Is Jeff Gannon news?

[RapidCreek]

This question was recently posted on a blog which belongs to the reporters who work for the Rapid City Journal, a "news" paper out of Rapid City South Dakota, one of two major news outlets in the state. It was posted by Kevin Woster......one of these reporters. I imagine it's inspiration was an email I sent Ms. Denise Ross, of the papers political desk, inquiring why a blog team from Nashua New Hampshire seemed more interested in covering the connections between Gannon and South Dakota election politics than they were. I supplied a link to the blog story to which I speak and challenged Ms. Ross to pursue it. I inferred that, I doubted she'd do anything with it.....and left unstated the reason why. The Rapid City Journal, you see, is instrumental in delivering selective coverage of the news to Western South Dakota, thereby fostering the ignorance which inspires so many on this side of the state to vote against their own interests.

Below is the question posed by Mr. Woster. I implore you to read it, visit the blog and give Mr. Woster your opinion as to whether the Gannon Scandal or the connection of Gannon to the John Thune campaign is news worthy and why; At least as news worthy as Prairie Dogs, at any rate.



Is Jeff Gannon news?

I mean, is he newspaper news, not blogosphere news? And beyond that, is he Rapid City Journal newspaper news?

I’ve been trying to answer that question, off and on, for a week a week or two, as people on various blogs have lamented the lack of “mainstream media” coverage of this story.

I say “off and on” because during that same period of time, I’ve written stories about, among other things, a bighorn sheep die-off in Custer State Park, another mountain lion kill near Johnson Siding, a strange algae that seems to be killing trout in Rapid Creek, a plan to build at multi-million-dollar outdoor learning center in Rapid City and a basketball player who will be charged with assault for an elbow he threw during a game.

Now, I know that stuff is news for the Journal. And that kind of news happens all the time. It keeps me and the rest of the Journal reporters fairly busy. No question we have to cover it.

The Gannon deal? It’s a bit tougher to call.

I think it’s interesting that a phony reporter got White House press credentials he didn’t deserve to throw softball-questions at President Bush. I think it’s interesting, given the Bush administrations stance on gay marriage and “traditional values,” that he turned out to be associated with web sites offering gay porn and escort services.

And it’s certainly interesting that Gannon spent a good share of time last year writing negative stories about former Sen. Tom Daschle and attacking the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and its well-known political reporter Dave Kranz – charging them with being pro-Daschle.

I also think it’s interesting that Gannon supplied information to Jon Lauck and Jason Van Beek, both of whom were on the payroll of Sen. John Thune during his successful campaign against Daschle, for use on their blogs.

That’s no surprise, however. Gannon, Lauck, Van Beek and others were busy trying to pitch stories with anti-Daschle angles to real reporters through much of 2004. That happens during every campaign, with both sides working reporters with tips for news stories to help their candidate and hurt the opponent. Challengers usually work that angle harder than incumbents, who generally would prefer that things not get nasty.

This 2004 conservative charge was the most intense and organized effort like that I have seen, and it relied heavily on blogs for its base. Also unusual was the involvement of this Gannon character, a self-styled reporter with a clear conservative agenda.

Some of the information they pitched was interesting and in a few instances even useful. Most of it was not. Gannon? I wrote him off as a blogger with a concocted reporter’s title and a mean-spirited personality. He didn’t influence my coverage at all.

Still, he has become something of a national news oddity. And he is connected, through Lauck and Van Beek at the very least, to the Thune campaign. So the whole thing probably deserves a closer look.

I’m just trying to decide what the story is for Journal readers and whether I should set aside the stack of waiting stories, and those new ones that arrive almost daily, to chase around on this one.

And I can guarantee you that Denise Ross, our political reporter and the staffer most likely to cover such a story, has more than a full plate in the South Dakota Legislature these days.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t look at the story, or that we won’t. I’m just saying we have other news priorities, and we have to choose. So far, we haven’t chosen Gannon.

It’s not, as Sophia implies, that we are part of the South Dakota news media who is “keeping this secret from so much of the population.”

First, it’s not much of a secret. And second, if it were, what would we at the Journal have to gain by keeping it?

We’re a newspaper. We hate secrets.

Here is a link to the blog

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/politicalblog2/?cat=1

Thanks,

Peace and Inner Harmony,

Rapid Creek

[Big-foot]

1. Well it's certainly interesting

But why is it important to bring up his sexual orientation?

[RapidCreek]

2. Whose sexual orientation....John Thune the Junior Senator from

South Dakota who is cosponsoring "The Defense of Marraige Act" or the male prostitute and pimp Gannon, who made or makes the vast majority of his money servicing closeted homosexuals who marry themselves a beard.

Frankly, I'm not certain of Gannons sexual orientation....I've known several straight male prostitutes who serviced married closeted homosexuals because the margins were so good.

Why is sexual orientation an isseu?....because Mr. Thune has made it the central isseu of his legislative work since he's been in Washington.

