Blast Away

I was reading over at Reflections (since that is the name of the biggest pink triangle bar in Halifax, in honour of Ferry Tales, I'm only going to call Megan's blog Reflections from now on, so that Ferry Tales knows that the straights love her too), and got moved on over to this interesting bit of blogishness:

The Man Who Hates The Inuvik Drum Like It Was The Devil

It is a fun read, maybe not for you, but for me to be sure. See, I used to work for the parent corp of the Inuvik Drum, and Mr Halifax tends to call these people out by name (he follows this blog, so I'll call him Mister ;)). It is inside baseball, but I'm on the inside. When he names a name, I usually have an idea who he is talking about

There is a blog on PEI that is taking the same sort of tactic with the local media, the now infamous NJN Network. There are huge differences, like:

-- Mr Halifax doesn't seem to fear women. NJN continues to trash the work of a local journalist based on her red raincoat and high heels. As I have said before, if I run into NJN Network on vacation, I'll go put on my red raincoat and high heels, to make a point.

-- Mr Halifax doesn't seem to have been threatened by the local paper. NJN has been threatened with legal action from The Guardian.

-- Mr Halifax comes up with meaner fake names for the reporters involved.

-- Mr Halifax manages to get responses from thin-skinned editorial types, while NJN Network gets letters from lawyers. Maybe it is a NWT vs PEI type of thing?

Mr Halifax is not NJN Network. Mr Halifax is mean, but not really offensive or particularly deluded. I link to Halifax, I don't link to NJN (in my sidebar at least).

Aside from pointing and shouting "Hey, over there, look at those awesome car wrecks", there is a point here, the rise of the semi-pro media critic. I bet there is one for every paper in Canada at this point. I could even point to a certain employer rating site that has some pretty one sided comments about my employer.

Journalists are like any other profession, we get the good and the bad and the indifferent. I watch Howard Kurtz every Sunday. If you are writing a media criticism blog and don't know who Howard is, you need a new hobby.

These blogs are at least as legitimate as a letter to the editor, and have the advantage of not having the comments put through a filter.

However; when you are reading them, be sure to give them the weight you would to a letter to the editor. Consider the source, consider the point of view, ignore the inflammatory language, and take it for what is worth, the opinion of a single individual, as noble and flawed as the rest of us.

For the semi-pro media critics, I only have one bit of advice. Drop the fake names for yourselves, the papers and the reporters. If you want to trash someone, at least make it clear. The cute pseudonyms are tiring.

As for my former colleagues at NNSL, I have some simple advice.

HARDEN THE FUCK UP.

There is no need to respond to these blogs, and thinly veiled attacks from proxies aren't worth the hassle. Do what the Guardian did, ignore it until it is libel. Then get a lawyer.

Really, go to NJNNetwork, look under the PEI section, and click the link that says The Guardian. If Mr Halifax is getting under your collective skins this badly, imagine what it would be like with a determined soapboxer like that on your ass.

I'll keep reading, but then again, I like the sound of sirens ;0

Hug a Reporter

Yes, we all know that Saturday is Valentines Day, at least we do in my house. The Boy and I are going shopping for flowers later today (don't worry, she never reads this thing;) ). It will be romantic. I'll take the baby to swimming lessons and she will use his absence to clean the carpets. Hey, covering each other off IS romantic,.

Me, I'm a fan of March 14, official "Steak and A Blowjob" day. Think of it as Valentines Day from the man's point of view.

But Feb 15 is a VERY important day, as my email tells me. It is international "Hug a Journalist" day. Find your favourite reporter and give them a BIG hug, they deserve it.

The collapse of media is only part of it, there are the physical threats.

Especially after I read this:... a series of stories about journalists in Newfoundland being stalked. I've been working on and off in media since I was 19, and I've seen a few things, but nothing like this.

I've seen radio jocks get stalked, but he shouldn't have been picking from the unstable corner of the Tradewinds if you know what I mean. Sort of brought it on himself.

