Reporter Here:

I can see that! It's a bit rough on my ego, but I think I'll survive! I'm a US Navy vet, and I'm not so easy to push around

I wasn't expecting Tea and Biscuits.

I welcome any questions and I can understand that many people might feel trashed in the press. The "US Media" is pretty much a machine these days, and corporate more than anything. One of my recent favorite books is "Media Ownership and Concentration in America" by Noam. This is hardly a positive spin book.

The Seattle P.I. failed. That is, it refused to be corporate, and ran out of partners, so it shut down the presses. The 'paper' is now entirely online, and its resurgence as a meaningful "press" has been astonishing. I get to say what I want so long as I'm professional about it, and the best articles rise to the top of the page through a dual-voting mechanism: readership, and critics.

Everyone has a bias, but a good reporter stakes his out and proclaims it. You don't have anything to fear from me, unless you simply hate freedom and freewill. ^_^

USN
E3, EW, ASWOC 574
Jacksonville FL 85-87

 

Why in the world would an intelligent reporter turn to truckers in order to bash them? That sounds so... Seinfeld. Does this actually happen?

1. Bashing is unprofessional as all hell.
2. No matter what the outcome, a reporter who takes herself or himself seriously will report honestly.
3. I am not CNN. CNN and FOX claim they are "entertainment, not news."
4. I agree, they are not news.

It's a sad state of affairs that the most trusted person in Media is Jon Stewart. In the corporate media world, it seems that only comedians can speak the truth.

My original post may seem like it's out to get something, and it is. I'm out to get information. Seattle is a city of just barely 3 million people in the entire county, a small city by most measures, and it has the worst traffic in the world for a city of its size. Seattle has had higher traffic density than Los Angeles, at times. L.A. is only about 12 times larger.

Discovering that there was a perhaps infrequent, but often enough that I noticed it, set of truckers displaying highly unusual behavior was a shock, and could not fail to interest me. I apologize if that makes it seem like I'm out to "get" anyone.

MY bias is that it could "prove a theory," which is a long-standing point of contention in American culture. Sure, some people hate that. But, if I can prove that Seattle needs a truck route, I can't see why I shouldn't attempt it.

Despite that bias, I'm not going to lie to get my way. I want the truth. There could be other reasons, or no reasons. Maybe I just saw a couple of people who were having a really great day and were too exuberant to contain themselves.

This seems like the best place to get that insight.

So I have to field a lot of guff over reporters, that's pretty much par. Take your shots

 

This is very interesting to me and could easily become a dedicated piece for publishing. Anyone who wants to contribute to this statement with any data, stories, experiences, and whatnot please email it to me. I will quote you if you give me permission, otherwise I will assume not.

I don't know if it will help in my current quest to illuminate trucking problems for Seattle and DoT, but I doubt it would hurt.

PS, I'm not just a reporter. I'm about halfway through a masters degree in computer science.

Thanks!

demopoly at gmail...

 

Wow. You guys really have been shoveled a lot of bull by the media! I'm accustomed to some scoffing and criticism.. but wow.

Not giving a resume up front isn't the same as hiding, FYI. m'kay?

Whenever anyone asks, I give my contact information, and you've just asked. This is actually industry standard. If I met you face to face I'd hand you a business card.

99% of the time it's enough to say "I write for..." and that's almost universally accepted. Micheal Mitnick can explain that to you in detail.

Seattle P.I. is also not the typical corporate media, so you'll need to compare them to the Stranger, Village voice, and other such independent press.

1. SPI does use Gmail. I was specifically required to open a new gmail account to become a blogger for the PI.
2. I was interviewed for, and given acceptance formally.
3. that means I blog for the PI as "reader blogs." The PI chose to separate these out from PAID blogs, to prevent confusion. I am not an employee of the PI and I never want to be.
4. I still have to adhere to SPI policies and professionalism.
5. I like to have the freedom to set my own timelines and write what I want to. Paid writers do not have these freedoms.

My income arises from the business that I own. As it is utterly unrelated to trucking, I don't need to disclose it here, and I'm not going to give out my home address or office address. I don't think that should matter.

6. This is in part, a personal attack on my character, and much more than just a 'who are you.'
a. because it demands more than credentials, and has delved into more personal information than a reporter generally gives up.

7. I don't have an office at the PI because they shut the doors on the corporate model and operate out of a much smaller facility now. Most of their paid staff work from home! There's no phone or fax to give you, and I'm not going to give out that where I think it'll be used to harass me.

8. I gave my email address right away. I don't follow your reasoning there. I think this criticism stems from a lack of understanding about what SPI is.

9. Is there anything else? I'm not sure I see any further need to clarify who I am or what I'm doing here. Please correct me if I've missed something.

For those of you who want to read my liberal-tweaking, conservative-whacking rants, occasional speeches, and somewhat critical look at King County and Seattle, look under Reader Blogs, and Opinion, Humor. You will find this:

seattlepi.com/theethicist/

Danger. It will offend people who are easily offended.

Hopefully, this will let you guys and gals know that I'm real and not here to beat you up. I reserve that for our local government.

 

True, that. The topic has changed, but what I'm going to WRITE has yet to be determined. So, that's a good thing.

It would NOT make sense if indeed I had a set agenda.