I’ve enjoyed being ‘Guest Editor’ for the Dixon Patch despite that I am still working hard at establishing a new retail shop in downtown Dixon. What I have not enjoyed is opening my Dixon Patch site every single day and staring all day long at President Barack Obama and his lovely wife, Michelle.
It is true I do not agree with just about anything this President says or does but the fact is I can respect that he won a presidential campaign fair and square and therefore deserves to be given the benefit of my doubts. But that is not why I don’t like seeing him on my work page. If he were on my television, I could turn him off. But, he is where I work and I have no choice.
The idea about not being able to campaign in one’s workplace is starting to make sense to me. I try not to look but then there is movement to catch my eye and I must make a deliberate effort to ignore that part of my page.
All I can think of is how much money is being spent on those ads. If we took all that money and built a factory that employs workers who produce something significant—say beepers that help people find their lost keys or cell phones, I wouldn’t be bothered. I would think it was money well spent. But nope, this is money—lots of it (unless he owns America Online)—that is spent trying to convince me to vote for him which would be say—well, a cold day in hell. I most definitely see this as money not well spent. Just how many people’s votes are actually swayed by flashing advertisements on an internet site? Do I really want to sign his birthday card?
I also don’t like the Garamendi ads, either. I believe the man is a career politician that gave up doing good when he first gerrymandered—now that he’s gerrymandered more than once, I don’t think he’s in politics to watch out for anyone but himself. I’ve spoke to the man on a couple occasions and he smelled fake with a capital F within the first 10 seconds. I just don’t like even seeing him in his pretend cowboy hat living on the corner of my screen every day. What in the heck is someone supposed to do with these ads?
While most ads are targeted to get you to do business, these ads are having the opposite affect and are making me crazy.
This is scarcely the beginning of a long campaign season yet I do have a bit of good news. I have figured out one small way of dealing with seeing unwanted politicians where my eyes want to see news, fellow Dixonites, and updates on our local government. I have discovered that if I have two pages open simultaneously, I can cover the half of the page with the square Obama and Garamendi ads with the other document. Remember, this is just my opinion.
You will never regret it.
If the current editor continues to inject her right leaning stories and opinions into the mix it will spoil what was an enjoyable read for many. Patty don’t stop reading and commenting. I’d suggest that you rail against any narrow minded views in hopes of creating a better read for all.
If an Editor of a paper writes with a bias then the creditability of the paper can be placed in question. If a Writer has a bias on a piece then they are often removed from an assignment. Bloggers are known for their skewed views and to some extent that is their draw. I am a blogger and you ought to know by now that my views have a particular slant.
1:39 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Wow!! Pulled lots of chains!! I say lighten up and lets be gracious :) I love the patch. It's always to the point and rarely controversial! Way ta be yourself, Debra!!
We really don’t need another religopolitical paper in this town because we already have one. I agree that Brianna does a great job. The Tribune is the cornerstone of our written history for the town. It must remain free of bias. If the Patch wants to be taken seriously it has to dust itself off and try it again.
"sense a certain sugar coating and biasing will soon glaze the site." from this statement, it would appear that you don't want sugar coating of opinions and news. If you didn't want "sugar coating" this kind of editorial should be right up your alley. And you certainly didn't get any bias, as this editorial was clearly marked "OPINION" at the top of this page.
As stated our town has another religopolitical rag in town it would be nice not to have this issue creep into the Patch. In an ideal world the Editor is impartial and falls silent on issues of partisan politics, other than to report it’s incidence. http://www.apme.com/?page=EthicsStatement http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-ethicscode,0,4040906.story You would do well to read the above links and then contemplate this issue again.
We should all expect, strive for and desire an impartial Editor.