barfo

Just because the blazers have vast numbers of problems - and they do - doesn't mean that the Oregonian doesn't have an agenda. This isn't a 'choose one' option.

barfo

SodaPopinski

And what might that agenda be? Force the public to view the organization as so pathetic that apathy becomes the norm and makes an already pathetic Oregonian sports section even more irrelevant? Yeah, that makes sense.

-Pop

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BBert

I believe KATU has a black helicopter. But nobody beats the king of cool, Roy Orbison, when it comes to dark glasses.

I've been reading these boards for years, and cannot recall anyone suggesting the Blazers, or the Blazers players, are perfect or have never made a mistake or are blameless in one matter or another. Like barfo said, this isn't an either-or proposition.

If the Oregonian and its writers are going to make it their full time job to investigate every action and every utterance of another company, to sensationalize every misstep, and to foment an obvious anti-Blazers agenda to the point of misrepresenting and distorting facts, lacing articles with negative innuendo, and all the rest, then yes, the Oregonian and it's writers should be held up to the same standards they claim they want to hold the Blazers and its employees to.

Frankly, I think the news media should be held to a higher standard than the employees of a sports franchise. In the case of Quick and Canzano and their editors at the Oregonian, the only standard seems to be tabloid journalism for the purpose of selling soap (or cars or whatever brings them the big bucks).

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In KP I trust.

Paxil

Very well put Blazer Bert... very well indeed.

I wonder if some newspaper is going to have a problem with the Blazers posting thier interviews. After all... that is why we read a paper for right? The interviews... and if the Blazers are posting the articles... well... you get the point.

Foulzilla

Sensationalism sells newspapers. What other benefit does the Oregonian need?

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"If push came to shove, I could lose all self-respect & become a reporter."
-Charles Barkley

barfo

The Oregonian's agenda is to sell newspapers in a rapidly declining market. Quick and Canzano, like all humans and quasi-humans, have personal agendas as well.

Boring stuff doesn't sell newspapers. Scandals do sell newspapers. Making a scandal look as 'interesting' as possible is in the Oregonian's interest. Making something that isn't really a scandal look like one is in the Oregonian's interest.

I'd predict that as readership continues to decline, the Oregonian (and most other newspapers) will become less reliable and more and more like local TV news. "An ICE STORM could KILL THOUSANDS in PORTLAND! See Page 4!"

barfo

Oldmangrouch

OK, from the top. The Goryonion opposed Allen buying the team from day 1. He wasn't just an outsider - he was from SEATTLE! Silly? Of course, but once the paper committed itself to that course nothing could change their mind.

Do you honestly think it is a coincidence that Crapzano preaches the exact same anti-Allen line today that Jaynes preached when he first bought the team? Isn't it odd that not ONE writer at the paper has dared to disagree? All these years, all the really good teams we have had, and the song remains the same.

If that isn't an "agenda", what term would you use?


Secondly, you have to look at it from a marketing POV. Blazer support has always been a mile wide and an inch deep. The comparatively few hardcore fans just aren't worth worrying about. (not to mention that they see us as a captive audience) The haters and the ignorant are a much larger market. Don't believe it? Where does the switch from serious reporting to tabloid journalism come from?

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We enter this life naked, wet, and hungry - and it only gets worse!

SodaPopinski

The Oregonian isn't operating any differently than newspapers across the country operate. The Blazers have made their own bed. There are several things they could do as an organization from a PR and an operations perspective to stop making themselves look bad. If you make bad decisions as a public entity, they are going to be reported on. I don't necessarily think The Oregonian is sensationalizing those things. Will more minor things get reported here over other markets? Yes - for two reasons - (1) because this is a one-team town and (2) because the Blazers' past transgressions make current and future transgressions more newsworthy because a pattern is developing or has developed.

I think the media has shown they will give appropriate time to the good stories (Theo Ratliff/Victoria Roberts or the Nate McMillan hiring last summer or Jarrett Jack's surprising season) as well. The media merely echoes the public.

I mean seriously - how many threads/posts on this board are dedicated to the Theo Ratliff/Victoria Roberts story? How many of you even know who she is? How many of you know that evil 1080 The Fan dedicated an entire day's broadcast (and even preempted the Mariners pre-game show) to host an auction to give money to the family to help her have a bone marrow transplant? How many of you know that evil John Canzano was the one who brought this story to the forefront, which led to subsequent stories on Blazers.com, KGW, KATU, KOIN, KFXX, KXL, etc.?

And, in turn, how many threads/posts on this board are dedicated to the ownership situation, the Sebastian Telfair gun incident, the Darius Miles crap, the Zach Randolph "I-saw-him-at-Lloyd-Center-stoned" rumor thread, etc. Yes - the weird, bad PR stuff is more interesting. But to somehow claim that The Oregonian is doing anything different than any other top paper in a similar situation would do is ridiculous.

-Pop

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Dan

I don't seem to remember you offering anything more than a veiled insult when you posted in a response to a post I made, a link to a picture of the word naive (or gullable, one or the other).

__________________
A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Oldmangrouch

Something to ponder:

Some folks claim the Blazers get the same type of coverage as every other NBA team. Oh really?

Amare's mother just got *3 years* in prison. LeBron's mother was just convicted of a host of charges that led to 3 days in jail and probation. Do you hear Suns or Cavs fans going crazy? Do you hear the media in those cities howling for blood? Compare that with how the press/fans reacted to Zach's brother getting into trouble with the law.

The Portland media is no different? I think not!

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We enter this life naked, wet, and hungry - and it only gets worse!

barfo

So every other kid in school is doing it. Don't make it right.

Surely you jest. Credit card gas station incident? Draft Miles document leaked? etc?

In other words, coverage is going to have a particular slant no matter what the facts. But that isn't reflective of a bias or an agenda, oh no.

The media merely echoes the public????
Wasn't there some **** that they were taught in J-school about The Truth?

Probably most of us.

The big, big difference betwen BBB.net and the Oregonian is that while we discuss those stories, there are voices here that say "that isn't very important in the grand scheme of things". The Oregonian does not present any counterpoint whatsoever to the opinions of Canzano et al.

barfo