@ImNotBlue – why do we need to rationalize to anyone which stories merit inclusion on Mediaite and which don’t?

Wow! Touchy! Am I to understand that you have no rational for why this story is on a media website? Seems like a reasonable question to ask you to define what your website stands for… what’s its purpose? Seems like you might just as confused as me.

We found the story to be interesting – and you aren’t wrong – it is political in nature. But, calling out odd behavior of Sarah Palin, in this instance, doesn’t reveal a political bias (IMHO.) But I gather that you are going to see as a left-wing political site regardless of our editorial.

Well… if you can’t tell me why this story merits more attention than another, and why it fits in on this site… I’ll continue to wonder why it’s here. “We found it interesting,” is great… but “WHY did you find it interesting”, is still the question.

Your non-answer, and apparent distain that I even bothered to ask the question, tells a lot about this site… and how you view your readers.

LNSmithee says:
December 17, 2009 at 5:48 pm

Join the club. The guy thinks he’s Shakespeare, but makes so many mistakes, and is so incoherent… he can’t be much more than an outcast high schooled with a big ego and the shades drawn.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something wrong with this to me.

I think the choice of vacation spot is interesting. And guess who’ll be vacationing there next week with his family? I’m telling you, he’s in her head.

If you’re referring to the President, yeah, “he’s in her head” — as well as the rest of ours.

Personally, I love Hawaii and hope to someday move there. If I may make one more observation; she’s quite pastie.

Foregoing the punny possibilities of your latest misspelling: Good observation, rox. That’s because she’s 1. From Alaska, where sunlight is not year-round, 2. She’s just been on a book tour in cities where they’ve had colder temperatures than normal (so much for global warming) 3. She’s on vacation, and probably didn’t feel the need for a lot of makeup.

You know what Palin needs? A tanning bed. Oops — she already has one! And sorry, Editor Glynnis, a phony “scandal” about her tanning bed has already played itself out.

I was telling you to fact check about your suggestion that she is “at the bottom.” Again, last I checked ‘editor’ was not someone at the bottom, as you put it. But I guess if you’re not much into reading I can see how you’d get that mixed up.

I plead guilty to not fact checking Ms. MacNicol’s status at Mediaite. Let me point out in my own defense that I wrote “apparently” she was the runt of the Mediaite litter. IOW, my perception was that if she had any clout at the site, she would be doing things more important than trying to make chicken salad out of a chicken you-know-what item from TMZ.

If you drive up to the corporate offices of Microsoft and the parking lot attendant kinda looks like Steve Ballmer, you wouldn’t say “You’re Steve Ballmer!” because you would figure “It can’t be Steve Ballmer, because Steve Ballmer wouldn’t be doing this.” I would have thought issuing the daily two minutes hate on Sarah Palin was beneath a senior staffer. The fact that it’s not doesn’t speak well of Mediaite.

And what are we “blaming” her for? You mean she’s reporting on a photo that TMZ posted on their site — on a media website…the nerve!

Summon up your considerable “comprehension” skills and let me remind you what I wrote:

…And nothing is more “at the bottom” than trying to gin up “scandal” where [there] is absolutely none.

My thoughts on TMZ and Harvey Levin can be found here.

- It is, and it’s interesting in that context. I just think this is more or less media needing a Sarah Palin story, and VisorGate has to do because she hasn’t said anything interesting in the past few days (with the exception of that subdued kerfuffle with Arnold; did you guys cover that?).

I think my comment, using your response Pat Doherty as a jumping off point would be… what is the relevance of this story to the world of media? Is this a media related story?

Personally, it seems to me that the media component of this story is at best miniscule (TMZ “broke” the story, that’s its relationship to media)… so why post it? I can’t find a rational why THIS story would be on THIS website. It simply seems to fuel the fire, and support the claims that Mediaite is a media/left-wing politics site… as this story is more politics or political interest, than media interest. Am I wrong?

- I just think it’s a bleh story. To answer your question, I suppose it’s kind of strange, but we’ve all altered clothing before, no?

@Pat Doherty – Do I care about this story? Not sure if “care” is the right word. I find it amusing. Sarah Palin is a very interesting (and divisive) character. On one hand it shouldn’t really matter that she blacked out the McCain logo. On the other hand, it is kind of a strange thing to do, no?

