TrueNews: Steven Slater: Copy Cat Journalism

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Steven Slater: Copy Cat Journalism

Steven Slater: Copy Cat Journalism
Internet and the Cutbacks have made their opponents internet site the sole investigative tool of the old media

Instead of digging out new stories today's media is content to put out the same stories as their opposition. Even the old gray lady could not resist the Slater "Mad As Hell Moment" We cannot wait until Atlantic or the Nation does a story about how Americans upset with the direction of their country are making Slater their hero.

News in today's newspaper was online yesterday afternoon. How much longer will readers buy papers filled with news they could have read about the day before online? We see what is happen to Newsweek for untimely news. Reader also learn of many of these stories the night before on TV or radio news. Since TV and Radio know from ripping and reading the morning papers are now ripping and reading the blogs, even they can have the news before the morning papers. Has the media cuts hurt the ability to offer original content and investigative stories? Yes. How can they expect readers to keep buying their product?

Four month after the Wall Street Journal stated its New York section the hope that the newspaper war would generate a more comprehensive coverage of New York has been dashed by both papers need to make sure that they cover the same stories. On same days more than half of both papers stories are the same. Is this how news is controlled? Or is this the result of cuts in news reporter? How much longer can media outlets and reporters get away with posting other new organizations on their Facebook or Twitter pages as if it were their own?

Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater CG reenactment - WPIX * 'Net rant blasted luggage gluttons (NYP) * Family flies to the defense of plane-iac (NYP) * Toasting the tarmac tantrum (NYP Ed) * Flight Attendant’s Tale Resonates, and Evolves (NYT) * Considering the Chute, in the Event of a Non-Emergency (NYT) * Woman Blamed for Flight FleeThe lawyer representing a JetBlue flight attendant who allegedly unleashed expletives at passengers before exiting said it was preceded by two separate run-ins with a rude female passenger. (NYT) *After Chute Escape at JFK, Steven Slater Appears in Queens Court (WSJ) * JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater emerges from jail, basks in new status as celebrity (DN) * Molloy: Steven Slater isn't first to pull one-finger salute (DN) * JetBlue meltdown resembles Finch's 'Network' tantrum (DN) * A Free Man, JetBlue Flight Attendant Says Support Is "Greatly Appreciated" (NY1) * Jet Blue Flight Attendant Steven Slater Breaks Silence, Telling Fans ‘I Need To Go Take A Bath’ * Telling Off Passenger Was Long-Held Dream of Flight Attendant (NYT)

Rangel Tells Congress "NUTS"
Charlie's 'expel me' dare (NYP) * Seeking Prompt Hearing, Rangel Vows to Stay Put (NYT) * Rangel to Obama: NUTS A Marine Personal Battle of the Harlem Bulge (True News) * “If I was in his shoes and know what I know, I would have been quiet,” said Rep. John Lewis of Rangel’s speech. Several New York House members – including Eliot Engel and Louise Slaughter – refused to even comment. * Bloomberg will definitely be attending Rangel’s birthday fundraiser tonight, the mayor’s office confirmed * Presenting: The Program For Tonight's Rangel Birthday Bash * Rep. Charlie Rangel Tweets: My Birthday Party's Sold Out * Charlie Rangel On Dan Rostenkowski--in 1994!!! * Welcome Home, Charlie! Rangel Returns to Wrestle With the Post * Dan Rostenkowski Is Dead at 82 * Bloomberg Abandons Nonpartisan Elections, but Not Rangel

Operation Pay Care Day-care bribe ring KO'd: feds The feds gave a "time out" to 11 people busted yesterday in an $18 million day-care scam (NYP) * Day Care Operators Are Accused of Bilking City Program for Working Poor (NYT)

Guess Who is Not Coming to Dinner Paterson, who says he’s “only now” feeling ready to govern, wanted to stop by Chris Cuomo’s surprise 40th birthday bash in the Hamptons, but the message came back that was “not a good idea.”

Reality Beats Spin at MTA
MTA budget bust bared More than half of the MTA's most expensive or ongoing capital projects are over budget (NYP) * Transit Union to Operate Vans it Opposes (WSJ) * Group Claims MTA Service Cuts Violated Disabilities Act (NY1)

Gov to Mosque: Deal or No Deal: A: NO DEAL
By rejecting the governors deal will the mosque supporters get increasing pressure that the placement is more political than religious? Gov offers land for mosque if it moves (NYP) * Erecting a gay bar next door( NYP) * For Mosque Sponsors, Early Missteps Fueled Storm (NYT) * Mosque Developer Rejects Paterson Proposal (NY1) * Where KSM belongs: Military tribunals are where all terror cases should be tried (DN Ed)
* With Anti-Mosque Ad, M.T.A. Is Reminded of Its Limited Powers *Weiner Stands Between Church And State

