NEWS MEDIA SHOULDN'T ALLOW IDIOTS TO COMMENT ON STORIES

You frequently hear people lament that the news media of today is not as good as the news media of the past. Then again, you hear that about everything. When I entered college as a media major, being in the news media was considered one of the ultimate jobs a person could have. After all, the news media was America's window to the world. If I wanted to I could choose the path to belong to that elite group with such people as Walter Cronkite, Chet Hutley and David Brinkley, and Peter Jennings (All pictured above). I've got a surprising eye opener for you. Watch the evening world news on CBS, NBC and ABC, then watch an old evening world news cast on You Tube from the 60s, 70s or 80s. They haven't changed except for the technology and personalities.

On the other hand watch a clip of CNN from the 80s and then watch a little of it now, you WILL see a big change. Personally, cable news has went down in quality. Also, you would be shocked if you saw Internet news pages of the 90s versus today's.

Let me give you my opinion about what made the men above trusted voices. They were larger than life figures in Washington, DC or New York. When they told you what happened, you accepted it as the truth and didn't argue with them. Now thanks to Facebook, Bubba in Bois D'Arc or NellieBelle in Piedmont, Arkansas can make a snide remark about a story KYTV or KOLR ran on the 6 pm news or bad mouth Brian Williams or Scott Pauly.

I feel the comments on local news stories on Facebook has reached some very dangerous and tacky levels. After a recent tragic accident here in the Ozarks, people began leaving comments accident if the man and woman, who died in the accident were having an extra marital affair. WHAT DOES THAT MATTER? WHY WOULD PEOPLE BRING UP THAT AT SUCH A DELICATE TIME?

Another problem is how Internet news like Yahoo and MSN is driven not by importance, but what people have shared, searched or read. Never mind important world news or national news, Yahoo and MSN is going to give you headlines on Anne Hathway's ugly dress or a video of cute kittens on You Tube.

Let me also add that it is either time to do away with Letters to the Editor in newspapers or make stricter rules on what letters get printed. Some local newspapers run letters from the same idiots week after week and day after day. I was recently looking at some back issues of the Springfield News Leader and discovered that many of the crazy right-wing letters in the 80s and 90s were from the same people EVERYDAY. Many of these were stupid too. Case in point: Ron Davis in his Chatter column (which was hated by these idiot NL letter writers) had said that he wished Guns N Roses would perform in Branson. Several brain damaged individuals didn't want Guns N Roses in Branson, because they considered them "vulgar" and "untalented." You know who else they didn't want to come to Branson? ANDY WILLIAMS. Yes, the Letters to the Editor section in the Springfield News Leader was once filled with hateful letters from Ozarkers who didn't want Andy Willaims to bring his "Hollywood values" and "Las Vegas values" to "ruin" the Ozarks. This was after he had told some an interviewer that some of the Branson shows were crappy.

The one thing I have learned from working in the media is that the majority of people think you do a great job but never tell you. The people who constantly criticize the media are insanely jealous of media people because they chose a bad career, like real estate or auctioneering.

Of course, opinions like these are why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

The Springfield Daily News Started The Gay Thing

Some have complained that the Springfield News Leader is pro-gay. The Springfield Daily News began the gay newspaper story facination in 1978. Of course, one old guy was against the printing of this. I didn't print his letter to the editor. Mwu-HAHAHAHA!

Desdinova's New Years Resolutions for 2009

My New Years Resolutions for 2009 include:

1. Post something on this blog that will cause both KSGF's Vincent David Jericho and KWTO's Chuck Booms to explode simultaneously.


2. Have some bonehead write a letter to the News Leader about me.


3. Marry Paris Hilton.


4. Change one of the local country or talk stations into a hot Top 40 station.


5. Take over the world. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!
   
   

Gay Xmas on Park Central Square in Springfield, MO 1959

I had to post a bit of this Woolworth's ad from a 1959 Springfield News Leader. I was hoping to see how many people's heads exploded. I bet some will write the News Leader, upset that they printed a "gay" back in the 50's. I bet this will get the phones on KSGF buzzing (the fine folks over at KWTO-AM have better things to do this week).

