Jeff Pelline’s Visit to Rebane’s Ruminations

George Rebane

The Editor of Nevada County’s The Union, Jeff Pelline, graced my announced exit from the newspaper’s online community blog with a visit to this blog and a lengthy comment that expressed his continued irritation with certain local bloggers.  His agitated missal appeared to address concerns that did not relate to my ‘sayonara post’ and perhaps is a better indicator of how The Union views its journalistic fiefdom.  There is no doubt that Jeff Pelline is a very visible and important man in our community.  His voice can set the direction and tone of many undertakings in our beautiful, isolated, and somewhat insular county.  In short, while he holds the confidence of publisher Jeff Ackerman and Swift Communications, hereabouts he is not a man to be ignored.

With this preamble I reproduce both my ‘sayonara post’ and his comment which I have characterized as scattered and confused.  My attempts to correct are marbled into Jeff’s piece and labeled by [gjr].  To the Reader intending to submit himself to lighter fare and yet who will be the final arbiter of it all, I hope that this dish of spaghetti will be less tangled than it appears.

*** On 24 November 2007 I posted this on the newpaper’s blog.

“Rebane’s Ruminations has Moved

When The Union started its Readers Voices blog I was overjoyed.  Our hometown newspaper was deliberately and proudly stepping into an area of 21st century online communications that has already changed the face of journalism and op/ed worldwide.  As witnessed by my series of enthusiastic contributions, I was bound and determined to add to the success of this new venture in our community’s communications.

Alas, my run on their blog was to be short lived.  It turns out that the two times I inserted mild (at least when compared to the screeds The Union regularly publishes) criticisms of the paper in my posts, these were considered over the top.  In private communications I was taken to task by The Union’s management who suggested that my correspondence would better serve their vision of collegial comment suitable for local consumption if it were delivered through other outlets.

I, of course, submitted instantly (my mom taught me not to go where I am not welcome) and ceased all my contributions to The Union.  So as not to be seen vindictive or harboring hard feelings, I did offer to again contribute content to the paper if invited to do so.  In the interval, I did receive an email from Jeff Ackerman suggesting that perhaps we should meet and get to know each other better.  I leaped at the opportunity by return email, which leap finds me still in freefall.

So dear Reader, if my scribblings in any way amused you or contributed to a new view on matters ranging from local to inter-galactic ;-) , then I cordially invite you to continue our correspondence on my new blog here.”

*** To this Jeff Pelline replied on The Union site and here on Rebane’s Ruminations (with my insertions denoted by [gjr]) –

“Hi George,
Goodness, did you mislead people in your blog in The Union. Here is the response I posted on the site. I hope you will post it here too in a timely basis. Cheers.
[gjr] This confused opening suggests that somehow the above ‘sayonara post’ on The Union was meant to confuse instead of just pointing the Reader to where my blog would appear from now on.  That I was taken to task with some very unkind suggestions to pack my writings elsewhere is a matter of record, and I will gladly publish the relevant emails from both Pelline and Ackerman if they so wish.  Today I am still honoring their sanctity as intended private communications.

Can 1,743 people be wrong?
[gjr] Huh?  Interesting title, someone other than I must have impugned these good people.

Thanks George. I'll check out your site. Here's the real story:
[gjr] As opposed to what ‘false story’?  What hill is Jeff defending?

•The Union's registered online users now stand at 1,743 compared with zero earlier this year. Web traffic and comments continue to grow sharply. it is the only *interactive* web site around. The Union is a leader, not a follower, in generating web readership. Your comments are not filtered, like the blogs around here.
[gjr] Is Jeff using my ‘sayonara post’ to here advertise the power and glory of The Union?  I didn’t know this number, and can only surmise why the registered user count is so low.  Again, I have never impugned the newspaper’s online reach and have, instead, suggested to both Jeffs how their site’s usership may be increased.  No one will benefit from this newspaper’s decline. 

