Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Did anybody count?
Exactly how many local reporters were in London last week? You always here about the budget cuts to TV news departments and about the financial difficulties facing the nation's newspapers, yet they seemed to have no trouble covering travel expenses last week. It was a one time expense, but the same thing happens with Super Bowls, Olympics and all sorts of national and international events that are covered by the wire services. Yet, nobody seems to think those are questionable expenditures for local news organizations that have trouble finding the money to do more in-depth reporting on local stories. No wonder the local media was not only slower than me, but slower than Dr. John and Jeremiah Wright to question how a city that had much more pressing needs could the money for things like Palm trees on Canal Street. No wonder the mayor thinks he can get away with asking for a millage increase.
I'm not trying to be a Scrooge, but I've always objected to providing expensive perks to those that keep their jobs at times when others are in danger of losing theirs. Also, it seems like a bad allocation of resources.
I'm not trying to be a Scrooge, but I've always objected to providing expensive perks to those that keep their jobs at times when others are in danger of losing theirs. Also, it seems like a bad allocation of resources.