I should note that as mentioned in the Cranks post, women's panties were a dollar and Milk of Magnesia was sixty cents. I should also mention to Busplunge that the item he got a kick out of was a brand name, Child's Razor Blades, not childs razor blades (For little shavers?).

Springfield News Leader 1959 - Whiskey for Christmas

The Springfield News Leader and Daily News were filed with hard alcohol ads in the 50's. There seem to be a push to give them as gifts at Christmas time.

1959 XMAS in Springfield News Leader

These ads are from Christmas time 1959. They're for a chain of drug/variety stores called Cranks that were in Springfield. We hear about how "perfect" the 1950's were for family values.

These ads feature the use of "Xmas." I also notice that these stores in the 50's ran specials every week on women's panties and Milk of Magnesia. I wonder if there was a connection.

Bob Palmer News Leader Cartoon 1959 - City Council Meeting

My roommate (who is also my twin brother - I'm the evil twin you always hear about) found this Bob Palmer cartoon in a 1959 News Leader. I think the idea of a speaker at city council exaggerating things is funny, but then I realize the character maybe trying to get improvements on the drainage system which as you know is one of my pet peeves.

Either way it shows somethings never change, except Jason isn't there to tell us which councilman has the best tie. The way Palmer drew the city council it looks like they didn't have any necks.

News Leader - Don't Increase The Price, Charge LTTE Writers

Ron Davis over at Chatter announced this earlier this week. The Springfield News Leader is raising it's price. My suggestion, if they need to make more money, is charge the letter to the editor writers. I feel that students who write for a class project and liberals SHOULD NOT be charged. Conservatives should be charged by their topic.

• Anti-abortion letters - $75
• Anti-gay letters $75
• Too much sex/violence/foul language in entertainment $100
• Media is bias against conservatives $500
• Anti-cruising $ 30
• Young people are evil $50
• Anti-MSU $50
• Anti-Obama $100
• Anti-Clinton $100

I feel that with in a year, Gannett will not have to make budget cuts and we will get the paper for free.

If You Don't Agree With Sarah Overstreet On This One, You Can Drown Yourself

I know I have given Sarah Overstreet a hard time about a few of her columns, but her column in Sunday's News Leader was about one of my big complaints about Springfield - the flooding problem during the rains. I have complained about the streets flooding during the slightest rainstorm since 1987. Usually, falling on deaf ears or having some Ozarker tell me "We don't want to pay the taxes to fix it."

My parents attended a funeral here in town on June 13th. It rain quite a bit that day. They told me they would never again doubt me when I said the streets of Springfield flood when it rains.

Sarah suggest that the resistance needs to stop: "The scenario again is as follows: Old infrastructure, lots of old and new problems to be fixed, and virtually no funds in comparison to need. If you care about your fellow citizens and don't want to see them crying outside their houses and picked up by fire-and-rescue units, you're going to have to give up some greenbacks. It won't be much per resident, but we've got to push the issue and be willing to follow it up with "yes" votes.

This is one time where the "we already pay too much taxes" argument just doesn't wash. Don't want to help? Tell that to the guy sitting in the pew with you next Sunday, who's been up all night with a bucket bailing out his basement."

Of course, in the comment under this column on the website, some idiot is claiming the photos of flooding where "doctored" by the News Leader. Well, then there are doctored photos on the TV station websites and well as the Remembering Springfield MySpace site. There is a photo over at Ebbett's Field of a guy kayaking down Walnut Street.

Ms. Overstreet says she will have more articles on this in the coming weeks. Good. Here is MY suggestion if you feel as strongly about this as I do.

1. Carry a whiffle ball bat with you on the days we have rain.
2. Bring up the streets flooding in conversation.
3. If someone tells you that it will cost tax payers money and we pay too much taxes to fix it, you have Desdinova's permission to HIT THEM UPSIDE THE HEAD WITH THE WHIFFLE BALL BAT! Or you could...
4. Take them outside to the nearest flooded area and "baptise them" until the "believe" we need to overhaul the drainage system. Or...
5. Just ask them the old Bill Cosby line, "How long can you tread water?"

What is it going to take to solve this problem? Loss of property or life. How long can we tread water?

