Across the great divide: Conservative U-T San Diego partners with San Diego CityBeat

Monaghan, CityBeat had a good story, and its partnership with the U-T increased its distribution and influence. Big whoop. Do you really think CityBeat is going to turn into U-T Lite or become a U-T apologist? I know the folks there and think that's extremely unlikely. It's a good thing for news organizations with fairly small readerships (Voice of SD, CityBeat) to boost their power by finding alternate ways to get their stories out. VOSD, for example, now offers many of its stories for free to other news outlets. -Randy
— September 26, 2012 2:40 p.m.

Irwin Jacobs Goes Republican Hunting

I appreciate the pat on the head for being a nice boy. And I appreciate your valiant effort to ignore negative coverage of DeMaio in order to make your case about negative coverage of Filner. If there's veritably incorrect information that's been published about either candidate, perhaps you could request a correction. So let me get this straight about those "string-pulling backers." VOSD is under the sway of the liberal Democrat Irwin Jacobs BUT also controlled by the "establishment" (Republicans, of course), YET was founded by Neil Morgan, a noted liberal type, BUT is supported by board member Buzz Woolley, who doesn't like the influence of labor unions, YET gets money from a foundation of the liberal George Soros... OMG! It's a liberal-conservative conspiracy! Please draw me a helpful flow chart of the lines of supremacy so I can keep track of who's controlling whom and, of course, who controls me and how. I need to get with the program!
— September 13, 2012 11:39 p.m.

Politico.com Knocks U-T's Republican Helpfest

Don: Barbour=greatest pornographer? Do go on. I vaguely remember him. Did he write a column about families? I found this little tidbit online, from 1921: "Last evening as a farewell courtesy to Miss Mary Barbour and Richmond Barbour, leaving for San Diego, a gay company of their young friends hold a jolly wienie roast on Cactus Ave. out by the Weller grain field."
— September 9, 2012 6:26 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

Gee indeed!
— September 3, 2012 9:57 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

I'm plenty skeptical, especially of self-serving egomaniacs who soak themselves in their own accolades and truly believe they are God's Gift to Journalism/The Only Truth-Teller Out There/The Greatest Reporter San Diego Has Ever Seen. I'm also skeptical of those who see conspiracies behind every palm tree and think every reporter in town -- with the exception of a Reader journalist or two -- is bought and sold. Ain't so.
— September 3, 2012 9:13 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

Here are some reasons why a reporter might not cover a story: 1. The reporter and/or editor thinks the story is not newsworthy. 2. The reporter and/or editor thinks the story has been adequately covered elsewhere. (Voice of SD publishes a daily newsletter that always includes several links to news in other publications, including the Reader. I write the newsletter, the Morning Report, four days a week. My job is to give readers a comprehensive look at local news in terms of the areas we care about like politics/government.) 3. The reporter/editor/news organization doesn't have the resources to cover the story. 4. The reporter/editor/news organization feels the story is not appropriate for its purpose/audience. 5. The reporter and/or editor doesn't think the story is well supported or reliable. 6. The reporter and/or editor thinks the story has been covered before. 7. The reporter/editor/news organization is incompetent. 8. The reporter/editor/news organization lacks integrity and has been influenced by sources/donors/advertisers, etc. The member of San Diego's Black Helicopter Conspiracy Community always go directly to No. 8 when a journalist doesn't do their bidding in regard to coverage. Sometimes journalists and news organizations lack integrity or are wrongly influenced by somebody in power. I've been around here in journalism long enough to know that it's not as common as people on the outside like to think. There are plenty of local journalists who have integrity, are devoted to the craft and would quit on the spot if anyone asked them to do something unethical. If you'd like to Fact Check that statement, I'd be happy to email you their contact information. (I'm one of them, by the way, so you're got one confirmed already.)
— September 3, 2012 7:40 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

Again, VOSD has a reporter who covers the convention center expansion and a CEO who's written about it extensively. Anyone with concerns about coverage should contact either one of them, or both, and actually ask questions instead of going to Defcon 1 on the conspiracy theory scale.
— September 3, 2012 3:59 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

I've often disagreed with VOSD's decisions, but I've never seen any evidence that it's a tool of the establishment. If it is, why would it run the repeated stories (see above) questioning the funding of the convention center expansion and debunking the idea that its privately funded? Why would it have harangued the city attorney so incessantly over his refusals on providing details regarding the convention center/hotel tax vote? Why would it repeatedly call out the mayor on his inaccuracies? Why would it give the Fact Check "Huckster Propaganda" verdict to just about every big-shot member of the local establishment? Why would it have been so skeptical of the downtown library funding, focusing on how the city budget might get stuck with the bill if Irwin Jacobs & Co. didn't raise enough money and trying to get details of the funding agreement? As for the Reader's courage: How the Reader shown that it's not bending over backwards to its publisher or its advertisers? Has it run stories challenging the local anti-abortion movement? Plastic surgery? Medical research trials that recruit the public through ads? Has the Reader covered legal action against itself?
— September 3, 2012 3:57 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

I'm a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego, and I don't cover the convention center expansion. You directly contacted the VOSD staff with your questions about coverage before suggesting that they've been bought off, right? What did they say? -Randy
— September 3, 2012 2:14 p.m.

Auditor Confirms It: Convention Center Attendance Figures Misleading

Also: "Convention Center Contortions and Secrets: VOSD Radio": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/clipboard/article_…' "Hucker Propaganda" Fact Check verdict for VOSD supporter Cushman over "private" funding of convention center expansion: http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/fact/article_06a92… "Convention Expansion Inertia Lurches Forward:" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "The council was locking in Tuesday the tax hike that forces hotel guests to pay for the expansion; it totals about $36 million a year over 30 years. Another government, the Unified Port of San Diego, already has decided how much it will pay: an average of $2 million a year over that timeframe. That leaves city taxpayers as the only remaining source of money. Their contribution now is pegged at $3.5 million a year, a number supporters justify by pointing to projections showing the expansion will increase the city's bottom line. But unlike the hotel guests and port, no one has capped the taxpayer dollars that would go toward the project. Taxpayers remain at risk." "Can a Multi-Billion Dollar Company Determine Fate of San Diego's Taxes?" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "Those Who Benefit Pay What They Want: Convention Center Expansion": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "Paying for the Convention Center Expansion: San Diego Explained": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/sandiego-explained… "Convention Center Expanders Eye City's Day-to-Day Money": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "Convention Center Vote Shifts Risk to Taxpayers": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "The Hoteliers' Convention Center Gambit" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "Following the Convention Center Money: Fact Check TV": http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/fact/article_f7fce… "Uncle! Uncle! Hotels, You Win!" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/scott-lewis/articl… "Three Convention Center Leaders Want Out" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… "How Jan Goldsmith Picked Hotels Over the Public" http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall…
— September 2, 2012 10:49 p.m.