By Tracy Dingmann Friends and former colleagues who are versed in the art of newspaper editorial writing tell me the worst sin is to write an editorial that’s just plain wishy washy. According to them, the number one rule of opinion writing is: Take a strong stand and stick with it. If the people who [...]
Entries from September 30th, 2009
Journal: Blah Blah Blah on Locksley
September 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
Tags:editorials
A Watchdog Deferred
September 30th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann I have written before about what I and many other old-school newspaper journalists think is the troubling coziness between the Albuquerque Journal and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. That’s because it bothers me to see the paper enter into any kind of relationship that looks like it might give it a [...]
Tags:consumer reporting·Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce·journalistic standards
Protest trumps content
September 23rd, 2009 · No Comments · Mexico
By Denise Tessier New Mexicans this week had the rare opportunity to hear first-hand thoughts from the immediate past president of Mexico – our next-door neighbor nation plagued by drug war violence and the greatest source of our illegal immigration problems. Former president Vicente Fox’s talk at the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall Monday [...]
Jetpack Fever!
September 22nd, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann An editorial in the Sept. 19 edition of the Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) tries to make a good argument for putting a 10-year limit on the transit tax that voters will be asked to consider on the Oct. 6 ballot. The new tax would replace an existing transit tax that is due [...]
Tags:role of government·taxes
Headline Headache
September 17th, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann Sometimes bias or inaccuracy in a newspaper story or headline is obvious to all readers. But other times, readers have to possess inside knowledge of the story to know what’s being presented to them is neither accurate nor fair. A recent Journal story about the disposition of a local group’s suit against [...]
Good Job
September 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann In an earlier post I chided the Journal for running a column by syndicated conservative columnist Cal Thomas in which Thomas brushed off Congressman Joe Wilson’s shocking outburst during last week’s presidential address to Congress. To me, running such a piece seemed a bit out of character for a paper that is [...]
Tags:
A Word About Cal Thomas
September 16th, 2009 · No Comments · health care reform
By Tracy Dingmann Ah, Cal Thomas – just one member of the deep bench of reliably conservative syndicated columnists run by the Albuquerque Journal. He’s been writing a long, long time. Maybe too long. Because he misses the point entirely in his Aug. 15 column headlined “Only Obama Can Call Pants-on-Fire,” (print edition only) about [...]
The Public What?
September 15th, 2009 · No Comments · health care reform, polling, Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann Gwyneth Doland and Matt Reichbach of the New Mexico Independent took the Albuquerque Journal to task for Monday’s story and poll on which national issues New Mexicans feel are most important today. The poll was done for the Journal by Research & Polling, Inc., an experienced and respected local firm that the [...]
Tags:Gyneth Doland·health care reform·Matt Reihbach·Nate Silver·NM Independent·polling·public option
Dishonest column calls journalistic standards into question
September 9th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann The director of a New Mexico sportsmen’s group says he is having no luck getting a correction issued for an erroneous column that recently ran in the Mountain View Telegraph. On Aug. 27, the Telegraph ran an guest opinion column on its editorial page that had previously been taken down from two [...]
Tags:Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy·journalistic standards·Marita K. Noon·Mountain View Telegraph·New Mexico Wildlife Federation
I Demand a Retraction! (Updated)
September 2nd, 2009 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
By Tracy Dingmann Every once in a while during my days as a newspaper reporter, a reader would call me up and demand a “retraction.” I would find out what was bothering them – usually a singular point like an incorrect time or phone number or name – and then explain that what they probably [...]
Tags:Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy·corrections·Farmington Daily Times·Heath Haussamen·Marita K. Noon·New Mexico Wildlife Federation·retractions
