June 16, 2004
Briefly (But Incorrectly) Mentioned By United Press International
So it's a good thing we regularly check to see what our spam fitlers have caught, because in there today was notifcation from someone that we were mentioned in a UPI article today on the subject of weblogs. We're around two-thirds of the way down the article, and even then, they manage to get several things wrong:
Another aspiring pundit site is called the OneTrueBix.com. Located in Portland, Ore., it is produced by a local citizen who regularly attends city council meetings, zoning meetings and the like, and presents these routine events from an alternative perspective.
"The editor now has press credentials," Gronke said.
Well, first of all, this "aspiring pundit site" isn't located at the URL mentioned above. We did originally have an entirely different site at a similar URL, but without an extra step or two of digging around, readers of the UPI article are going to find neither that old and unused site nor this actual currently-used site.
Meanwhile, for whatever it's worth, it's not like there's an official party here in Portland that issues press credentials. We make our press credentials, just as any other media organization makes their press credentials. It's just that various parties which occassionally decide who gets into one event or another as "media," have come to accept us as such.
So, six of one and half a dozen of another. Nice to be mentioned in the cource of an article which mainly focuses on national-level or national-issue weblogs. But it would have been nicer if people had been given the proper information for coming to take a look for themselves.
To our recollection, we were never contacted directly (although it's always possible it vanished into our spam filters if we were) about this article. And as of this posting, we are unsure if the information the reporter did use is exactly what they were given by Paul Gronke (of the political science department at Reed College), or if they munged whatever it was that Gronke told them.
Comments (7)
gronke on 16 Jun 2004
I was the one who told the UPI reporter that you had "press credentials." Not too far from the truth -- you are treated as "media" and this is an interesting development.
As to the URL, I did give him the precise address, but I guess he liked "The One True Bix" better.
But getting mentioned in UPI is pretty good, so I wouldn't complain!
The One True b!X on 16 Jun 2004
Well, that would be why I said "six of one, half a dozen of the other."
The One True b!X on 16 Jun 2004
And I do udnerstand that the way the credential thing is presented by UPI is a sort of shorthand for the slightly more complicated reality.
But I also don't think my desire for the press to actually consider "slightly more complicated reality" an important thing to convey is misplaced -- whether or not I happen to be the subject in question.
JJ on 16 Jun 2004
Years and Years ago, during GW1, I was writing for a silly little student mag, and wanted to get through the police barricades at the protests in Eugene. I made up a "Press" card and used it to get through the barricades. Worked wonders until the state police came in in blue helmets and blue ax-handles and broke everything up. They didn't give a rip who I was and threatened to bust my head open.
I have used that same process a good dozen times over the years to very good effect.
amusing.
JJ
Noah Brimhall on 17 Jun 2004
Profressor Gronke said "But getting mentioned in UPI is pretty good, so I wouldn't complain!"
I agree that the old saying "any press is good press" may hold true for blogs, but it may need to be slightly amended. How about, "any press with the correct URL is good press".
This isn't exactly b!X looking a gift horse in the mouth. It is nice that b!X got mentioned in the UPI, but it isn't worth a hill of beans if he doesn't get any visitors from it. I appreciate that Profressor Gronke did his best to give the reporter the correct address, but it is pretty sad when a reporter doesn't bother to check the URL's in his article.
Also, if it would have been just one URL that the reporter screwed up, I may have forgiven him, but he actually screwed up another blogs URL.
JJ on 17 Jun 2004
Well, thats the NEW UPI, now owned by Rev. Moon.
Feh! Moonies!
JJ
PS: I neglected to say this before: Congrats, B!x!
Jeff on 17 Jun 2004
D'oh! What a shame the botched your url. Ah well, a mention's a mention.