February 15, 2008
Coming Next: the Page 3 Girls

It not a bad guess to presume the P-I will end up becoming a liberal tabloid-style newspaper or an online-only publication at some point. Today's Joel Connelly's column on our tight local race for Governor hastens the move toward the former with this line:

It's apparent that this kind of crap won't work.

Not sure they teach that one at journalism school.

Posted by Eric Earling at February 15, 2008 07:20 AM | Email This
Comments
1. But, you have to admire the way he hides his bias. :)

Posted by: Duffman on February 15, 2008 07:29 AM
2. I'm more concerned about the Global Warming fiasco and the study results.

At our house, I am constantly in debate with my seventh grader regarding global warming. While I don't try to tell her the answer, I point her to different facts her GW science teacher isn't.

Folks, it is an uphill battle. Point your friends to the following web page http://climatedebatedaily.com/ .

This page gives both sides. While the GW side is mostly emotion, maybe your friends will read a couple common sense articles, such as the latest fears in Canada of global freezing (not cooling) caused by a lazy sun not pumping out heat as sunspots as it has in the past. FYI, the sun is in a short term state of inactivity.

Posted by: swatter on February 15, 2008 08:07 AM
3. It's important to never confuse what Joel Connelly spews in the Pravda-Intelligentsia with "journalism". I long to see the day when he and the rest of his 'comrades' over at that daily fishwrap are standing in the unemployment line. This cowtown needs a real newspaper.

Posted by: Rick D. on February 15, 2008 08:33 AM
4. Top speed in rush hour yesterday morning: 10 MPH for 15 miles of 405.

Thank you Christine Gregoire. You're a tip top leader.

Thank God I don't rely on our ferries.

Thank God it's election year- it's the first time since you've been in office that you haven't sought to raise taxes.

Posted by: Andy on February 15, 2008 08:39 AM
5. The poll results for Gregoire are inversely proportional to the level of work needed to be performed by the King County Election Board to throw the elections her way. The tighter the race or any lead for Rossi just means more work for them...

Posted by: rbb on February 15, 2008 09:24 AM
6. "It's apparent that this kind of crap won't work."

Just part of the crassening of America, courtesy of liberalism. When I was growing up using a work like "crap" would get your mouth washed out with soap. The Rolling Stone's recording of "Let's Spend the Night Together" was bleeped on the radio.

Now it's entirely common to hear young women use the F-word.

We've come a long way, haven't we?

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 15, 2008 09:45 AM
7. Nope, I didn't learn that at J school. In fact, my profs would've definitely marked that one as "non-journalistic form" or some such.

Posted by: Michele on February 15, 2008 09:49 AM
8. Not sure what you're complaining about:

- Language: Whatever. I'm neither impressed nor offended.

- Substance: I agree with Connelly.

- Logic: Connelly doesn't support his claim, so the word "apparently" should be deleted. If he'd written, "I don't think this kind of crap will work", would you be happy?

Posted by: Bruce on February 15, 2008 09:53 AM
9. I rode the Pierce County "loaner boat" on the Pt Townsend-Keystone run twice yesterday. Nice little boat but way too small for that run's truck/RV traffic, high winds and rough water. Her captain agrees and states his opinions in an article in yesterday's Pt. Townsend Leader. Nonetheless, several of our Menopausal Matriarchs in Olympia ramrodded a bill through the legislature to build more of the Pierce County "corks" to man the heavy water Townsend-Keystone run. "Stupid is as stupid does"

Posted by: Saltherring on February 15, 2008 09:56 AM
10. From the content of the PI I've read (and not much in a long while), I've assumed for a long time that the paper only hired liberal/socialist activists and Democrat party supporters to report and edit their paper. Based on the slant and bias of the paper, I'm not sure that a degree or training in Journalism is even a requirement for employment there. And if so, it certainly seems to take a backseat to pushing the liberal viewpoint by whatever means - and language - possible.

Posted by: MJC on February 15, 2008 09:59 AM
11. You guys are just ticked because you think that Connelly's reference to "the mouth-breather wing of the Republican Party" was aimed at this web site.

Posted by: Fred on February 15, 2008 10:05 AM
12. Thank God it's election year- it's the first time since you've been in office that you haven't sought to raise taxes.

Don't worry, the year is still young! There's still hope...

Posted by: SmallBusiness on February 15, 2008 10:06 AM
13. "you guys are just ticked because you think that Connelly's reference to "the mouth-breather wing of the Republican Party" was aimed at this web site"

No. Most conservatives are used to being called all sorts of names by liberals. "Mouth breather" is pretty tame.

Now if you happen to be a Democrat and someone refers to your daughter as "pimping" well, that's another matter, isn't it?

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 15, 2008 10:52 AM
14. We wouldn't have to breath through our mouths if the air didn't always smell of liberal socialism.

Posted by: Jack on February 15, 2008 11:54 AM
15. Eric:

Check out the PI's website. THEY ALWAYS HAVE TWO OR MORE PICTURES OF FEMALE MODELS/STARS in the upper right hand corner, and often a few more in the "Day in Pictures" section and their new SPIed feature usual has a photo of a woman.

I say they are already trying to sex up their webpage. I'm not complaining, but it did seems a fairly tranparent use (objectification even) of these women to increase their corporate profits.

