Friday, October 26, 2007

Catching Up

I've whiffed on more than a few things around town this week, but I did want to point out a few things today:

  • For a good, unbiased, factual overview of the District 9 race -- not my biased, Bernie Scheffler-centric view of it -- check out the story in the FWWeekly by Betty Brink and Dan McGraw. I found it very well done. BTW, you can meet Bernie at the Rahr Brewery this Sunday night at 7. Drop by and say hi. And, of course, Vote Bernie.

  • The Cowtown Chronicles podcast was a lot of fun this week. We talked extensively about modern art, a topic of which we know little but express lots of opinions on anyway. In a nutshell, I like Frank Gehry, Kevin doesn't. You won't learn much, but you might laugh. Check it out!

  • There was an interesting article the other day in the D(a)MN regarding conflict of interest and reporting over an American Airlines story. The details of the story aren't as interesting to me as Managing Editor George Rodrigue's lead: "One of the canons of our ethical code is avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest. This week, we blew it." I was wondering if I would ever see that lead on a story about the Star-Telegram's own conflict of interest (see last item). I'm not holding my breath. Somehow, the Wizards of 400 West 7th don't think that signing a drilling lease with Chesapeake Energy on nearly 40 acres in South Fort Worth compromises their coverage of the gas drilling issue. I still beg to differ. I believe this is a conflict of interest in appearance and in fact.

    • Posted by Steve-O at 8:15 AM

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    3 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    You hit the nail on the head, Steve-O. One of the prime reasons urban drilling is happening at all is because of the Star Telegram's biased reporting, especially in '05 and '06. Long before many of the crucial facts were known, regarding safety, environmenmtal impacts, property values, et al., the S-T was already endorsing urban drilling. The reason: A direct link to the original good ol' boy network in Cowtown. Despite some fine but isolated work by a few reporters, it is obvious that they are carrying water for the Barnett Shale Mafia. But don't hang the shame on the S-T alone. The FWLNA is equally guilty as is the League of Women Voters, the TC Democratic Party, Downtown FW, Inc., FWISD, most area churches and pretty much every elected official. Conflicts of interest are the rottting core of the crimes being committed in our neighborhoods in the name of the almighty dollar. The opportunity to cash in at others expense has taken root in Fort Worth to an alarming degree that will likely come back to haunt us in many unexpected ways. For those unclear on the concept check out the Wiki reference:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest

    DY

    10:09 AM
    Unknown said...

    Wonder if you saw this...

    http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/

    It's a scary out there and this seems to be an ugly, ugly company. And I'm not talking about the drillers.

    12:12 PM
    Anonymous said...

    It's like a freight train that can't be stopped.

    8:09 PM

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