IS IT TRUE? August 18, 2011
IS IT TRUE that yesterday was one of those days that saw the Evansville news community all worked up over an issue that will be nothing more than trivia in a few months?…that a news release regarding the naming rights for the now christened Ford Center was sent by the Mayor’s Office to a number of providers with an embargo time of 1:00 pm attached to it?…that a news embargo is a request by a source that the information or news provided by that source not be published until a certain date or certain conditions have been met?…that the understanding is that if the embargo is broken by reporting before then, the source will retaliate by restricting access to further information by that journalist or his publication, giving them a long-term disadvantage relative to more cooperative outlets?…that during 2011 the Office of the Mayor of Evansville has preemptively kept the City County Observer out of the distribution for news releases thus whatever advantages that we may have had by being in the official loop was restricted long ago by the Weinzapfel Administration?…that back in the days when we were being provided press releases we never ever violated any embargo condition?
IS IT TRUE that yesterday’s article in the CCO announcing that Ford was the buyer of the naming rights for the Ford Center became the most viewed story we have ever published in the first 24 hours eclipsing the previous record by a couple of hundred views?…that we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Mayor Weinzapfel for keeping us off of the distribution list so that we were not subject to any embargo?…that we would also like to thank the Mole Nation for helping us scoop this story?…that this was a great little bonus to the CCO that should be filed under unintended consequences by the Office of the Mayor of Evansville?…that we are certain that when either a Mayor Davis or Mayor Winnecke takes office that we shall be included in the distribution list for press releases?…that as much as we do look forward to that day, the cat and Mole game of scooping those who are using embargo techniques to unlevel the playing field of the local news business has been fun?
IS IT TRUE that embargo of news is a mechanism used by private businesses to protect commercial product announcements and by governments to provide security for time sensitive information?…that the most recent significant news embargo was that Sunday night when President Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden?…that the bi-weekly press briefings of the International Monetary Fund are always embargoed?…that the Federal Reserve Bank routinely embargoes news regarding interest rate changes?…that all of these news embargoes have a purpose?…that the name of the Ford Center really does not stack up to events of national security and world financial speculation?…that the only reason for yesterday’s embargo was to create “one shining moment†for Mayor Weinzapfel?…that in a week no one will remember who broke the story or that the embargo even happened?…that this deal has been done for a while, that the CCO had known the outcome for a few days and that in the big scheme of what Evansville really needs, the time of day that the naming rights were released does not mean spit?
IS IT TRUE that the whole hubbub of yesterday just indicates a 24 hour virus of misplaced priorities on the part of the Weinzapfel Administration and the entire Evansville news community including the CCO?…that on a day when it was revealed that poverty among children is rising in Vanderburgh County, that over half of the students in EVSC are on reduced lunch programs, that the birthrate among unwed teenagers has increased again, that college attendance rates are dropping, and that the number of juveniles sent to prison from this county increased by 49% we were all obsessing over what time the Ford Center announcement would be?
IS IT TRUE that we all have more important things to spend our time on than worrying about photo-ops, trivia, and our big new temple to sport?…that we encourage the candidates for Mayor of Evansville to concentrate their thoughts and efforts on solutions to the real problems that face this community?…that we promise to publish any and all plans of substance from all of the 2011 candidates and to provide a level playing field and fair editorial analysis for their plans?
All of these embargo’s are the major cause of the death of investigative journalism, it’s easier to just be fed the info instead of digging and of course the supplier of the info has total control of the content or spin if you will.
JMHO
Hell I’d say give him his moment. Like it or not THERE it is and THERE its gonna stay for a long time. We don’t DO big things here often its a big deal.
There was better than a good chance that all of this arena contention could have been avoided if the mayor had made any effort to take the public into his confidence. To his discredit, he did not choose that path and the public is not happy about that.
Since we have been told many times in this forum by the mayor’s supporters that what is done is done, and now we must make the best of it, I wonder if we can also finally agree that Evansville and Vanderburgh county have reached the saturation point on publicly owned entertainment facilities?
Regarding these facilities, the next several administration need only concern themselves with finding ways to make these facilities self supporting.
The focus should shift from shiny new buildings to resurrecting the city’s crumbling infrastructure and an all out search for JOBS!
Press, You are aboslutely correct. Saturation is fast coming. Yet no bulldozers in Roberts Parking lot yet. Soon though, you can hear them coming.
I still say WELL DONE yesterday. You taught the Mayor’s office a lesson. They have no leg to stand on with regard to any embargo. It was THEIR decision to leave CCO off the distribution list, therefore you were in no way subject to a news embargo. You couldn’t have known about it without having a release sent to you. Anyone upset about it is just mad that you still managed to scoop the rest of the media AND take a bit of thunder away from an administration hell bent dictating who it believes is ‘news media.’ Not your fault they’re not keeping up with the times.
I hope all this self-back slapping by the editors doesn’t result in any muscular damage! And really, guys, you sound even worse here than the Courier and Press bragging about their next to meaningless journalism awards for one of the most boring and empty gob of newsprint published in the state of Indiana. How much does a print copy of the C & P cost now – about the same as the Washington Post?
Soon… I do agree with you on the meaningless journalism, empty gob of newsprint statement, media outlets like the C&P have done it to themselves by aligning with one faction or another. They have no one else to blame when you take press releases and print it verbatim without any fact checking or forethought into the content of the release as it might apply to a political agenda. It’s nothing new, but the public does see news outlets for what they have become, it’s hard to find the truth in published media be it TV or print or even the internet for that matter, for that very reason I do applaud the CCO for trying to follow the moniker of the Daily Planet….Truth, Justice, And The American Way! It’s a rare find in our world today.
JMHO
Almost as bad as printing forwarded emails, typos and all!
Wasn’t the Daily Planet a fictional contrivance of a comic book writer?
LOL…..Yep! not unlike most of the stories we read from the established media. 🙂
“that on a day when it was revealed that poverty among children is rising in Vanderburgh County, that over half of the students in EVSC are on reduced lunch programs, that the birthrate among unwed teenagers has increased again, that college attendance rates are dropping, and that the number of juveniles sent to prison from this county increased by 49%”. If this is true our city/county is in major trouble!
This is true, was confirmed yesterday, and yes PK the City of Evansville is in major trouble. The whole purpose for the City County Observer is to expose details that contribute to such horrible statistics in hopes that our public policy will improve and our community will too. Welcome to the City County Observer.
Am I the only person in this town who remembers that Mayor Whiney-Zipple spent most of his youth sucking up to his peers in the O’Daniel clan? Does anybody remember that when he went to the O’Daniels and asked them to sell him their downtown real estate that they told him to take a hike? Does anyone else think that this is just another suckup to the O’Daniel family by our Mayor with the Midget’s Brain? And how much (if any “campaign contribution money” greased our mayor’s palms prior to the naming of the Arena? Is this just another poke in the eyes of the mayor’s enemies?
IDK, I thought I heard that the deal with Ford included a job offering for JW as soon as his mayor gig is up first of the year, it was either lot boy washing cars or the more prestigious position of used car salesman, both of which he is well qualified for.
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