Al Diamon
Look, Ma, I’m a Journalist
If politics doesn’t work out: As a reporter, Laurie Dobson makes a great candidate. The ex-independent U.S. Senate hopeful has twice in recent weeks made questionable forays into journalism, apparently as unconcerned with the ethical implications of her activities as she was with gathering enough signatures to get on the fall ballot.
In June, Dobson talked her way into a meeting of the Kennebunk Kennebunkport Wells Water District board of trustees, after the room was already filled to capacity, by claiming at various times to be a reporter for a local weekly and a non-local radio station.
She was neither.
Now, she’s apparently decided to become a stealth interviewer. While vacationing on North Haven, Dobson recently requested a meeting with Democratic congressional candidate Chellie Pingree. According to the Pingree campaign, Dobson said she wanted to discuss issues. No mention was made of conducting an interview for publication. Pingree agreed to meet Dobson and her husband on the deck of a local deli. Dobson then wrote a detailed account of the conversation for the op-ed page of the Bollard, an online news site based in Portland.
The piece made Pingree look like an arrogant jerk. If that’s Dobson’s opinion, I have no problem with it. What does bother me is the details included. There are long quotations from the candidate, Dobson and her husband. But, according to Pingree’s campaign spokesman, Dobson didn’t have a tape recorder and didn’t take notes.
Maybe she has a photographic memory, although considering her inability to recall that she isn’t a reporter, I tend to doubt it.
In general, real journalists don’t pretend to be having casual conversations when they’re really conducting interviews. In general, real journalists take notes, use a recorder or both. There are exceptions. When politicians make outrageous statements about matters of importance, whether in public or private, voters have a right to know about them.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here.
Dobson has proved herself to be an unreliable source (she claims she’s still a Senate candidate, even though she’s been disqualified), with more axes to grind than Plum Creek Timber Co. Her version of this event has almost no credibility.
The Bollard erred in publishing this smear.
(Full disclosure: Bollard editor and publisher Chris Busby is a friend and former editor of mine at Casco Bay Weekly.)
If column writing doesn’t work out: I like Lewiston Sun Journal staff writer Mark LaFlamme’s snarky column in the “b” section of the Sunday paper. (It’s about the only thing in “b” I do like.) He’s sharp and funny.
But sometimes, when LaFlamme is writing straight news stories, his columnist persona gets in the way. Case in point: the Aug. 18 article he wrote on the Auburn police trying out a Segway scooter to improve efficiency and save energy.
In this piece we learn that the cops are “one step closer to the reality of Robocop.” We’re told the Segway is “supremely mobile.” We’re informed the test to date has “all been geeky goodness.”
Colorful. But not informative.
How much does a Segway cost? LaFlamme doesn’t tell us. He does say, “The two-wheeled upright gizmos run on battery power so there is no need for fuel.” Battery power isn’t fuel? He gives no indication as to how expensive it is to recharge the battery. And he notes that the scooter has been used in place of bike patrols on occasion. How does that save energy or money?
Maybe LaFlamme was trying to do a positive piece as a favor for his police pals (he normally covers the cop beat). Maybe he wasn’t sure whether he was writing a column or a news story. Maybe an editor should have spiked this one to save ink and embarrassment.
If a radio career doesn’t work out: NorthEast Radio Watch has a report out today on big staff cuts at Blueberry Broadcasting, the former Clear Channel radio stations in Maine.
According to the posting, at least 12 people lost their jobs. In May, Blueberry bought the 17 stations, including WTOS, WVOM, WABK, WCME, WRKD, WKCG, WQSS, WGUY and WWBX, for the bargain price of $11 million.
Other news from the same source: Former radio pirate Allan Weiner may have gone legit. The guy who once sailed a ship equipped with an outlaw broadcasting setup off the coast of New York is reportedly operating WBCQ-FM at 94.7 in Monticello, although it’s unclear if he’s just testing the frequency or has been fully licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.