• For the record, we've run a half dozen of George's "other voices" columns this year alone, in print and online, and we've invited him down to the paper, too. George's blogs all have run on the front page of the Web site, no matter what/or whom he chooses to critique or whether the opinion is based on any points of fact or not. Where else can you do that? I'm all ears.
[gjr] Another defense of an unattacked hill.  I have never claimed that The Union in any way has under-published me.  In my post I explicitly celebrate “my series of enthusiastic contributions” whose intent was to support the newspaper’s community communications efforts.  In our private communications I also identified and reinforced this support.

•I hope everybody continues reading George's and Russ's blogs whereever they appear. In the end people have to read all the commentary and decide they're reading a fact-based, constructive discussion or one that, for whatever reason, is just politically motivated or gossip.
[gjr] This is my blog, how did Russ Steele get into all this?  Appending the disjointed nostrum to the Reader about politically motivated gossip is, I suppose, an implied assessment of the merit of my scribbles.  The Reader will indeed decide.

•As for Russ, he never posted a blog on our Web site. Interactive dialog, linking blogs and *unfiltered* community voices all are possible now on the paper's Web site. I wish discussions around here would not be based on so much misinformation/disinformation. It's worrisome. Perhaps next year's election will shed some light on where people stand on the issues.
[gjr] Now Jeff appears to have forgotten about me and made this a multi-party comment.  He even throws in innuendos about worrisome discussions on issues he has detected, which may somehow cease after next year’s election.  I have no idea how all this attached itself to my simple ‘sayonara post’, but I suppose the burdens of a mountain county editor must be shed somewhere.  Come back any time Jeff.  Your thoughts no matter how troubled or where aimed are always welcome.  Finally for the record, I am privileged to have Russ Steele as my friend and colleague.  But we are not the Bobsy Twins; last time I looked, the operation was a success and we are no longer connected at the hip.  One can avoid this confusion even though we sport the same haircut - I’m the one with the beard.”

So there you have it dear Reader, a little dust-up in our tiny teapot.  Again I am honored, as should any county blogger be, when visited by the editor of The Union.  I repeat the enduring welcome to Jeff Pelline to grace this blog anytime at his convenience if only to offer an appraisal on the appropriate ‘wind length’ of one of my posts.  And you may be assured that from time to time Rebane’s Ruminations will continue to offer observations about selected facets, features, and foibles of what is and will remain our newspaper.  Long may it wave. 

Comments

[Jeff Pelline]

Here's to the "power and the glory" of The Union!

Hi George,
I'm glad to provide some visibility to your blog — I hope it is a success and generates lots of user comments. But I feel you attacked all those hills with misleading statements (about our growth and your right to publish your own opinion, unfiltered, in our paper), and they required some explanation. Again, the points are these:
•The paper's Web site is growing impressively. (The number of registered "browser profiles" — a figure that anybody can see — and growing traffic are just two examples). It is the only truly interactive site in our area, with unfiltered comments, Web updates, blogs, video, audio, etc.
•As you point out, everything you submitted was published, in print or online — no matter how thorough or unthorough. You even got to publish it on the front page of the Web site!
•Minor point, but Russ Steele got involved because he responded to your blog and suggested the two of you work more together than apart. As you point out, you have worked together closely in the past.
Again, if you can find another forum around here (or most anywhere) that provides all these features, I'm all ears." Advertise" the "power and glory" of The Union? You bet. There's lots to cheer about.
As a blogger, I hope you're open to the same kind of criticism that professional journalists are: whether it's questioning the thoroughness of your reporting or the "wind length" of your writing. In journalism, it goes with the territory.
You can count on me and others to continue to offer those observations about the facets, features and foibles of what is your blog.
Hope this clears things up from this end; glad to see we're in agreement on the parts that are important! Happy blogging!

[George Rebane]

Exhibit A

Dear Reader, I leave Jeff's above comment as a prime example of his journalistic prowess, in this case for unsubstantiated accusations that I ever "attacked all those hills with misleading statements (about our growth and your right to publish your own opinion, unfiltered, in our paper)". The Union has a complete archive of my writings in their newspaper and on their website. Throwing in a snippet or two of any "misleading statement" would settle the matter, and then tying it somehow to my starting this blog would enlighten us all.

