Bedford Gazette bias
[quote="foghorn";p="120630"]But those of us familiar with LP know that there never been a dead dog he doesn't enjoy kicking. And kicking. And kicking...[/quote]
It's cats foggy, CATS! I happen to like dogs.
It's cats foggy, CATS! I happen to like dogs.
Last edited by LionPride on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. - Ronald Reagan
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pantherpride96
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
LionPride, when did the sports bias topic turn into a circulation matter. Obviously if you've figured out who I am, shouldn't be too hard, you're right. I have nothing to do with that. But I asked why haven't you called to complain about this bias you feel and you said you have many times, but now you say this is all over when the paper is delivered. If you have a problem with that then why bash sports? If you have a problem with sports, then put it in print and sign your name on the dotted line. We welcome all letters to the editor. We're one of the few professions that take people's criticism about ourselves and put it out there for people to see and don't complain about it. If you can't do that, then shut up about this bias, which hasn't existed in my time at the Gazette. Maybe before, but not since I've been here. If you can't write a letter to the editor, then you must believe it's not that big of a deal, at least outside your own mind. You have a lot to say on here for the people that read this site, but why not voice your thoughts in the paper with your real name on it so everyone knows your true feelings? Afraid stick your neck out?
Last edited by pantherpride96 on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TheAnalyst
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
Thanks for fixing my incorrect info Foghorn. I didn't know the FL guy left and that Sharyn became editor. I never met the man but his editorials were really something.
Last edited by TheAnalyst on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Bedford Gazette bias
[quote="pantherpride96";p="120660"]LionPride, when did the sports bias topic turn into a circulation matter. Obviously if you've figured out who I am, shouldn't be too hard, you're right. I have nothing to do with that. But I asked why haven't you called to complain about this bias you feel and you said you have many times, but now you say this is all over when the paper is delivered. If you have a problem with that then why bash sports? If you have a problem with sports, then put it in print and sign your name on the dotted line. We welcome all letters to the editor. We're one of the few professions that take people's criticism about ourselves and put it out there for people to see and don't complain about it. If you can't do that, then shut up about this bias, which hasn't existed in my time at the Gazette. Maybe before, but not since I've been here. If you can't write a letter to the editor, then you must believe it's not that big of a deal, at least outside your own mind. You have a lot to say on here for the people that read this site, but why not voice your thoughts in the paper with your real name on it so everyone knows your true feelings? Afraid stick your neck out?[/quote]
Ok, now you're getting personal. You see, it didn't have to go there, but you took it there. I had planned to not follow up on this issue anymore, but you had to get personal.
First, working at the Gazette, one would think you could comprehensively read. Find where I said I called many times about the Bedford bias. What I said was I called about poor delivery and was ignored. Right or wrong, I expected the same results. Remember, perception is reality when dealing with customers.
And I told you why I haven't written a letter but you choose to ignore my answer. I'll explain it again. Read slowly so you can understand. I have no problem sticking my neck out, I just chose not to in this case. The main reason is because the article was already written - it was done, it was over. Any follow up to it would have seemed petty. My biggest gripe was the fact that whoever wrote the article didn't take the time to list all the kids. I seriously meant it when I said it, that if I wrote the article, I could not in good conscience put it out without listing all the kids. But someone from Bedford didn't believe it was necessary to do so. If the person writing the article leaves off 3rd and 4th place, PERFECT. That's the way it should've been written anyway. But if you include one, take the time to include them all. That's all I'm saying. Remember, this was dealing with kids 8-14, not adults. If it's adults, no BIG FREAKIN DEAL. Kids are a different story. Forgive the hell out of me for sticking up for my kids.
I would imagine that the author was at the tournament. Everyone local that goes to those tournaments knows who all the coaches are. All they had to do was go up to any one of the coaches from each team and inform them they were writing this article, and if they would kindly provide the results for their kids by a certain date for the article, they would be included. It would have taken 5-10 minutes of their time. There's tons of time between your son's matches at these tournaments. I'm pretty confident that it didn't happen. If it did, and FIVE other groups of coaches chose to ignore it, then hey, I'm wrong and I'll admit it. Prove to me I'm wrong here.