Mosque Defense Bring Mike Down
Mike catches holy hell in poll (NYP) * Bloomberg's Rating Drops (WSJ) * As Polls Go Against the Mosque, Bloomberg Preaches Religious Liberty (Robbins, Village Voice) * Being on the “wrong side of public opinion” regarding the mosque has contributed to the drop in Bloomberg’s approval rating, said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff * Mosque controversy dents Bloomberg's popularity * Fox Newser: I'm Opening Gay Bar Next To Mosque * Poll: Nearly 70% Of Americans Oppose NYC Mosque * Bloomberg Brushes Aside Paterson Proposal for Mosque

BOE Corruption Again and Again
Fear New Machines Will Confuse Voters (WSJ) * Board of Elections votes in Gonzalez as new exec director (DN) * The stand-off at the NYC Board of Elections over selecting a new executive director ended with George Gonzalez, a Bronx Democrat, being named to the post that has been vacant since February. * The Board of Elections says that Bloomberg's is trying to influence the results of the charter referenda by controlling how the questions appear on the ballot * A NYC Board of Elections commissioner thinks the Bloomberg administration is trying to micromanage the charter referenda. True News Says Some Old Bull Shit At BOE Throw The Bums Out: Board of Elections Bozos Have to Go! Nobody is Worried New Yorkers are Not Voting
Advocates are worried voters will be confused when new electronic voting machines make their debut in the Sept. 14 primaries.

Pay to Play Lopez Vito power! Lopez got big campaign cash from winning G’point Hospital bidder (Brooklyn Paper) More on Vito's Corruption from True News

Pay to Play Quinn Extell Business Partner Holds Fundraiser for Quinn Fundraiser happened at the very time that Extell is seeking zoning approval from the City Council for its mega-Riverside Center residential development, which is envisioned to hold 2,500 apartments.

Deal Maker Shelly Wait We’re still waiting to hear if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will follow the lead of the governor and Senate Democrats and sign off on Genting NY to run the Aqueduct racino. * Genting New York signed off to operate slots at Aqueduct (DN)
* Cuomo On Legislature: ‘I Can Be Their Best Friend’ (YNN) * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver signed off on Genting NY.

Changing Neighborhoods/Changing Cities
Lower East Side Has Less to Offer Jesuits Who Teach the Poor Founded in the early 1970s to educate poor boys, Nativity Mission Center is considering a move to the Bronx as its neighborhood turns deluxe. * Building Plans at Columbia’s Athletic Complex Stir Unease Among Neighbors (NYT) * As a Park Runs Above, Deals Stir Below The High Line, a new park built along abandoned elevated rail tracks in Manhattan, has created a strong real estate submarket. (NYT) * Renowned Pizzeria Faces Eviction Grimaldi's, facing eviction proceedings, may soon char its last crust at the famed pizzeria under the Brooklyn Bridge. (WSJ) * Storied tennis stadium at risk of being turned into condos (DN)

Election 2010 Linda McMahon body slams foes to win Connecticut GOP primary (DN) * Hiram Parking for Free, at Your Expense (WNBC) * Reid Pillifant considers the “Cuomo conundrum” – whether the Albany-bashing gubernatorial candidate will be able to get along with the Legislature if and when he’s elected. * Dan Janison asks: “Is he your father’s Cuomo?” * It appears Carl Paladino is the first candidate for governor to petition his way into a major party primary and then also petitioned to create a third party line. (Tom Golisano only accomplished the latter). * The Cuomo Conundrum: Can the King and the Court Find a Way to Get Along? (Obsever)

Law and Order Crying shame With tears running down her cheeks and her voice breaking with emotion, a Bronx mom finally admitted yesterday that she took seven children on a drunken hell ride that ended with one girl lying dead on the side of a Manhattan highway (NYP) *Gunfighter's 'coke' (NYP) * Woman fights off burglar (NYP) * Riverside 'rapist' is indicted (NYP) * A glimpse of Dodge City (NYP Ed) * Harlem Shooting Account Is Made Clearer in Inquiry (NYT) * Rape Suspect Indicted (NYT) * Harlem Community Voices Concerns Over Latest Shooting (NY1) * Bronx Woman Pleads Guilty To Fatal DWI (NY1) * Grand jury indicts suspected multiple rapist Akassy (DN) * Parole hearing for John Lennon killer is postponed (DN) * Man shot nearly two dozen times: Cops 'tried to kill me' (DN) * Juror: I didn't steal credit card for shopping spree (DN) * Full justice for Leandra: Judge must give max to drunken woman who killed child (DN Ed) * NYPD Stop And Frisks Up Two Percent

Media and New Tech Top Newsweek Writer Leaving Magazine * More bloggers taking to the races (Politico) * Johnny Carson Website Gets Major Upgrade * Rupert's Battle for the 'Sky' Trademark * Shelling Out the Big Bucks at ProPublica

