www.phillygrrl.com: “Keep it Local, Keep it Stupid”
I get trade magazines. I really do. You have your fellow businesses that you’re trying to reach. It’s all one big cozy industry and everything stays in the family. But this particular trade magazine, Philly Ad Club’s Ad News happens to land on my desk every month so I assume they have some sort of a larger audience that they happen to know reads the thing. Today I opened up to the guest editorial written by one Michael Gillespie Jr. The piece started out fine, quoting Jefferson and his “Given a choice between a free government and a free press, I would surely choose the latter.” Cute, cute. Then Gillespie went on to discuss the closing of The Philadelphia Bulletin. Okay, fine. And then he talks about how the Bulletin would’ve survived if only it had Brian Tierney.
Stop the presses. Brian Tierney? The same Brian Tierney who as a PR man for the Philadelphia Archdiocese tried to ruin the reputation of Philadelphia Inquirer reporters whose stories showed the Archdiocese was wasting funds and covering up sexual abuse scandals? The same. The same Brian Tierney who justified the hiring of John Yoo? The same. The same Brian Tierney who gave himself a gargantuan pay raise whileat the same time that his papers are going bankrupt and his employees have their pay cut?
The same. The editorial’s purpose is clear, to encourage ad agencies to advertise in Tierney’s papers. Or as Gillespie so eloquently writes “Let’s help Tierney save his business and our society.” Okay, no problem with that. As long as you’re straightforward about what you’re trying to do. (Which makes sense considering Tierney is your buddy in the Philly Ad Club’s Advocacy committee.) Nothing wrong with helping out an old friend. And you correctly point out that “Brian Tierney is a Philadelphia original.” Okay, but so was the Unicorn Killer. Big whoop. And it makes even more sense when you consider that Tierney is heading up his new campaign, “Keep it Local,” which asks Philadelphians to maintain their loyalty to the Inquirer/Daily News. (Or as I like to call it “Keep it Local, Keep it Stupid.”)
But what galls me even more is that Gillespie (or the poor copywriter who had to write this piece), harps on and on about “real journalism.”
Yet, we hear on the radio; read on Drudge; skim through a blog, and think we have the news. We have developed new terms like Swift-boating and birthers. We need vetted, trustworthy journalism if we are to save the society with which we have become accustomed. Drudge does not provide News. Really!
Wait, so if that’s not where we can get real news, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News are? Gimme a break. Show me a well-informed person in Philadelphia who relies solely on these papers for their source of local/national/internation
