Wanker of the Day

hopefully (4.00 / 1)

she didn't pull a muscle patting herself on the back...

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by: kelster @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 08:47:41 AM CDT

I disagree... (0.00 / 0)

Look at Susan's work on Congressman Tim!  Also, what do you disagree with?  I think she hits it on the head.  Lucky for us, the blogs, like Michigan Liberal are there to hold feet to the fire on a daily basis.

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by: elviscostello @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 09:38:44 AM CDT

Uhhh... (4.00 / 1)

Sorry Susan, but anonymous posters don't get themselves credentialed as full press at the state Capitol just as you might.

Nice one, but try again, and this time work on the anti-blog propaganda.

I want to change the world, not help people adjust to it. - Millie Jeffrey, MI - National Women's labor and Democratic activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

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by: LiberalLucy @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 09:39:45 AM CDT

Huh? (4.00 / 3)

While I don't always agree with Susan Demas, except for one paragraph about Right Michigan and Michigan Liberal, I didn't see anything all that objectionable. Most of the column, she offered a critique of traditional media that I think would be embraced by a lot of bloggers. She complains about term limits and gerrymandering, and she goes on to say:

You deserve to read about the history of the budget crisis, dating back to the '90s, when legislators - many who did know better - capitulated to what was easy and politically expedient. They slashed taxes to unsustainable levels to win elections. They raided $4.2 billion from reserves so they wouldn't have to make real reforms.

You deserve to read how budget cuts and higher taxes affect your life - how much you pay, how much you gain. That means connecting the dots from the state budget to all those local millages you've been asked to OK, program cuts at your local elementary school and the business that didn't open in your neighborhood because a tax structure wasn't in place.

You deserve to read about bills when they're introduced, not after they're law - from HPV vaccinations to pop-up tax reforms - so you know what your lawmakers are up to in Lansing and can be involved in the process.

That, I think, would be great political reporting! A lot of those stories have been written by folks on Michigan Liberal, which is why I come here again and again to read about these things. If they were more present traditional media, I think we'd be a lot better off.

Now, she does give herself and her colleagues more credit than I think I would give for good journalism during the budget crisis, but that's not unusual. A lot of people feel like they've done a lot of good work and say so.

The objectionable bit seems to be:

What kind of message do we send to you, the people, when we don't do justice to the most important issues of the day?

In part, that's what's led to the explosion of political blogs, but most just litter the hyper-partisan wasteland. Anonymous posters at Right Michigan and Michigan Liberal routinely run propaganda the mainstream media normally wouldn't (and shouldn't) touch, such as the unbiased (ahem) state GOP poll showing Democrats are doomed with a tax hike or the Senate Dems whining about not being allowed to snap pics for political gain of the tax-hike tally.

Yeah, that kind of irked me, too. I know what kind of work some of us have put in, and just to be called "whiners" peddling propaganda hurts. She was wrong about that part, and as a journalist, I'm surprised she wasn't more interested in knowing the tax-hike tally and having photo evidence to prove it.

But we also have to acknowledge the fact that there are two perceptions of bloggers that we have to deal with. One, the perception of inexperience, has us all in our parents' basements whining about our social lives etc. and then throwing in some politics. The other, which comes as we gain greater access (as many at MichLib have) is that we're nothing but tools of the Democratic Party, and we just blindly obey Mark Brewer and Howard Dean.

Neither of those is actually true, at least not for the vast majority of us. But that's the impression a lot of people get. I don't think Susan Demas has an anti-blog agenda (I say that from her good relationship with me through Walberg Watch), but I do think she's reflecting in one paragraph a commonly-held set of misconceptions.

Rather than calling her the Wanker of the Day, I think we should be trying to combat those misconceptions in better ways. Send her, for instance, copies of posts where you've been critical of the Democratic leadership. Remind her that any editorials-- including hers-- can be labeled "whining" just as easily as any blog post.

But I don't think giving Susan Demas the title "Wanker of the Day" really accomplishes much of anything. Mike Bishop, sure. But it's always bad to alienate someone who could potentially help get your message out. In the past, she's been on "our side." Don't let one paragraph ruin that.

I don't know. I'm sure it's colored by my personal experience, but those are my thoughts.

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by: Fitzy @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 11:24:02 AM CDT

i agree (4.00 / 1)

she got the blog stuff wrong, but I mostly agreed with the rest of what she said.

Check out my mediocre blog.

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by: nirmal @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 11:49:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

me too (4.00 / 2)

If this is the best we can do for "Wanker of the Day" than maybe we shouldn't do it. There have got to be bigger Wankers out there. Her column is pretty good I think.

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.

 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: michmark @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 16:25:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Wanker of the Day (4.00 / 3)

Cross posted from the Battle Creek Enquirer:

JPowers155

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:47 am  Post subject:

As one of those "whiners" over at MichiganLiberal.com, where I can assure you I am NOT anonymous, I blogged through the nights and days (and nights) when local media outlets were absent or dropping like flies. We covered the story because the main stream media ("MSM") couldn't or wouldn't provide Michigan residents with real coverage of the political process.