Posted by: Observer on February 15, 2008 12:07 PM
16. Writing is generally a lost art. The 'crap' reference is a symptom of lack of writing ability. I enjoy good writing, and there isn't one columnist for either the Times or PI whose book I would spend money on, were they to come out with one.

In the 15 yrs. that I've been reading both papers the only columnists with any writing talent have been Michelle Malkin and Alexander Cockburn. That is sad. Mike Hood over at BW is a gifted writer, albeit very misguided.


Posted by: russell garrard on February 15, 2008 12:37 PM
17. Joel Connelly would actually need to try harder if he wants to compete with his colleague, D. Parvaz.

The course language seems to be part of a general drift into what I can only guess is an attempt by the PI editorial staff to pander to a "younger" demographic.

The overall dumbing down of the vocabulary in the PI seems to have begun in earnest with the inclusion of D. Parvaz. Her quasi-adolescent tone and style would perhaps be appropriate in a publication like the Stranger (or a college student publication), but is beneath the standards of a major urban daily - even if that daily is the PI.

Parvaz epitomizes crass - just a few gems from the sewer that is her professional vocabulary:

- Skank (along with "skanky" and "skankidity" whatever that means. "Skank" seeems to be a Parvaz favorite root word...)

- Duh

- Yup (and the variant, "yep")

- Holy #$@?!

- "Christmas can really, truly suck"

- "why not just chill"

- "Are you freakin' kidding me?"

These are merely a few of the juvenile attempts at jounalism by Ms. Parvaz.

The P.I. - a real study in classy standards.

Posted by: Brian White on February 15, 2008 01:11 PM
18. I'm dating myself russell, but once upon a time the P-I had great writers, notably Emmett Watson, and Doug Welch. They never had to use course language to make a point or to be funny.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 15, 2008 01:11 PM
19. And thus we witness our MSM's descent into less than mediocrity. What a shame.

Posted by: katomar on February 15, 2008 01:22 PM
20. She endorsed Obama (change)rather than Hillary.
Will somebody, anybody point out 3 things that Obama achieved through the use of his vast experience. Why will this man make a good President.

As far a change goes. I'm for change. Let's change the administration and legislaton houses in Olympia. It is time for change in Olympia.

Posted by: Snuffy on February 15, 2008 01:35 PM
21. "Will somebody, anybody point out 3 things that Obama achieved through the use of his vast experience."

Apparently one thing he's achieved is planting women in the front row of his campaign appearances who "faint" on cue. This news is just breaking. I know he pulled that stunt in Seattle. Evidently he repeats it constantly, right down to the same words. Does it get any better?

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 15, 2008 01:57 PM
22. I agree with Brian White. This was actually one of Connelly's better columns. The problem is the level of education that newspapers are pitched toward. They aim things at a ninth grade reader. The problem is the level of ninth grade has sunk so much because kids, while inteligent, really don't read as much as they should. In an attempt to hold on to declining market share, newspapers are trying to be relevant and more like the Daily Show. What they need to do is to go back to basics and really do some serious reporting. The piece on college athletics was good, but there is a real story in King County which needs to be invesitgated: the pooled investment funds and the latest flap of pay to play for taxi licenses. Opinion needs to be limited to editorial pages and other stories need to be more factual. Right now, all major papers seem to be in turmoil, the NY Times is laying off 100 and the LA Times has just got another editor. Whether papers like blogs or not, blogs will get facts out so that people believing something because the the NY Times prints it is no longer true.

Posted by: WVH on February 15, 2008 01:59 PM
23. Actually I love the Page 3 girls. When I was editing the paper in Leavenworth we wanted to but never could quite pull the trigger on having a Page 3 Girl with a Bavarian theme-town twist at the Echo.

Sometimes things got pretty silly on Mondays...

Posted by: Don Ward on February 15, 2008 02:13 PM
24. "Mike Hood over at BW is a gifted writer..."

#16 I totally agree with you on this.

Posted by: Duffman on February 15, 2008 02:38 PM
25. No one has talked about the poll Connelly references.

It shows Greg 43 and Rossi 41 and it was done by Washington Conservation Voters. It was a Democratic poll. Looking at the internals, they had to skew it to give Gregoire any kind of lead at all. This part was not in the WCV release for good reason. Rossi gets 89% of R's while Gregoire gets only 76% of D's. Rossi carries independents by 20%! They must have oversampled D's to keep Rossi out of the lead.

We can dismiss all of Connelly's nonsense about all the wonderful things Gregoire has done since the poll was taken in his own words: Joel's full of crap. If anything, she's more unpopular now than when the poll was taken.

She is in deep trouble. The only way I see her winning is if Obama blows everyone out--highly unlikely unless the whole country has shifted to an ideology like Sweden's in the last couple of years or if she can run an effective negative campaign against Rossi. The odds are against that too--the voters just don't like or trust her.

Posted by: besquared on February 15, 2008 04:52 PM
26. I think Gregoire has a big potential problem defending how Democrats have dealt with the ferry system.

They've had funding for years and haven't produced a single vessel.

I just hope Rossi doesn't wimp out like Republicans so often do. Dino needs to use the ferry issue to demonstrate that Democrats can't manage their way out of a wet paper bag. Sometimes we are too nice for our own good.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 15, 2008 05:14 PM
27. The P-I has basically become a left leaning Nutroots blog. They feign objectivity, but what we see is the HorsesAss.org.

Posted by: Jeff B. on February 15, 2008 07:22 PM
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