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Re: “Al Gore Is A Liar”
Am I dense to expect a professional journalist to report critically on a news event, regardless of medium?
As the O takes a nose dive (good riddance to credulous hackery), there's a huge opportunity for guys like Matt to step up and model something useful in journalism, even (or especially) on blogs. I've seen him do it on the City Hall beat, and on stories concerning homelessness and mental health. He missed a chance here, but I guess if it's entertaining to somebody, that's good enough for the Merc. (At least WWeek ran a picture of the naked PETA protester.)
That's all. Good night.
Re: “Al Gore Is A Liar”
Guess I'm confused... is Matt Davis a blogger or a professional journalist? When the professional media miss a story, we should just write it ourselves?
Bitch all you want about THE FUTURE OF MEDIA IN PORTLAND. But if the pros are just going to turn into bloggers, tossing off 400 cute and ironic words while missing significant nuance and subtext, I despair.
If you're not part of the solution....
Re: “Al Gore Is A Liar”
@Graham: no, I don't expect an investigative piece. But I do expect some critical coverage of Gore's speech, such as his support for "clean coal," nuclear power and market-based solutions to global warming.
How about Gore's monkeyshine about how people move to Portland for the beautiful environment, and how that means an increased standard of living? Matt knows something about gentrification and homelessness. There's a local tie-in for ya.
Just looking for some critical coverage beyond the lazy "teabaggers vs. enviros" angle I can read at WW or the O. I realize this is a "blog post," and I've got some concept of the audience it's written for. But isn't it written by a professional journalist?
Re: “Al Gore Is A Liar”
Matt, I've been running free local media (covering public schools) for a couple of years in Portland. Talk to me about giving it away. If I weren't up to my eyeballs in an investigative piece right now, not to mention the day job, I could easily toss off 1000 words about Al Gore's love of clean coal, nukes and free markets. But it's not my beat, paid or unpaid.
Seriously, you don't buy the hyper-local BS do you? Even if you do, can't you talk about how Gore's happy talk about markets plays right in to Portland's greenwashing of high-end real estate development?
There's a real story here, and you're missing it. I don't expect the O to get it. They never have. But I do expect more from you. I've seen flashes of it from time to time.
Re: “Al Gore Is A Liar”
The dumbass tea baggers and the half-assed counter protesters and the naked PETA protester all serve to distract from Gore's subtle shilling for the twin fictions of "clean coal" and "safe nuclear" and his not-so-subtle faith in market forces to solve a problem that market forces created.
There's no legitimate debate about climate change or its human causes. It's real, and it will be devastating to human civilization if we don't do something. But just because Gore is right about that, doesn't mean he's right about the solutions.
Matt, I know you're capable of grasping this kind of nuance, even if you are momentarily distracted by the noise. It's your job to tease out the substance for your readers.
Who really cares about a few dozen protesters, Oregonian photogs' nice lenses, or whether the Keller has wi-fi? I'd love to see some critical reporting about what Al Gore actually said regarding perhaps the greatest crisis ever faced by human kind.
Re: “Oregon Conservatives Closing In On Recall 2?”
A really sad state of affairs. 1) The state Dem. Party is a patronage machine, controlled by cronies of Neil Goldschmidt (who's just lurking in the shadows, trying to time his re-emergence into public life), and 2) the only marginally viable opposition to this machine is a bunch of fraudulent, right wing nutjobs.
So, if you have legitimate issues with a machine pol (say, Sam Adams), your allies will discredit your cause in the eyes of progressives.
Re: “Hipster Fish Assault”
Ironic glasses? Check.
Ironic hair? Check.
Ironic disregard for modern standards of comportment with regard to women? Check.
Ironic tats and can of PBR? Can't tell from this picture.
Still, I'm calling it. He's a hipster.
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