DiStaso returns online this Thursday

Interesting (n/t) (0.00 / 0)

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 07:03:33 AM CST

Sponsorship? (4.00 / 2)

Chuck Douglas is an active behind-the-scenes player in NH GOP politics. This really doesn't pass the smell test.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry Truman

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by: Peter Sullivan @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:51:22 AM CST

Republicans wanting to keep (4.00 / 3)

DiStaso's column influential?

Shocking.

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by: Dean Barker @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:01:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

A good argument could be made that the Monitor sunday political column has been ghost written by the Republican State Committee since Laurie Dorgan left. (4.00 / 2)

While people on BH are bothered by the fact that DiStaso apparently writes more articles about republicans, at least he writes them all in an impeccably factual manner.

Today's Monitor column has a series of items attacking Paul Hodes and the NHDP on health care before veering to swoon over Judd Gregg's inconsequential visit to the White House last week. It is hard to imagine how a GOP spin meister would have written any of them any differently.

Now the Monitor has a new columnist, and it's more than reasonable to allow a new political columnist a period of time to develop the contacts and experience necessary to write a column that goes beyond snarky attacks delivered wrapped in a bow from the communications offices of both parties.

In the interim however, it is a good thing to have DiStaso's column back on line. It was a smart thing for Chuck Douglas to do, but I wonder about the wisdom from the point of view of the UL and Drew Cline, who is nothing if not smart.

Chuck is a player, and not really so much behind the the scenes. When DiStaso now discusses a race (primary or general) in which Chuck Douglas is backing one of the candidates, wont the other candidates supporters (Democratic or Republican)question the impartiality of everything written.

Newspaper need to figure out a way to pay their reporters and they need to be innovative in doing so. In this sense the UL experiment is welcome news to those who enjoy reading political columns; however, perhaps a better model would have been to seek out a broader range of supporting patrons.

In the meantime however, I will enjoy reading DiStaso again and thank Chuck Douglas for stepping up to the plate to provide it.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 14:23:28 PM CST

[ Parent ]

somebody gonna sponsor Pindell? n/t (4.00 / 1)

"Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does." Allen Ginsberg

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by: JonnyBBad @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 15:01:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'm gonna sponsor the Emperor (4.00 / 2)

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 15:15:51 PM CST

[ Parent ]

This is sort of like the paid obits - (4.00 / 1)

People still complain, a couple of years after the policy started, about the Sentinel charging for obituaries that go beyond the basics.

I guess the UL is adopting a similar policy.

News of the personalities in the state GOP, previously brought to you free by John DiStaso, are really of interest to only a small community. We'll carry them online, but only if somebody pays.

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by: elwood @ Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 18:36:49 PM CST

[ Parent ]

A little different I think (4.00 / 1)

 It would be the same if there was a sponsor for all the obits (Jones Funeral Home or a local cemetery perhaps)instead of each "user" paying.

One way or another papers are going to have to figure out a way to generate income or they will vanish; which raises the question of who then will pay to cover the news that we need to keep government honest-- who is going to cover all the town meetings, city council meetings, who is going to go to legislative hearings on a regular basis etc. Who is going to do the in depth investigative reporting  like that which brought us the "Pentagon Papers" etc.

While I dont know the answers to these, I am pretty sure we wont have to worry about who will cover the Tiger Woods of the future.  

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Mon Dec 14, 2009 at 07:34:33 AM CST

[ Parent ]