The Wright Stuff

James G. Wright, editor of the Times-News who two weeks ago spent an hour on "Zeb at the Ranch," feels that the comment made in that appearance and attributed to him in this post was taken out of context and his words misconstrued.

Anyone who stands up and takes a stand and doesn't waffle out from under it if someone disagrees with them is going to get heat.    If somebody on the left wants to call that hate speech or whatever, they can.  I mean, it's just speech.  Unless they're shootin' at ya pal, it's not that bad.  It's just talk.

The comment was characterized in the post by saying, "[The Times-News] editor not only dismissed the consequences of hate speech, he essentially endorsed [Zeb Bell's] view that he's under attack from liberals who don't like his 'moral values.'"

In a comment exchange following the post where I was also critical of the paper's failure to report on issues of racism, Wright essentially says his intent was not to imply that hate speech was just speech but that he was telling Bell he was making himself out to be a victim.  (There's more; go read if you're interested.) 

While I take Wright at his word that it wasn't his intent, I stand by the original characterization that the statement did minimize the consequences of hate speech.  To satisfy his request, here, without further commentary and, hopefully, plenty of context, is a roughly eight-minute audio clip from James Wright's April 8th appearance on "Zeb at the Ranch."

Listen to the mp3 here

The first minute or so of the clip came about five minutes into the interview and the remaining seven minutes is a bit from the last thirty minutes of the hour-long interview.

April 20, 2009 at 12:50 PM in Local Media, Zeb Bell | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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Kudos to the Idaho Statesman

Have you noticed the subtle changes at the Idaho Statesman?  Many long-time news organizations, especially those in relatively small markets, have struggled with the transition from "old media" to "new media" and the Idaho Statesman is no different.  They've made some recent changes that appear to be in the right direction.

The Statesman has always had a pretty good editorial page, devoting lots of space to reader submitted commentary through "letters to the editor" and the somewhat longer "reader's view."  It's an excellent old-media method for community involvement but they've struggled with incorporating the new media of the internet into this concept. 

However, this summer they added a new opinion page feature called "other voices" that mixes in some relevant commentary from other sources including blogs.  They also recently made a long overdue update to their website and now allow online comments from readers, some of which are added to the "other voices" feature.  Both changes attempt to tie together the print edition and the online edition and both are changes in the right direction.

Now if we could just get them to change their archiving system; it's very frustrating to link to a Statesman article only to end up with a broken link after fourteen days.  Bloggers can be so hard to please.

Update 09.24.07 10:40:  More good news from the Idaho Statesman.  I've just been informed that links to articles at the Statesman online now remain active for a year.  I hadn't noticed it, but I guess this change also happened sometime this summer.  Good news indeed.     

September 23, 2007 at 10:29 AM in Local Media | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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KTVB's Idaho Blog Pulse

Treasure Valley NBC affiliate, KTVB, has broadened its leadership in the internet-based news world by including content and links from a wide array of blogs from around Idaho on a variety of topics.  It's a handy way to keep up with the constantly updating blogosphere.  They also include several RSS feeds that readers can subscribe to. 

If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth checking out.

Update 06.05.07 22:58:  Just found out why KTVB's Blog Pulse project didn't make my radar screen 'til now.  KTVB sends word that they are still working on finalizing details on the project and hope to be live in a few weeks.  You heard it first here at MGR.

June 05, 2007 at 06:40 PM in Local Media | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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Media and John Foster

What does the traditional media have to say about the Idaho Democratic Party's new Executive Director, John Foster?

Print  [These are the only papers I found that carried the story online.]

TV  [Most who covered it carried versions of the AP story.  Here are the Treasure Valley stations.]

  • ABC KIVI has nothing
  • CBS KBCI emphasis on the minority Democrats
  • NBC KTVB bleh
  • FOX KTRV nice little bit

What do we make of all this?  Best coverage goes to the Idaho Press-Tribune.  They took the time to assess how the change may affect Canyon County and gave the readers some good insights.  Also, not really surprising but a little disappointing that Southeast Idaho didn't have more and North Idaho didn't have any print news coverage. 

April 27, 2007 at 09:57 AM in Local Media | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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End of Session News Rundown

The legislative session is over and there will be many opportunities for analysis.  For now let's take a look at how the local news media (mostly print) viewed the session.

