Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Town hall meeting:Yeah Right - Try Circle Jerk....

Jesus,....What a ridiculous attempt at patronizing those few folks online that Cobler has not already micromanaged into oblivion by way of banning from participation in the forums, or the other chosen few he is giving a daily literary hand job to, to ensure that they remain and sing praises to him. Has anyone taken note of the fact that this "town hall meeting" was announced two weeks in advance? That was I am certain, by design....... For my money, I would like to see all of the banned bloggers and commenters, the "good, bad, and the ugly" if you will, show up at this little get together, and make ourselves heard. I'll say here and now, that I expect this post to remain a work in progress, and be updated or reposted a number of times before meeting day. I also wonder if Paul Tasin will show up as he die at the last "town hall" with his oversized bloody fetus posters. If he does, I hope this time, if Cobler still doesn't show the gonads to take the photos away and trash them, someone else does.

This whole farce of insinuating that Advocate management may actually consider dissenting opinions when plotting a future course for the paper, is enough to make me puke. Looking at my old Advocate copies from 20 years ago, or better yet at today's Chronicle, then opening up today's print edition of the Vicad, illustrates the chasm between a real newspaper, laid out by professional newspaper folks, and a tabloid style trash rag, laid out by bargain basement internet oriented dweebs, with basically no concept or understanding of the community in which they reside. Their idea of diversity from yesterday's to to today's print edition, was to re use the same two thug mug shots as front page material, but to re-arrange all two of them, and "update" the story.

Comparing the online edition to the print edition in their survey, and coming up with remotely similar numbers, tells me they just pulled numbers out of their ass, and served up to us and their subscribers as "fact", and in fact should be considered by everyone that reads it and this as fact, an insult to our intelligence.

As I said, this will be added to and amended, as warranted until I get a good head count of folks who will show up at their town hall wankfest and make themselves heard as a voice of opposition to the way these morons are heavy handedly running and ruining our only source of local print news.

If you would like some further evidence of Cobler's micromanaging style, beyond striking down opposing opionions by banishment, I urge you to track down the most recent issue where the Vicad management was required to disclose ownership and circulation statistics. For the previous twelve months, they claimed a circulation of 31k and change......note please the crossroads population.......

Now for the kicker - for a current circulation, they show 49k.....again with change. Now, I ask of any sane individual who either reads the online edition, or the print edition.......do you honestly think in the last year, that Chris Cobler and his Kansas cronies have really managed to effect a fifty percent increase in circulation of the Advocate? Whether you are euphoric from the smoke blown up your ass, or like me, wanting to see figures and hear the claim made in public and backed up with documentation, I urge you to give some serious consideration to attending the upcoming "town hall" event and make yourselves heard. At worst, it'll be a chance to wipe Paul Tasin's old ass with his obscene anti-abortion posters, and at best, it will be a chance at letting the Advocate management know that not everyone believes the bullshit they are printing daily, and to let them know we'd like our hometown paper back as it was..........
I mean, after all, as Gabe bragged, the meeting is "free admission". Do you think Cobler would have balls enough to check I.D.s at the door, and turn away those of us who have either been banned, or labeled dissenting voices? A best case scenario would be the bigj shows up onstage with his handlers......right?

14 comments:

Edith Ann said...

Check my blog--I am absolutely on board, and I have some questions ready for Cobler to answer in public!

I'd love to see the ex-pats, and their supporters in attendance.

You said everything so much better than I did. Good job!

Edith Ann said...

Check out the mission statement from the Advocate:

Mission Statement
We are our market’s dominant provider of relevant and compelling content.
We delivery timely and accurate information to consumers,
and we deliver targeted audiences to advertisers across multiple mediums.
We value honesty, fairness, respectfulness, and service to our community.

That last sentence is a hoot!

Circulation stats:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 31,927; Wednesday, 32,155; and Sunday, 33,368. We average 3 readers per copy daily and 3.1 on Sundays.

The Wednesday figure is higher because they throw a paper to everyone in Victoria on Wednesday. Free. Even if you have a subscription, you still get an extra copy of Wednesday's edition.

Pilot said...

