It was a weird morning dealing with a simple “Letter to the Editor” I wrote to the Appleton Post Crescent website. I was mildly disturbed by how they prioritized their stories online. As you’ll see, what unfolds is truly bizarre, weird and in my opinion, a little sketchy.
Anyway, it started with a “Letter to the Editor” I wrote:
To whom it may concern (actually it’s you the editor),
While I grew up in Appleton, I do not live there now. However, my parents live there and my wife and I still love to visit often. Because of this, I read postcrescent.com on a regular basis to keep up what’s happening in my home town.
I have become deeply concerned on how you have decided to prioritize stories. For instance, while the emails released implicating Governor Walker made national news, you had it nowhere on the front page of your website, today at 11:30am. Not even a tiny snip it on the bullet-points section on the bottom of the page where there are multiple stories linked. Why is that? Is it not newsworthy? Is having our own Governor sending out an email linking him to an illegal act not worth the reader’s time? I do see that there is an article on this, but again, it’s hidden away on the website.
I have consistently been worried about the editor(s)choices in print and on the website. It’s clear to me ideology or money is influencing the way this paper is being run. And to me, that’s a shame.
I’m asking you to remember who you are. We depend on you to give us the truth and to prioritize stories, without bias and without mercy, no matter the ideology. You owe that to us, the citizens of Wisconsin.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this.
Sincerely,
Adam Schabow
I was wrong about one part of my email above. It stated it was not on the front page, that was incorrect. The story was posted way down at the bottom of the screen. I noticed this almost right after I sent the email. Below are screenshots of the front web page I took immediately after the “Letter to the Editor” I sent out that morning.
As you’ll see, on the the 12th screenshot down, the Walker email story is finally mentioned. Again, these screenshots were all just the homepage.
Then I received this email back from Larry Gullup (an editor at The Post Crescent) almost immediately.
I thought, “fair enough”. I then replied back to Mr. Gallup stating this:
As you can see by the date stamps, these conversations were quick responses from both of us. Mr. Gallup’s first email was at 12:01pm. I then responded at 12:12pm.
Then something weird happened. The website changed, with more emphasis on the Walker email story. I was so proud! Look at me Ma. I’m making things happen!
My respect for The Appleton Post Crescent and Mr. Gallup jumped to new heights. They listened to a reader, understood his concern and agreed there was some merit to it. Classy.
Again, the placement was still not to my satisfaction, but nonetheless, it was an improvement…so I was happy. (don’t stop reading there is more)
Here are the updated screenshots.
It’s under the “Can’t Miss Videos”. The poll question was also changed.
Then, 41 minutes past our last email communication. I received another email from Mr. Gallup.
When reading this email, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Instead of a simple reply back stating “Thanks for the email. We decided to move up the story for you.”, I received an email reply, making it seem like they had not changed their site since my first email AND at the same time, putting the blame of not noticing, on me.
Now, could this have been a coincidence? Sure. Could Mr. Gullup (the online editor) send that final email unaware of the changes on the website? Sure. That’s up to you to decide. For me, I’m going to try and give The Post Crescent the benefit of the doubt.
All I wanted to do was write a simple “Letter to the Editor”.
Wow this post his a new all time high for whining, get over it, it is a noon need story only you mentally disturbed progressives care about it. Go get a new coloring book to entertain your self and leave the adults alone.
The easy answer is to point out this is Appleton, city where a dwindling group still celebrates their nutso Senator’s b-day and where a major cemetery was designated for whites only. But Appleton has changed and before this latest Walker scandal is finished will be shamefaced but looking for moderate, pro-biz, Wisconsin-centric leader. The response to you was defensive not because this was a winger but because this was someone mad at themselves for not being aggressive enough.
There’s no irony in the fact that despite 25,000 documents being released and all the national media attention, Wausau Daily Herald, also a Gannett publication, published a single paragraph on this story yesterday. Like you, I recently sent the editor of this fishwrap, flyswatter and birdcage liner an epic screed challenging him and the media’s larger responsibility to all of us. I’m still waiting its publication, but I won’t hold my breath (it was rather lengthy and scored out at over a grade 14 reading comprehension level). I figure I’ll give them a week, and then I’m going to ask bloggers all over the state to publish it.
All we can do is keep on shining a spotlight on these local media organization that feel they have no accountability or no moral responsibility to the readers.
Six major corporations own all of the MSM in this “country.” Free market and all that “good competition,” stuff. Sheesh.
You wanna know how Walker got over 60% in swingy Outagamie County? This type of cover-up helps explain why.
Good for you for calling them out Adam. It seems we have to constantly remind the media that more people than just their corporate bosses are paying attention to what’s being reported. I’ve contacted reporters via Twitter when they get something wrong or are ignoring a certain story, and have gotten some response. I think these guys are aware that there’s a perception among us in the above-ground world that the media is paid-off for Walker, and they don’t like having to be held accountable for not holding the governor accountable.
I could not agree more.
Green Bay Press Gazette online titled a story: Gov Walker changed Ethics Requirements Before Raid. I left a message in the comment section. They fixed the title to “after” and deleted my comment. Who’s to say what went wrong, but we must be vigilant!