Bassackwards (updated)

George Rebane

Former Union editor and Nevada County’s journalist extraordinaire (also self-appointed manager of our morals and keeper of The High Dudgeon) Jeff Pelline has again gotten a bit confused about the why, wherefore, and responsibility of disclosures.  In my recent pieces promoting the passage of Proposition 23 (for example here and here), I do not mention that the Rebanes have contributed to Congressman Tom McClintock’s campaign – TomM, Dan Logue, Doug LaMalfa, and many other conservative politicians are also vocal proponents of Prop23.

On his blog and on RR Jeff has announced our financial support of McClintock in breathless revelations and the surety of a man who sees himself firmly in the footsteps of Woodward and Bernstein.  His attempt to communicate outrage at my implied desire to hide this contribution is not the first time he has shown ignorance about when and where such disclosures are needed.

Jo Ann and I support many charities, institutions, politicians, and initiatives.  And this invariably means that we also put our money where our mouths are – count on it.  On the obverse, we also take no monies or other remuneration to our benefit for promoting and supporting our beliefs and values.  In the case of Prop23, our hoped for benefit in its passage is that of almost all other Californians who are not members of the subsidy sucking sector.

What Pelline and other lightly read journalists seem to be ignorant of is that it is only those getting compensated for promoting views or causes who should declare their benefice and benefactors.  In short, if it looks like you’re spouting off because you’re getting paid for spouting off, you should then disclose it.

For example, every time George Soros states that he is for, say, a higher minimum wage, he has no obligation to concurrently declare that he gives monies to a host of listed organizations and lobbyists who are of a same mind about a higher minimum wage.  How he legally promotes his causes is his business, which someone else can discover and trumpet or not.  In the same vein, conservative columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer has no obligation to disclose his contributions to recipients who also hold the same views he is promoting.

Another example of this kind of dumbbell journalism occurs when we hear of the efforts to build a better fence along our Mexican border as being akin to our building another Berlin Wall down there.  Such journalists have no idea how the Iron Curtain operated, or what was the intent and purpose of the Berlin Wall .  Of course, one can argue that these journalists do know their history, but then we must conclude that they’re evil instead of stupid.

I make no such assessment of Jeff Pelline, he just keeps getting things bassackward.

[update]  I meant to include a link to an appropriately clarifying essay that I posted almost three years ago about my thoughts on journalism today, my role as commentator, and a summary of belief tenets that anchor such views.  Please see 'I AM NOT A JOURNALIST'.

Comments

[Barry W. Pruett]

Don't even get me started. I am not going to comment (although I would love to) and just sit here and watch the basketball game between USA versus Lithuania.

[Michael R. Kesti]

"Bassackwards" was exactly the word I thought when Jeff described George's contributions to McClintock and the local co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots as conflicts of interest. These, in my view, would be more accurately termed accords of interest!

[George Rebane]

C'mon Barry, as a lawyer, you're just guy we would like to hear from about this subject. "Lithuania"??

[Barry W. Pruett]

You are getting lectured about "journalism" by a guy that cannot hold a job in the field...please. To suggest that KVMR is somehow being unfair to the liberal cause of supporting AB32 is just plain country stupid. Any person that has lived here for more than two months could tell you that. Also, the USA beat Lithuania...not very convincingly.

[Russ Steele]

You cannot make this up: Pelline wants George to disclose all of his political contributions during his commentary on KVMR and Union Columns. Knowing the political generosity of George and JoAnn Rebane, can you imagine how boring it would be listening to George list all their contributions, in the first minute of of his 4 minute commentary. The Union only allows 750 words, using a 100 words to list all the contribution in every column be boring and waste of column space. Why is it not enough that George be known as a conservative, who contributes to like minded political leaders and let it go at that.

This whole disclosure issue is just a distraction that demonstrates Pelline is unable to address George on the issues, so he brings up this crap so he has something negative to write about. He is incapable of discussing the real issue on AB32 and Prop 23 at George's intellectual level. So, he has to distract his readers with irrelevant crap (CRAP: 1 something that is of extremely poor quality.• nonsense. • rubbish; junk.)

[Jeff Pellne]

•I'm glad to see I started a discussion on my blog between KVMR and Steve Frisch that will result in a counterpoint to George's Prop. 23 "hit piece" that put the Supes on the spot (without even contacting them). It will be aired soon. The community deserves to hear both sides of the debate.
•As a contributor to the local media, George should be disclosing his political contributions when they relate to topics he writes about. This is not a distraction: It is something that many newspapers enforce, as I wrote on my blog. (http://jeffpelline.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/media-contributors-also-held-to-ethical-standards-of-disclosure/)
•Barry lost his election for the nonpartisan race for clerk-recorder in every precinct and still tries to pass himself off as a political pundit and cast (inaccurate) stones at others.

Steve Frisch makes a cogent point about your blogs in this comment on Russ' blog:

"Steven Frisch said...
I love this language — calling someone a "purple cow" saying "I hate his guts".
You guys belong in the gutter with the quality of your debate.

