Iowa Media Rolls Over

This article has a good explanation.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eef4f26b74e3

From 1990 to 2016, the number of newspaper employees in the United States dropped from from 456,300 to about 183,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The paucity of reporters has triggered an invisible power shift toward elected officials. A Pew Research Center study of Baltimore showed an increase in local stories based on press releases from elected officials.

The trends in journalism exacerbate the divide between the coasts and the rest of the country. In 2014, almost 1 out of 5 U.S. reporters worked in New York, Washington or Los Angeles, compared with 1 in 8 in 2004. Isn’t it likely that this contributed to the media missing the two biggest stories of the past few years – the rise of the opioid epidemic in middle America and the political strength of Donald Trump?
 
HawkGold said:
This article has a good explanation.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eef4f26b74e3

From 1990 to 2016, the number of newspaper employees in the United States dropped from from 456,300 to about 183,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The paucity of reporters has triggered an invisible power shift toward elected officials. A Pew Research Center study of Baltimore showed an increase in local stories based on press releases from elected officials.

The trends in journalism exacerbate the divide between the coasts and the rest of the country. In 2014, almost 1 out of 5 U.S. reporters worked in New York, Washington or Los Angeles, compared with 1 in 8 in 2004. Isn’t it likely that this contributed to the media missing the two biggest stories of the past few years – the rise of the opioid epidemic in middle America and the political strength of Donald Trump?
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sledgehammer is not needed to swat this fly.

The density of reporters has never been the problem in Fort IC. A limited population in Iowa means limited subscribers and Iowa Hawks sells subscriptions/clicks.

If Fort IC pulls the press plug then they lose their money stream.

While the Iowa press is reticent to urinate in their own cereal there’s a low population state to our west where the press is fanboys.

But there seems to be more than that going on. I haven’t lived in the Fort IC area but it just seems like there’s an “us vs. the world” from the university — and especially directed toward big brother Des Moines.

Anybody over that way that can shed light on my vibe? Something there? All wet?
 
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Mrke1 said:
As expected, not one reporter at the Iowa post game press conference questioned Fran about the Dolph situation. They got their marching orders from the university and fell in line. This just emboldens Barta and Co to continue this behavior. Hopefully we'll see someone muster the courage to stand up to this horrible administration in the future.
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It's a group of UNTOUCHABLE idiots over there.
 
DDThompson said:
But there seems to be more than that going on. I haven’t lived in the Fort IC area but it just seems like there’s an “us vs. the world” from the university — and especially directed toward big brother Des Moines.

Anybody over that way that can shed light on my vibe? Something there? All wet?
Click to expand...

All universities have this mentality.
 
HuckFinn said:
I thought Dolph was suspended by the media company. Go interview them. What the hell does Fran have to do with any of this? Much of this thread is a great example of a lame excuse to rage against the media, when in fact they would be completely out of line to draw Fran into the conversation. He probably would have responded that it is none of his business, and rightfully so.

Also, what in the world did Barta do wrong on this one? I don’t think he even made the decision to suspend Dolph. I know the hate for him is rampant, and some of the criticism is probably justified. But much of this stuff is the sound and the fury, signifying nothing.

In the end, you may want to read up on the legal end of dealing with personnel issues; then re-think some of your vitriol.
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deanvogs said:
Fran didn't suspend Dolph. Sure Fran might not like Dolph, but this is from Barta, so Barta should have to answer for it, NOT Fran.

What I don't understand is how a guy that was found guilty in a court of law of firing someone and ruining their lives for prejudicial reasons, yet he still has a job......BUUUUUUUTTTTTTT the guy who says something insensitive (and only if you take it way out of context and put meaning to it that was never there) gets suspended from his job.
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Barta was found "guilty" in a civil suit I believe it was. I dont even know in a civil suit if the loser is considered 'guilty' but more that the judgment went against Barta and the UI.

Barta is not considered a felon or guilty of a misdemeanor. Hey I dont think he has done even close to a good job of bringing championships to Iowa which is one of the big measuring sticks he should be judged by.
 
Gibsonian said:
King Kong needs to be a banned term. No more fning movies.
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:)

Can I get the cart of this horse and ask who “Godzilla” is offensive to/toward/at/insensitive to whoever may overhear ?


Is calling someone a “workhorse” a banned term?
 
DDThompson said:
I didn’t get that vibe when it lived in Illinois but I was a foreigner living in a strange land.
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I would agree with that. Actually IL is a pretty nice place overall except for one big factor...they are broke. U IL is some more conservative than U IA as it's a land grant university as well as the flagship U in the state. It's also like combining ISU and U IA together. The retired President was a farm boy back in the day and lives in a modest home.

IL as a state has a lot of good things about it, but the state govt economic situation is going to come back to bit them as public school classroom sizes are growing rapidly. The biggest thing is they can't pay the pensions. No way in hell without a Federal bailout. Iowa's IPERS is a much better system. IL has about 10 pension systems with separate administrative costs. IL cities in general have much nicer areas, but have more poverty areas as well due to racial issues that Iowa generally doesn't have to deal with. However, the Des Moines area turnaround has been pretty remarkable.

IL fans are really getting to the point of complete apathy. Football will probably never recover. The BB team is probably ahead of where Iowa was last year at this point, but they are more likely to lose a main player than Iowa is going to lose Cook.
 
DDThompson said:
I didn’t get that vibe when it lived in Illinois but I was a foreigner living in a strange land.
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The further you peer into any University looking glass, the clearer you will be able to see the veil. There is always one though to protect an image. If you didn't experience it with any particular University it's because you weren't looking.
 
Liberal Iowa City is an entity in and of itself....including the University and certainly including the sports teams.

You're either in the circle or you're not.

Of all things to worry about, especially Barta, "they" self-interpret the meaning of words then ruin a guy's career.

It's one of the many reasons I don't live in IC or Johnson County for that fact.
 
I had "buddies" who used to duct-tape 4-6 hollowed out beer cans together....it was referred to (lovingly) as the King Kong Bong.

Who knew huh?
 
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