st pete times: celebreality trumps election
In a St. Pete Times article called “Did voters send message?,” reporter Aaron Sharockman says “It’s hard to draw any solid conclusions” from the recent St. Pete City Council elections because only 14,500 votes were cast out of a city of over 150,000. I think I can draw a conclusion: The vast majority of St. Pete residents don’t give a flying ratzass about who is running their city, or what they will do.
Frankly, I hope they vote to shut down Albert Whitted and turn it into a giant Wal-Mart, I hope they evict the
You’ll deserve it. Sticks writer Judy Hill says exactly that because LESS THAN 10% of St. Pete voted in the election last week. But the hometown newspaper isn’t helping.
Before the race, the Times said that “budget decisions made by the St. Petersburg City Council are as important as ever.” Unfortunately, they are not showing that with their coverage. Take a look at the TampaBay.com Politics page - Presidential race, Politifact (national), National stories, State stories, then Regional stories for Hillsborough, Pasco, and then Hernando. Then a listing of Presidential candidates. Hey St. Pete Times, how about actually covering the race in the city you are named after? How about an editorial lambasting the public for their apathy?
Instead we get a special report on Nick Bollea: Fame, Fast Cars, and Fate Argue if you want that they are pandering to the masses - that this is what audiences want, but is it really? Or have they just made it easier? True enough, at noon on Friday 9 Nov 2007 the “most commented story” on TampaBay.com is “Bollea punishment not a sure thing” and “Hogan’s son charged in crash” is at the top of “Wednesday’s Top 5,” so maybe that is what you are more interested in. But then again Ol’ Nick was the big pic story on the home page http://www.tampabay.com/ on Friday, and on Wednesday I got a “breaking news” update that Bollea was gonna be charged.
(the East Side Newspaper also has a special report, Hogan’s Son, and I got THREE breaking news reports about Nick Bollea on Wednesday. Their election results are buried in a story on the “Suncoast News” (Serving Pinellas County for Thirty Years) site that simply lists the winners in St. Pete, Largo, Polk County, Auburndale, Sarasota County, Venice, and Manatee County)
On Thursday, a Times editorial mentions the low turnout, and says the election should be moved to another date. I say the newspaper is not doing a good enough job in explaining the importance of local politics, how you are affected, and why you should be interested enough to cast a vote.
Tags: elections, newspapers, politics, sptimes, st pete
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November 13th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I think it is pandering to the masses to give us nonstop coverage of Britney, Bollea and OJ. This is not news in my book. I subscribe to the SPT and did not see much about the elections. Why didn’t they do a sample ballot as a half page in a section? That would draw attention to the candidates and election dates. In this time of big media consolidation and hearings before the FCC about it, it certainly does scare me that SIGNIFICANT issues and news in this country are relegated to small spaces or lack of coverage at all.
I am very concerned that our citizens in this country do not bother to become informed on issues that will affect them here and in Wash. DC which will affect them here. Then they don’t bother to vote because it would disrupt their schedules or they just aren’t interested and think their vote won’t change anything. There are countries in this world today that DO NOT allow elections for their citizens to have a vote or voice. Enough said!
November 13th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
“Frankly, I hope they vote to shut down Albert Whitted and turn it into a giant Wal-Mart, I hope they evict the Devil Rays out of the Tropicana Dome, and turn it into a homeless shelter, I hope they blow up The Pier and turn it into a coral reef, I hope they http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/07/Columns/Pigs_fly_Okay__but_de.shtml build a fifty story condo tower in Old Northeast, and I hope they slash (or triple, whichever you fear more) the police and fire departments’ budgets, and vote themselves an annual 20% pay increase.”
You sound like an assh*le, Tommy. What is going on here?
I get the vanity blog concept(obviously), but aren’t you trying for something a little different? There are better ways to make your point.
Which, frankly, I never quite caught, because your vitriol (and its resultant sh*tty editing) got in the way.