Many fans of talk radio station WLOB in Portland may soon lose that signal. Rumor has it that J.J. Jeffrey’s Atlantic Coast Radio will move the format to less powerful 95.5 in Topsham, opening up WLOB’s current 96.3 frequency for the sports format of WJJB.
Also rumored to be undergoing a big change at Atlantic Coast: WRED in Saco (95.9 FM), which is said to be dumping its hip hop and dance music for the sports programming of WEEI in Boston.
If being experienced doesn’t work out: Gerald, the operator of the liberal “Turn Maine Blue” Web site has some interesting thoughts on the Blethen Maine Newspaper’s recent purging of many of its veteran reporters.
He laments the loss of institutional memory at the papers and the consequences for the public. “Is Blethen firing the reporters that husband such knowledge, so that they can interrupt the transfer of history, and thus deny their readers context?” he asks.
Good question.
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 in Permalink
Views expressed in this blog belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect either Down East's editorial stance or the views of Down East Enterprise. We ask that comments be civil; anyone who refuses to self edit runs the risk of being banned from commenting on Down East.com content. Further, please limit material cited from other publications to fewer than 75 words and a link; anything more riles copyright attorneys.
Reader Comments:
Actually, with regard to the Blethen Maine item: I've got plenty of problems with the way the papers are run. But it should be noted that the reporters who were laid off at the PPH, (and I think the others) - OPTED for targeted layoffs. In fact, it's questionable if any of them would have been laid off if they hadn't put in for it. (Maybe one or two at the PPH) Under union rules, it would normally be last in, first out - the people with least seniority would get axed first.
But they allowed people to request to be laid off, and many (probably smart and aware-of-the-writing-on-the-walls reporters) who had been there for many years decided to leave. Of course, one could argue that the situation at the papers has become untenable for anyone with the wherewithal to leave -- which often results in the same idea of getting rid of the knowledgeable, skilled, veterans.
After reading the Laurie Dobson piece, I think Dobson herself comes out looking like the bigger fool. About 4 paragraphs in, I found myself thinking "Yeah, Chellie must have really wished she hadn't agreed to meet Dobson by this point." In fact, about the only reason I can see for Busby to have published this thing is that it does, in fact, reveal more about the author than about the actual candidate.
Disclaimer: I have been a Republican since I first registered to vote and will happily cast my ballot for Charlie Summers (who spends a lot more time at Sea Dogs games than Chellie) in November.
In the article, Laurie Dobson describes herself as a freelance writer, a long-time Pingree supporter, a supposed Senatorial candidate, and a critic. What ruse did she use to gain access to a Congressional candidate? Constituents with legitimate concerns generally aren't afforded such audiences with candidates. And why did Pingree allow such a lunch to occur? Blindsided? Oh, and it's easy to hide the small tape or digital recorders in pockets. Maybe that's why Dobson's husband was there? Plus I believe that under state recording laws you don't need to tell someone you're doing it.
Al Diamon here. I received the following e-mail today from Chris Busby, editor and publisher of the Bollard:
"I see your point, and in retrospect should have been less lenient with Dobson regarding actual quotes vs. paraphrasing. I didn't think Chellie 'said' anything damning, and I'm confident Dobson's is an accurate account of the conversation. It's notable that the [Pingree] camp isn't refuting any details of the conversation, just carping about being blindsided by Dobson's stealth 'interview.' (By the way, I haven't heard a peep from [Pingree]'s people.) As you noted, the piece isn't an interview but rather an opinion piece structured as an interview. Again, fewer (or no) quotes would have allowed Dobson to make her points without confusing people or giving the op-ed the feel of an underhanded hit on Chellie. As some commenters have noted, the op-ed does Dobson no favors, either. I think it reveals a lot about where(ever) her head is at, and the public is served by knowing how and what she thinks about the issues she raised. Her appeal re: the Senate race may go nowhere, but I'm sure she isn't going away. Giving her piece a heavy edit would not have conveyed the 'flavor' of her thinking; to the contrary, it would convey an inaccurate representation of her views and rhetorical style. The other option, not publishing it, also struck me as a bad choice. Dobson's views may be nutty, but so are those of 99 percent of the people who write letters and op-eds to the editor. Nuttiness isn't grounds for censorship. Slander, of course, is, but again, I'm confident Dobson's account was accurate insofar as it did not misrepresent Pingree or her views. Lastly, I don't think Chellie came off as an 'arrogant jerk.' I think most readers – imagining themselves in her place, as party to the conversation Dobson described – would have been even less tolerant of the situation than Chellie was. Chellie's assertion that she is going to win her race is no more arrogant than the 'I'm gonna win' rhetoric pols spew every day on the trail. And her belief that Dobson's Senate campaign is dead is basically stating the obvious."