Another reason why I didn't write a letter, is because it involved my son, not me. I didn't want him getting questions about it and having to defend it. I think that's a valid reason.
You obviously do have a problem accepting criticism, even if you do say you don't. I believe at one point in my posts I said that I seriously doubt if SS or CW wrote the article. But you chose to ignore that. Again, comprehensive reading. I also wonder if the Gazette condones your personal attacks to a customer raising an issue on a public forum, even if it isn't YOUR desired forum. You're still speaking on behalf of the Gazette.
As for the bias, even a Bedford person came on here and said the paper leans towards Bedford school. Maybe it isn't intential, but it does happen. If my rants on here cause you to think about that a little more, great.
Now, if you'll kindly lay off the personal attacks, I'll do the same.
Ok, now you're getting personal. You see, it didn't have to go there, but you took it there. I had planned to not follow up on this issue anymore, but you had to get personal.
First, working at the Gazette, one would think you could comprehensively read. Find where I said I called many times about the Bedford bias. What I said was I called about poor delivery and was ignored. Right or wrong, I expected the same results. Remember, perception is reality when dealing with customers.
And I told you why I haven't written a letter but you choose to ignore my answer. I'll explain it again. Read slowly so you can understand. I have no problem sticking my neck out, I just chose not to in this case. The main reason is because the article was already written - it was done, it was over. Any follow up to it would have seemed petty. My biggest gripe was the fact that whoever wrote the article didn't take the time to list all the kids. I seriously meant it when I said it, that if I wrote the article, I could not in good conscience put it out without listing all the kids. But someone from Bedford didn't believe it was necessary to do so. If the person writing the article leaves off 3rd and 4th place, PERFECT. That's the way it should've been written anyway. But if you include one, take the time to include them all. That's all I'm saying. Remember, this was dealing with kids 8-14, not adults. If it's adults, no BIG FREAKIN DEAL. Kids are a different story. Forgive the hell out of me for sticking up for my kids.
I would imagine that the author was at the tournament. Everyone local that goes to those tournaments knows who all the coaches are. All they had to do was go up to any one of the coaches from each team and inform them they were writing this article, and if they would kindly provide the results for their kids by a certain date for the article, they would be included. It would have taken 5-10 minutes of their time. There's tons of time between your son's matches at these tournaments. I'm pretty confident that it didn't happen. If it did, and FIVE other groups of coaches chose to ignore it, then hey, I'm wrong and I'll admit it. Prove to me I'm wrong here.
Another reason why I didn't write a letter, is because it involved my son, not me. I didn't want him getting questions about it and having to defend it. I think that's a valid reason.
You obviously do have a problem accepting criticism, even if you do say you don't. I believe at one point in my posts I said that I seriously doubt if SS or CW wrote the article. But you chose to ignore that. Again, comprehensive reading. I also wonder if the Gazette condones your personal attacks to a customer raising an issue on a public forum, even if it isn't YOUR desired forum. You're still speaking on behalf of the Gazette.
As for the bias, even a Bedford person came on here and said the paper leans towards Bedford school. Maybe it isn't intential, but it does happen. If my rants on here cause you to think about that a little more, great.
Now, if you'll kindly lay off the personal attacks, I'll do the same.
Last edited by LionPride on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. - Ronald Reagan
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TheAnalyst
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
He may have got the perception that you have written from this statement:
"I'm not writing a letter to the editor and I'm not calling. I've tried that before and I know the results. "
There isn't any reference to what you are referring to unless you tie it into one of your previous posts. I misunderstood it myself that you had written about this topic before to the paper. There has been a letter or two written to the editor in the last few years about this subject if I remember correctly. Maybe it's been longer than that. The only other ones I remember are the ones the Catholic priest wrote.