How more more can we not know what is going on with the Steve Rattner Case?
A Freedom of Information Act exemption for the SEC is coming under fire

Food Comptition
Street-Food Chefs to Compete in Vendor Cook-Off (WSJ) * Get Pop-Tarts sushi in Times Square (DN)

Why Donate to True News Keep Real News Alive. Put simply, True News -- and the truth – cannot do more and could even end without financial help from the people who want to hold the government accountable for their actions. As you know True News, without any support, has fought to keep the real NYC’s investigative and analysis reporting era of great journalism alive. True News is a living memorial to publisher John Peter Zenger who was jailed in 1733 by the King for reporting to New Yorkers what was going on in their city. It is also in the tradition of the Ben Bradlee generation that believes that all reporters would not be doing their job if they did not follow the story until they got to the truth. Today’s reporters copy press releases from elected officials and lobbyists hired by the special interests who want to control the message. The lost circulation of newspapers has created a generation of young reporters who not only rely on elected officials and lobbyists for stories, but don’t even Google to find the historical context or, more importantly, the truth behind the stories they write. In this era of sell-out journalism, the public has become disconnected, powerless and trapped by a permanent government that has turned against them. The media blames an apathetic public for not voting even after democratic consultants act like an Orwellian 'Big Bother' threatening them to vote or be looked into. True News reports that the reason for the decreasing turn-out is the public no longer feel their votes matter. If you value hard hitting Investigative Journalism, don't let True News go the way of the Passenger Pigeon. The Newfield, Barrett, Kempton, Hammel of yesteryear are no more. Local TV news limits itself to good looking women and men reading about breaking fires and crimes, with few exceptions. What's left that isn't tabloid is a wasteland of superficial news, driven by political and corporate PR machines, sowing the fertile seeds of corruption public and private hand in glove. Despite the soft news we see, standard bearers play a significant albeit vestigial role. Newspapers constantly pick up stories from True News (without crediting us of course) avoiding the costs to investigate themselves. Without True News, the New York Press and this blog's over one and half million readers will be utterly lost in the wilderness. Only True News is explaining: How Blacks, the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Pushed out of Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers and Apartments Gives Details How Lobbyists and Developers Run A Secret Shadow Government that Also Controls Elections With Big Money and Their Control Over the Media Investigates How Political Party Bosses Have Been Replaced By Lobbyists' Privatization of the Tammany Hall Machine Reports How the WFP and the Elected Officials Who Are Supported By Them Have Abused and Aggressively Broken Campaign Finance Laws. True news is not funded by special interests like the other news blogs. True News has been self-funded all these years. True News does not make nice with sitting politicians, developers, lobbyists to fund it or to provide its young clueless reporters with story ideas. True News wants nothing more than to scratch out a modest living in its aim to investigate, connect the dots, and get to the truth of every newsworthy story. To carry on in this mission, True News needs funding from people like you -- People Who Want Better Journalism in order to learn what is really going on in their government and fight the corrupt politicians. It's been written about True News Those of you who have an involvement in the dangerous game of politics, it may be of interest to know who’s telling the truth these days, and, whether the articles we read are real or imagined disinformation, emanating directly out of a governmental PR department. No genuine journalist would ever rely on such a source for the truth. As publisher of the SoHo Journal, through personal experience, take it from me that it is possible to become a political target for simply writing about the truth. And the mainstream media and writers eat their own for sales— as well as take orders from their masters— corporate, financial and political masters. Always pay attention to the agenda. Read between the lines. That is the basis of real reporting and political comprehension. Not the rehashing of a press release. OWS had a handle on this reality as well. Pay attention to the current daily blog written by Gary Tilzer. His True News is one of the few remaining sources for political investigative reporting. His fearless reporting of the truth in political circles is worth noting. Contributors names are confidential

Other Views

On October 15, 1958, veteran broadcaster Edward R. Murrow delivered his famous "wires and lights in a box" speech (VIDEO) The Last Lion of Tammany HOW JIMMY McMANUS, MANHATTAN’S LAST GREAT TAMMANY DISTRICT LEADER, HELPED TO REVIVE HELL’S KITCHEN AND THE THEATER DISTRICT c By James S. Kaplan f On January 13, 2011, the law firm of Proskauer Rose moved into 11 Times Square, which is located on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. In moving west to the final building of the City’s Times Square redevelopment, the Proskauer firm joined such other major law firms as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Covington & Burling, Roberts & Holland, and the advertising firm of Ogilvy & Mather. That such major professional firms, along with a number of newly constructed luxury apartment buildings on 42nd Street from ninth to eleventh avenue and trendy restaurants and off Broadway theaters would be located west of 8th Avenue in midtown would have been almost inconceivable fifty years ago. Tammany Last Stand Continued

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