The best news source in Racine is the Racine Journal Times. Largely this is because of a lack of competition. Blogging can and will change the equation. At some point the leadership at the JT may understand that they no longer can maintain a monopoly on local news delivery. The Racine area would benefit greatly if the Journal Times would embrace, and even recruit, writers with a more diverse range of perspectives.
I have recently expressed interest in writing for the Journal Times, hoping to write with greater frequency, and for more money, than I have over the past two years. I believe that I could help the Journal Times become a better paper. I was rebuffed, and budget restraints were the reason given. Fair enough. But I pressed on. I was interested in knowing if the JT could ever, conceivably hire someone like me. And for those of you unfamiliar with my writing, I like to confront difficult issues straightforwardly and courageously, come what may. I have since made efforts to meet with the JT staff. Meeting one, with the opinion editor, was cordial, but he indicated that he does not hire new writers. So I made two attempts to meet with the editor who does hire new writers. The first request was apparently forgotten, the second request resulted in a proposed meeting, wherin said editor never showed up or called. I have concluded that I have received the answer that I was seeking. The Journal Times is not the least bit interested in what I have to offer.
With my options therefor limited, I have decided to blog.
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8 comments:
They ignored me too. I have to dispute the JT being the best source of news though.
Their loss is our gain, Denis. I look forward to reading more from you; your op-ed pieces in the Journal were one of the few things I looked forward to reading.
The JT is the "best" news source? I would hardly call the mostly one-sided reporting of the JT news. I think that your column was one of the few things worth reading in the JT. I thought that it was very informative and very well written.Please do not feel dejected. With the budget restraints of the JT and the dawning of the blogging era do not despair. I'm sure that we will still get glimmers of Dennis Navratil's writings in the JT...Why pay a "penny for your thoughts" when you could rip them off from blogs for free?:)
Please do not send the spelling police for me!! I meant to write Denis and not Dennis. No disrespect intended. My apologies.
The Urinal Times is the ONLY newspaper in town ... unfortunately by definition that makes it the best.
Thank you all for your kind words. Kathy, maybe we can make a deal. You can write Dennis instead of Denis, as long as you are willing to ignore the many spelling mistakes that I am sure to make. As for the JT, I don't intend to purposely burn a bridge there. I may still feel compelled to submit commentaries from time to time. I hope they will continue to print them. But I suspect the relationship might become a bit strained, as I will certainly be critiquing their performance now and again. I am thankful for the opportunity that they have given me.
Denis,or Dennis,...Mr. Navratil,
I think we have a deal. As for your comments regarding the JT. I would like to say to you that,"You're so nice.":)
To advocate for success. What a great post! I look forward to your thoughtful contributions. I also am not internet savvy in the least. For example, I don't know how to link to other media sources which I might like to comment on. Nor do I know how to allow anonymous responses. I share your view that local issues are most within our means to influence. So let us work together to address them. By the way, I thought your post was restrained. Believe me, there are plenty of times that I want to launch into attack mode, but I believe in the end it is counter productive and needlessly polarizing. Let your opponents win the war of insults. Let us win the war of ideas. Thanks again.
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