LP, in a perfect world all of the kids names would have been there. But you are asking someone who doesn't do this for a living, and probably gets paid little or nothing, to search out people to get a few names. To you that seems like the right thing to do, but for others doing so may not have even come to mind. Nothing takes 5-10 minutes. I had a boss who always said it will only take 5-10 minutes to do something and never understood why it would take hours. What if you look for someone and they aren't there? What if you have to leave for some other reason? It's never just 5-10 minutes.
Like I said, volunteer to do it next year. I'm sure they will accept your help.
So when you defended Sheetz on this forum, were you speaking on behalf of Sheetz?
"I'm not writing a letter to the editor and I'm not calling. I've tried that before and I know the results. "
There isn't any reference to what you are referring to unless you tie it into one of your previous posts. I misunderstood it myself that you had written about this topic before to the paper. There has been a letter or two written to the editor in the last few years about this subject if I remember correctly. Maybe it's been longer than that. The only other ones I remember are the ones the Catholic priest wrote.
LP, in a perfect world all of the kids names would have been there. But you are asking someone who doesn't do this for a living, and probably gets paid little or nothing, to search out people to get a few names. To you that seems like the right thing to do, but for others doing so may not have even come to mind. Nothing takes 5-10 minutes. I had a boss who always said it will only take 5-10 minutes to do something and never understood why it would take hours. What if you look for someone and they aren't there? What if you have to leave for some other reason? It's never just 5-10 minutes.
Like I said, volunteer to do it next year. I'm sure they will accept your help.
So when you defended Sheetz on this forum, were you speaking on behalf of Sheetz?
Last edited by TheAnalyst on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Bedford Gazette bias
[quote="TheAnalyst";p="120679"]So when you defended Sheetz on this forum, were you speaking on behalf of Sheetz?[/quote]
Please find anywhere on here where I identified myself as tied to any company. I do know I replied to some of your posts to try to help answer some of your questions, but never did I say I was an employee of Sheetz. That was an assumption on your part. Therefore, I certainly was NOT speaking on behalf of Sheetz. Pantherpride, on the other hand, did identify himself as an employee of the Gazette.
[quote="TheAnalyst";p="120679"]There has been a letter or two written to the editor in the last few years about this subject if I remember correctly. Maybe it's been longer than that. The only other ones I remember are the ones the Catholic priest wrote.[/quote]
I thought too that I had read letters about this subject in the past, but I wasn't sure so I didn't bring it up. When Panther said no one had ever talked to him about it or ever written about it, I took him at his word. He still may very well be right about that, I just don't remember and wouldn't fault him for not remembering something years ago either. I'm forgiving that way, since I know my memory, or lack thereof, has gotten me into trouble before. I am pretty certain there was a previous topic on this board about it though.
[quote="TheAnalyst";p="120679"]What if you look for someone and they aren't there? What if you have to leave for some other reason? It's never just 5-10 minutes.[/quote]
Seriously, I go to these matches every weekend during wrestling season. In this particular tournament, weigh-ins began at 4 and ended at 5. Wrestling began at 6 and ended around 11:30 or midnight. I believe in most cases the most a kid would wrestle would've been 4 or 5 matches. Trust me, there's a ton of "dead" time between when your kid wrestles. In the wrestling community, pretty much everyone knows everyone because we see each other every weekend for months. The coaches are on the mat - it's obvious who they are. They aren't hard to find. Find a coach (or even a parent), tell them there's going to be an article and ask them to please send the results for your school to person x by a certain date. It's not difficult. If the coaches then decide to not send it in, shame on them. But if they didn't know there was going to be an article, how can you fault them? It's not like the article was written the Monday after the tournament. It was Thursday I believe. So it's not like there wasn't enough time.
Look, I do some volunteer work for my church. I don't get paid a cent for it and I don't want any money for it. Does that mean I should do a half-hearted job? No way. I volunteered my time, so I have a responsibility to do it right.