The 49k plus number I quoted came right out of the Advocate itself. I am looking for a copy of it to reprint it here. On a side note, I have been advised that I need to give the bigj thing a rest....sighs...I suppose I will give it a shot for a while, as I now think I actually may be getting under Cobler's skin a bit with my needling him instead. I was advised as well, that my last banned blog on the Vicad will remain up to comment and post on until I actually sign out. I noticed that too, but it does give me some gratification, to note that it appears that the esteemed Mr. Cobler has someone on permanent "pilot watch", for the sole purpose of nuking my comments and posts, as quickly as I post them. I mentioned a quote from Mr. Cobler regarding "not noticing any complaints about Advocate online policy" in a comment I made, and not only did my comment disappear, but the line I challenged was also edited out of the article. Maybe that's what Gabe meant when he called it a "sweeping" survey - they sweep controversial or negative feedback on their stories under the rug. I am willing to bet that I and possibly others will be turned away at the "town hall meeting" at UHV, or at least, ignored when it comes to question and answer time. I wish I could say that maybe I am overreacting to the Advocate's "progressive new direction", and let it rest, but I have a hard time sitting idly by, and watching what once was a credible, well written and edited newspaper, being turned into a sham and a laughingstock of a print version of Facebook/Myspace/People magazine. I wish that I had e-mail addresses of the principal McHaneys and Roberts decision makers of the Advocate family. I would love to be able to share with them, the blogs, comments, and names of folks who have been unceremoniously banned from posting there, due to a personal vendetta by Chris Cobler against anyone who would dare be critical of his heavy handed tactics and apparent blatant censorship of anything that he considers a negative comment against him or his mid-western "newspapermen" impostors.

Edith Ann said...

I felt important the 2nd and 3rd times I was banned! Kind of notorious. Hey, well behaved women rarely make history. What can I say.

I really think the standard Advocate email will probably work for McHaney and Roberts. Try modeling the address after Cobler's and see what happens.

I want Kenneth to show up, and William Paul Tasin.

I just really find it hard to believe that McHaney and Roberts are 100% okay with this circus!

Sugar Magnolia said...

I swear, and this is no joke, that our Yoakum high school publication, the Bow-Wow, was a BETTER read, and more grammatically correct, than the VicAd. Those kids were on the ball. They made sure their spelling was right, it contained good information, upcoming events, jokes, entertainment, study tips, over several pages. It was a matter of pride to us, and they did a really great job. High school kids! The VicAd can't even write on a high school level! Suspect the "town hall meeting" to turn into a bloodbath, and expect nothing will change as a result. Not until these Yankees pack up go crawling back to their holes up North.

Edith Ann said...

Sugar--Are you serious? The Yoakum HS newspaper is called the Bow-Wow? I'm about to wet my pants! That is too funny.

And of course they did a better job. They were being graded.

CG-23 Sailor said...

I will most definately be there.

I have a few choice words for Cobler. Banning me under false pretenses. Actually lying to ME about the reasons for my ban. Rather than rant and rave like most others, I spoke out clearly and outlined exactly what VicAd did wrong concerning the Oprah Winfrey story(hoax). I guess it's ok to vent about VicAd, but to clearly state where they are wrong that makes sense to other readers is taboo.

Edith Ann said...

Get in line, Sailor--we were all lied to about why we were banned. We all know the truth.

HiEyeQue said...

I remember Pilot and Edith getting banned. I also remember Little Blue Book, CG Sailor, and many others. All of these people have contributed greatly to the Advocate online experiance. Some can be more abrasive than others.
Pilot, you have rubbed me wrong a few times, but all in all you have very good posts and are all well reasoned.
Sailor I remember spoke out often against those who wrongfully and maliciously attacked the police department. To me he got very passionate and somewhat rude at times, but nothing worth banning over. Certain others ganged up on him in a horrible way and then he disappeared. Was it because of Chris? or because of the trolls?

I recently was attacked with a nasty insinuation that I would attempt to kill zorro mearly because I suggested he ought to be banned. Mr. Cobler backed up and excused zorro's comment. How do people like zorro and little j get away with such crap and Chris does nothing about it unless there is some connection between the Advocate and these posters?

Edith Ann said...

Edith Ann never got banned.
LittleBlueBook, SmarteePants and BestyMcCall did, just like
cg23sailor, yumiwhoever, david and soon,HiEyeQue.

Edith Ann said...

BigJ--don't foget to check out my blog at
http://edithann--andthatsthetruth.blogspot.com

Happy reading!

Sugar Magnolia said...

Edith Ann - yeah, I kid you not. The Bulldogs, ergo the Bow-Wow.

Glad I could make you smile. Smiles are hard to come by these days, huh?

Edith Ann said...

Sugar,

I have always loved the 'Bark Loud Bark Proud" signs you see EVERYWHERE during football season in Yoakum. See, that is small town for you. You wouldn't see that in Victoria for anything.

"The Bow-Wow" is hysterical!

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