It May Be Un-PC but Is the Only Entertaining Ad on Springfield Radio We Have

A few days back, the Springfield News Leader ran a LTTE complaining about the Heritage Chrysler radio ads. For those of you who have not heard these ads (they have actually been around for about two years or more) they feature a chant that sounds like "Song of Hiawatha," the Hamms Beer jingle of the 50s ("From the land of sky blue waters"), and "Running Bear" run through a blender. The name of the car dealer is sung to a tom-tom drumbeat and flute in a mock Native American pronunciation (HAR-I-TOGGEE). The writer of the LTTE said this was un-PC and bordered on racism.

I’ll admit the first time I heard it I thought it was un-PC and a stereotype of Native Americans. However, I liked it because IT WAS NOT THE TYPICAL SPRINGFIELD RADIO AD. It was not a dry read with out background music, sound effects or any excitement. It also wasn’t the car ad featuring one heavy metal chord played over and over while announcer yells. Best of all, it was not one of those horrible jingles that seem to pollute this market like VD – the "I remember the good old days when every thing was better." BARF!

I used to produce promos for the company I work for. I quit after some complaints. They mainly came from a former co-worker, a former employee at the station, the people in the sales department and a doofus e-mailed stuff like this "Tak dat promo off. Me no like it. Mike ______" (He changed his name ever time but kept Mike). I got in trouble for making a promo where a one of the talk show host blew up a caller to one of the talk shows. I got in trouble for imitating Jim Rome and poking fun at one of the host for saying he didn’t like Jim Rome. I got in trouble for making fun of another station’s promo using a snippet of Stan Freburg’s "Point of Order." I made a promo that never made it to the air. It was a parody of 2001: Space Odyssey and it was nixed it had monkey sound effects in it ("Screaming monkeys might upset listeners" I was told).

On the other hand, I had listeners who recognized my voice from these promos and gave me complements saying they enjoyed my work.

Like I said, I agreed that the Heritage Chrysler ad is un-PC, but it falls into a gray area Political Correctness. This ad seems to evoke the romanticized Native American of Longfellow, James Fennimore Cooper and the "Keep America Beautiful" ads of the 70s (pic above). It doesn’t seem to show a negative John Ford "bloody savage" image or stupid image from F-Troop, but still un-PC is un-PC.

My problem is CAN WE NOT BE MORE CREATIVE WITH RADIO ADS! I used to remember some great stuff being produced around here. We need to produce ads that look toward the future and not back at the good old days. No more ads that sound like the radio equivalent of a Penny Power ad. Use monkeys, sirens and explosions, funny jingles and humor but MAKE ADS THAT ARE ENTERTAINING!

Of course, an opinion, like this one, is why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I Had Fun

My weird schedule has only allowed me to attend the Springfield blogger events. I made it a point to attend the send off for Tony Messenger of the News Leader. I had fun in the short time I was there (I had to be at work, as usual). It is always fun to talk with the people in the industry who cover the news and deal with the craziness of the business.

Tony was forthcoming about the behind the page world of the News Leader. It is always interesting to learn you don't work at the only crazy place in the business.

I found out that Tony still has the Pez Dispenser I sent him. I also found out I was apparently not the target of the editorials on anonymous blogging. After all, he was glad to meet me. I was a decent person and shook hands with (unlike some of the riff-raff in our community).

I realize not everyone in the area likes Tony (I think we can think of one person), but I believe the editorial page has been better under his direction. Before Tony it was only the Ozarkers who were against anyone having any kind of fun (sex in particular).

Also for those who complain about the News Leader, go to the Library Center and look at the old Springfield Daily News and the old News Leaders from the 1950s. The Daily News front page was mainly wire stories of the most lurid nature. I found one which featured a story about a 19 year old boy who dug up the body of a nine year old girl who had died of cancer for sexual purposes. What did this have to do with folks in Springfield? The News Leaders seemed to be filled with opinon pieces "longing for the good old days when Ma made my sister panties out of Pa's chew tobacky pouches."

I realize Tony stepped on some toes. Some will take credit for him leaving. Really sad that some would have such blind hatred and lack of respect for someone more talented than them, but that is what we in the business have to put up with. Good luck, Tony. Don't eat too much of that Pez.

*Note: No tennis balls were thrown at Tony or anyone else during this blogger get-together.