In a dog eat dog world, don't blame me

It’s rant time.


Stop blaming the media. We’re an easy scapegoat, but we are not the only “gatekeepers” in this world.

If someone doesn’t tell us something, how are we supposed to report it? We, “the media,” are NOT the only ones filtering the news.

Politicians put a “spin” on things, right? So do businessmen, volunteers, etc.

What has spurred this rant? Pit bulls.

I was among the recipients in an e-mail to city officials from a would-be resident who didn’t move to the city because of the ban on pit bulls.

The e-mail from this person to the city accuses the pit bull ban to be a “knee jerk” reaction to “media scare tactics” that are “ludicrous” when you consider there are a “tremendous number” of serious or fatal dog bits by labs and other large-breed dogs that are “never reported upon.” The e-mail states that is because it is not as “sensational.”

First of all, I have never, nor have I ever known any reporter, to “cover up” a Labrador bite or attack. There is no scandal there. Why would the “media” “cover up” something like that? I would venture to say a Golden Retriever or Labrador attack would be much more newsworthy than a pit bull attack because they are known as gentle breeds and you don’t hear about it as much.

In journalism 101 I learned “dog bites man” is not news, but “man bites dog” is news. A lab attack would fall into the latter category.

So IF these “lab attack” are common and IF “the media” is NOT reporting on it, who then is covering it up? Someone must be stopping this from getting out. Police? Animal control? The Humane Society?

Show me the reports of the lab attack.

I’ve written stories about a 10-year-old mauled to death by the family dog. Yes, it was a pit bull, but I would NOT have ignored the story had it been any other breed. I have never, however, seen in the police blotters or heard from animal control about a healthy dog of most other breeds commit a similar act.

So, if there is a cover up and you’ve got a conspiracy theory that other breeds are just as vicious as the pit bull – look to other places for the cover up other than “the media.”
Consider that for other conspiracy theories and forms of news filters.

The ultimate gatekeeper is an easy scapegoat, but we can’t control if it never reaches the gate.

Sit... Stay... Good Boy.

Forced to sleep on a twin bed at my parent's house for the holidays, I was able to convince my dog to sleep on a couch instead of on the bed with me. Ah, leg room.

We often talk about "training" our sources and readers/listeners/viewers in the news biz. It sounds like we want Fido to do a new trick, or at least be obediant when guests are visiting.

It can be difficult to train sources and readers. Like a dog, it requires patience and persistence. Again, like a dog, it pays off.

You know when you've got that feeling the dog may be getting the command or trick, but it's not quite where you want it to be. That's how I'm starting to feel. After more than a year and a half at this newspapers and I have confidence that some of my sources and readers are on the brink of being "trained."

Yesterday, the city manager called my cell phone at 10 p.m. to tell me about a boil order, thinking I may want to put it on the Web. I did. By 9 a.m. the next morning (less than 12 hours since the post) the story had nearly 150 hits.

Even just six months ago I don't think the city manager would have thought to call my cell phone to tell me something like that. And just six months ago, even if we had the boil order up promptly, I doubt we would have seen 150 hits - especially overnight like that.

It just goes to show what, like a dog, constant reinforcement can do. It goes beyond the teases to the Web in the print product. I tell people all the time that we had that on our Web site, or that we'll get that on the Web soon if it's urgent. As a weekly, the Web becomes a resource to make the newspaper a nearly daily product (just weekdays unless there's breaking news, of course).

You don't have to have a full list of stories everyday on the Web, just one update a day and telling people about it drives traffic over time.

Alright, time to end the blog, I think my dog needs to go outside... where did I put that leash?