As many of you know, I have run this blog for about 14 years as a hobby and as a citizen advocate for open and transparent government. While I have a communications degree, I do NOT have a BS in Journalism. This is why I really don’t worry to much about all the criticism when it comes to my writing skills (seriously, I don’t care), I am only concerned about getting the information out even in a rudimentary and snarky way.
It often frustrates me when the media has a wide range of topics and stories they could cover but don’t. Nationally and Locally it has to do with who is paying the bills (advertising) and why I often roll my eyes when the right-winger radio manure spreaders say there is a left wing and right wing media. There is a GREEDY media, that’s it. Locally they have prostituted themselves to the Industrial Hospital Complex and anything controversial to do with them will never be reported or downplayed.
I will also have to give Mayor Poops credit for one thing, he has the local media right where he wants them, somehow he has found a way to make sure any negative or controversial reporting on him or the city is non-existent. Heck, KELO AM even gave him some kind of award. It works out great for him. He has NO serious challengers (only one so far) and he will cruise in as the incumbent with a tank full of money.
So what stories are we missing out on that the local media could cover?
• The lack of Covid vaccination education and combatting misinformation
• Massive profits from the healthcare industry in Sioux Falls and their monopoly on care (relating to Covid). This actually showed up in the city’s financial report presentation yesterday at the city council informational meeting.
• The possible Federal investigation into a certain person (there have been several national stories about this but the local media has only barely scratched the surface, oh and they have taken it to the SD Supreme Court)
• Smithfield (Federal fines, environmental concerns, TenHaken’s ties, tax rebates and incentives, Covid health of workers, product shipping to China, etc.) This place alone could keep one news organization busy for months
• Economic Impact of TIFs in Sioux Falls (I would even suffice for simple story about how the returns don’t even add up)
• A survey of South Dakotans and their stance on abortion (I still think a majority supports legal and safe abortion in SD especially when it comes to exemptions)
• Medical and Recreational Marijuana and the REAL harmful effects, if any really exist, and Noem’s corrupt war on the voter’s will
Medical MJ Dispensary limitations (the not so quiet rumor going around is that the big wheel developers and banksters in town went crying to the Chamber and Mayor Poops claiming if a dispensary is built next to their property it would decrease it’s value. Doubtful. If you visit downtown Fort Collins, CO you will see a striving entertainment district full of bars, restaurants and galleries intertwined in with dispensaries
• Why has the Bishop Dudley House become so mis-managed? What is the SFPD and City Hall doing about it? The neighbors and business owners response? The taxpayers responsibility? The cost? The solutions?
• What’s going on with the Bunker Ramp?
• Why is everything sponsored in Sioux Falls by one person?
• I leave the most important story to last; The lack of open and transparent government in Sioux Falls and the push towards secrecy and corruption. If you think things were kept quiet during the last two mayoral administrations, they have nothing on Poops. He has virtually made sure public meetings are posted so vaguely or just eliminated them all together. He also has limited the number of public meetings the council holds, got involved with eliminating an incumbent populist councilor, changed the meeting times to be inconvenient for the working stiffs, changed public input, tries to cut deals with councilors and developers without quorum and generally doesn’t tell the public much unless it is about his dogs on Facebook.
Do I think this is intentional? YES!
I also don’t think this is a conservative, liberal or independent thing, it is a authoritarian thing. There are some political philosophies out there that think informing the public to much only complicates getting things done in government. While I will agree it is a REAL philosophy, it is also wrong-headed and extremely dangerous and wreaks of corruption. You would think those in the media would be appalled by the lack of access they have to their local government. Sure Poops likes to tell us about butterflies and parking ramps but he really isn’t letting us in on much else except that city employees apparently hold hands and sing songs during their morning coffee breaks because they are part of the SF One Borg.
It is time for our local media to remove their heads from a certain person(s) butt and start digging around, at least on a few of these issues. I would agree we live in a pretty good town, but I also think the concentration of power by a few players and the lack of transparent government is holding us back and it is the duty of the 4th Estate to remedy this, if only they had the courage or the brains.
But they cover the Burger Battle, though. Although, the Argus is the only one covering it in its entirety and showing just how we suck at it:
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/business-journal/2021/09/20/best-cities-burger-fans-ranks-sioux-falls-south-dakota-3rd-worst-city-food-why-wrong-lawn-love/5784483001/
get ready for at least 5 stories per newscast on chick-fil-a, and it’s impact on mayor poops legacy.
