way can’t be all bad.

Kass seems to using his column to do Lisa Madigan’s dirty work.

Let’s look at one story that has come out about Lisa Madigan and her father in recent months. It was revealed that the sons of a judge who got favors from Madigan wrote large checks to the Lisa Madigan campaign. One of these sons is a producer of “white power” music. Kass, the Trib’s page 2 columnist, did not write about this page one story. Royko would have been all over it.

On Friday, Kass’s column was about the role of Lisa Madigan’s Republican opponent, Joe Birkett, in the Rolando Cruz prosecution, and Birkett’s support of attorneys charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy. For those who don’t know, Cruz was tried three times the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, Ill. While Cruz was on death row, another man confessed to doing the crime alone and DNA evidence backed up that confession. Birkett fought to keep Cruse on death row despite the overwhelming evidence of another man’s guilt.

There is nothing wrong about writing about Birkett’s behavior. I question why Kass writes about Birkett’s dirty laundry, but not about the fascinating stuff happening in the Lisa Madigan campaign. It’s a sin of omission.

I find it amazing that Kass gets away with this unethical and obvious favoritism, but Bob Greene got shown the door because of his sex life. Which hurts readers more, columnists carrying water for the politicians they favor, or a columnist having consensual sex with a non-politician they wrote about exactly once?

michael madigan,lisa madigan,chicago tribune,john kass,mike royko

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass is considered by many to be the closest that newspaper has come to replacing legendary curmudgeon and political gadfly Mike Royko. Kass isn’t worthy of rinsing out Royko’s bear glass. Sure, Kass has done some great work on the corrupt administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley. It resembles the work Royko did on Daley’s father, the legendary “Boss” Richard J. Daley. But the resemblance is superficial. Royko didn’t pick sides. He didn’t consider it his job to protect Daley’s foes. Kass, by contrast, once wrote a column castigating downstate voters for preferring John Schmidt over Lisa Madigan in the Democratic primary race for Illinois attorney general. Sure, Lisa is the daughter of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. It doesn’t matter that Madigan has been pulling strings to get his daughter elected over a man with tons of legal experience. These silly fools, Kass said, don’t realize that Schmidt is backed the evil Daley administration, and Madigan is Daley’s rival for power. Anyone who gets in Daley way can’t be all bad.

Kass seems to using his column to do Lisa Madigan’s dirty work.

Let’s look at one story that has come out about Lisa Madigan and her father in recent months. It was revealed that the sons of a judge who got favors from Madigan wrote large checks to the Lisa Madigan campaign. One of these sons is a producer of “white power” music. Kass, the Trib’s page 2 columnist, did not write about this page one story. Royko would have been all over it.

On Friday, Kass’s column (printer friendly version) was about the role of Lisa Madigan’s Republican opponent, Joe Birkett, in the Rolando Cruz prosecution, and Birkett’s support of attorneys charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy. For those who don’t know, Cruz was tried three times the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, Ill. While Cruz was on death row, another man confessed to doing the crime alone and DNA evidence backed up that confession. Birkett fought to keep Cruse on death row despite the overwhelming evidence of another man’s guilt.

There is nothing wrong about writing about Birkett’s behavior. I question why Kass writes about Birkett’s dirty laundry, but not about the fascinating stuff happening in the Lisa Madigan campaign. It’s a sin of omission.

I find it amazing that Kass gets away with this unethical and obvious favoritism, but Bob Greene got shown the door because of his sex life. Which hurts readers more, columnists carrying water for the politicians they favor, or a columnist having consensual sex with a non-politician they wrote about exactly once?

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Ever wonder the Libertarian Party is making such great progress with the voters?

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Montana’s Libertarian candidate for Senate has turned blue from drinking a silver solution that he believed would protect him from disease.

If the media doesn’t quit focusing on silly little incidents like this that make the LP look like a bunch of nutjobs, I’m am going to have my friends on the spaceship perform experiments on them.

libertarian,montana

For the uninitiated, the Mirage refers to the legendary undercover project of the Chicago Sun-Times. The newspaper essentially bought a bar, staffed it with reporters and secretly photographed the people who came in and left. They found what they assumed they would: a parade of government workers — fire and safety inspectors, liquor inspectors, police officers — walked in, all expecting a handout. The stories ran for 25 straight days beginning on Jan. 8, 1978. Everyone knows Chicago was dirty and corrupt. The value to the series was that it eliminated the politicians’ plausible deniability. There were real reforms after the series ran.