[gladtohavemademyexodus]

Isn't it interesting that Jeff Pee-line always has to have the last word. Too bad he's sucked all the joy out of the newspaper....

[Jeff Pelline]

I can see where in for some real insightful commentary here. Oh well.

[Anna Haynes]

Hello George, and welcome to the unwalled blogosphere. I do enjoy (and covet) your writing style.

I have 2 questions - one for you, one potentially for Jeff P. Both are optional, of course.

For you - in order that I might position your new blog appropriately on Nevada County Voices, would you be willing to share whether your views on global warming have evolved?

For Jeff (or for you George, if you know) - are The Union's reader blogs equipped with RSS feeds? (last I checked, they didn't seem to be, but that was a long time back)

thanks much -
Anna

[George Rebane]

Hi Anna - Welcome and thanks for the visit. What a delightful way to phrase your question. With the insertion of that one word "evolved", one immediately sees the sequence of images that ends in the ape becoming a bent yet upright Neanderthal, and then proudly striding forth as the enlightened and erect Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Alas, my thinking on climate change is still characterized by the SESF piece that you link to and my current position is that summarized by the climatologist Dr. Fred Singer, also available on the SESF site (BTW, thank you for linking to it from Nevada County Voices).

You and I were both trained in the sciences and therefore must remain true to our professions, that is unless we plan to demand a full refund from our respective institutions for not teaching us anything. So I continue to study with keen interest the arguments from both camps and, when appropriate, expect to respond in the Keynsian fashion - "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" I hope that others will also.

In sum Anna, you will be the final judge of where to consign Rebane's Ruminations on your blog. I suspect though that I will have to share space in the right column under the proper warning label "Read with caution". Read with caution indeed, because it is my intent to assault any and all calcified belief systems that happlessly wander onto my blog.

gjr

[Jeff Pelline]

What's a "potential" question?
Anyway, a new version of The Union's Web site will be released shortly with many further upgrades, including RSS feeds.

[Dr. B.]

I have had almost the exact same problems that you have had with Jeff Pelline. I wrote an "Other Voices" column several weeks ago and they change the title and the tone of the column without my permission. This created an entire misdirection of what I wanted to say and because of that, people's comments attacked me personally in the total point of the column was lost. When I sent an e-mail to Jeff Pelline, he responded by stating "if you can't the heat, get out of the kitchen", which was very arrogant and condescending and speaking to me as if I am a child. I copied this to Jeff Ackerman, and he has not responded. I am new to this community and I like to get involved in local things, however, I do not believe I will ever deal with this newspaper again. I have written many articles for a number of different publications in the past and there are several books that I have written and I have never dealt with anyone like this. He took absolutely no responsibility of the change of the title and he had to have the last word. Very childish!

[Anna]

Dr. B, please take up blogging; the fine software running Nevada County Voices would never think of changing your title, and will send readers over to your unadulterated commentary.

We need more local bloggers. Please, Dr. B - go to Blogger.com, sign up, pick a name for your (Blogspot) blog, and unwanted meddling with your writing will become naught but a sad memory.

[Anna]

> "my current position is that summarized by the climatologist Dr. Fred Singer"

oh dear.

George, if you Google
"Fred Singer" "peer reviewed" retired denial
you'll find that maybe you don't want to associate yourself too closely with Mr. Singer.

"Despite the caption on the ['Swindle'] programme, Singer has retired from the University of Virginia and has not had a single article accepted for any peer-reviewed scientific journal for 20 years. His main work has been as a hired gun for business interests to undermine scientific research on environmental and health matters. Before turning to climate change he has argued that CFCs do not cause ozone depletion and second hand smoke does not cause cancer."

You might also check his Wikipedia entry.

And you might consider why the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and a bazillion other scientific associations have issued statements affirming the urgency and probable human cause of global warming (here's an enumeration), and why it is that you stand so firmly in opposition to them.

[Jeff Pelline]

Nobody was more arrogant than Dr. B. When his words (not ours) were challenged by some people in the community (as well as his professionalism), he blamed the paper, rather than being introspective. It's an epidemic around here, at least in some circles.