Pore ole Vicad ... you think a paper couldn't possibly get any worse, but then they astonish by finding new depths. This morning they ran a story headed, 'Police shoot, kill family dog.' From reading the story, it would have been more truthful to write 'Police defend selves against dog attack.' Dumbutts at the paper went to some people who'd let their menacing dog loose on the cops and then raised a stink when the cops did what they had to do – shot the dog. I am told that editors complain the cops won't talk to reporters, but who can blame the police? The paper just runs whatever reporters hear as if it were established truth and evidence of bad police behavior. There seems to be an attitude in the newsroom that the cops are evil and people who tangle with them are the good guys. Cops aren't always right, but they're sure not always wrong.
They ran a story this weekend about a hoohah with the high school dance team. I remarked to herself that it would draw a world of attention because it's at the level that the locals get excited about. In the interest of open dialogue, the paper knocked out almost all the comments on the story, but Edith Ann has an informative post and open discussion on it.
Pore ole Vicad. It once was a pretty good little provincial paper.
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22 comments:
Mr. Loon!
Did you see---the Advocate is actually running the story WITH comments. The drill team director has been put on administrative leave!
Such goings on in little ol' Victoria. And, oh, are the Victoriadore parents pissed off to the hilt!
As t the headlines in the Advocate-gee! 5th graders could probably do as well. Why don't they let the reporter write the headline?
My favorite Advocate headline was "Wharton police investigate murder suicide. Two men found in shallow grave."
Think about it...
Thanks for the mention.
Sad, sad, newspaper. Victoria has always been a strange town. My group of friends all left for the wide, wide world. My husband has considered retiring there because we would be close to my family and closer to his. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!
Maybe the writers were never exposed to enough witing genres. They have the fiction down pretty well, and someone really enjoys public humiliation in all forms.
Don't know about Victoria teachers, but most Houston teachers have about 7 Million in lawyer coverage, and I have seen several articles that would have had me on the horn the minute I read about myself in the local rag.
Not to belittle those who have high school age kids involved in this sideshow, but in the grand scheme of things, one has to conclude that by perpetuating this story, and what is no less than an unhealthy fascination with ANYTHING HISPANIC, this paper is slowly but surely, becoming a weekly. This all perpetrated by a bunch of breadbelt, mountain, and miidworst staff, along with a half dozen at best, of the original Vicad staff, with the their claws in the McHaney's and Roberts' butts, praying to make S.S. and at the very least, a shot at a working retirement.
The hispanic thing, I hesitate to emphasize, due to the fact that the majority of their young staff is hispanic, and obviously dedicated and earnest in their quests to become journalists rings of opportunism on the part of the "buck stops here" guy.. Unfortunately for them, aside from working for a Whataburger paycheck, those who could have nurtured and given them their best shot at realizing their goals.......were let go so that the aforementioned twits in charge could go down in flames with a somewhat normal salary workin'.
Pissed? Yep. All over again? Uh uh. The Port Lavaca Wave is a better laid out and structured publication, than is the Advocate. I understand that Victoria is not a big city, but it is of sufficient size, and it has an intelligencia, and a university, and a broad enough spectrum of industry, agriculture, and international importance, that it deserves a daily paper that can do better than front page stories on pet shootings, cheerleader conflicts, and taco recipies. In the absence of the San Antonio, Houston, and Corpus papers, there is a huge void left in everyones driveway for real news - world, national, and syndicated writers, at the local newsstands on a daily basis. The USA Today that is available, is really just a national version of the Advocate. The high school newsletter quality rag that is the Advocate, is not cutting it, and I think that they had better understand that their monopoly status will only get them so far in this day and age of instant internet gratification.
What I see coming, barring the Vicad once again becoming a "newspaper" as opposed to a local gossip publication, is that it will just devolve into another blog, with Cobler at the helm until the money runs out, and a bloodletting among those who thought they were on track to become print journalists.......
EA - 'Lemme see. Did this guy kill himself before or after he shot the other guy and buried both bodies?' I told herself that the dance-team thingy would draw record comment numbers. It's really important.
Anon - Victoria has some real charms. I always considered the paper one of them. Long time ago, the Vicad had a deserved good reputation.
Pilot - I culled that string of duplicate comments, It's true about the Port Lavaca paper ... nicely done and full of ads. It's a sad truth that we have no print alternative to the Advocate besides the Wave. Some of these little papers are still producing nice community journalism.
Been out of pocket all day, and hated to do so. This Victoriadores thing is so engrossing...ad nauseum.
Last count, NINE stories, articles and blogs on the Advocate.
Maybe if I am bored tomorrow, I'll tally up the total comments on all--it must be a record!
Mr.Loon, Even 28 years ago, my wedding picture and a 25th anniversary picture were mixed up on first publication. I have a strange sense of humor and still have the mixed up pictures in my wedding album. Hub has an equally quirked personality and took it all as an omen that we were in for the long hall. He was right.
austindillo70@yahoo.com
Hope there weren't duplicates of my comment. I posted it once only. Maybe Google had a hiccup in their server. Between my usually being on the East Coast time zone, and my distrust of clocks, I generally hesitate to derive much significance over times of posts, but all of the dupes were within a minute of the time mine was posted. Of course, I could have had a mini flashback or something.......
or something.....
or something......
or something.....
You, too, Shug? Comments must be stuttering lately.
That was an intentional ploy on my part to freak the Pilot out.
Or was it?
Or was it?
Or was it?
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