Please, I beg of you, tell me how posting vote tallies or informing the public that the House (or Senate) was yet again in "Recess at the Call of the Chair" was, in your terms, "propaganda".

You owe ME an apology for smearing me with your anti-blog, anti-new media bias. I am a volunteer. I am a voter. I am a resident of the State of Michigan. Just because I don't sit around to wait for your insightful and timely coverage of politics, doesn't make me irrelevant.

My response:

Mr./Ms. JPowers155,

I thought this post may have been in jest until I saw that I am the "Wanker of the Day" at MichiganLiberal.com. Thank you for the honor. I can only hope to garner the same accolades at RightMichigan.com, which I also criticized.

If you are NOT anonymous, why do you and your colleagues go by assumed names here and at Michigan Liberal? We members of the despised "mainstream media" sign our real names, including our phone numbers, e-mails and often our pictures. I invite anyone who wishes to contact me about my columns to do so. I consider it an honor to be in a position to spark debate. I always respond to all serious inquiries.

A point of clarification: I never called bloggers "whiners." I said that's what Senate Democrats were doing when they weren't allowed to photograph the board on a non-roll call vote. On this issue, I will defer to the nonpartisan Secretary of the Senate, Carol Viventi - not the Democrats - who AP reported released a statement Thursday explaining that allowing anyone to take pictures of an unrecorded vote would negate the fact that it's unrecorded.

You and DianeS at the Web site have clearly missed the point of my column. Consider the context in which I criticized your site, which really, was such a minor point that it hardly deserves such a hysterical response:

"Because just as the Legislature doesn't look like it did in 1983, neither does the Capitol press corps. It's been downsized by at least half, often the first victim in newspaper and affiliate cutbacks. Most media only run copy from wire services, which have taken big hits, as well.

What kind of message do we send to you, the people, when we don't do justice to the most important issues of the day?

In part, that's what's led to the explosion of political blogs, but most just litter the hyper-partisan wasteland. Anonymous posters at Right Michigan and Michigan Liberal routinely run propaganda the mainstream media normally wouldn't (and shouldn't) touch, such as the unbiased (ahem) state GOP poll showing Democrats are doomed with a tax hike or the Senate Dems whining about not being allowed to snap pics for political gain of the tax-hike tally.

We at the Enquirer, a small but scrappy paper, try to do our part, and I think we succeed more than any other in our weight class. But all journalists need to do more.

Because the stakes are too high in Michigan right now for us to fall down on the job."

Are these not the very points which citizen journalists raise?

Do you deny that MichiganLiberal is a partisan blog? Isn't that the point? And if you don't call running state Democratic Chair Mark Brewer's video statements and unfiltered Democratic talking points propaganda, what is your definition of the word? I certainly think you'd label GOP Chair Saul Anuzis' poll on takes hikes as such.

Blogs can be entertaining and informative. But they also don't have to adhere to journalistic standards, like interviewing both sides in an issue and not relying on anonymous sources. Many blogs commit character assassination - take the rumors of Sen. John Kerry's infidelity in 2004. Anonymous bloggers don't have to worry about libel suits. We in the unholy MSM do.

As for me having an "anti-blog, anti-new media bias," that sounds awful. Is there hate crime legislation being drafted against that?

One of the first rules of journalism is to take what we do seriously, but not take ourselves too seriously. I hope you and the good folks at MichiganLiberal lighten up.

Susan J. Demas
_________________
_______________________________

Susan J. Demas
Assistant Metro Editor
Battle Creek Enquirer
155 W. Van Buren St., Battle Creek, MI 49017
269.966.0697 | Fax 269.964.0299

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by: Susan J. Demas @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 11:51:09 AM CDT

A Necessary Response (cross posted Battle Creek Inquirer) (0.00 / 0)

Dear Ms. Demas:

My name is Julie Powers and while I have used the pseudonym "JPowers155" for the last 15 years, it's simply because it's my email address.

I do not despise you or your MSM colleagues, in fact, I complimented you by saying that your columns were "insightful and timely". I agree with most of what you wrote in your column but found your nasty swipe at MichiganLiberal.com beyond the pale.

Am I a progressive? Yes. Do I edit and write for a progressive blog? Sure. Do I agree with every word/image/sound/ad posted? Heck no. That's akin to me holding you personally responsible and assuming that you are in agreement with every word, punctuation mark and advertisement in your own newspaper. I think that we are all evolved enough to know that's not the case and your overreaction to my comments makes me wonder what's really at issue here.

Julie Powers
Lansing, MI
jpowers155@gmail.com

Do stupid people know they are stupid?

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by: JPowers155 @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 12:40:30 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

thank you for coming here and opening this dialogue (n/t) (0.00 / 0)

Check out my mediocre blog.

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by: nirmal @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 12:52:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Childish (0.00 / 0)

Let's put an end to this "wanker of the day" crap. It's childish crap.

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by: SonicT @ Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 14:22:20 PM CDT

ML editorial policy does call for no one-liner diaries (4.00 / 1)

Should we all add disclaimers to our comments?

I'm Tim Jarrell and I approved this message.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal. - Winston Churchill  

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by: TJarrell @ Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 18:49:23 PM CDT