@germ – of course you can voice your opinion – forgive me for my harsh sounding comment. I meant it in jest. Please continue to share your thoughts — I find the comments section of these posts to be most fun (though at times frightening)

@RazorsEdge – thanks for the plaudits, and yes, maybe of late we’ve done a tad too much gossip aggregation and less original reporting. We always try to find the right balance and that pendulum swings both ways. Love your constructive critcism.

@Smithee – my “fart butt sandwich” tag was a reference to an article we ran yesterday about the GOP URL shortener. It was a real tag for an actual story. I used it on the O’Reilly/Newsweek story as sort of an inside joke to our editorial staff. I plead guilty for the occasional immature decision, but doing this day in and day out – one needs to occasionally act out to keep the job fun and the site feeling alive.

Thanks for the comments though. As you were.

And listen, if that’s what passes for “photoshop” these days I really should apply for a job in design. I’m a wizard at MS Paint!

Well… prove it. Let’s see you avatar-up!

Or you could just steal a free one. I just don’t get the point you’re trying to make.

I like having an avatar. When I come to see if anyone posted a comment in response to mine, having the avatar helps me find my last comment… everything after that is “new.” Saves some time. See… practical!

And bro, I know the LN and Smithee aren’t supposed to line up. You don’t roll that way. Being center means being square, boss. Big ups! Hey can you make me one?

I still don’t get the point you’re attempting to make with this.

And listen, if that’s what passes for “photoshop” these days I really should apply for a job in design. I’m a wizard at MS Paint!

Mediaite’s has some good regulars that go after each other once in awhile (keep it clean, the name calling and over the top nasty is like a Fart Butt Sandwich).

Seriously @Smithee, I think I know the urban definition of fart butt sandwich but I’m clueless on the reference to O’Reilly or Newsweek. I’m sure it’s funny and I wish I understood.

I’ll defend Colby, He’s seems pretty fair. It seems he has to herd cats sometimes so I like to give him some benefit of doubt. Look at his articles. They seem to have more depth to them.

I was telling you to fact check about your suggestion that she is “at the bottom.” Again, last I checked ‘editor’ was not someone at the bottom, as you put it. But I guess if you’re not much into reading I can see how you’d get that mixed up. Wiki it, you’ll have a blast.

And bro, I know the LN and Smithee aren’t supposed to line up. You don’t roll that way. Being center means being square, boss. Big ups! Hey can you make me one?

You seem to be really focused on that icon… called an “avatar“… like the movie, but different.

It’s made in a program called, “Photoshop”… you may have heard of it. Create a canvas that’s a square (ex. 100px by 100px), and create a picture. Upload it to WordPress… and there you go. Wow! If you need more directions than that, try Googling “how to create a blogging avatar.” Now you try!

Why can’t I voice my opinion? Mediaite won, they got me. They got the extra page view, and they could care less about the comments.

I just don’t see why this is news worthy. I don’t know anyone that has taken SWAG or old company high-grade materials and blacked out or removed the name. I my old company gave me a nice coat that I liked but I no longer worked there, I would probably “de-stitch” the embroidery or black it out as well.

Smithee, to be fair, I don’t think this post warrants an attack on Ms. MacNicol

Oh, no? Hold on, lemme “fact check.”

Scrolling to the top of the thread now…yep, there it is — “by Glynnis MacNicol.”

Sorry, tjl. She wrote it, she owns it, she gets the blame.

Thanks for the comments on my icon. The “LN” and the “Smithee” aren’t supposed to be lining up, FWIW.

Hey, RazorsEdge: Check out the tag Colby Hall put on the O’Reilly-Newsweek thread. Tres mature.

Ooh she scratched out McCain.

Look at the swipe against TMZ, these guys wish they were TMZ… or maybe Perez Hilton.

What can you expect from a guy who’s bass was replaced by KO’s intern.

Colby Hall comes back swinging! Actually Colby, I do appreciate knowing that you do read the comments and actually participate.

Although, my $02 is stories are getting shortcutted (sp) and a little gossipy (sp). More quoting other media outlets like TMZ or Politico and less originality. Like getting quotes from sources or actual players in the stories (Like Politico did).

There are so many stories being “published” that reference to other outlets and what seems to be less and less originality. Heavy on volume less on quality.

Just me. I know it’s not my site. I’m just a reader. I like Mediaite. I’m finding I’m coming more to comment with the other “regulars” now more than to get info from the articles.

Well done, boy/girlfriend!