Above, September 9, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel & Miami Herald newspaper vending machines in Hallandale Beach, FL. Neither newspaper's Editorial Board endorsed FL-22 GOP candidate Allen West and he won anyway, with momentum on his side at the end. Yes, media 'payback' is going to be a bitch. And also fun to watch!
Above, September 10, 2010 photos by South Beach Hoosier of just some of the Ron Klein congressional campaign signs on Hallandale Beach Blvd., west of U.S.-1/Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, FL. Unfortunately for Klein and his supporters, the areas where these signs were placed by his supporters are not only NOT in the FL-22 CD he was running for re-election from, but are actually quite far from it. Yet they were there for weeks.
Contrary to what Lisa Rab of the the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes wrote on Wednesday -below- Congressman-elect Allen West's win over incumbent Ron Klein will cause "Unsettling Two Years" for lazy, know-it-all South Florida reporters, NOT voters.
And West and his staff will REALLY, REALLY enjoy getting the news media's goat now, and even baiting them occasionally.
This is really great news for South Florida residents and news junkies alike, since the one thing that all civic activists and elected officials I know in South Florida are in complete agreement on, whether they are conservative, liberal or libertarian, is the overwhelming sense of mental and physical laziness of the majority of the South Florida news media, print and electronic.
And in many cases, their almost complete lack of curiosity, causing you to wonder why they are in that profession. Some are like ciphers. It's one thing to have a detached sense of professionalism, another to act like you just don't care or are above it all.
As I've stated here previously, there are a lot of print and TV reporters in South Florida who I believe ought to be in smaller media markets but are here for reasons NOT having to do with either quality or talent.
Oh, and did I mention how many want everything on a silver platter, when THEY want it?
So many show-up for events not really having a good understanding of what previously happened -or didn't- that necessitates another public meeting to take place.
Is it really too much to expect that they do some research and homework before showing-up?
Not that this sounds at all surprising to anyone who comes to this blog regularly, since I'm forever decrying how much worse the South Florida's news media's curiosity and work ethic is now compared to when I was growing-up down here, despite the advent of technology that makes their jobs easier than ever.
The thing is, nobody I ever meet at public policy events ever disagrees with that sentiment.
It's the dispiriting consensus opinion.
Showing-up really matters, as is showing-up on time, and the current crop of reporters, by-and-large, prefer to do their reporting by telephone -or by calling me or other people after-the-fact to find out what happened.
That is simply NOT a satisfactory way to cover news in such a dynamic-if-corrupt part of the United States.
Not by any stretch of the imagination.
If you don't think Allen West and his staff know exactly which members of the South Florida news media were crass, patronizing, punky, condescending and less-than-professional in their months-long coverage of his race against Ron Klein, and some of the nuttier elements of the liberal South Florida establishment, and were phoning-it in from the get-go, guess again.
http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/AllenWestForCongress
You don't have to be a friend of Allen West or even someone who voted for him to know that he is one person who is NOT at all interested in being South Florida's or the national MSM's "pet," like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has STILL never run in a competitive congressional race.
Thanks to Amendment 5 & 6 passing on Tuesday, we just might see such a thing in a few years, and that would be good for everyone concerned.
Plus, competitive races generally (but not always) prevent the sort of endemic lapdog journalism DWS has enjoyed in South Florida for years.
We need more watchdog reporting and less lapdog!
The latest news on Allen West is here: http://www.google.com/search?q=Allen+West
Meanwhile, a year ago...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP2p91dvm6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lthfkdb0Gs
Minority GOP Candidates Make History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j2RBqiNlho
Below, an example of what I'm talking about: opinions masquerading as journalism.
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Allen West Wins Congressional Seat, Voters to Deal With Unsettling Two Years
By Lisa Rab
Wed., Nov. 3 2010 @ 6:18AM
Well, it's only two years. But with Allen West serving as the congressman for the coastal congressional District 22 that spans Broward and Palm Beach counties, those years could be rather unsettling.
Read the rest of the screed at
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2010/11/allen_west_wins_congressional_seat.php
