"Goof" -- intentionally spreading false information for purposes of a joke. Saying that the city may change its name to Mountain Dew, California, or that it is recruiting a minor league baseball team to play in McKelvey Park are both examples of goofs.
"Fuck-up" -- spreading false information while thinking it's true. Maintaining that Mountain View has made approval of Home Depot's proposal to move into San Antonio Shopping Center contingent upon the company paying the city a quarter of a million dollars to establish a permanent day worker center, or that Home Depot has given the city a quarter-million unsolicited -- that is a fuck-up.
[UPDATE 7/13: This post has been edited in response to criticism in the comments section].
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9 comments:
The position of surgeon general has long been "politicized" (whatever that means exactly) especially since the ousting of Dr. Joyce Brothers under Clinton because she promoted masturbation. What is wrong with this country? She may have hit the nail on the head. Let's all beat it and relax more. That should be taught in schools.
Beef Frank, your facts need straightening out. Or is this post an attempt at irony?
Straighten them for me.
I'd start by carefully reading the copy you've been so smugly quick to criticize and hold up as an example of why the Daily is so awful.
Yeah, start there, Beef Frank. Then we'll talk. Maybe another apology letter is due?
Never is perhaps an unfair term. Individual reporters at the Daily have from time to time does some good stuff. This is not one of those times.
I guess my second sentence was poorly written. What I meant to say is that the Daily reported (and failed to correct) that Home Depot is giving the city a quarter of a million dollars unsolicited. It wouldn't make sense for the city to make approval contingent upon something that was unsolicited, but that doesn't excuse my poor grammar.
Are you arguing that the article doesn't say that?
A second story did address the so-called "colossal fuck-up." Maybe it didn't make it to the Daily's Web site, but there was one.
Still, I think the onus for this one lies squarely with Home Depot; they announced bogus information.
As for your other question, no, the article doesn't say that. From my reading, it references a previous meeting where money for a day worker center was mentioned in discussions about a new Home Depot.
It doesn't say the approval was contingent on an unsolicited gift. That's just silly.
Read it again.
This is your blog and you're going to say what you will, but I take issue with the frequency with which you pass judgement without closely reading and weighing all of the facts. Then again, I suppose I could always stop reading. But it's sort of like listening to Sean Hannity. Can't stand the jerk, but for some twisted reason, I keep tuning in.
Are you talking about the Daily story or the AP one? The Daily story says pretty clearly in the first two paragraphs that Home Depot has given the city $250,000. Later on, it briefly mentions the fact that the council had explored this an option. But then the article goes on to once again imply that the company has gone ahead and given the money.
Home Depot deserves a lot of the blame for the Daily story. Gallagher's excuse to the Voice that she "misspoke" is a lame one. But the reporter should have tried to confirm the story. The city officials she spoke to didn't seem to have any knowledge at all The Daily obviously isn't the only one who make the mistake of relying on a single source. (I'll give you an example of when I did it: http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2005/2005_09_09.ahurr.shtml)
I'm glad the Daily corrected the story, but the paper also ought to correct its stories on the Web site.
As for the AP story, the meat of the article itself says that Mountain View has been considering asking for a contribution to a day worker center, but the beginning, particularly the third paragraph, go much farther than that.
This is great. I wish I'd thought of that headline: "Home Depot story a fuck-up."
Anonymous: As I understand it -- and there's really no understanding it -- the screwup began with the office of Sen. Jimmy Isakson, R-Ga. His people probably combed the Internet looking for evidence of H.D. being forced to help "illegals," misread the minutes on the MV city web site, and picked up the misinformation as fact.
AP took it from there.
The Daily took it from the AP. The Merc picked up the Daily story.
By the time it'd run the cycle a few times, the Home Depot people themselves didn't know fact from fiction. Everybody finally realized their mistake (except Isakson of course) and ran corrections, the end.
... then all the straggles like KCBS saw the original stories and not the corrections, and kept the lie alive.
The end.
This is great. I wish I'd thought of that headline: "Home Depot story a fuck-up."
Anonymous: As I understand it -- and there's really no understanding it -- the screwup began with the office of Sen. Jimmy Isakson, R-Ga. His people probably combed the Internet looking for evidence of H.D. being forced to help "illegals," misread the minutes on the MV city web site, and picked up the misinformation as fact.
AP took it from there.
The Daily took it from the AP. The Merc picked up the Daily story.
By the time it'd run the cycle a few times, the Home Depot people themselves didn't know fact from fiction. Everybody finally realized their mistake (except Isakson of course) and ran corrections, the end.
... then all the straggles like KCBS saw the original stories and not the corrections, and kept the lie alive.
The end.
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