It's Official: David Sirota's Column To Appear Regularly In Democrat And Chronicle

by: robert.harding

Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 15:28:53 PM EST

Here is the official announcement from the D&C:

For the past couple of months, we've been occasionally running David Sirota's syndicated columns on the Editorial Page. Readers have responded favorably with letters, phone calls and emails. They like what he has to say and the way he says it.

As a result, we're adding Sirota to our stable of regular columnists. Sirota, as anyone knows who reads him, is a progressive who isn't shy about telling readers exactly what he thinks.  He currently appears in newspapers  such as the San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Times , The Idaho Statesman and the Denver Post, with a combined circulation of more than 1.3 million.

We believe Sirota will be a strong addition to our diverse selection of columnists who appear daily on the Editorial Page.

Let me know what you think: Jlawrenc@democratandchronicle.com

David wanted to thank all of you who supported the effort and commented or e-mailed to the D&C asking them to run his column on a regular basis. And for good measure, he said he will do his best to make the movement proud.

We, along with our friends over at Rochester Turning, have been pushing for David's column to be included in the D&C full-time. The D&C needed to expand its horizons and become more diverse. Today's decision did just that.

Sirota's column did appear in yesterday's D&C, which was a sign that something was in the works. So if you are in the Rochester area and subscribe to the D&C, you have something to look forward to reading in the op-ed section.

NY-23: A newspaper editor sees 'Huns at the gates'

by: devtob

Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 10:47:24 AM EST

Congressman Bill Owens has gotten two excellent committees, given that his district includes Fort Drum and 100 miles or so of border with Canada -- Armed Services and Homeland Security.

But here's what's more interesting than all that, to me anyway -- a column by Bob Gorman, managing editor of Watertown Daily Times.

The column is more about media than politics, but it's fascinating in several ways.

Really.

Details, below.

Support David Sirota's Column In The Democrat And Chronicle

by: robert.harding

Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 07:39:02 AM EDT

The D & C is running David's column today and the more support he gets, the better. You might say that this is a "trial run" and that the editorial board is looking at how much interest he gets (just like any of the other columns) before deciding to pick him up full-time.

Here is an excerpt from the column, but make sure you go over to the full version, read it and leave comments of support for David.

The war in Afghanistan poses two important questions: What should be done and who should be "the deciders"?

Congressional Republicans say the answer to the first query is military escalation. But according to polls, most Americans disagree.

At the same time, many experts wonder "whether or not we know what we're doing," as President George W. Bush's former deputy national security adviser said recently. One thing's for sure: The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, says he wants more troops.

Help the cause and go leave some comments for David. This would be huge in this area as we have lacked a real progressive voice in print for some time. Having David's column run in the D & C would be huge and I know that there are a lot of readers in the Rochester area who would read online or pick up the print edition to catch it.

You can also e-mail Editorial Page Editor James Lawrence at jlawrenc@democratandchronicle.com and tell him that you want to see David Sirota's column made permanent.

Anything we can do to get David's column a regular part of the D & C editorial page would be great. So leave your comments, write e-mails and spread the word. It's time for a true progressive voice in the D & C op-ed section.

Sirota In The Democrat And Chronicle? It Could Happen

by: robert.harding

Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 16:12:28 PM EDT

Recently, a column written by progressive voice David Sirota was published in the D & C. It was something I enjoyed seeing, having met David in New York City last year and being a big fan of his work and everything he has done for the progressive movement.

D & C Editorial Page Editor James Lawrence said in a post today that Sirota is being considered for a regular slot in the op-ed section. This would be huge for a number of reasons.

Here is what Lawrence said about Sirota:

After having caught up on my email and voicemail now that I'm back from a week off, I'm catching up on my reading.  Included were online discussions and letters about a syndicated column that ran on Sunday, September 20th.

The piece was written by David Sirota of Denver, who bills himself as a progressive or liberal .  We used him for the first time because his point of view was something different, well argued and well written.  Despite what some  readers may think,  we strive for as much diversity of all kinds on our opinion pages as possible, day in and day out.

The last thing we want to be is predictable. (OK, hold the comments. Predictability is a matter or perception.) Anyway, Sirota is being considered as a regular. I spoke to him before leaving on vacation and he is excited about the prospect of coming aboard as a regular. No decision has been made, but again, he's under consideration.

If you like Sirota's work,  leave a comment here. By the way, I've caught him a couple of times as a talkinghead on CNN in recent weeks.

Help out the cause by leaving a comment (you have to registered) and giving some much needed props to Sirota. Let's make him a regular at the D & C.  

Utah Obama threat guy from NY is mentally ill

by: devtob

Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 22:10:40 PM EDT

The Albany Times Union has a lot more about Daniel James Murray, who the Secret Service (and many police agencies) is looking for after he allegedly threatened to kill President Obama while withdrawing five figures from a Utah bank last month.

According to his father, Murray is mentally ill, and has been in and out of institutions for a decade or so.

This is an Albany-area story because Murray lived in Rexford, just north of Albany, and because the TU's Tim O'Brien did some shoe-leather reporting today.

The Secret Service considers Murray's threat more aspirational than real, but still charged him formally with threatening the President.

Details from the neighborhood, and thoughts about the implications of this story, below.

Corporate incompetence dooms another JRC newspaper

by: devtob

Thu Feb 05, 2009 at 19:08:59 PM EST

About 20 people will lose their jobs, and the community will lose a fairly decent, though much diminished lately, local newspaper.

According to the paper's owner, the execrable Journal Register Co., the sudden closure was due to "the bad economy that has impacted the industry, the region and the nation."

Well, I'm sure that had something to do with it, but so did Journal Register's extraordinary cheapness and incompetence, which led to a steady devaluation of the paper in the almost eight years it's owned it.

Details, below.