Can’t resist. As per the discussion in this thread, while saying up front that Artie See may have a valid point:
Ever hear of Godwin’s Law?
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
On TalkBack, call it “Buckwalter’s Law.” (And I tell no tales out of school here, as I once said this to the publisher himself):
As a TalkBack discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving the convention center approaches one.
5 comments
Tags: Convention Center · Lancaster
| RonHarper 11/19/07 12:25 AM | Jack should have thought about that before he compromised the integrity of the newspaper by entering into this business deal. Instead of covering what goes on in the smoke-filled rooms, Lancaster Newspaper sits down at the table and makes the deals! Sad. Zero Ethics..... rh |
| Artie See 11/19/07 8:08 AM | Gil, now that the bonds are sold, the politicians, certain business leaders, certain "civic leaders", and your employer are doing everything they can to make the people forget about how the taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project came about, and just how bad many of these deals are for taxpayers. What kinds of tactics remain to draw attention to these ongoing issues? |
| gsmart 11/19/07 12:21 PM | QUOTE(Artie See @ Nov 19 2007, 09:08 AM) [snapback]337436[/snapback] What kinds of tactics remain to draw attention to these ongoing issues? Well, the "tactics" that you're using. But what I'm saying though, and particularly in relation to that one discussion, is that it does indeed seem like every long discussion on TalkBack gets back to the convention center. When the article in question is about the convention center, obviously; when there's a relevant similarity, sure. But half the time, it comes down to something like this: "This article shows Lancaster Newspaper Suxxx! And how about the convention center???" It's a strange thing, and I don't know whether you've ever considered it, that the main forum used to bash the newsppaer is provided... by the newspaper itself. Either LNP is stupid or some of the posters fail to see the irony. Silencing your voice by giving you a voice? |
| hahaha 11/19/07 12:36 PM | Curious if that would be allowed if the forums had a readership of 100,000 Lancastrians.... doubtful. |
| Artie See 11/21/07 12:16 PM | QUOTE(gsmart @ Nov 19 2007, 12:21 PM) [snapback]337525[/snapback] It's a strange thing, and I don't know whether you've ever considered it, that the main forum used to bash the newspaper is provided... by the newspaper itself. Either LNP is stupid or some of the posters fail to see the irony. Sorry, I lost track of this thread for a few days.Gil, I can only speak for myself. Yes, I am quite aware that this forum is provided by Lancaster Newspapers. I have more than once expressed my appreciation to Lancaster Newspapers for providing this forum to us. After all, it IS the only active forum in the Lancaster area. One of the things I've been trying to emphasize - and all too often fail at - is the difference between Lancaster Newspapers, its employees, and its editorial policies. Lancaster Newspapers certainly has a right to make money, and I am grateful that they have invested quite a bit of their profit into downtown Lancaster. Most LNP employees are ethical individuals (unfortunately not all, as is true at all companies). And I would argue that Lancaster Newspapers has the right to invest their earnings any way they would like. Those of us who clearly remember the Watergate era - and earlier - learned to expect news reporting to be more or less impartial. And the code of ethics promoted by a number of different newspaper professional organizations would enforce this concept. Where I have a problem with Lancaster Newspapers is when their news reporting is clearly biased to support a project from which they stand to make a sizable profit at taxpayer expense. Ideally, Lancaster Newspapers should never have invested in any project that would give even the appearance of a conflict of interest. But this is a free country, and Lancaster Newspapers has the legal right to invest their profit how they see fit. Where Lancaster Newspapers has failed is that they never created a firewall between their news reporting and their profit-making investments. I don't believe that Lancaster Newspapers "Suxxx", to use your term. But I do believe that biased reporting does. Why is this still so important? Because there is a BIG push from the politicians, the LCCCA chairman, and these newspapers to put the past behind, and "move on". There was MUCH wrongdoing in the creation and implementation of the taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project, including improper dealings, coercion, legal shenanigans, manipulation of State law, abuse of power by various politicians, and more, all of which resulted in deals which are very disadvantageous to local taxpayers. I don't believe that Lancaster Newspapers is individually responsible for any of these, although they clearly followed the lead of others. But we the people cannot afford to forgive and forget, because this is the biggest single expenditure of taxpayer dollars in Lancaster County history (even the upcoming SDoL expenditures will be spread out among various sites). These actions MUST be dealt with, or else they WILL come back to haunt us. |
