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Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
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MrInBetween
08/30/09

In reply to Hartford Courant Seeks Consumer Affairs Reporter To Kowtow To Advertisers
The Hartford Courant's new inspiring slogan: Get The Courant For Less Gotcha.
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Edited by MrInBetween at 08/30/09 5:19 PM MrInBetween was starred MrInBetween was unstarred

NewsBunny
08/30/09

In reply to Hartford Courant Seeks Consumer Affairs Reporter To Kowtow To Advertisers
Journalism is dead. I mourn.
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NewsBunny was starred NewsBunny was unstarred

snugbug
08/30/09

In reply to Hartford Courant Seeks Consumer Affairs Reporter To Kowtow To Advertisers
Dear Madam and/or Sir @Hart Cour,

My name is snugbug and I am an accomplished journalist with (this will undoubtedly gladden your heat) an M.A. in print journalism. I have edited, written and fact-checked in the past for many a print publication with a national circulation, which renders me qualified to point out that "groundbreaking" is spelled as such--not "ground breaking."

I exclusively live my life on three multimedia interactive platforms--Twitter, Facebook and Icanhazcheeseburger, which should render me a perfect candidate for the position at hand.

Thank you for your consideration!

I am eagerly looking forward to hearing back from you at your urgentmost convenience.

Until then, my sincerest regards.

PS: Learn to spell, dorks.
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Edited by snugbug at 08/30/09 1:21 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred

TheMediaMob
08/16/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
♫Trust Sleepy's, for bedbugs and lice...♫
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Tremonius
08/16/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
A long, long time ago, a crack muckraker team had prepared a stunning report of Disney World and their creepy slipshod hiring of pederasts into their fold of happy animals to molest kiddies, and they were all ready for a primetime blast. Here's the film, said the producer, and we have the goods, so when do we go on the air?

Ah, the "air" was owned by ABC. Spike.

And ever since, whenever a mogul made a choice to protect his balance sheet, the shrugged response to journalism purists who objected became, "Who remembers the Disney predators?"
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snugbug
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
WTFight?! I used to think quite highly of the Hart Cour.. I'd like to hear the paper's side of the story before I damn them to hell forever, but still: lame-o-rama.
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metalkate
08/16/09

@snugbug: don't know their side, but speaking from a local perspective that paper's gone down the crapper in recent years. In their desperation to hang onto existence they've pretty much tossed concern for quality of journalims out completely.
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snugbug promoted this comment metalkate was starred metalkate was unstarred

Chirag Patnaik
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
If I remember newspaper history. Hartford Courant is the oldest continuously published paper in the world.

oh the irony...
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lionel-mandrake approved this comment Chirag Patnaik was starred Chirag Patnaik was unstarred

ElektraBlue
08/16/09

@Chirag Patnaik: Actually, that honor goes to the illustrious New York Post.
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snugbug promoted this comment ElektraBlue was starred ElektraBlue was unstarred

snugbug
08/16/09

@ElektraBlue: @Chirag Patnaik: You guys are both right, I think. The Courant started as a weekly in 1764, and the NYP began as a daily in 1801.. Toss-up between former-weekly-turned-daily and always-daily.
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Edited by snugbug at 08/16/09 12:17 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred

oneninesevenfour
08/16/09

@snugbug: So pretty much if anyone knows how to outlive a downturn it's these two: muchraking and yellow journalism to the rescue! (And don't forget the advertisers!)

Also? I'm not sure where the meme about journalism ethics began but it's a wonderful little myth that newspapers have done a remarkable job of trying to perpetuate.

It's a lie. Newspapers are a semi-efficient medium to get eyes in front of their advertisers. As it becomes less efficient (as it has in the past), the newspapers have a tough time at it.