I've been the radio van boy and had junior high girls find many reasons to come back for more pop.... you smile and laugh it off.

But TV, TV brings out the loonies. When you see us, it is like we are real, which we are, just not the way you think we are.

When I went to our annual meeting/Xmass bash, it freaked me out a little. I was in a room with 500 members of the company and their spouses. They watch our show, and they all knew who the hell I was. I didn't know them.

I mentioned it to the other reporters, who decided that my physical appearance and my series of appearances about the Nunavut election must have played a role. "You have long hair and that beard, of course they recognize you."

It wasn't creepy, it was sort of nice. These were people who cared about our show and wanted to talk about it. Me, I just wanted to drink more imported beers, but the people were too nice for me to be stand-offish.

I'm insulated from that here in Nunavut. Here, the Pope could walk down the street, and the most he would get is a "Qanuippit Your Holiness." Ask Jack White of the White Stripes, no one gave those two people a hard time when they were here. Just a "Hey Jack, Hey Meg" and let them be on their way.

Hug a journalist on Sunday. Better yet, because we get the stalkers, HUG A TV REPORTER. I'll be at the Nav for breakfast, I'll take my hugs there.

EDITED TO ADD: I won't really be at the Nav for breakfast, so keep your stalking to yourself.

Of government websites and minor political hackery

I was looking around on line today, and checked out the message boards over at PEIInfo.com. It seems the the government of PEI has redesigned their website..

Now, as we all know, message boards are the second lowest form of human communication out there (comment sections on national news websites are the lowest).

The partisans over at the message board were bashing Rob Ghiz like a Japanese whaler, over the decision to......

wait for it........

put his picture on the website.....

and to use "Liberal" red (hey jerks, it is Colonel Grey maroon, not Liberal red. Blast him on that).

Off hand, I can think of ten things I would be more pissed off at Premier Rob about... let's start with:

1 - closing rural schools
2 - grabass Deputy Ministers and how much they get paid
3 - the performance of various ministries and their ministers
4 - which Liberal supporters received money from the mysterious Chinese
5 - why people in Western PEI are fighting over windmills
6 - a home EXPLODING in Cornwall (ok, maybe not Rob's fault, but it is Cornwall related, and I hope they find their cat)
7 - the price of milk
8 - the collapse of farming
9 - Government employees faking documents on ATIP requests
10 - Govt reworking the very same website to make sure that public info remains private

See, not hard. A little substance, and I didn't even have to interview anyone. I don't live there, I'm not even that mad about any of it. The one I'm really mad about is not on this list

The reasons are several,
most of them federal
(had to quote Public Enemy, because it does take A Nation Of Millions to Hold Me Back ;))).

The media is no better. "Senator" Duffy says something stupid and they can't do enough stories.....

and never once mention that using the image of two men together in bed as "disgusting" is a pretty damn homophobic thing to say....

But it got me thinking. The Government of Nunavut has a website, and it used to have Premier Okalik's smiling face up there. I remember because they changed his photo when he shaved his moustache.

Go check it now. No Premier Aariak on the front page. What is up with that?

Either Rob or Eva need some hubris, or one needs to lose some. They should sort it out at the next First Minister's meeting, or commission a study, whichever one is determined to be less effective.

Listed'ed

Nailed.... my ability to rant about PEI politics without the glare of fellow Islanders is over.

I've been listed at www.peiblogs.com

Shit, I even went and voted, giving myself 10 stars.... after reading that Clinton article, I thought I was entitled to a little hubris.

Now that I am recognized, I want a column in The Guardian... if Todd MacLean can have one... (I kid, Todd is the man).

The part that is driving me nuts is that you can read every word of my blog on their site.. it captures this here and puts it up there.

HEY LAZY PEIBLOG.COM READING JERKS, CLICK ON OVER HERE AND LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL FORMAT AND COOL ASS HEADER PHOTO.