Back in Northern Virginia, she is on the case of the curious ethical situation involving Scott McCaffrey, a managing editor of a so-called community paper who doesn't mind practicing cronyism while engaged in... well, apparently, NOT old-fashioned journalism by his own admission, since he is reported to have said on his blog that the Sun Gazette is "not a reputable newspaper" but a real estate supplement with [his] news and views attached.
Well, I guess he would know, wouldn't he?
http://www.sungazette.net/
Too bad he didn't let the readers in the area in on the joke a whole lot earlier than this.
Like say, well, when I lived in Arlington County from 1989-2003, and along with thousands of other discerning residents, couldn't help but wonder why such weird sycophantic things kept appearing in the Sun-Gazette that seemed to have no real basis in fact, but often seemed more like PR copy straight from the entrenched interests in the county, the smallest in the U.S., but one full of smart, affluent and well-educated people who know how to get their voices heard in the one-party state known by some as the People's Republic of Arlington.
Better late than never on the whole truth will set you free thing, I suppose, but that doesn't really change the basic facts of the ethical tangle McCaffrey's in with the local Chamber of Commerce, now does it?
Nope!
Arlington Yupette, the brave blogger whom I've mentioned previously in this space,
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Arlington%20Yupette, who holds a mirror to the face of the longstanding back-slapping and red-tape generating bureaucracy of Arlington County government and its sycophants in the community, has the story today: Citizens Demand McCaffrey Resign from Arlington Chamber's BOD
http://arlingtonyupette.blogsp
I realize that on this story, I'm sorta out of The Loop -or Beltway- but having done a little checking on this today, including making some phone calls to some reporter and producer friends at competing news organizations, where exactly is The Washington Post on this story?
One affecting what the Sun Gazette calls "the most affluent audience in the Washington D.C. metro area."
Just wondering.
I ask because it sounds like real news to me.
Maybe a real news story in the Post's Metro section, not simply posting a pro-Virginia Democratic blog post online: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/politics/blog-network/2010/12/arlington_sun_gazette_now_repr.html
Sadly, having lived in Arlington County for 15 years, until 2003, this attitude of the faux newspaper surprises me not a whit.
This is how cronyism works there -brazenly and with lots of attitude.
Want to muscle Arlington business owners into giving money to your preposterous ego-driven group, well, there's many precedents I can think of for that, but the latest is this from November: County Board Reportedly Helping Fairlington Civic Association Extort Shirlington Restaurant Owners
http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/2010/11/county-board-reportedly-helping.html
I should know, since here in Hallandale Beach, we have a little faux community newspaper of our own, the South Florida Sun-Times, and in their case, the city commission gave them tens of thousands of dollars in CRA funds that are supposed to be used to combat blight within certain clearly-defined geographical areas of the city.
Instead, it keeps a very bad idea afloat -taxpayer-funded "news," where they ONLY write positive "news" about Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Never is heard a discouraging word...
That is, if you call the words they print "news," and not flat-out PR spin, as numerous fact-filled posts here on the blog have proven time and again to a fare-thee-well.
http://hallandalebeachblog.
http://hallandalebeachblog.
It's hard to imagine a more ridiculous, self-serving and un-true headline than this one from August 13, 2009 in the faux community newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Times: AHEAD OF THE GAME: Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper continues to do the job residents elected her to do -once again!.
The faux newspaper that serves as the propaganda arm to Hallandale Beach City Hall and the Joy Cooper regime, the South Florida Sun-Times.
As always, if you spot this creeping faux newspaper menace in your own community, here in the U.S, or overseas, let me know about it.
