Remember the game of connect the dots? We will get to that in a moment.
It all started with a thot I had Friday night while listening to announcements from the Levitt stage.
Is Matt Paulson trying to build a local media empire to influence city hall policy even more?
It all started over a year ago when a local (seasoned) journalist told me that there are plans in the works to combine all the small local independent or semi-independent media outlets and freelancers into one organization, or at least under an umbrella of cooperation. I don’t need to list these orgs, if you read this blog, you read their sites also. This plan was later confirmed to me from another associate, but told me the plan still has some kinks in it and setbacks. I didn’t blog about this because frankly when I first heard it, I was rooting for them and said it was a great idea, let’s just see if it will work.
While many of these indies have talent, they don’t have a lot of capital, they need outside investors to make this work and they need to sell a butt load of advertising to pay everyone’s salaries.
Then walks in Matt Paulson.
But let’s play that game of ‘connect the dots’ I spoke about earlier;
• Matt Paulson has funded every campaign of all of the current 8 councilors and the mayor and many past councilors.
• Jodi Schwan leaves the Argus to start her own business website.
• Patrick Lalley, Reposa, Ellis and Sneve leave the Argus to start their own independent sites, with a small kink, Market Dweebs owner, Matt Paulson has quietly been investing in the Dakota Scout, something the council and the SOS failed to inform the public about.
• In one of the most unethical moves by city council they approve the Dakota Scout contract for legals without releasing the investors names.
• I learned Friday night at the Levitt that Paulson has hired a local popular TV anchor to work at Market Dweeb.
I’m not sure what shoe will drop next but if I were KELOLAND, DAKOTANEWS or the Argus, (nevermind, they are already a sunken ship), I would be nervous about my advertising dollars and the whole integrity of the media locally. While I like local independent journalists, I’m not sure I care for their investors, who seem to be buying up city hall candidates and now local journalists so he can control the narrative even more.
Art censoring little . . .
As a community we should be very nervous and cautious of how this potential media merger will occur, but like everything else this Dweeb touches, it will all be done in the dark of the night, because that’s how the fourth estate does things these days.
Still waiting for my offer Matt 🙂 The Scab could really use a cartoonist that used a different medium besides crayons.
Interesting. But I just saw a short video by Elon Musk, in an interview about his ownership of Twitter. Musk says, “Advertising?” he says, “So you want me to pay someone to advertise my business, that is blackmail, screw them.”
Elon Musk purchased Twitter not to profit from it, or to make money from it, but to ensure that Americans have a place to provide their opinions, their dialogues, their thoughts, without the fear of being persecuted, having their comments deleted, silenced. He cut payroll, staff, and is showing that he can still provide that service to whomever wishes to utilize it. The large media companies are not happy by this, cause Elon Musk cannot be bought.
Scott, speaks some truth here, IF our Media wither Hollywood, Television, Print, and whether they be independent or not are to be bought off by “Investors, Advertisement Firms, etc – then our media is not beholden to themselves, or the people, they are beholden to their money masters.
Did not Rockefellar, Chase, Ford, Carnegie all decide to to invest in our NEWSPAPERS way back in early 1900’s for this very purpose? To Control what is printed, said, and opined. Thus controlling what the reads actually read.
Today we have gotten away from “Independent First Amendment Journalists, Auditors, Informants, and many have been bought off, and incorporated into this huge, National Media Corporation. This has happened to the Argus Leader, which is owned by a parent corporation – News Media Corp, based in N.Y.C
The First Amendment gives to ALL AMERICANS to become Local Journalists, Auditors, Informants, with one goal in mind, to report back to their fellow citizens what their government is doing, to explain its agenda, to provide data about their government, to better inform the citizens, to make a better, more representative government.
On this, Elon Musk has it correct, “I dont care, if you must bribe me with advertising dollars, then I dont care. I will say what I want, regardless of what you think or beleive, and if you dont like it, screw you to.”
Elon Musk, like DOnald Trump, cannot be bought. They say what they want, when want, as they so choose. And So can you.
Haven’t they always been a clique and always will be a clique?
On another note, the local media recently did a story about how boutique shops in the downtown area are beginning to suffer and their client base isn’t increasing, but then about three weeks later they did a story about how great it is that two new boutiques have opened in the Steel District. But shouldn’t the real story be why two new boutique shops are opening when other ones are currently struggling to survive? #IDontGetIt
OH, and isn’t it time for one of the media outlets to do their annual story about the Forestburg mellon stands?….. ( ….. Let me see if I remember this right, I believe the guy who runs the one on the north side of 34 (Who they always interview) has been doing this since he was 17, which is decades ago, and there used to be 22 stands, but only 4 still exist…. 🙂 )
“I think it’s time to once again launch Cousin Eddie’s RV!” …….:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSElu8gchY
“DOnald Trump, cannot be bought”? The man goes to where he can get dollars from anyone who is willing to use him as their mouthpiece. As soon as he gets their dollars, he files for bankruptcy. Never in his existence has he ever had an original idea, he steals every thing he says or does from someone else without truly understanding the full meaning. Anyone who has watched his life will tell you he has lived the life as a racist grifter.