But the Chicago Reader’s Mike Miner sniffs at the ethics of the whole thing. Deception is a lousy way to get at the truth, he says. Their are other ways to get the information. Bull. The “information” was well known. Royko had been writing about this kind of thing for years. Bribery was an open secret. All Sun-Times reporters Pam Zekman and Zay Smith did was to document it first hand in a way that made it impossible to deny.

The problem with journalism critics is that they see things in black and white. Deception? Baaaaad. A newspaper’s only responsibility is to the reader, not the government or corrupt government workers. Newspapers are supposed to sniff out the truth.

Yes, it deceived the scumbag inspectors who would let a firetrap continue to conduct business and put customers at risk. Miner would have preferred things remain the way they were. “The ends do not justify the means.” That’s the mantra of those who critique, not those who do real journalism. Yeah, some evil people got lied to. Sometimes the ends DO justify the means.

And to make matters worse, Miner uses this meandering critique of Mirage to heap further scorn on Bob Greene (the connection was so vague and torturous, I missed it), whose contribution to journalism dwarfs his own.

A review of a book about the Mirage case can be found here.

Chicago Reader,Mirage,Sun Times,Bob Grene, Mike Miner,Pam Zekman,Zay Smith

For those who don’t know, the Mirage refers to the legendary undercover project of the Chicago Sun-Times (pre-Rupert Murdoch and pre-Conrad Black). The newspaper essentially bought a bar, staffed it with reporters and secretly photographed the people who came in and left.

They found what they assumed they would: a parade of government workers — fire and safety inspectors, liquor inspectors, police officers — walked in, all expecting a handout. The stories ran for 25 straight days beginning on Jan. 8, 1978. Everyone knows Chicago was dirty and corrupt. The value to the series was that it eliminated the politicians’ plausible deniability. There were real reforms after the series ran.

But the Chicago Reader’s Mike Miner sniffs at the ethics of the whole thing. Deception is a lousy way to get at the truth, he says. There are other ways to get the information.

Bull. The “information” was well known. Royko had been writing about this kind of thing for years. Bribery was an open secret. All Sun-Times reporters Pam Zekman and Zay Smith did was to document it first hand in a way that made it impossible to deny. The problem with journalism critics is that they see things in black and white. Deception? Baaaaad. A newspaper’s only responsibility is to the reader, not the government or corrupt government workers. Newspapers are supposed to sniff out the truth.

Yes, it deceived peoeple. These people include the scumbag inspectors who would let a firetrap continue to conduct business and put people’s lives at risk. Miner would have preferred things remain the way they were. “The ends do not justify the means.” That’s the mantra of those who critique, not those who do real journalism. Yeah, some evil people got lied to. Sometimes the ends DO justify the means.

And to make matters worse, Miner uses this meandering critique of Mirage to heap further scorn on Bob Greene, whose connection to thre Mirage case was so vague and torturous, I missed it. I’d take Miner’s criticism more seriously were, were Green’s contribution to journalism so much greater his own.

A review of a book about the Mirage case can be found here.

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Slate makes a case that Winona Ryder is being persecuted by the Los Angeles District attorney’s office to make up for its lousy record of prosecuting celebrities accused of far more serious crimes.

“[Prosecutor] Steve Cooley may well go down in history as the guy who put a shoplifter behind bars by publicly mischaracterizing the evidence, diverting scarce resources, and refusing to plea bargain in good faith. Will it redeem O.J.? I doubt it. Will it make the world safer? No. Will it make a good movie? Probably not even on Lifetime.”

Ryder faces felony charges, even though absolutely everyone else now accused of stealing the same amount of merchandise faces misdemeanor charges only. The drug charges? They found two tablets of a generic version of a drug for which Ryder has a legal prescription. The video tape that shows her committing the crime? All it shows is Ryder shopping. The one store employee who says he saw the crime? Well, the tags>says it wants to drop the charges.

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