Most Comprehensive

Best Who's Who

Best Quote Collection

Best Key Issues

Best Grading System

Best Local Impact Analysis

Best Commentary Behind a Firewall [This is a dubious category; a nod combined with a jab for not allowing access to more readers.]

Best Last Day Color Commentary

This list will update as more news becomes available.  Thanks to Idaho Public Television's Idaho Reports, many articles from the dailies whose websites are behind subscription firewalls will be made accessible.   

April 01, 2007 at 08:41 AM in Local Media | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Not the News

So the Orchard to Isaacs Canyon project on I-84 got yanked from the GARVEE bonding bill because the Boise district's legislators are Democrats and a Republican Senator admits it on the Senate floor.  You'd think that would be big news, right?  Well you'd be wrong. 

Every Treasure Valley broadcast network's website carries stories of the defeat of the GARVEE bill but none carries a word about the stunning admission of political retribution being played out in the Idaho Legislature.

KTRV and KTVB include in their stories a mention of "political reasons" for the bill's defeat which led to the legislature being in session for at least one more day.  Neither mentions what any of those political reasons were—one of which was the admission from Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) that a project was removed because the district's legislators were from the wrong political party.

"Eyewitness News," "Today's News," "Newschannel," "News at Nine" — they're all just slogans folks...but you probably already knew that.

March 30, 2007 at 09:15 AM in Local Media | | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

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MountainGoat
MountainGoat

Quotes For 2010

  • "The main thing is to keep everybody going down that road as we try to find the answers and solutions to all these problems. It'll be fun! We'll get it done." — Majority Leader Mike Moyle (R-Star) when asked in an Idaho Reports broadcast how the State House will handle making tough budget decisions this year, 1.29.10.

Quotes For 2009

  • "[Some politicians] wouldn't recognize the Constitution if it fell in their laps and called them Daddy." — Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett (R-Challis) at a tea party tax protest.
  • "Just, you know, putting beans on the table." — former Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) when asked by Nate Shelman (670 KBOI) what he's doing these days.
  • "I said yesterday we hope and pray things will get better before they get worse. It's obvious to me some of you need to do a better job of praying." — Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert), Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee co-chair on the grim economic forecast facing the committee.
  • “We’ve been called a lot of things but we’ve never been called sneaks before.” — Rep. Maxine Bell (R-Jerome) in a budget dispute with the governor's staff over legislators' computer funding.
  • "I’m not wearing rose-tinted glasses. But I am a glass-half-full kind of guy." — Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter attempting to remain optimistic while delivering tough economic news in his State of the State/Budget message.

Quotes For 2008

  • "I am not ashamed that we use a lot of energy in this country. It has made us the most prosperous Nation on the face of the planet. ... Using energy makes us prosperous." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) during debate on an energy bill that, among other things, invested in alternative and renewable energy sources and repealed tax subsidies for large oil companies. (H.R.6899)
  • "If [Oversight Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman was interested in doing more than just showboat, we'd be there in a heartbeat. It's political grandstanding." — spokesman Wayne Hoffman explaining why Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) was absent from congressional oversight hearings into the financial crisis where, among other things, it was learned that AIG executives indulged in a lavish retreat a week after the bailout.
  • "You know what, campaigns are fast and furious, I accept responsibility that we don't have the right citation there, but the facts I stand by - we are correct about that." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) reacting to a campaign commercial fact-checking report.
  • "There are people out there without health care, and we need to address that, but it's not as big of a problem as some people would make it out to be" — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) in a Lewiston, ID debate
  • "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." — President Bill Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
  • "To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." — Senator Hillary Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
  • "The America that we know, that the founding fathers envisioned, will cease to exist." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) speaking at the state GOP convention about the possibility of a Democratically controlled White House and Congress.
  • "Sometimes the problems have to get larger before you can solve them. We can still drive around the potholes, so they must not be big enough." — House Speaker Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale), explaining that lawmakers still need to be convinced about the extent of road maintenance problems before they'll agree to tax or fee increases.
  • "Those people that believe in shooting animals through the fences . . . ought to turn the rifle the other way." — Former Governor Cecil Andrus, at sportsmen's rally, decked out in full camouflage, urging opposition to "shooter bull" operations on domestic elk farms.
  • "GARVEE is like swallowing a raw egg - it seems to be one of those things that's really hard to stop in the middle of." — Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian), in comments on a package of transportation bills introduced by House GOP leaders at an emergency committee meeting.
  • "I'm a professional dairyman. I have milked and milked everything I can possibly milk." — State Police Maj. Ralph Powell, arguing that the state crime lab's bare-bones operation has reached its limit and now costs the state money as testing is sent to private labs.
  • "Idaho is ranked last in the nation in protecting the safety of children in day care centers." — Sen. Kate Kelly (D-Boise), in support of an unsuccessful move by Senate Democrats to force a daycare standards bill out of committee.
  • "This [anti-discrimination bill] is something we will propose every year until it passes." — Rep. Nicole LeFavour (D-Boise), responding to the latest BSU Public Policy survey in which 63 percent of Idahoans think it ought to be illegal to fire someone for being gay or seeming to be gay.
  • "I assumed it would be a bunch of radical college students, so to fit the part, I grew a goatee, got a revolutionary T-shirt and put on some ratty jeans." — Rep. Curtis Bowers (R-Caldwell) in an Idaho Press-Tribune opinion explaining how he disguised himself to uncover alleged communist plots.