The changes at Atlantic Coast Radio mentioned above have been officially announced. WRED's hip hop format will cease to exist on Sept 1, and WLOB's talk programming will be heard only on AM 1310 (as well as on Fox News on TV). Here's a link to the Portland Press Herald's story:
mainetoday.com/updates/031753.html
Al Diamon
Busby's right when he writes Dobson's piece didn't warrant a heavy edit. It deserved to be spiked.
Does anyone really believe this previously-exposed fraud pitched her hit-job to anyone but The Bollard? Give Dobson credit: She shrewdly identified the one editor whose ethics standard is so malleable that he can somehow justify publishing what anyone with an ounce of integrity can easily identify as slander.
Well done.
It would be nice to have some kind of follow-up on the cutbacks at the former Clear Channel stations bought by Blueberry. We already knew about the drastic cutbacks at WTOS; what other positions were cut in Augusta? Were only three positions cut in Bangor becuase Louis Vitale and company haven't turned their attention fully to that market, or will most of the Augusta programming will be based out of the Queen City?
It would also be nice to know what went into the thinking at Atlantic Coast Radio; namely, why have two competing sports formats (four, when you count Saga-owned WZAN's weekend Fox Sports Radio block and Nassau Broadcasting's full-time ESPN Radio stations in Portland and Lewiston) in what is ultimatly a small radio market? And why put the talk programming on the weakest station in the chain instead of, say, 1440 which has better coverage instead of wasting the 1440 signal on a format that will have excellent coverage on 96.3 FM?
I agree that the Bollard should not have published Laurie Dobson's attempted smear of Chellie Pingree. I say "attempted" because the piece does not reflect badly on Pingree. Indeed, I felt sorry for her as I imagined her stuck as what she no doubt thought would be a polite discussion turned into an ambush. The ones who come off as arrogant jerks are Dobson, her husband and the Bollard.
Editor Chris Busby's defense ("the public is served" by the publication of Dobson's underhanded "interview" because it allows us to know Dobson better)of his decision to publish this sneaky piece of journalism is back-against-the-wall lame. The public would have been better served if Busby had acted like an editor and rejected the column as unworthy of publication. Was Busby just being lazy on the day he approved this piece or did he deliberately publish it because it would make a muddy splash? I suspect the latter, given his creepy Chellie Pingree cover story in the last issue of the Bollard (can you say "stalking"?).
(No, I am not a Pingree supporter. I'm neither for or against her at this point. My interest in this story has to do with the quality of journalism practiced in Maine.)
I'd submit that Busby's stalker story may have actually emboldened the similarly disturbed Dobson to attempt and pitch her hit piece. And no, sadly, neither piece is out of character for Busby, whose cynical abandonment of journalism ethics while assailing the alleged misdeeds of other publications is a case study in serial hypocrisy (And if the latter isn't actually a mental illness, Busby proves it should be).
WEEI will be expanding into Bangor as well. Blueberry Broadcasting's WABI AM 910 (currently news/talk) and WWBX FM 97.1 (currently Top 40) will change over to the all-Boston-all-the-time sports radio network as of September 1st.
http://imgsrv.weei.com/image/weei/UserFiles/WEEINorthNetworkPressRelease81908.pdf