One has to wonder what exactly it is he seeks to defend his marraige from...if not, his own desire to marry a man. Certainly the profit margins Mr. Gannon anjoyed would be eroded if gay marraige were legally recognized.


RC

[Goldmund]

3. I actually don't know that he's gay.

How do you know that?

All I know is that he's a hooker. What he is in his personal life I don't have a clue.

[saracat]

9. Because it points to the hypocrisy of the RW.And it discredits them. If

a fake reporter was working for the Democratic Party and was selling gay sexual services, don't you think they would strangle the Democrats with the story? Anderson Cooper raised the issue of his hypocrisy on 360 when he asked Gannon about his web business. And BTW, he has never denied being Gay.It is an issue because the Right says it is .End of story. We must use it.Whatever it takes.

[fishface]

15. Maybe because of the Talibornagains distain of gays

even as the Head Gaybasher Bush employs one to push his propaganda?

Is this too hard for you?

[newyawker99]

30. Hi Big-foot!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[snowbear]

4. Gukert.... Gannon.... Whoever he is...

I tried to post on that site, but it wouldn't take... A message just kepy saying to "try layer".

Oh well. ;(

[Big-foot]

5. I meant the so-called reporter. So now we are calling Thune gay too?

I don't get it. Why out people, or even bring it up?

[RapidCreek]

6. No, I'm not calling him gay....he infers it himself.

Respond to the question I asked you. Are you not able?

What is he seeking to protect his marraige from with his legislation if not his own desires?

Please elaborate...I beg of you.

RC

[RapidCreek]

8. send your thoughts to [email protected]

Thanks,

RC

[RapidCreek]

10. If one seeks to make someones sexual preferances an isseu

they make there own an isseu. Particularily when it is there goal to quell the rights all Americans should enjoy, based upon ones sexual orientation.

As far as Gannon is concerned....I could care less what his sexual orientation is. A whore's sexual orientation generally has little to do with the choice of who they service.....That's why they are refered to as whores. They sell sexual services to those who are willing to pay them the most.....and as I said in my previous post....Mr. Gannons clientelle are more likely than not, married closted homosexuals.

An out of the closet gay man would have little need to patronize a hooker....which I am sure you would be well aware of if you were gay.

The isseu, of course is not whether Gannon is gay....but that he is a whore...both sexually and it would appear politically.

I find it odd that you are attempting to turn this into a thread about homosexuality....since it seems to interest you, I'll happily follow you down that path. I suspect however that you will neglect to afford me the same courtesy I have you, namely to respond to the questions I have asked you.

RC

[RapidCreek]

7. If the blog does not work use this email [email protected]

RC

[Big-foot]

12. You asked me who I was referring to?

And I answered your question, did I not? Gannon, you know, the SUBJECT of the thread. I'm not trying to make this about homosexuality, in fact quite the opposite as I don't see it's relevance. And why did you call Thune gay again? Because you disagree with him? Wow. Maybe he's just passing legislation that the majority of his voters agree with. Which makes him a prostitute also, but that would be thread drift wouldn't it?

[RapidCreek]

14. Here I'll help you out.

What is Thune seeking to protect his marraige from with his legislation if not his own desires?

Please answer the question.

RC

[RapidCreek]

17. The subject of the thread is Gannon as he relates to South Dakota

election politics. Mr Thune, if you are unaware recently unseated the minority leader of the US Senate.....and he did it with the help of Mr. Gannon and his South Dakota operatives.

Mr. Thune made the hallmark of his campaign, what he likes to refer to as family values...a cute term for federally sanctioned abrogation of the rights of those with the fortitude to proclaim there love for an individual of the same sex ....He is currently co-sponsoring legislation aimed at preventing openly gay citizens of the United States from enjoying the same rights he does. In short, he made his own and his cohorts sexuality an isseu when he asserted their sexual preferances somehow threaten his own marital bliss.

Sexual preferance IS an isseu when a politician makes it an isseu....especially his own...particualrily when that politician asserts his marraige is in need of protection from the sirens song of openly expressed gay love. Mr. Thune has made quite clear that he believes openly gay Americans are amoral and at the same time seeks council and promotional services from an individual who is a whore, an amoral avocation by societal standards and openly homosexual, amoral by his own. Mr. Thune is, at the very least, a hypocrit of the highest order and this hypocrasy is rather difficult to address if one seeks to ignore the fact that it finds it's origins in aspersions he has cast regarding sexual orientation.

This disassociation you suggest of sexual preferance from the isseu at hand is akin to discussing the boiling of water without metioning water, heat or steam.

RC

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

11. Great post/thread...

... as an east river South Dakotan, I appreciate someone else noticing the slant in the RC Journal and the mentality of the folks west river. To visit with them, you get it they have a militia mentality that it is all "them" against the world, and the other half of the state.

When reading a RC Journal, after five minutes, I can't help but feel "is that all the news?".

[RapidCreek]

13. You are to kind....

Rightward slant is putting it rather mildly. The Rapid City Journal is a fascist propganda rag masquerading as a Newspaper. The SOB who runs the opinions page has actually refused to print my submissions and attempted to engage me in political arguements via the refusal emails he has sent me.