By the way, have you guys noticed that except for an occasional drop in, you are talking to yourselves? You have effectively marginalized yourselves to the point that you have no credibility with anyone who does not share your extreme views."

[Jeff Peline]

Link doesn't work with parenthesis:

http://jeffpelline.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/media-contributors-also-held-to-ethical-standards-of-disclosure/

[Barry W. Pruett]

Paul Emery does not agree with Pelline...and Paul has a job in the field as a journalist. I know who I am going to trust.

[Jeff Peline]

Barry,
What do you mean he doesn't agree?

[George Rebane]

Jeff, always glad to provide a forum for lively debate, topics to get your juices flowing, ideas for content, and then see the "occasional drop in" from you and yours.

[Mikey McD]

I wish we could just talk amongst ourselves... instead we have to correct and educate the extreme left. "Great Divide" anyone?

[Todd Juvinall]

Well, hey, let's have a list of Pelline's donations so that we can use his standards to determine if he is worthy of commenting and opining on his blog. What a hoot! I long ago decided that I would determine my own responsibility to disclose any information about myself or my business. The reason is simple. When a person releases info, the lib has won. Wjen we allow the lib to set the rules or set the bar, we give them power. I don't give them anything unless I want to. Pelline is playing this issue, he is not serious and he is just doing it to see how far he can get. He is not a journalist as far as I can tell. He is a opinion maker (and not too good at it) and he does this to influence others. So, list your donations, amounts, recipients and in lieu donations as well, for say, the last three elections. Then we can see who is correct.

[Paul Emery]

Barry

Please help me here. What am I supposed to agree or disagree with ? Here is my opinion of the practical reality of suggesting financial disclosure requirements of KVMR contributors. I posted it on Jeff Pelines blog.

"Jeff

That’s quite a chore you are suggesting. KVMR has a volunteer staff of over 150 broadcasters and broadcasts 24 hours a day seven days a week. We run programs from various nationally syndicated sources as well as local spoken word and commentary every day for two hours between noon and 2PM as well as our news program at 6PM and syndicated and original programing from 6:30-7 and Democracy Now from 7-8. In addition Morning Shows and Music Magazine programs have invited guests that speak on a variety of topics many of which may be controversial. Also, Democracy Now and evening syndicated programs have multiple guests and opinions. To suggest some kind of financial disclosure requirement would be quite a task indeed. Also, much of our programing is spontaneous and most of it is live. We do require disclaimers on opinion programs, which George Rebane fulfilled in his commentary.

I look forward to airing a rebuttal to George’s commentary as soon as possible.

We also sponsor and broadcast town hall meetings and debates during election cycles and we invite candidates and advocates of all parties and opinions to be part of call in live studio broadcasts. I’m sure we’ll cover Prop 23 in that format as well as prop 19."

That about covers it from my perspective

[Russ Steele]

Jeff Pelline has just declared that he has the #1 local blog. I think it is wonderful that Jeff Pelline thinks he is the number one local blogger, and I congratulate him on this achievement. That said, we still have not seen any verifiable graphics from his Wordpress site. As far as we know his results are as questionable as the global warming figures that we get from NOAA and NCDC, which have a bad habit of making up the data. Again, congratulations Jeff your numbers are most revealing.

[Jeff Peline]

Hopefully George and Barry will provide their web log statistics too!

[Russ Steele]

I just and second thought. My audience is different from George's, different from CABPRO's, different from Barry's, with some overlap for sure, but still a more diverse audience across the board. If we add readers RR+NCMW+CABPRO+INCP we collective have a much larger audience of readers than Pelline has, or will have. So, he can be 1# standing alone, but we are # 1 standing as one conservative voice. And, collectively each of us has a growing audience, and we help each other by pointing to important posts. I like this kind of team work!

[Russ Steele]

The above post should read "I just had a second thought."

I really do need to use the preview feature.

[Jeff Peline]

Fine analysis Russ! Go RR+NCMW+CABPRO+INCP go!

[Steven Frisch]

Come on Russ are you serious? You guys all cross post and visit each others sites. Your readers are George's readers, and Barry's increasing readers are people from your sites discovering him. It is an incestuous right wing cluster &*%$. I mean really, are you serious?

By the way, better be careful using a word like "collective" to describe your group. People might get the idea you are a Soviet.

[George Rebane]

Gentlemen, your blogs are all no doubt bigger. RR is a small weblog with (according to StatCounter) somewhere north of 5,000 unique visitors a month, and about half of them making up the returning visitors of my regular readership. This has been a grateful surprise since I write on topics and ideas that are understood by only a very small population, and are of interest to one even smaller. On this I have no desire to get into a dick measuring exercise with anyone.

My voice is one in the wilderness, most certainly where those moderate and in the mainstream don't venture - it has been the story of my life. B.W. Overstreet best expresses my resolve with his 'Stubborn Ounces'

You say the Little efforts that I make
will do no good: they never will prevail
to tip the hovering scale
where Justice hangs in balance.

I don’t think I ever thought they would.
But I am prejudiced beyond debate
in favor of my right to choose which side
shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.

[Michael Anderson]

"On this I have no desire to get into a dick measuring exercise with anyone."