To much weather and not enough WHETHER. The media’s job is principally to expose dishonesty and corruption. The Argus, Broadcast TV, and AM talk are disappearing. Without advertising control they’d become extinct. Blogs can’t get the attention. If people were conscious of criminal city irregularity, there’d be demonstrations at city hall and the Romantix building.
Burger Battle and sports. What else do we need? I do miss the stories about kittens.
There’s way too much advertising disguised as news, and not just the hospitals. Lewis Drug and Hy Vee are perfect examples. They involve themselves in some charitable event (good on them) and get a five minute story on how great they are.
Are you F’n serious my lil Man-dater?! I’m so tired of education about Wuhan and President Xiden’s threats, I will NEVER get another vaccination, not this one, not next year’s version, and so on. It wasn’t political, but Xiden has made it political because he promised he had a plan (he didn’t), and now he’s going to just blame all conservatives (cause it’s political, not because blacks won’t vaccinate), so he can say “well, I tried and all the Deplorables wouldn’t do their part….and you sheep are playing right into it, congrats.
I think we are overdue for a story about geese near the airport. Is that feeder guy still alive? AND, climate change has caused the Tea Storm Chasers to spend more of their time reporting on Sioux Falls crime, while the Stormland Center has been left with nothing but haze and smoke reports. Soon, our local weather guys will be sporting Smokey the Bear outfits to grab our attention. (Say, what size does Jay wear?) What about a story about a bikini boutique shop, too, at Covell Lake? Or, a soda pop brewery? Ten years from now, however, it will be a story about a Mary Jane R Us store. You watch.
This tells us everything we need to know about our local media;
https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/long-lines-worth-the-wait-for-chick-fil-a-sioux-falls-opening/
I wonder if these people realize it’s just a chicken sandwich?
l3wis, it is one place I will never spend a penny. It is a chicken store for authoritarian chickens who pretend to pray for the Lord after they eat the food.
Maybe we should go there on Sunday after visiting Hobby Lobby.
My favorite was when Krispy Kreme came to Sioux Falls for a while along 41st back in 2004, I think. They had to place a police officer and his vehicle on 41st to control the traffic on the first day of its opening. What an innocence. Who would have thought that a tornado, a protest, and a riot would follow such an innocent path. Or, that within a year, such a donut shop would file bankruptcy. So, we know not what holds for Chick-fil-A’s future, but it’s more than a sandwich my friend. It’s the experience as my California cousins would say. AND, an innocence, once again, which brings us back to a time when cops protected donuts, and not just for their own consumption, but for the greater good. Oh, and is that three buses from Fargo in the drive-thru, too? North Dakota knows best. #ButPhoebesCookiesOnFriendsWereActuallyTheBest #BarneyRetrieveYourBullet
But if you blame blacks for not vaccinating, then wouldn’t that be the epitome of identity politics, which conservatives often loathe? Can you really have your cake and eat it too? I know you can have covid and not know it, but that is because of a lack of identity, is it not?
kelo buries any real journalism on their website under their dot com original banner. people want to watch tv news on their tv, not read a story on the internet.
The Fargo buses dropped their passengers at the Dudley House and refilled the buses with theocratic chicken. Righteous & Christian!
Steve Buscemi and his crowd really did a number on Fargo back in the day. Fargo gets a bad rap. How could a city that gave us Bobby Vee and Roger Maris be so bad? Three buses from Fargo is about as threatening as Grandma’s cookies… Now, Sioux City is a different story.
There’s something really wrong when people swarm a chicken store. OMG what if a marijuana store comes to town?
No worries, Kristi NoMJ will zone pot stores onto Native American reservations only. Look for the smoke signals and stoned stacked stones.
“Say, since we are still on this really big chicken theme”… “When are we going to get our Hooter’s back?”…. (“If they had called it Cowgirl Chicken, I think it would have lasted”…)
SDH is right. Our local tv station news departments are increasingly becoming nothing but advertisers. They’re like a video Shopping News, and we know what eventually happened there.
( and Woodstock adds: “Ya, maybe the local tv stations should add horoscopes, an interactive crossword puzzle where you could use your old Nintendo game control device, and articles from the dead like by Paul Harvey” …. )