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Blog Entry 28 of 50 Alpenglow
I am a former community journalist at YourHub.com who lived in Vail for two years before moving to Cody, Wyo., where I live now. I mostly use YourHub.com to keep in touch with my former colleagues at YourHub.com World Headquarters in Denver, but I also like photography and post a lot of photos. "You know that every time I try to go where I really want to be it's already where I am." - System of a Down, "Sugar"

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~VailJoel

Talk Bad to the Media 2
Contributed by: Joel Hunt   on 1/24/2008

Here's the second installment of Talk Bad to the Media. These are all real letters, e-mails, etc., that people send us.

This gem is from Wisdom From the Web, where people can comment on stories, columns, etc., online and then we print excerpts on our commentary page:

"Bar crime: Who cares?
Once again, Steve Lynn creating a headline out of a nonissue. The sensationalized headline is let down by the substance of the story. It's gotten to the point when I see the Lynn byline, I read only to look for sensationalism, making a mountain out of a molehill or just plain idiocy in journalism."

Which local bar do you think the commenter owns?

This referring to an ad for an Italian restaurant that features nude female workers (strategically covered) in it:

"Bagali's naked ad My name is _______ and I just wondered if you are accepting ads from any low-level advertiser in the valley? The ones that Bagali's Italian Kitchen put in the paper are really very distasteful and deceiving. Surely there are not nude women walking around this resturant displaying their wares for every eye to behold. Where is your sense of common decency to allow such an ad in your paper anyway?"

This next one is in reference to a brief I ran in our international/national section.

Here's the brief:

"TYLER, TEXAS
Police say man cooked parts of slain girlfriend A man killed his girlfriend, then filleted and cooked parts of her body before calling police to tell them what he was doing, authorities said Sunday. Christopher Lee McCuin, 25, called 911 on Saturday and told an emergency dispatcher he had killed Jana Shearer, 21, and was boiling her body parts at his mother's home, said Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith. When authorities arrived at the home, they found Shearer's mutilated body, one ear boiling in a pot of water on the stove and a fork sticking out of some human flesh sitting on a plate on the kitchen table."

Here's the response from a reader:

"I am writing concerning a short article I read in the 'Across the Wire' on Monday January 7th. It was a shocking news report and I felt it was inappropriate and unnecessary for the Daily to print such a sickening and horrifying story. There is no noteworth , educational, or interest value in printing such an article. I can't imagine anyone reading your paper: adult or young locals or tourists, would want to read that story.

"I realize you are free to print what you want but why not print some stories each day that are positive.... educational or stories that are funny or thought provoking. On Monday's 'Across the Wire' all the stories were about violence or negative events. I wonder if the article about the man killing and cooking his girlfriend gave any sick and violent people ideas ????!"

The reader's pretty much right, except for one thing: I'm sure lots of people read that story.

Here's a rant from a former Eagle County commissioner and state-level political hopeful after we used "whites" in a headline when referring to "Anglos." He is right, Hispanics can be white, but what an a$$hole. He's a Republican, but I'll never vote for him.

"Hispanics are whites. Before you start making racist comments, you should start out by getting your facts straight if you truly want to write a news story. Hispanic is a nationality (of or relating to Spain or Latin America). White is a race. Try using a dictionary if you know how to read. All you are doing in this opinion column, is promoting fear and racism."

It was a semantic error in a headline, which is bad, but there was nothing inherently racist about the error or the story.

The biggest problem, though, is that the same writer again used "white" to mean "Anglo" in another story after we all got this e-mail. Get a clue!

And this wisdom from a woman in Oklahoma who apparently didn't know she was defending someone (Candace Calvin) who killed someone (her passenger) in a drunken car chase with police (The story she's referring to is linked here):

"It regards to the article published on January 11, 2008 about Candace Calvin, I want to express my complete disgust in the reporting techniques of the Vail Daily. Not only was the article one sided, but I feel that it was also bias. No one thought to mention what Candace's family has gone through, or the fact that she used to serve Eagle County as a firefighter. I have seen these kinds of stories produced before caused by the desperate needs of underqualified reporters to make a desperate attempt to seem competent. The Vail Daily is truly a joke not only to Eagle County, but to the world of informative media in general. I can not see a day in the future where the Vail Daily will actually report accurate, in depth, or even worthwhile stories. The sheer insensitivity and callousness of this article is the biggest example of immoral reporting that I have ever seen."

Days so far
Loveland: 3
Copper: 2
Vail: 3
Beaver Creek: 23
Total: 31


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Charmaine Robledo
posted on 2/5/2008 @ 11:48:43 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Yeah, it was great. Schmoozing with the Stanley Cup. I almost kissed it, but I think the Cup has been around ...
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Joel Hunt
posted on 1/24/2008 @ 3:43:52 PM
Rated Blog Entry
P.S.: I saw the photo of Charmaine and Steve in the Rocky with the Stanley Cup!
[Report as objectionable]
Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Joel Hunt

Cody , WY

Joel Hunt has posted 50 blog entries and 80 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Joel Hunt's average blog rating is 5.
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