A curious happening greeted my cross-country news browsing this morning as I searched for something blog-worthy in Washington state. I looked to Publicola for firsthand coverage of last night’s Publicola-sponsored, post-election face-off between McGinn consultant Bill Broadhead and Mallahan consultant Jason Bennett, but found zilch. Yet there was a link to coverage of the event smack dab on the front page of the Seattle Times web site.
Two ironies. Last year, Publicola didn’t even exist, yet it was the fleet-footed, political reporting startup that sponsored last night’s intriguing consultant confessional, not the lumbering Times. And yet, the Times scooped Publicola on covering its own event, and by a long shot.
Despite Frank Blethen’s triumphant decades-long quest to turn Seattle into a one-newspaper town, I guess a little competition can be a good thing.
UPDATE:
Oh, and there’s coverage in the P-I too. Lazy, late-sleeping, Publicola bastards.
Unfortunately, once the elctions were over, and there was no advocacy to do on behalf of McGinn, they haven’t found a focus with staying power.
Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t Publicola essentially run by volunteers? I’ve found that organizations run by volunteers can be notoriously inconsistent in getting some things done in a prompt fashion. I can’t blame them, it’s just that “life tends to get in the way”. This being a holiday week, perhaps the people who would have updated the website left to go out of town right after the event?
This isn’t exactly a slow news week, Goldy. True, President Obama’s decision to send another (approx.) 35,000 troops to Afghanistan, and Democratic proposals to impose a war tax to pay for the conflict there, aren’t local news but they’re news.
Conservatives, who are adamantly opposed to a pullout from Afghanistan, are already bleating about being taxed to pay for this war — starting with the National Review.
This isn’t exactly a slow news week, Goldy. True, President Obama’s decision to send another (approx.) 35,000 troops to Afghanistan, and Democratic proposals to impose a war tax to pay for the conflict there, aren’t local news but they’re news.
Conservatives, who adamantly oppose a pullout from Afghanistan, are already bleating about being taxed to pay for this war — starting with the National Review.
Rightwingers like war, but they like it better when other people fight it and pay for it.
@2
I’m not sure of the exact structure of Publicola but I’m pretty sure the goal is to make money. I think at least a few people are paid.
In any case a bit lame not to have at least something up this morning.
@2, no, they got some funding from a private investor. That was public June 1st.
The irony for me was that I read the Publicola funding headline on my phone while sitting in the PI lobby, waiting for Art Thiel. I interviewed Art about the end of the PI newspaper and their online efforts. We talked about funding for online efforts, and I told him about the Publicola headline posted on his online only site.
I agree with 1. The focus on the big story is tough to recover from, and not every follow-on McGinn story needs the same level of effort.
Btw, 1, this is why they are always running the Urban Visions banner ad.
http://publicola.net/?p=7444
Thank you Pubicola for hosting and covering a fascinating look into a great and unusual mayoral contest.