Alas, The Turner Report must be the Rodney Dangerfield of Missouri political blogs.
St. Louis Magazine has released its top 10 Missouri political blogs and this one is not even given an honorable mention.
The list does include the hard working Eli Yokley's PoliticMo blog, also based in Jasper County, but nothing else from this corner of the state.
While I am not going to belittle any other political blog. They all do good work (though it galls me that Rex Sinquefield's Show-Me Institute's blog is on the list, as well as some others don't do any actual reporting or commentary), but I would put these stories that have run on this blog during this calendar year up against any that have been featured on any blog in the state:
Rex Sinquefield and the KKK
Meet Missouri's Newest Education Lobbyist- Michelle Rhee
Shadowy Organization Pays For Hit Job on Peter Kinder
The People We Speak About in Hushed Whispers
Steelman Slogan a No-Go With Lincoln Ladies Crowd
More Stripper Ads Coming Against Peter Kinder
Las Vegas, Beverly Hills Trips Featured on Billy Long's Quarterly Report
Give 'Em Hell, Claire
Akin Breakin' Heart
Emery Message: We Need Guns to Take Care of Obama
ALEC Getting Its Money Worth out of New Speaker of the House
ALEC Expenses Buried in Missouri Lobbyists' Reports
ALEC, Lobbyists for Rex Sinquefield, Michelle Rhee Group Contribute to Speaker of the House
Lobbyists Gifts to GOP Members Attending National Convention Hidden in Reports
Tilley Not Running for Anything, But Campaign Account Pays $3,000 for Meals
Flashback to 2010: Steve Tilley, Now a Lobbyist, Sponsors Bill Banning Legislators from Going Directly to Lobbying
Billy Long Not Fed Up with Las Vegas; Campaign Contributors Have Paid for Four Trips This Year
Obviously, this is just a partial list of Turner Report posts. This has also been the site that has probably printed more campaign news releases, ran more videos, published more transcripts of important political speeches, featured more videos, and probably has done the most thorough job of covering the relationships between big money and politics and the effect politics has on education.
All of this, in addition to continuing to provide coverage of Joplin's recovery from the May 22, 2011, tornado.
I am not saying that I am publishing the best political blog in the state of Missouri, but anyone who doesn't put The Turner Report in the top 10 in Missouri political blogs is not paying any attention.
Hang in there! You're doing a good job between working the political beat (there's never a dull moment in Missouri) and delivering post-tornado coverage, but I can certainly relate to your feelings. These Top 10 lists - hey, it all comes down to "politics" in the end. You apparently haven't kissed enough asses lately.
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, I don't read your blog on a regular basis because it features TOO much politics.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoyed the role you played as Media Watchdog more than Elected Official Watchdog.
I enjoyed it more when you blogged about local and regional TV, radio and newspaper happenings. Who's doing a good job, who's not doing a good job, who's new to the market, who's leaving and why, historical perspective on former media members from this market who have gone on to greener pastures, etc.
Granted, your twist on how you would have done it if you were calling the shots got old, but I did appreciate you calling out the mediums when they fell short and pointing out when they were on target and why.
I also enjoy reading about how media is constantly changing with the technology and how easy it is to spot which local mediums are not keeping up.
Political discussions and blogs are beating dead horses; there is too much to discuss, too broad a topic and frankly, too boring to read about. Before you ask, yes I am a registered voter and I do vote. But I think the time is coming where candidates worth running for public office will not step up and do so because of the pressure, negative connotations and endless crap caught from court of public opinion, blogs and media in general. God knows there is not one elected position in this country I would care to hold right now and since I cannot do a better job than the person doing it now, I chose to be quiet and listen for the opportunity to do my part rather than slowly chop at the infrastructure in place.