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Des Moines Register – Liberal Media Elitists!

Post author:HFM
Post published:October 1, 2008
Post category:Media Politics

That damned liberal media of the Des Moines Register (those gosh darned volvo-driving, latte-drinking, er… corn farmers!) take John McCain to the cleaners and don’t even give him back his pocket change or dryer lint. And, the paper had already endorsed him, before he acts like a total prick while being interviewed.

My favorite highlight: in answer to the question about whether he personally has always been covered by a taxpayer supported health care plan – he answered “I’ve never been an astronaut, but I think I know the challenges of space.”

Um, okay?

Indy Star vs. Houston Chronicle: Houston has better readers

Post author:HFM
Post published:July 20, 2007
Post category:Indianapolis Media

I happened to be reading this article in the Houston Chronicle about a gay male flight attendant murdered by a homophobe, and discovered something interesting while scrolling through the reader comments on the article.

Houston Chronicle readers seem to be more articulate and logical (and better writers) than the typical reader of the Indianapolis Star. It was really surprising to read comments from conservative, religious people that are not only grammatically correct but scathing in their view about what the homophobe did and where he’ll end up in the afterlife. After reading the Indianapolis Star reader comments for so long, I had a totally different expectation.

Either the Chronicle heavily moderates their comment section and edits comments from readers, or they just have a better educated populace than Indianapolis does.

I’d have to hunt around to find a really good example, but this one will do for starters. If you’ve never read the readers comments at the Indy Star, hang out and do that one day. Either a disproportionate number of Indianapolis citizens can’t think coherently – let alone write well – or there are just a bunch of nutters who do nothing but comment on the Star all day.

Newspaper Names

Post author:HFM
Post published:May 26, 2004
Post category:Indianapolis Media

For a brain-storming session on a name for a new local Indianapolis paper, these were some of our ideas. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks the name “Naptown Argus” as a Indianapolis newspaper is laugh-out-loud funny. Hmmm. Too much Greek Mythology as a child, not enough playing outside.

(edited to add suggestions from reader comments):

Acorn
Advance
Appeal
Argus
Banner
Beacon
Beaver (Bakersfield Beaver!)
Brief
Bee
Breeze
Bugle
Bulletin
Bumble Bee
Call
Camera
Chronicle
Citizen
City Press
Constitution
Courier
Current
Daily Home
Daily Mail
Daily Star
The Derrick
Discovery
Dispatch
Eagle
Echo
Enterprise
Examiner
Exponent
Express
Eye
Forum
Free Press
Gazette
Globe
Guardian
Guide
Herald
Humbug
Islander
Inquirer
Intelligencer
Journal
Juggernaut
Leader
Ledger
Life
Mercury
Messenger
Meteor
Monitor
Mosquito
Observer
Oracle
Pantagraph (Bloomington (IL) Daily Pantagraph)
Picayune
Pilot
Pioneer
Planet
Post
Radio
Rag
Record
Recorder
Reflector
Repository
Republic
Review
Sentinel
Sentry
Standard
Statesman
Sun
Telegraph
Today
Tribune
Union
Universe
Vanguard
Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio)
Voice
Watchmen
Whigs
World
Zephyr
Zeitung (Zeitung = newspaper in German)