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Edited on Tue Mar-01-05 01:59 AM by RapidCreek
This question was recently posted on a blog which belongs to the reporters who work for the Rapid City Journal, a "news" paper out of Rapid City South Dakota, one of two major news outlets in the state. It was posted by Kevin Woster......one of these reporters. I imagine it's inspiration was an email I sent Ms. Denise Ross, of the papers political desk, inquiring why a blog team from Nashua New Hampshire seemed more interested in covering the connections between Gannon and South Dakota election politics than they were. I supplied a link to the blog story to which I speak and challenged Ms. Ross to pursue it. I inferred that, I doubted she'd do anything with it.....and left unstated the reason why. The Rapid City Journal, you see, is instrumental in delivering selective coverage of the news to Western South Dakota, thereby fostering the ignorance which inspires so many on this side of the state to vote against their own interests. Below is the question posed by Mr. Woster. I implore you to read it, visit the blog and give Mr. Woster your opinion as to whether the Gannon Scandal or the connection of Gannon to the John Thune campaign is news worthy and why; At least as news worthy as Prairie Dogs, at any rate.
Is Jeff Gannon news?
I mean, is he newspaper news, not blogosphere news? And beyond that, is he Rapid City Journal newspaper news?
I’ve been trying to answer that question, off and on, for a week a week or two, as people on various blogs have lamented the lack of “mainstream media” coverage of this story.
I say “off and on” because during that same period of time, I’ve written stories about, among other things, a bighorn sheep die-off in Custer State Park, another mountain lion kill near Johnson Siding, a strange algae that seems to be killing trout in Rapid Creek, a plan to build at multi-million-dollar outdoor learning center in Rapid City and a basketball player who will be charged with assault for an elbow he threw during a game.
Now, I know that stuff is news for the Journal. And that kind of news happens all the time. It keeps me and the rest of the Journal reporters fairly busy. No question we have to cover it.
The Gannon deal? It’s a bit tougher to call.
I think it’s interesting that a phony reporter got White House press credentials he didn’t deserve to throw softball-questions at President Bush. I think it’s interesting, given the Bush administrations stance on gay marriage and “traditional values,” that he turned out to be associated with web sites offering gay porn and escort services.
And it’s certainly interesting that Gannon spent a good share of time last year writing negative stories about former Sen. Tom Daschle and attacking the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and its well-known political reporter Dave Kranz – charging them with being pro-Daschle.
I also think it’s interesting that Gannon supplied information to Jon Lauck and Jason Van Beek, both of whom were on the payroll of Sen. John Thune during his successful campaign against Daschle, for use on their blogs.
That’s no surprise, however. Gannon, Lauck, Van Beek and others were busy trying to pitch stories with anti-Daschle angles to real reporters through much of 2004. That happens during every campaign, with both sides working reporters with tips for news stories to help their candidate and hurt the opponent. Challengers usually work that angle harder than incumbents, who generally would prefer that things not get nasty.
This 2004 conservative charge was the most intense and organized effort like that I have seen, and it relied heavily on blogs for its base. Also unusual was the involvement of this Gannon character, a self-styled reporter with a clear conservative agenda.
Some of the information they pitched was interesting and in a few instances even useful. Most of it was not. Gannon? I wrote him off as a blogger with a concocted reporter’s title and a mean-spirited personality. He didn’t influence my coverage at all.
Still, he has become something of a national news oddity. And he is connected, through Lauck and Van Beek at the very least, to the Thune campaign. So the whole thing probably deserves a closer look.
I’m just trying to decide what the story is for Journal readers and whether I should set aside the stack of waiting stories, and those new ones that arrive almost daily, to chase around on this one.
And I can guarantee you that Denise Ross, our political reporter and the staffer most likely to cover such a story, has more than a full plate in the South Dakota Legislature these days.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t look at the story, or that we won’t. I’m just saying we have other news priorities, and we have to choose. So far, we haven’t chosen Gannon.
It’s not, as Sophia implies, that we are part of the South Dakota news media who is “keeping this secret from so much of the population.”
First, it’s not much of a secret. And second, if it were, what would we at the Journal have to gain by keeping it?
We’re a newspaper. We hate secrets.Here is a link to the blog http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/politicalblog2/?cat=1Thanks, Peace and Inner Harmony, Rapid Creek
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