Sunday, September 21, 2008

Naming names.

An article in the Oregonian where they report about Bend area developers and suicides -- and most importantly, BLOGGERS!

A couple of things really popped out at me.

First that there were 4 reported suicides of real estate types in the entire rest of the nation. And 3 in Bend alone. Hey, maybe there is something there, after all!

Second, the implication that bloggers had filled a news void. (And by comparison, the Oregonian is pretty much saying, Hey Bulletin! We just did your job for you!)

She could've actually contacted a few of us who had our names attached -- me and Bruce come to mind -- but I think she was wedded to the "anonymous bloggers" concept. She did actually post a message asking for us to contact her. But I think we were a little leery of her.

Or....another way to put it:

Yeah, right -- we anonymous conspiracy theory nuts are going to contact someone who SAYS she's a reporter for the Oregonian.....

Ironically, Paul-doh is closing his blog just as he reaches national prominence.

Sort of.

I can't resist going over to see what they're saying about all this.

Oh, and she quoted Bilbo/Buster.

Now we'll never hear the end of it!

6 comments:

Pinkwater said...

Let's be clear on this. Local bloggers nurtured a rumor, not filled a news void. Because the "news" here is that bloggers saw a correlation (read: conspiracy) in these deaths. The Bulletin certainly reported on the deaths of these individuals; the empirical truth, that is.

Duncan McGeary said...

But the conspiracy was always a joke, in my eyes. I think even the guys propagating it were more or less joking -- as insensitive and boorish as it is.

The suicides seem pretty clear.

The Oregonian found an angle to report it.

The Real Estate Boom was the BIG news in Central Oregon for a decade now. It seems to me that the consequences ought to be reported in full.

I've expressed my ambivalence toward reporting it; and made it clear that it should be done in a respectful manner.

It's one of those things that probably don't have a totally right answer, because the deed was so dire.

Duncan McGeary said...

I have felt the utility of Bendbubble2 has diminished. Especially now that they've strayed into loonie right wing politics.

Bendbubble3 is the inmates in charge.

I told Paul-doh early on that he was a brave man to let Bilbo have free rein on his blog. His blog was effectively hijacked.

But Paul-doh had an absolutist ideal on censorship, which I can respect. (The irony is that it is the same ideal as ACLU, which I'm sure Paul-doh abhors...)

There was always a few nuggets of truth under all the crap, and I was willing to wade in.

But it's become too hard to ignore all the hate.

Too bad.

I went back to see what was said about the Oregonian's article.

Not much, it turns out. I've taken the site off my bookmarks. I'm done.

I hope he sticks to his resolve and quits. I think he realizes it's turned into a worthless enterprise. We'll see how many people are willing to listen to Buster without Paul-doh's platform.

Not many, I'll bet.

Duncan McGeary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Duncan McGeary said...

Also didn't care much for Bilbo cheering for Pegasus's demise.

Nasty piece of work.

I think it's bad karma. I've been much more careful over the last year and half of blogging of speaking in generalities when it comes to store success or failure, because -- and I really mean this because I totally empathize with any small business owner -- I wish every single business success.

Funny thing is, that my finances are so much more solid than through most of my career, that even a disaster economy isn't fazing me much.

It's as if I had to learn to walk a tightrope for years, where the slightest wind could've knocked me off, and now I'm on solid ground and nothing short of a level 5 hurricane could knock me over the edge. And if it's a level 5, we're all in the same boat.

And what's best, I think, is that I believe I still have those tightrope walking chops.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"The suicides seem pretty clear."

We still have only one confirmed suicide -- Audia's. And that's all we're likely to ever have.

"I have felt the utility of Bendbubble2 has diminished. Especially now that they've strayed into loonie right wing politics."

Megadittoes.