NC Media Watch

Sac Bee continues to struggle

Russ Steele

The Sacramento Business Journal has the story, 44 more jobs will eliminated in the next two weeks.  This follows February layoffs when the paper eliminated 32 jobs, including nine newsroom positions.  The Bee's staff has been cut in half since March 2008, down from 1,400 employees.

The Sacramento Bee is eliminating another 44 jobs, including another nine in the newsroom.

Like most newspapers, The Bee is struggling with a now long-standing slump in advertising. The latest cuts represent 6 percent of The Bee’s work force, and include positions throughout the building, said Bee spokeswoman Pam Dinsmore.

The question is what is the causing the slump. It is a poor economy? Too much competition from the Internet?  Too few readers to justify ad buys?  Your thoughts?

Scamed by the envrios again - public duped by Gasland movie

Russ  Steele

We have been having an on going discussion about the safety of fracking as portrayed in Gasland a An Oscar-nominated movie. Gasland, implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals.  That is not what John Strossel found out in his Fox News Investigation. He writes about it in a Reason On-line article.  Shale Gas Fracking - Who Can We Trust?

The movie Gasland implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals. In the movie, some homeowners are shown setting their tap water on fire. This got investigative report Strossel's attention, and he writes:

I've seen Michael Moore's movies and environmental documentaries, which I thought were nonsense. But Gasland is more convincing. I thought it merited discussion on my Fox Business show last week.
 
Unfortunately, Gasland producer Josh Fox turned down my invitation, as did representatives of the big national environmental groups that oppose fracking. I think I know why. The movie and the left's arguments against fracking are deceitful.

First, the movie implies that nasty chemicals get into the water table. That seems logical, since they shoot them down into gas wells. But it turns out that the shale gas wells are thousands of feet below the water table. Do the chemicals flow up—against gravity?

But then what's the explanation for the most dramatic part of the movie: tap water so laden with gas that people can set it on fire?

It turns out that has little to do with fracking. In many parts of America, there is enough methane in the ground to leak into people's well water. The best fire scene in the movie was shot in Colorado, where the filmmaker is in the kitchen of a man who lights his faucet. But Colorado investigators went to that man's house, checked out his well, and found that fracking had nothing to do with his water catching fire. His well-digger had drilled into a naturally occurring methane pocket.

What Strossel found out was that 40 percent of the wells in Pennsylvania have some sort of naturally occurring methane gas, so the fire in the faucet was not caused by fracking, yet that is what the movie is all about. Once again the left has used a fake documentary to dupe America.

The enviro's mission is to shut down oil and gas drilling, especially shale gas which in abundance is driving down the cost of natural gas, making alternative enegy highly uncompetitive without expensive subsidies.

Exit Question: Were you duped by Gasland?

Was it Obama or Osama that was killed?

Russ Steele

I logged on and was surfing the news and came across this on our local lefties blog.

Our local newspaper, The Union, has become more pitiful than ever. Here’s the latest example: Twice tonight, I posted ahead of them, on their Facebook page, that Obama was killed.

It was a classic example of “citizen journalism” reporting. In fact, several readers, including “Jesse King,” commented on my Facebook post on The Union. But my first post was erased — then my second.

My ephasis added.  Here is the screen shot:


According to Drudge it was Osama that was killed today -- not Obama?

So much for professional "citizen journalism" at our local lefty blog, now we know why the Union erased the Facebook page post. It was WRONG! Very WRONG!

The Union Closes Down Comments

Russ Steele:

I was going to comment on a Union story about Congressman Tom McClintock being in Truckee to answer a few questions about the Tahoe Basin's environmental policies, the federal Lake Tahoe Restoration Act and Nevada Senate Bill 271, when this message appeared:

Dear Readers,

We are working to make this feature of our website better meet the preferences and standards of our readers and our publication. In the interim, we are pausing commenting on our website. We continue to encourage emails and letters from you to our staff and editor.
Thank you!

I wonder what this statement means "better meet the preferences and standards of our readers and our publication" ?

Could it mean we will soon see the elimination of highly vicious attacks by anonymous faces on column writers and those that choose to comment under their own name? Just wondering.  It always amazed me that column reader never really addressed the issues examined in the columns, other than to draw up straw-man issues and the use them to attack the writer.

I wish The Union good luck with the Comment Section Re-Do!

Over the e-mail transom: SF Chronicle video prompts White House threat

Russ Steele

A regular reader sent me this link:

The White House threatened Thursday to exclude The San Francisco Chronicle from pooled coverage of its events in the Bay Area after the paper posted a video of a protest at a San Francisco fundraiser for President Obama last week, Chronicle Editor Ward Bushee said.White House guidelines governing press coverage of such events are too restrictive, Bushee said, and the newspaper was within its rights to film the protest and post the video.

The White House press office would not speak on the record about the issue.

Now we have an update to the orginal link, with this head line on Drudge: SF CHRONICLE: WH LYING

Update: In a pants-on-fire moment, the White House press office today denied anyone there had issued threats to remove Carla Marinucci and possibly other Hearst reporters from the press pool covering the President in the Bay Area.

Chronicle editor Ward Bushee called the press office on its fib:
Sadly, we expected the White House to respond in this manner based on our experiences yesterday. It is not a truthful response. It follows a day of off-the-record exchanges with key people in the White House communications office who told us they would remove our reporter, then threatened retaliation to Chronicle and Hearst reporters if we reported on the ban, and then recanted to say our reporter might not be removed after all.

The Chronicle's report is accurate.

