Public TV’s Keen Sense of Balance In Action
By Mitch Berg
From the website for “Almanac”, Twin Cities’ Public TV’s long-running aplogia for the region’s center-left status quo, their list of blogs they follow.
From the Left: Just about every left-leaning blog worth reading in the Twin Cities (and a few that aren’t).
From the Right: Um, wouldja believe, Minnesota Democrats Exposed. That’s it.
Your tax dollars in action.
Why, it’s almost like they don’t know they’re in the midst of the nation’s most vibrant conservative blog community.
An oversight. I’m sure of it.
July 5th, 2007 at 6:55 am
So is it there fault, or yours for not asking to be listed. Vibrant or not, don’t get caught up in being a legend in your own mind. You want to be on their list, ask them, and I am sure it will happen. But then you wouldn’t have something to complain about. You sure have taken the victim hood mantle lately. Whining doesn’t look good on you at all!
Flash
July 5th, 2007 at 7:22 am
It was fun to watch them debate the future of the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press a few weeks ago on their show. They had a bunch of lefties sitting on the couch scratching their heads and pondering why people don’t read the papers anymore. Never, did they mention politcal leaning leanings on the opinion page or the more subtle liberal spin they give the rest of their reporting or “under-reporting” of the news.
They must think the Star Tribune needs a font change again.
July 5th, 2007 at 7:26 am
It probably IS an oversight.
People get locked into their own circle of relationships. If the conservative bloggers got together and sent a signed letter to Almanac (paper, not email – these are people stuck in the 60’s & 70’s after all, at least the decision makers are anyways) they’d have to pay attention. Or at least make a better target if they continue to ignore you.
I’d also work on MPR as well. They have some kind of thing going where they try to break the “golden rolodex” syndrome by broadcasting emails to people signed up to act as knowledge experts – I know I’m saying this wrong, and I don’t have the terminology right so you’ll have to prowl their site to figure out what I’m talking about. If you’re keyed into this and ready to respond when they ask the community for ideas/information you’re missing out on a way to leverage public broadcasting.
The phrase “…those who show up” comes to mind.
July 5th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Fresch: its been demonstrated (some survey I saw months ago…bleah, please don’t ask me to go look for it) that newspaper editorial policies generally reflect the broad community they serve. Conservative regions tend to have conservative newspapers, and liberal regions tend to have liberal newspapers.
Whatever their ideological beliefs, they’re still in the business of making money. Its all about audience demographics.
July 5th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Bill. I still get both newspapers. I try to read both the A and B section each day and the sports page. I like reading newspapers, but, the Star Tribune drives me nuts with their “under-reporting” of the news and their leftist bias, and the Pioneer Press drives me nuts that they don’t realize that with just a slight movement to center-right, they could sell a ton of papers on both sides of the river.
So many people have stopped buying the paper for one reason, left wing bias. What a large chunk of potential customers! Why the Star Trib is laying people off and thinking that a change of fonts will attract readers while they fail to see what could be the easiest way to get a ton of readers back.
It’s that easy! I’m in sales and see lost opportunities to make money all the time. And the papers moving right or center is a huge opportunity that is being ignored.
I like reading the paper. I don’t feel sorry for them anymore. I guess I do feel sorry for the guy on the print press floor or the guy delivering my paper or the guy selling ad space, but the owners, management, editors, columnists, and reporters I don’t feel sorry for them.
MPR was trying for a big money grab this session to build a tranmitter in Roseau. That was dead in the water. It’s not like MPR-TPT are little stations trying to keep the heat on and having one bulb burned out in the shop light they use for office lighting. MPR and TPT are big giants, very sucessful giants, and don’t need our tax money anymore.
July 5th, 2007 at 8:08 am
It may not be so much an ideological bias as that they don’t like blogs and think that the best way to discourage people from reading them is to link to rather bad ones. Sort of like the way some dads try to discourage their kids from smoking by making them smoke an entire pack or until they gets sick 😉
July 5th, 2007 at 8:51 am
They don’t like blogs, especially conservative blogs, because it lessens their role as an “information gatekeeper”. The liberal blogs think mostly how they do.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:46 am
“It probably IS an oversight.”
“You want to be on their list, ask them”
Bill and Flash,
The MOB web ring and it’s lengthy list of conservative MN blogs is WELL publicized on MDE and for anyone not to notice it is to neglect due diligence. Hit rates for most of these blogs and profiles are also public.
I like SITD but that’s just me – a comprehensive eval of some less promoted conservative blogs would be worthwhile.
So I agree with Mitch. A concise summary of the MN MOB scene is needed which does not include only the loudest conservative blog (MDE). There are alot of guys and gals slaving in obscurity out there.
July 5th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Why I can’t stand the Star-Tribune. The other night someone came buy selling subscriptions. I said “no” but took the free one. The cartoon that day said “the one that got away” and showed a bald eagle flying away from a white male with a rifle, behind him was a factory spewing smoke. Get it, the white male businessaman wanted to make the eagle extinct.
Very juvenile. The concept was like it orginated by a 5th grader. And his is the best the largest paper in the upper midwest can come up with?
July 5th, 2007 at 11:26 am
“And his is the best the largest paper in the upper midwest can come up with?”
I think the folks at the Chicago Tribune would argue with that statement. They are larger AND the actually report the news – as opposed to opining in news stories…
LL
July 5th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Well if I still worked there, I’d add you!
You should email almanac@tpt.org.
July 5th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Contributing one fraction of one cent to Steve Sack is a revolting notion.
July 5th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Chuck: that cartoon came from the Washington Post, from Tom Toles, in case you were curious. He replaced Herblock, who made Toles look like the master of the subtle riposte.
July 5th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Poor Mitch. Dismayed that his blog isn’t on the Public TV website. I heard another Northern Alliance crony complaning that a reporter at ‘CCO hadn’t heard of him.
Boo-hoo.