I’m actually disappointed.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Rachel*, as one who wields words to get a reaction, can you not recognize the same from Tommy? He’s responding to voter apathy. What would you say to get people off their asses, and how would you say it?
November 13th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I got more of a “Howard Beale” feeling from that paragraph.
Today, voters continue to be apathetic. And tomorrow, newspapers will continue to pander to the least common denominator.
And in the near future, we’ll dismiss the local newspaper as not much more than the Weekly World News.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I am very happy with the election results.
Those who run the city, the Chamber of Commerce, the newspaper, Mel Sembler, were counting on a low turnout.
I bet they were planning to ask the brand new council for a new stadium at half a billion dollars. But now we have a couple of new members who are a lot more careful with our tax money.
I hope the powers that be will look to compromise with new voices on council.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Sorry to disappoint you, Rachel*. But I’m irritated.
NINE percent showed up to the local election over there in the ‘burg. NINE. One of every eleven of you.
The other ten of you cannot bitch if they should sell your city down the river. And if that is what it takes to get those ten involved, I’m all for it.
I may be an asshole, but I’ll take that over apathy any day.
Plus, thanks for pointing out the bad edit. It should be fixed now.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
tommy, i am very disappointed in your tone. i come to this site for a witty look on life, but your childish diatribe has definitely affected my perspective on your outlook.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Hey Come to Tampa Town for apathy. Our illustrious Mayor picks dollars off our tree’s, and keeps on spending. We the people face ridiculous Taxes and Insurance, poor roads, poor schools,etc, etc but wait a light at the end of the tunnel, we have a Stadium??????? Our City Council and City Commissioners vote only for their own profit, and so on and so on……oh yes, we vote and we vote, and the same kind of people replace the people we voted out. The almighty dollars wins again! So who cares anymore. Patricia, Tampa Florida
November 14th, 2007 at 9:44 am
The problem is ignorance and apathy… . Not just the local area but the whole country is fixated on celebrity worship and sports. When you can combine them, it’s heaven. Nobody pays attention to the things that really affect our lives. Both local papers are a farce when it comes to covering the important news. I think it says it all some days when both local papers headline the result of some some sports contest. We get exactly the kind of government we deserve.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Well put, and absolutely safe! You’ll alienate almost no one, since almost no one in city government is web literate. Oh, and did the initiative to change the city’s name to “Stoopidburg” pass? I couldn’t be bothered to check.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
St. Pete is filled with lots of stupid people, so is every other city in this country. Maybe the SP Times believes that what is going on in the Federal Government is more important than what goes in our local government. After all, we are being lead by a few A-Holes who are following the direction of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, in otherwords there is a country that is guiding our president and its not the USA. Google it and check out there aggenda. Local Government shouldn’t have to be advertised, if you are American you know, you where taught in school about it. St Petes problem is there are not enough AMERICANS here. Not even my own family is from this country, and they still vote and PARTCIPATE in the local government. People this is not the Federal Government your vote really does count, and the only way to get our votes to count once again is to start locally.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
The problem as it relates to the situation of what was written is not an isolated incident in government at the local level. I wrote a note to myself two months before the coronation of the new Governor that there would be backslapping and shady deals in the sunshine state in violation of the sunshine law.
The locally elected officials who were wearing those spiffy new uniforms that were given to them by the Devil Rays would have been ok if everyone in attendance was given one. Have you ever priced those little gems? Well over the $100 dollar mark not to mention personalized and the rest of royal treatment that was doled out by the organization.
Now the organization wants to spend money from the development of the property under the Dome (superfund clean-up site). All this and you would think they own the place. Well they don’t it belong to the residents of the county, and the fact that they are even entertaining the idea of filling in even one inch of the bay is just another slap in the face.
So why did the St. Pete Times not give much mention to the local election? Probably the same reason they never published any of my editorial comments, because the only change they want is my thirty five cents.
Well that is not entirely true they want to change things for their benefit and they have received several tax breaks and incentives to do just that.