Such is the history of media.
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oneninesevenfour was starred oneninesevenfour was unstarred

Unsolicited Advice
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
It used to be that when papers went to the mattresses, they'd get aggressive about browbeating from advertisers. Now they go and ask if they'd like to use that redacted column space for coupons.
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Unsolicited Advice was starred

Uncle_Billy_Slumming
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
We have two mattress stories in our family history: 1) Uncle reputedly invented the inner spring mattress. Got fabulously wealthy, then contracted syphilis of the brain and drank himself to death. 2) Frail old aunt was snapped up in a Murphy bed, smothered by the mattress and was found weeks later.
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BooWahBabe
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
I am super happy with my Sleepys Sterns&Foster Plaza Hotel mattress ... And this guy should have been fired. Sleepys is one of the last major advertisers in newspapers and you content-stealing blogsters would have no content without their money.
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abettertomorrow promoted this comment BooWahBabe was starred BooWahBabe was unstarred

abettertomorrow
08/15/09

@BooWahBabe: oh, be nice. They're too young to face the realities of life!
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BooWahBabe
08/16/09

@abettertomorrow: I know. If you're idiot enough not to know it's used, then you're an idiot. If you're an idiot enough to bite the hand that pays your pay check, then you're an idiot.
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BooWahBabe was starred BooWahBabe was unstarred

Beau Nerd
08/16/09

@BooWahBabe: So, an investigative consumer columnist's responsibility is not to advocate for consumer's interests, but to protect advertisers. Got it. Sofa King great.
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Beau Nerd was starred Beau Nerd was unstarred

Forgetitjake
08/16/09

@BooWahBabe:
If a journalist doesn't bite the hand that pays his paycheck at every plausible opportunity, he's a whore. (Or else he is covering some beat in which nothing is at stake.)
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Forgetitjake was starred Forgetitjake was unstarred

NewsBunny
08/16/09

@BooWahBabe: Seriously?

Seriously?

This is why I'm hanging up my Newsbunny outfit and heading to the dark side of PR. Producing good journalism is kind of like feeding premium ice cream to people with no taste buds.*

*Insert the metaphor of your choice here
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NewsBunny was starred NewsBunny was unstarred

Speak
08/16/09

@BooWahBabe: Except Sleepy's wasn't issuing the columnist's paycheck. The newspaper was. And ethics require that the newspaper not allow its sales decisions to influence the judgment of its editorial staff.

I don't know what the answer is though to successfully running a newspaper. That's why I got out of journalism and big media.
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Trulymadlyme promoted this comment Speak was starred Speak was unstarred

abettertomorrow
08/16/09

@BooWahBabe: Well, while the realities of the newspaper business are what they are - that doesn't excuse bad business practices on the part of advertisers.

Selling mattresses with bed bugs in them is just vile.

Wouldn't you agree?
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abettertomorrow was starred abettertomorrow was unstarred

kneetoe
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
Put a mattress on the street in NYC and watch how fast it winds up on the top of a white van. They get wrapped in plastic and sold, for cheap, as new. Do not buy cheap mattresses.

But if you do, go to Sleepy's, b/c the reason Grumpy's grumpy is b/c he's been out all night picking up used mattresses.
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GreatOdensRaven promoted this comment kneetoe was starred kneetoe was unstarred

GreatOdensRaven
08/15/09

@kneetoe: I always thought the mattress van was the guy who showed up if you didn't leave the last "S" off for savings when calling 1-800 Mattress.
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GreatOdensRaven was starred GreatOdensRaven was unstarred

kneetoe
08/16/09

@GreatOdensRaven: No, you're better off leaving off the first "S," for someone else's mattress, and that someone has bed bugs.

ps, you made me laugh.
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
that paper used to have a rep as a decent rag that was a stepping stone, and peep lived there in the nothingness and got their ticket stamped and moved on

of course that was when there was somewhere to move on to
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle was starred

BxgrlJeri
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
I have heard about Sleazy's for SOOOOO long. I can't believe they're still in business.

When I bought my bedroom set, I bought the mattress at the furniture store, but when I replaced it I went to mattress.com and used their mattress selector. Got a great price, perfect mattress and quick delivery. And my mattress was sealed in plastic from the Sealy factory so I knew it had no bugs and was new.

I see Sleepys and get the heebee jeebees when I walk by. SHUDDER.
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BxgrlJeri was starred BxgrlJeri was unstarred

lil red
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
What is it about the mattress business that draws in the bed bugs of business?
Jack Abramoff's partner, Adam Kidan founded Dial-A-Mattress.
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming promoted this comment lil red was starred lil red was unstarred

Uncle_Billy_Slumming
08/15/09

In reply to Journalist Fired After Exposing Crooked Practices Of Advertiser?
You should see what the LA Mattress King does when he goes to Cuba (hint: it's not for religious regions)
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