By l3wis

20 thoughts on “Not sure what to think of this?”
  1. Less than five months away from the election…..

    A sitting Mayor who has stated repeatedly that he wants a second term……

    And our community’s only newspaper uses MMM’s photo along with this caption….

    IT’S WHAT everyone’s talking about.

    Serving Sioux Falls in so many ways.

    And places it on a postcard addressed to:

    ATTN: Customer Service Argus Leader Media

    Look’s like Bill Albrecht, new publisher of the AL, has had his meeting at 9th and Dakota!!!

    BAU at the Argus Leader………

    IT’S WHAT everyone’s talking about

  2. The mayor and his love of tennis (and/or his wife’s love of tennis)… if blogs are any indicator that IS what everyone is talking about.

    The “serving” comment is just a witty pun. I’m about as big of a fan of MMM as I am the Argus, but I find this humorous. I don’t read this as a political statement, and bravo to the Argus for not showing a picture of Lalley in his biking shorts again.

  3. This is a blatant endorsement of the Mayor. I think we have to accept him for a second term. Unfortunately, Greg Jamison doesn’t stand a chance when the AL, Kelo & major health providers love the Obama/Huether agenda.

    I’m betting Walmart will blast a round of MMM post cards to everyone too!

  4. The argus is in its death rattle. Look for 3 day home delivery to come along in the not too distant future. It might as well be that way now, for what we get delivered to our door. Seen the Monday edition lately? The Sunday best buy ad uses more paper product than the Monday argus does.

    They’ve signed their own death warrant. News that must be vetted first by their advertisers. Not what the 4th estate was ever designed for.

  5. His wife must be so proud to see him promoting her taxpayer supported tennis program. He takes from the disabled bus service so his wife can play tennis.

  6. “the Obama/Huether agenda…”

    Tinfoil hats are in aisle 6. Or was opening Josiah’s just a ruse to distract people from noticing that Steve is some kind of top-secret conduit between the two?

  7. I don’t think it’s anything unique to Sioux Falls. Just my opinion, but I think it’s a general trend in papers in small to mid-sized cities that reflects in part a lack of resources to go out and do significant amounts of critical reporting. It’s why newspapers run puff pieces about symphony concerts and local theatre a few days before the event rather than sending staff to the events and writing reviews. They can’t afford an arts critic but they can have one of their beat reporters write a bunch of fluff based on what they’re told by a presenter. And then hey, maybe those organizations will be nice to us and buy some ad space.

    It’s why they tend to take public officials at face value rather than digging deeper or looking harder for other angles. Anyone can paraphrase and interview, or rewrite a press release.

    It’s why they ask their reporters to write about their hobbies. Hey, ask the jogger in the office if she’ll write a couple of posts a week about jogging to keep the web content current. Ask Lalley to blog incessantly about bikes.

    The complaints levied at the Argus could be leveled at just about any Gannett-owned paper. More and more cheerleading, less and less asking the tough questions.

  8. Maybe there will be a series of these. You know, next with Thune shooting some hoops, Johnson slamming down the committee gavel, or Kristi roping a calf…. Heck, how about Daugaard jumping out of a plane (Now, I am talking about the DQ fundraiser and not the EB-5 story).

  9. I would like to have dinner with this mayor of yours to question him about things. He seems rather odd and internally focused. His self perception seems quite large, while that of his external fellows diminishes him and that is a source of enragement. I see a lot of rage in him. Look at that picture.

  10. hornguy-

    Good point, but the Argus gave up on its symphony reviews a few years ago, after their critic repeated proved herself to be musically illiterate and a local laughingstock. Their present approach to the arts is preferable, to this critic. If you spend a few hours at the microfiche reader in a certain college library, your efforts to investigate will be rewarded!

  11. Hahaha, I wouldn’t doubt that for a second! I remember when I used to play in a group in a similar community with a paper roughly on par with the Argus. The “reviews” usually read like Wikipedia entries about the composers, with occasional comments about how nicely the performers were dressed or what a fine crowd turned out. And frankly, I’m sure most of these organizations find more value in getting a puff piece a few days before their event (which helps to sell tickets) than getting a review after the fact.

    But to the earlier discussion, that again puts the Argus in the easy position of being a cheerleader and promoter as opposed to being an evaluator. It doesn’t require a lot of intelligence or critical thought on the part of a reporter to do an article on an upcoming performance by SECT, or to interview some act that’s coming to the Pavilion.

  12. MMM filed with the City Clerk for re-election on November 1st.

    The reporter the AL now has assigned to local politics reports this fact TEN DAYS LATER on November 11th!!

    She obviously has established few contacts.

    Good move on the part of the AL management to assign someone who is new to Sioux Falls given all the issues our city is currently facing.

    BTW, is the AL still using this postcard?

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