Quotes For 2007

  • "Divorce is just terrible. It's one of Satan's best tools to kill America." — Rep. Dick Harwood (R-St. Maries) describing the work of the Idaho Legislature's Family Task Force.
  • "I am not gay; I never have been gay." Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) in a statement responding to news of his arrest and subsequent guilty plea to disorderly conduct after an incident in an airport men's room.
  • “Most of the hospitals in this country have Christian names. If you think Hindu prayer is great, where are the Hindu hospitals in this country? Go down the list. Where are the atheist hospitals in this country? They’re not equal.” — Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID-01) to the Idaho Press-Tribune editorial board in response to criticism of his views regarding Hindu prayer in the Senate.
  • "We are all Nintendo warriors today. Remember that game, that electronic game, a few years ago, push buttons zim, zam, boom and it was all over with? That is not the way you fight war, although we as a society have grown to believe that." — Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) during debate on an amendment to a bill providing for defense authorization.
  • "While we are Democrats and Republicans, in our hearts we are all Idahoans." — Sen. Clint Stennett (D-Ketchum), reaching out to Republicans while outlining the Democratic agenda for the 2007 legislative session.
  • "One of the hardest things we've had to do here is taking off our party hats." — Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian) on a proposal to restrict Idaho's primary elections.
  • "This is outrageous. The people of Idaho are entitled to have their representatives base their votes on the merits of a bill, not on who backed the loser in a speaker's contest." — Former GOP Gov. Phil Batt responding to accusations of political retribution taken by House Speaker Denney (R-Midvale) on other members.
  • “There was one of those six projects that was removed altogether. Why? Because the senator and the representatives from that district were from the wrong political party. We need to take a step back" — Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) to the Senate when debating the GARVEE bill.
  • "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself." — Gov. Butch Otter, speaking to a hunters' rally at the Statehouse.
  • "To get a kick out of smoking industrial hemp, it would take a cigar the size of a telephone pole." — Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), downplaying the relation between hemp and its cousin marijuana
  • "I guess I would just make a plea saying we need the money. You know we need the money on roads." — Rep. JoAn Wood (R-Rigby), on proposed bill to collect gas tax from sales on Indian reservations.
  • "No one wants to carry the canoe bill." — Rep. Eric Anderson (R-Priest River), agreeing with Gov. Otter that non-motorized boats should also pay registration fees, but noting any such proposal will be a tough sell.
  • "I don't think we should let the threat of a lawsuit force us to implement something that's not well thought out." — Abbie Mace, Fremont County Clerk, testifying against a "modified-closed primary" bill being pushed by GOP leaders.
  • "There's a lot of things that I pointed out in my State of the State (address) that haven't passed. Unfortunately, I can't think of one that has." — Gov. Butch Otter, addressing reporters on the legislative session so far.
  • "I say let's have a hearing and take our clothes off and go after it." — Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, trying to get lawmakers to print his bill.
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