A funny thing happened today. Remember my post about the whole "issue" surrounding the holiday party at the W last week? Well, the writer of the article (James Ragland) decided to take some shots at yours truly on the DMN blog. By the way, several people have commented on my post saying the article was silly.
Let's clear something up...
Things that I am:
*A person that is not a journalist, and doesn't want to be a journalist.
*A person that cares about his community with a certifiable record of working to help people.
*Someone that does not need to be certified and doesn't need the approval of anyone who writes for any paper. I find it laughable that people send in letters to the Morning News all of the time criticizing articles, and of all the people that needle the DMN in various forums he decides to take me on.
* A person that absolutely doesn't crave a "stamp of approval" or to be deemed credible by James Ragland. He acted like I attacked his whole life and career because I thought the party was a non-issue. I'm pretty sure that Ross Perot Jr or anyone else can get a meeting with the Mayor without having to have a private party. Perot's rich, he had a party at his house and the entire world wasn't invited. So what. I've needled Perot over the affordability of stores and other things in Victory Park, which was the subject of an article in the Fort-Worth Star Telegram and several other outlets. I've also talked about it in editor's roundtables at the Dallas Morning News offices!
* Someone who has linked to some of Ragland's articles in the past. But he wouldn't know that, would he?
The funniest thing this guy wrote was,
"Mr. Davis might consider getting out of the office himself a bit more, and expanding the universe of people with whom he chats. "Is he serious? I'll leave the readers to contemplate that.
*A person that still thinks it was a stupid article. Again, I'm pretty sure that Ross Perot Jr can't get any more City Hall access than he already has by having a private party. Get real - he built Victory Park, dude.
If people want to take things personal and be sensitive about what I write, that's on them. If he took on Minyard's for an issue like this the way like he took me on, maybe we'd be getting somewhere.
One of my mentors back home always said, "if you don't have any enemies then you haven't done anything that required a tough decision in your life."
I'm not as easy a target as some people think. And you think someone who has been a journalist for so long would have a thicker skin and pick bigger targets.
As I mentioned, a lot of people at the DMN do a great job. If you read the blog you'd know that I shout them out from time to time.
Response written by Shawn Williams of Dallas South Blog: link
Response written by Trey Garrison at D Magazine: link
Now that we got that cleared up, we can get back to more important issues.
4 comments:
Posted at Dallas South
That moves me to the scrum my man Mike Davis of Dallas Progress has found himself in with James Ragland of the Dallas Morning News. I hate to even reference the original article because I, like Mike, didn't think it was a big deal. But look at how Ragland responds on the Belo Blog to a letter Mike wrote to the news .
* Who cares about the party? That's the question that Michael Davis, a blogger wrote in a letter published today.
I may be taking this totally out of context, but the way the word 'blogger' is placed in the sentence seems a little condescending to me. I think it's mostly because I know that blogging is only part of the civic contribution Mike makes. I wonder if Mr. Ragland knew when he wrote this (because I'm sure he knows now), that Mike Davis is a member of the Dallas City Plan Commission? This is the panel his paper reported voting unanimously Thursday to allow the Day Resource Center downtown to open temporarily as an overnight homeless shelter.
* Let's see, I've been reporting on this city for the better part of two decades. I've covered Dallas City Hall and came to know many of the major players there now when they were aspiring to greater roles.
Why do journalists feel the need to whip out their credentials all of a sudden? We get it. You guys went to school to learn how to write and we didn't. You guys write for a living and most of us don't? What does that have to do with Mike Davis and the work he's doing? And my guess is that Mike knows 95% of the folks Ragland listed as attending the meeting in question personally. You don't do that by sitting in an office all day.
* Not sure what Michael Davis' credentials are, (except) that he has a penchant for taking some cheap shots. When he demonstrates a capacity to connect the dots vis a vis government and politics, I may give more credence to what he has to say.
Cheap Shots? Come on Brother Ragland do you even know this dude like that? Have you read one post this cat has written? Did you know that he wrote an article in this month's issue of D Magazine? For the last year and a half at Dallas Progress, Mr. Davis has connected the dots vis a vis government and politics and received praise from all over, including the Dallas Observer and your paper. But in the end, he doesn't need anyone to "give more credence" for him to do what he does.
* Mr. Davis might consider getting out of the office himself a bit more, and expanding the universe of people with whom he chats.
Talk about cheap shots. I guess Mr. Ragland didn't see the piece Channel 8 did on Mike's work shutting down "hot sheet" motels in Southern Dallas. What about how he has worked with the mayor and Dwaine Caraway to bulldoze drug houses? And who chats anymore now that Skype is available?
* He might also consider picking up the phone and giving me call if he a question about something; that's what a real journalist does, especially if he's lacking understanding and context.
This is the blogosphere man! Mike D. is not, nor has he claimed to be a journalist. I'm sure he didn't lack from understanding or context of the original article.
Mike Davis doesn't need me to fight his battles, he's has written his own response to Mr. Ragland. But I couldn't pass up the chance to catch Mike's back, because that's what we should all do for one another. Especially when someone who's worked as hard as Mike D. is questioned as he was at Belo.
Very well put, sir. Keep up the good work you do.
I didn't see your original column, but have to say that I thought the same thing when I read Ragland's rant about not being able to attend the party. It's not even close to an issue.
Ragland appears to be miffed that he couldn't hang out with people in Dallas that actually make a difference...
Thanks for addressing Mr. Ragland in a courteous manner even though he had tried to make your critique of his story personal. People wonder why newspapers are losing circulation and relevance throughout the country. It is simple: the blogosphere is providing information that the people want without getting rote newspaper stories from banal "beat" writers who lack either the time or the interest in doing the research that their stories require. Keep on doing what you do, Mike.
Post a Comment