Funny Mr. Sondermann, I was taught that I'm responsible for my choices. Reactions to Do Better Denver are telling. Vermont dairy's plan illustrates a better way than Colorado's current paradigm.
You know it's funny, but I always thought that I was responsible for my choices as was everyone else.
Apparently, however, if you're in the media (according to Mr. Sondermann) your choices are the result of enticement and not your own.
I found myself pretty disappointed in one of Mr. Sondermann's contentions in his op ed below: namely that the Republicans make it all too easy for the media to pay attention to them and not the Democrats who are actually running the state.
Here's the final paragraph:
"If Republicans could repress themselves and keep a lid on it, even temporarily, attention could be paid to Democratic excesses and divides. Given which party actually dictates policy, it might be fitting and instructive to put them under the microscope for a change."
Yes, clearly if those scurrilous Republicans could just get out of the way our media would have no other choice than to highlight Democrat failures and excesses.
Clearly.
I call BS on this. We, and yes this includes the people in our media, are responsible for our own actions regardless of what others do. The fact that the media find it easier to produce content (and also fruitful--sensationalism pays) does not excuse them from ignoring reams of news in this state.
They chose. They are responsible, Mr. Sondermann. As are you.
Republicans would be smart to keep their crazy private and to be more thoughtful of course, but again, this doesn't negate the fact that the media by and large biases toward things that sell, and, to a lesser degree, toward sympathy with people who share their feelings about how the world should work.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/colorado-in-dc/focusing-on-the-main-event-instead-of-the-sideshow-sondermann/article_3aecb920-c62f-11ee-93f9-33474dd44996.html
And speaking of things the media lacks coverage on, let's talk about how leftists and the mayor respond to things that paint Denver in an unfriendly light.
And let's talk about how you'll likely hear none of this in a mainstream news outlet.
There is an anonymous Twitter account called @DoBetterDNVR that highlights some of the awful conditions in Denver. See the screenshot a the top for one of their more popular photos.**
I'll leave it to you to go see their page and/or read up on them in the Westword profile article below. What I want to focus on here is what is going on outside the hubbub over the photos themselves: the awful and sometimes violent things opponents of this group say, the revealing comments made by the mayors office, and the complete lack of outrage over same by our press.
To get a sense of what I mean, take a look at screenshots 1 and 2 attached from the article. They cover the awful things the public says and the tone deaf things the Denver mayor's office said.
Regardless of whether you think what Do Better Denver is doing is okay, threatening people and/or their property is not okay.
The comments made by Denver's mayor are just as suspect. Take the one from the screenshot where it quotes the spokesperson: "There are many trusted forms of news sources in our city we rely on to share pertinent information about our administration’s efforts...".
Revealing from the standpoint of pointing to the to the expected relationship that the mayor of Denver has, and feels he ought to have, with the media.
Golly, I'm old enough to remember the media saying threats against people who work to expose the unvarnished truth weren't okay. I'm also old enough to remember the media calling out politicians who feel as though they can criticize those who do not print the things the politicians like.
Does anyone honestly believe the mainstream outlets around Denver would be silent about this if the political orientations of those involved were reversed?
In my opinion, there are many in the media whose political orientation, societal views, and, frankly, whose hubris about themselves--what they do, what their role in society is--blind them to the equally bad things that happen right at their side.
It's not okay for people of one political orientation to say vile things and make threats. These are things that should be called out. But, of course, only if their political cause is one I don't share.
It's okay for a mayor to say that things he doesn't like aren't pertinent or trustworthy ("fake news" anyone?), as long as it's things they're uncomfortable with reporting on.
It's okay to treat people whose work matches that of the media differently. They didn't go to journalism school and don't work at a newspaper after all. That makes what they print automatically lesser.
And the media still continue to marvel and be sad about the lack of trust they enjoy with the public.
**I bet the Westword people liked that photo. I mean, you can't buy that kind of press am I right folks?
https://www.westword.com/news/how-dobetterdnvr-shines-an-uncomfortable-light-on-denvers-homeless-19365137
Let's work together on solutions instead of demonizing one industry or another to make environmentalists happy.
Something (not my content but worth sharing) I found on FB which I want to share here as well. Link is below.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0AyoLCkSGPS93LEmeZ34E97AsZdzuh9QNM21xUhcAMGUittuQvThSfUSSE11vBYgpl&id=100064648840728