The editor thinks the "fourth estate" is a 120 acre lot half way up the mountain.

A few weeks ago there was a story about inaccurate snow reporting in the Northeast. It ran on NPR and was mostly ignored. Ski slopes would consistently report more snow than nearby weather stations at the same elevation. The researcher said now that everybody on the slopes has a cell phone ski slopes' reports are more consistent with weather stations'.

... can't imagine why people have cancelled their newspaper subscriptions in droves.....

This is nothing new. Last winter Vail had a photographer suspended from his job after he took shots of a guy who was stuck hanging bare-assed in a lift mishap.

"Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."

- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Nathaniel Macon, January 12, 1819

In the 80's I worked for a small daily newspaper in Northern California. One of our reporters filed a story concerning a local chain of grocery stores that had altered all their meat scales to cheat customers. The publisher of my paper refused to run the story, because the owner of the chain was a friend, and a large advertiser so the reporter quit, went to a nearby larger paper and ran the story, to include our publisher's refusal to run the story. All employees at our newspaper considered her a hero.

2xhelix: This is nothing new. Last winter Vail had a photographer suspended while they investigated from his job after he took, then sold to TSG, shots of a guy who was stuck hanging bare-assed in a lift mishap, in violation of the company's policies.

FTFY, and added proper emphasis.

/Sounds like the reporter here was a serial fark-up
//And newspapers don't need much of an excuse to fire people these days

According to Berwyn, it is against company policy for a reporter to write a column that relates to their specific beat. Berwyn said he had done it several times, but this was the first time he had been reprimanded for doing so.

Hrrm. Interesting.

eddyatwork: Rule #1, never piss off your advertisers.

When your industry is near death, this is probably true.

UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: In the 80's I worked for a small daily newspaper in Northern California. One of our reporters filed a story concerning a local chain of grocery stores that had altered all their meat scales to cheat customers. The publisher of my paper refused to run the story, because the owner of the chain was a friend, and a large advertiser so the reporter quit, went to a nearby larger paper and ran the story, to include our publisher's refusal to run the story. All employees at our newspaper considered her a hero.

But, see, this is where the writer and editor are both cowards. Most states have an agency that, you know, checks the accuracy of things like scales and pumps, just for that reason. Call up the state, get them involved, and you never have to publish it, unless they refuse to fix the problem, and the state isn't going to put them out of business for it. Just running a story to make them look bad without trying to work it behind-the-scenes first is cowardice. Not running it if they refuse to fix the problems is, too.

Pardon Me Sultan: The guy was reusing quotes, not getting alternate points of view, but presenting the articles as investigative anyway. It's only touched on briefly, but you've got to know that there's more to the story here.

That paragraph and the one I posted should have been the central theme of the article. The writer sounds like all he did was daydream about blow driers and strange weathergirl pussy all through journalism school.

hurdboy: But, see, this is where the writer and editor are both cowards. Most states have an agency that, you know, checks the accuracy of things like scales and pumps, just for that reason. Call up the state, get them involved, and you never have to publish it, unless they refuse to fix the problem, and the state isn't going to put them out of business for it. Just running a story to make them look bad without trying to work it behind-the-scenes first is cowardice. Not running it if they refuse to fix the problems is, too.

I apologize, my post was written badly. Our state bureau of weights and measures were the ones who contacted our reporter. So there was already an investigation filed, and completed, with penalties dished out. She reported it, and had her story withdrawn. Sorry for the confusion.

hurdboy: When your industry is near death, this is probably true.

I think the problem with the newspaper industry is the publisher. That really needs to get shaken up. They are Johnny-come-lately on every single journalistic business trend. There should be absolutely no competition for printed news. Instead of creating a new singular cultural identity and foothold, these idiots try to compete with the internet, radio, and television. It's really the main reason newspapers are failing. You can't get news out faster than the internet, so stop trying. The internet doesn't have to worry about embarrassing corrections. News papers are not supposed to be rush jobs. Stop competing with the shock value of radio and television. Newspapers are not supposed to be shocking, and could never be as visually stimulating as moving images with audio, so just f*cking quit competing with television. Newspapers need to readjust into a feature-oriented deep analysis model on a national level, and an Economist news brief model for local/regional.

/but I digress...

Mr_Master2: Not really. Did you see who made those allegations? The same company that is pissed off at this guy.

Sounds like they are trying to discredit him - to deflect attention from their questionable snow reporting tactics - and it's working, at least on some people.

I was talking about the writer of the article. The linked article.

DoughyGuy: I was told, when I first started my job - No 'quid pro quo'... Ever... It's a slippery slope, and the minute you start doing that you're less a newspaper then you are an advertising flyer.

Damn straight.

hurdboy: But, see, this is where the writer and editor are both cowards. Most states have an agency that, you know, checks the accuracy of things like scales and pumps, just for that reason. Call up the state, get them involved, and you never have to publish it, unless they refuse to fix the problem, and the state isn't going to put them out of business for it. Just running a story to make them look bad without trying to work it behind-the-scenes first is cowardice. Not running it if they refuse to fix the problems is, too.

I completely disagree with this.

Mr_Master2: I think the reason the writer of the linked article didn't make a bigger deal over the other allegations is because they simply are not important.

I would've spent more time on them instead of being redundant with what the resort's PR people were saying. But, that's just my angle.

If you read the CBS writer's bio, you'll understand my criticism. He sounds like the journalistic equivalent of a cocky artisanal sous chef.