There editorial content is driven almost without exception by their advertisers and has little to do with anything resempling the ferreting out and publishing of fact.

I used to work for the RCJ and had to quit because I just couldn't look at myself in the mirror anymore, knowing who and what it was I was aiding and abetting.

It's great to see a fellow South Dakotan here on the board. As far as Western South Dakotans are concerned...well I could go on and on. Suffice it to say they don't believe they should have to pay income taxes and at the same time are unaware that for every 1 dollar they do pay, three come back in the form of federal handouts gleaned from the tax dollars of blue states who they claim are waging a war on the west.

RC

[Big-foot]

16. Maybe he's just passing legislation that the majority of his voters agree

There, I made it easy for you by repeating my hypothesis. Call him a political whore and I'd agree. But calling him or anyone else that you disagree with gay is beneath us.

[RapidCreek]

18. First of all....never use the term US when talking to me.....

you don't speak for me and you don't, as far as I am aware, speak for anyone else here at DU but yourself.....so unless you have a mouse in your pocket keep the US's to yourself.

Second....you still did not answer the question I asked....You've evaded it. I don't call people I disagree with gay...because I don't consider ones sexual preferance a gauge of their worth as a human being....unless of course they do....and who am I to argue with that. It would appear from your words, that you do in all cases, however. I call Andy Stevenson, a member here at DU gay, and I agree with pretty much everything Andy has to say. I call the Plaid Adder, another member here at DU gay and I agree with EVERYTHING she has to say. I'd hazard to guess neither would take offense. On the contrary...I imagine both would say..."yea, that's nice".

I'll ask you again...how does preventing Andy or Adder from marrying the people they love endanger Mr. Thunes marraige....or his constituants for that matter. I've posited that the only way gay marraige could threaten Mr. Thunes is the fear that legally recognized gay marraige might inspire him to divorce his beard and marry a man....thus far you have failed to present any other rational.

RC

[RapidCreek]

19. If the majority of his constituancy believed homosexuals should be

exterminated would you defend that as well....or is denying a segment of society equal rights under the law about the limit for you?

RC

[Big-foot]

20. Why does Thune push legislation? I don't know, maybe to get votes?

There ya go. I've presented my hypothesis on his rational THREE times now. In English just like the other two times. You seem to enjoy jumping to extreme conclusions about people. Now you want to argue the merits of gay marriage and GUESS about why he takes his position. Why, he's a politician. Since when do they stand for anything other than getting reelected?

Now this has been fun, but I have other things to do, like sleep.

[RapidCreek]

21. I didn't ask you why Thune pushes the legislation

I asked you what it is he seeks to defend his marraigne from, if not his own desires.....and again you have failed to answer the question and have meandered off into diversions. The bill he is co-sponsoring is called the Defense of Marriage Act. How is preventing homosexuals from marrying defending his marraige? How does the advent of homosexual marraige endanger his own?

You can venture off into the land of diversion and hyperbole all you like...but the fact remains, you failed to answer the question.

RC

[American Tragedy]

23. I think he's just a big government authoritarian who gets off on control

and who feels entitled to invade the personal lives and decisions of other citizens.

It's hard for me to understand, since I really don't care what the hell anybody else does, but then I'm one of those subversive types who tends to favor individual freedom.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

24. Good one...

... glad you found something for breakfast! :D

[RapidCreek]

28. Hehehehe

Nothing like burying your teeth into....well I better contain myself.

RC

[RapidCreek]

26. one more kick

Hey folks....please....send your thoughts on whether or not you think the Gannon isseu is news to the above blog address or email...if the blog does not work. I am not asking you to agree with me...on why it is news....simply that it is news that Western South Dakotans and Eastern Wyoming residents should be presented with. One of the reasons Democrats lose in these states is becuase the people out here are kept ignorant....granted some prefer to be ignorant...but many are just unaware.

Thanks,

RC

[Bethany Rockafella]

31. Us?

[American Tragedy]

22. Yeah, a dead cougar is far more pressing than, uh, national security,

the legitimacy of the press, and the blatant hypocrisy of both local and national politicians. Oh yes. :eyes:

[RapidCreek]

25. kick

Gee I sure hope a few folks taking a few moments and making an effort to inspire the reporters in a state of 689,000 to report the news.

Shaping the views of less than a million people is an easy thing to do....these people have the power to elect two US Senators....and the last election they voted out the Senate Minority Leader...Mr. Gannon's hard work played a fairly major role in unseating Mr. Daschle.

RC

[Moderator]

27. Rapid Creek please read

in the future please limit your snips to 4 paragraphs
as per the Democratic Underground copyright rules.

Thanks

[RapidCreek]

29. OK....sorry

I figured since the material Is not copywrited....and is a request posted by the boards administrator and author for feedback, that the copyright rule would not apply.

I will in the future follow this rule regardless of what I figure...

Thanks for the kindly notification, It's appreciated.

RC