If the White House has indeed decided not to ban our reporter, we would like an on-the-record notice that she will remain the San Francisco print pool reporter.

Your decision: Was the White House Lying? Why?

Inquiring minds want to know

Russ Steele

Several people are wondering why more local bloggers have not reported on the Tea Party Patriots event where Congressman Tom McClintock and Mark Meckler, widely recognized co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, both appeared to answer local TPP members questions on budgets, deficits, and taxes.  Just in case you wondering, both George Rebane and I were on an RV camping trip together with our wives, therefore we did not attend and missed this posting opportunity.

Other are wondering about the rumor going around that the BOS is pressuring local media, KNCO and The Union, to stop covering the Diaz Story. I just want to make it clear that this blog is not receiving any pressure from the BOS to stop writing about this story. I will continue to seek answers to two burning questions:  Was it corporate incompetence, or was it corporate fraud?  George Rebane has over 100 comments from inquiring minds on his KVMR commentary: The Diaz Case Continues.

Sac Bee still printing in 1st Quarter Red Ink

Russ Steele

The Modesto Bee, Fresno Bee, and Sacramento Bee, are still in a red ink death spiral.  It appears from the numbers that these papers will only be found on the Internet--real soon now!

Revenues in the first quarter of 2011 were $303.7 million, down 9.5 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Advertising revenues were $225.1 million, down 11 percent from 2010, and circulation revenues were $66.2 million, down 5 percent.

Digital advertising revenues grew 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2011 and were 20.1 percent of total advertising revenues compared to 17.5 percent of total advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2010.

CA Political News has more on the story, but one has to wonder, why are these newspapers in such a steep decline?  What is that is putting off readers and advertizers in these papers. 

Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones steps in another cow pie.

Russ Steele

Sheppard has decided to examine Climategate and launches her a BS with another of the left’s unscientific fantasies on Climategate with a quote from Michael “Hickey Stick” Mann:

How climate science became the target of “the best-funded, best-organized smear campaign by the wealthiest industry that the Earth has ever known.”

One of the main subjects in the article is Steven McIntyre and his Climate Audit blog. The above characterization of Climate Audit and other critical climate blogs, Watts Up With That, Jeff Id fine blog now gone silent, Lucia’d Blackboard and, the Bishop Hill blog and book by A.W. Montford , Hockey Stick Illusion are a total fantasy on the part of the global warmer cult.

This is quote in the article that spilled coffee on my keyboard.

“ . . . a 2006 assessment from the National Academy of Sciences concluded (PDF) that while Mann's methodology wasn't perfect, the story the chart told was accurate.”

No the chart used “Mike’s trick” to hide the decline and used faulty data, all which are described in details at Climate Audit, Watts Up With That, and the other blogs mentions above.  None of which are on any industrial payroll.  I highly recommend reading The Hockey Stick Illusion, and you will see just how deep the cow pie was that Kate Sheppard stepped in and what lefty propaganda tool Mother Jones is.

You can read Sheppard’s cow pie adventures here. Click on the The Hockey Stick Illusion thumbnail in the lefthand sidebar to order a copy.

Local Commentary: Blogs challenge local newspaper on major story

Russ Steele

Notice: All court docments referenced in this blog post are public documents and have been redacted appropriately by counsel, according to the provider.

Our local lefty blogger, who is a former editor at The Union, never misses an opportunity to bash his former employer by posting mini-scoop that an understaffed newspaper could not ferret out as timely as local blogger who has time to wander about town, or spending hours in front of the TV watching city council and board of supervisor meetings.  The Union latest offense is publishing old news that Weaver Auto owes government agencies about $700.000, facts that appeared on his blog a month ago here.  Regardless of his motivation, he makes an important point, local blogs are having an impact on how local’s get their news and commentary. 

Local blogs broke the news, and have been following, the on going corruption in the Clerk Recorders Office at the County Rood Center. However, The Union has yet to publish any of the Federal Courts findings against the County for failing to provide requested evidence, and then for destroying the very evidence that was requested. You can read the sequence of events here. This is a clear case where our local newspaper is not keeping the community informed.  Citizens are turning to local blogs here for up news dates and debate of local issues. 

While The Union is promoting it’s Town Talk open forum and the ability of reader’s to comment, they are censoring the questions submitted to Town Talk they are uncomfortable answering.  The Union is also now limiting how long readers can now comment on a column, letters to editor, or news stories to 48 hours after an item is published.  On the other hand , local blogs are discussing local issues and providing open forums for the discussion of local and national issues that have an impact on our community. Blogs are filling the gaps left by the newspaper.

My concern that this corruption story has been on KNCO and in the blogs, but The Union seems to be ignoring this important story.  How could The Union have missed this story about how the county willfully destroyed evidence in the AdPac case? Or, do they have a selective news policy that lets them pick and choose the news.  If they get to pick and choose what they report on Rood Center activities, this casts doubt on the other news in The Union about local government actions.  What other local government corruption might The Union be ignoring? Losing the trust of readers can result in a damaging economic blow to any newspaper, or even a blog that pretends to write about the news.

I guess the other surprise in this story, with a mission to scoop The Union, why has our lefty blogger has not written about this troubling situation in the Clerk/Recorders Office that the newspaper is ignoring?   Could it be because he was one of Diaz’s very vocal political supporters?  When is government corruption not news?

Note: This not a news blog it is a commentary blog, as is Rebane’s Ruminations.

Sixteen Tons of Debt

Russ Steele

IOWAHAWK: 16 TONS OF DEBT. With an assist from Tennessee Ernie Ford.