After having thought this thing over for a few days now, here's how I feel about this. I'm making assumptions here, so I could be wrong. I believe a Bedford parent or coach wrote the article and submitted it to the Gazette. I find fault with the author for not following up properly when the author decided to put in only Bedford's 3rd and 4th place finishers. I don't feel that's the Gazette's fault. However, I do feel the Gazette erred in judgement when they decided to print only Bedford's results for 3rd and 4th place. Wasn't there a red flag raised when it seemed, according to that article, only Bedford had 3rd and 4th place finishers. That's where I feel the bias comes in. I honestly believe, right or wrong, that if any of the other county schools had done that, someone would've been on the horn to someone they knew in Bedford to find out their results. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's where perception becomes reality.
And finally, anyone on here who knows me will know that I will defend something I believe to the hilt. I don't hold back any punches, and I tell it the way I see it. I'm sure I'm not always right, but by golly when I'm pretty certain I am right, I'll argue it to death. Like or not, that's the way I am and I'm not about to change.
Please find anywhere on here where I identified myself as tied to any company. I do know I replied to some of your posts to try to help answer some of your questions, but never did I say I was an employee of Sheetz. That was an assumption on your part. Therefore, I certainly was NOT speaking on behalf of Sheetz. Pantherpride, on the other hand, did identify himself as an employee of the Gazette.
[quote="TheAnalyst";p="120679"]There has been a letter or two written to the editor in the last few years about this subject if I remember correctly. Maybe it's been longer than that. The only other ones I remember are the ones the Catholic priest wrote.[/quote]
I thought too that I had read letters about this subject in the past, but I wasn't sure so I didn't bring it up. When Panther said no one had ever talked to him about it or ever written about it, I took him at his word. He still may very well be right about that, I just don't remember and wouldn't fault him for not remembering something years ago either. I'm forgiving that way, since I know my memory, or lack thereof, has gotten me into trouble before. I am pretty certain there was a previous topic on this board about it though.
[quote="TheAnalyst";p="120679"]What if you look for someone and they aren't there? What if you have to leave for some other reason? It's never just 5-10 minutes.[/quote]
Seriously, I go to these matches every weekend during wrestling season. In this particular tournament, weigh-ins began at 4 and ended at 5. Wrestling began at 6 and ended around 11:30 or midnight. I believe in most cases the most a kid would wrestle would've been 4 or 5 matches. Trust me, there's a ton of "dead" time between when your kid wrestles. In the wrestling community, pretty much everyone knows everyone because we see each other every weekend for months. The coaches are on the mat - it's obvious who they are. They aren't hard to find. Find a coach (or even a parent), tell them there's going to be an article and ask them to please send the results for your school to person x by a certain date. It's not difficult. If the coaches then decide to not send it in, shame on them. But if they didn't know there was going to be an article, how can you fault them? It's not like the article was written the Monday after the tournament. It was Thursday I believe. So it's not like there wasn't enough time.
Look, I do some volunteer work for my church. I don't get paid a cent for it and I don't want any money for it. Does that mean I should do a half-hearted job? No way. I volunteered my time, so I have a responsibility to do it right.
After having thought this thing over for a few days now, here's how I feel about this. I'm making assumptions here, so I could be wrong. I believe a Bedford parent or coach wrote the article and submitted it to the Gazette. I find fault with the author for not following up properly when the author decided to put in only Bedford's 3rd and 4th place finishers. I don't feel that's the Gazette's fault. However, I do feel the Gazette erred in judgement when they decided to print only Bedford's results for 3rd and 4th place. Wasn't there a red flag raised when it seemed, according to that article, only Bedford had 3rd and 4th place finishers. That's where I feel the bias comes in. I honestly believe, right or wrong, that if any of the other county schools had done that, someone would've been on the horn to someone they knew in Bedford to find out their results. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's where perception becomes reality.
