Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Imperial Valley Press Apologizes for Sick Cartoon Villifying GOP Candidate and Iraq Vet Nick Popaditch

From editor Brad Jennings at Imperial Valley Press, "Cartoon Not Meant to Offend."

RTWT.

It's a weaselly apology, or an admission of stupidity. And while attempting genuine humility, this part toward the end still comes across as blaming:

Photobucket

I called Popaditch on Monday and apologized to him. He accepted that apology with much grace and didn’t appear to be that offended by the cartoon himself. We will continue to cover this race for Congress, and Mr. Popaditch has my assurance that we will be fair in our coverage of him.

Ultimately, I don’t want this to become a story about this newspaper, which has a long history in the Imperial Valley, personally attacking a candidate who happens to be a war veteran. Sadly, I see that this has been e-mailed around to partisans who are trying to make this some kind of rallying cry. I am getting calls from conservative radio and bloggers who are apparently trying to make this more than it really is. That is politics in 2010 America.
My sense is that a sincere apology doesn't condemn those who've been offended. And while Popaditch may have been a class act in accepting the apology, this kind of stuff leaves a bad taste in the mouths of activists, and if it were me I wouldn't quickly turn the other cheek.

But hey, it's hard out there for a journalist. Jennings, dude, suck it up.

Michelle has more, "Mocking War Hero Nick Popaditch: A Teachable Moment."
at

1 comment:

  1. DennisJuly 13, 2010 at 5:33 AM

    One of the jokes going around about the media which in its way speaks to what the "media" has become:

    A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a
    little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her
    by the collar of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.
    The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion
    square on the nose with a powerful punch.
    Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.
    A reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter addressing the Harley rider says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I've seen a man do in my whole life.'
    The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was
    behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt
    right.'
    The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a
    journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page...
    So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you
    have?'
    The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.'
    The journalist leaves.
    The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed
    brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:
    ________________________________

    U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH

    ________________________________
    That pretty much sums up the media's approach to the news these days.

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