George, thanks for putting into words what I have been thinking all evening once this thread started. Sometimes the penis really *is* the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

Reminds me of a great hippy phrase from the 1960s: "It's not the meat, it's the motion."

Carry on...

[Dixon Cruickshank]

This whole issue is more than stupid, although I expect nothing less from him - Meet the Press would be over before guests finishing their list of contributions - Pelline are stupid or just a jackass?

[Steven Frisch]

By the way the dick measuring started with a post by RUSS at 2 pm today, not here. RUSS was the original dick measurer. Go over to his site and check it out. I stated that he was talking to himself, he started quoting numbers. I mean really, at least be honest with yourselves OK?

[George Rebane]

SteveF - another illustration of how this is going nowhere. Who is being dishonest about what?

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Not sure what the facts really are on web traffic but since most are not allowed to post at Pelines I can't see it being #1. I will also say that I do visit both Russ and George but not Barry much - sorry Barry but I do stop in some. As far a dick measuring I think thats kinda out in such a small town and county it just can't reveal much, plus by the looks of the photo Peline hasn't seen his in years.

Round here we call that a dickie do - if anyone cares I will explain, it might be representitive of the southern humor, not sure

[Barry Pruett]

No worries Dixon! I went to college in Ohio...I got the joke.

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Go ahead George, everybody who's anybody already read it

[George Rebane]

Today, like so many days, started with an email from a correspondent that contained the latest offering from Pelline which again referenced me, had me as the subject, or quoted content from RR. This time it was Pelline taking off on my use of ‘dick measuring exercise’ in this comment thread to refer to the touts about whose blog is the biggest. I make no such claims, but was taunted to put my meager numbers up with the others. In doing so I expressed disdain at such exercises using a, perhaps, too communicative colloquialism, clearly bereft of any sexual connotation, that is very familiar to those with experience in business management and/or the military. To others, with more limited or different backgrounds, or seeking to promote other agendas, the phrase may conjure up some sordid sexual fantasies.

While on this topic, yesterday one of the local leftwing worthies went beyond the pale – please see my 2aug10 post – and will henceforth no longer be joining us on RR. I am sure that his offerings will still be available in other online forums where his wit and wisdom finds a more receptive environment. (Administrivia – I’m still trying to better implement a more focused and less vindictive comment forum. Russ Steele at NCMW is going to try some approaches supported by TypePad that hopefully will be worth copying.)

In his latest post, Pelline again made the point that I “tout” my PhD – it seems to be a recurring theme of his. To substantiate, he has offered no citation or pointed to any such excess. Perhaps he senses that in these battles of issues and ideas, he assaults with armaments not sufficient to achieve the heights he has in his sights, and must therefore assault more modest mounds. On the other hand, the explanation may be as uncomplicated as not knowing a simple definition. Hope this helps.

“Tout (verb) – to describe or advertise boastfully; publicize or promote; praise extravagantly”

Finally, one has to wonder why it is that when Pelline needs content for his blog, content that compels beyond his reports of store openings/closings or local “scooplets”, he lifts text from RR or one of the other conservative websites. And then his own addenda are not to the purloined ideas, but only to excoriate the original author. Moreover, when Pelline or his acolytes want content from his blog read by a more critical and mature audience, they then cut and paste text from his website to RR. These kinds of transcriptions travel respectively in only one direction – why is that? While not (yet) prepared to reciprocate, we do our best to receive such journalistic exchanges in their most complimentary light.

[Todd Juvinall]

George, well said. I am simply a high school graduate and probably not worthy of competing with the likes of Pelline and his liberal pals, but I fully understand why he is so cowed by you and the likes of Russ and others from the right. People on the right had to compete. People on the left had it handed to them. This does create a disparity which the left can never become the right's equal. Hence the measuring.

I am truly sad though that Russ has gone to a moderated blog. I would like the conservative blogs to stay wide open to all kinds of discussion. When the right is attacked by the left and then the right chooses to respond we get called bullies. The left as shown by the sensitivity they show on their own blogs to an to measurement criteria will always be feeling the inadequacy of coming up short.

[Dixon Cruickshank]

George I just read that over there - whats most amazing is maybe it never dawns on them that they are just being made fun of? I find that hard to believe but I guess trying explain the term cliche' is a lost cause, of which they have have plenty - its just too funny.

[George Rebane]

I'll do everything possible to leave RR's comments open and moderated only after they have been posted. It's a pain in the butt, but I'm hoping that our readers will catch the spirit of civil discourse.

Yes, we are making fun of the left's silly nostrums. But the little barbs we use in our illuminatons may be even more effective if delivered in churchillian envelopes. Tit for tat can be implemented in more ways than one.

[Steve Frisch]

Who's going to explain that Churchillian reference to Todd? Just kidding, I for one would love to see a return to only commenting on ideas and leaving the people out of it. That means George is going to have to step in now and again....and be fair.

[George Rebane]

Gentlemen, it sounds like there is a ray of consensus shining on our path forward.

[Bobo Bolinski]

whats most amazing is maybe it never dawns on them that they are just being made fun of?

There is a statement of monumental irony.