And finally, anyone on here who knows me will know that I will defend something I believe to the hilt. I don't hold back any punches, and I tell it the way I see it. I'm sure I'm not always right, but by golly when I'm pretty certain I am right, I'll argue it to death. Like or not, that's the way I am and I'm not about to change.
Last edited by LionPride on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. - Ronald Reagan
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footballfan1
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
Lionpride: Congrats on your son getting third place. I have heard all about this in the past of the Gazette giving more coverage to Bedford sports than some of the other schools. I have heard this argument for years. You are entitled to your opinion but I really think the gazette gives the county schools tremendous coverage. If someone from Ridge didnt call in the info and someone from bedford did, how is that the Gazette's fault? Not being ignorant here at all, but why didn't you call in to make sure they had the info on your son or maybe the info regarding the Ridge wrestlers. I think it is important that even the 4th and 3rd place winners names should of been listed in the paper. JO's have always been something alot of the younger wrestlers look forward to each year. Regardless if they finish 1st or even 5th I feel they should be listed. But, I really dont see how this is the Gazette's fault if it is the responsibility of the area coach's to call in this info. I think all the folks in Bed county should be appreciative of the coverage that is given to the county schools. This is of course just my opinion.
Last edited by footballfan1 on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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WarriorFan
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
When I read this article in the paper I just assumed that Bedford was the only school in the county to have kids place 3rd and 4th since all the county schools was listed for 1st and 2nd place.
Maybe if someone has those results they could post them on here. I would like to read them.
Also I would like to know how the 8 years and younger did at regionals from Bedford county if anyone has that information.
Maybe if someone has those results they could post them on here. I would like to read them.
Also I would like to know how the 8 years and younger did at regionals from Bedford county if anyone has that information.
Last edited by WarriorFan on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TheAnalyst
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
So are you an employee of Sheetz? You seemed to have knowledge of why they made their business decisions, which to me indicates inside information. I was assuming that if you were not an employee, you were close to someone who was. Otherwise you argument has no weight at all since you would have no knowledge of the company. Does that make sense? No big deal really.
My point was that just because someone who works for a company doesn't mean they represent them when they make posts on here. This is a public forum and anyone can say anything. Now if the poster had said, "On behalf of ......" or something similar, then yes, I would agree with you.
I would certainly expect someone to defend the company they work for. Especially when a topic such as this says "bias". You didn't say Bedford Gazette Issue or BG Problem. You used a word that will automatically cause people to become defensive.
Hope you're not taking any of this personal with me. Don't mean it that way. I'm guessing we probably at least know who each other is outside of this forum. Are you class of '90 from Ridge?
Besides, I like a good argument.
My point was that just because someone who works for a company doesn't mean they represent them when they make posts on here. This is a public forum and anyone can say anything. Now if the poster had said, "On behalf of ......" or something similar, then yes, I would agree with you.
I would certainly expect someone to defend the company they work for. Especially when a topic such as this says "bias". You didn't say Bedford Gazette Issue or BG Problem. You used a word that will automatically cause people to become defensive.
Hope you're not taking any of this personal with me. Don't mean it that way. I'm guessing we probably at least know who each other is outside of this forum. Are you class of '90 from Ridge?
Besides, I like a good argument.
Last edited by TheAnalyst on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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CITYBOY
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Re: Bedford Gazette bias
Warrior Fan,
2 kids from Ridge took 1st. place in the 8 and under at Philipsburg:
Blake Dunlap 60lbs. not sure if this is the right weight class?
Conner Buttry 100lbs.
Several Ridge kids placed I think there was 7 of them
2 kids from Ridge took 1st. place in the 8 and under at Philipsburg:
Blake Dunlap 60lbs. not sure if this is the right weight class?
Conner Buttry 100lbs.
Several Ridge kids placed I think there was 7 of them
Last edited by CITYBOY on September 20th, 2011, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.