Reader from five years ago: Those who can do, those who can't write the Turner Report

As I was reading back through some past posts, I came across this one from five years ago tomorrow (April 9, 2014). It was written approximately five months after I launched Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries to join the Turner Report.

There was a legitimate question of whether I could succeed in what I was trying to do and the reader who wrote this clearly did not have any faith in my ability to make this news operation work.

I am reposting it both as a look back at what things were like five years ago and a chance to see how much things have changed (and how much they have stayed the same).

Was this guy right or was he wrong? Let me know what you think.

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Randy, it is my sad duty to inform you that in your old age you are becoming somewhat delusional.

The people of Joplin are content with the Joplin Globe and it is probably always going to remain that way. Is it a newspaper that is worthy of that kind of respect? Undoubtedly not, but that is the way it is, nonetheless.







You have been giving it away for too long, People are going to keep telling you what a good job you are doing if they like it and keep reading you even if you don't. It's a blog, not a newspaper. People are not going to spend good money on blogs.

You can't set up any kind of payment structure on your blog because you would lose all of your traffic. The people in Joplin are happy to read the Turner Report as long as they don't have to spend a dime for it.

You are also delusional in this idea that you are somehow making a difference. You hammered on CJ Huff and the board of education for months, yet two of CJ Huff's candidates were elected. That gives me the idea that people may be reading you, but your message is not getting across. You have written umpteen times about Wallace-Bajalli and no one has really cared. They are still here and they are going to continue to be here.

What exactly have you accomplished?

Not a thing.

You are a mild annoyance to the Joplin Globe, a pest, but an easily manageable one for CJ Huff and it would surprise me if David Wallace even knows you exist.

A few years ago, we had a credible challenger to the Globe, the Joplin Daily. It only lasted a year or so and it provided actual news stories. It is gone and did not leave much of a trace. The Joplin Globe remains. You don't have the resources of the company that published the Joplin Daily. You might as well call it a day and stop fooling yourself.

Your constant attacks on the people who have the power in Joplin have prevented you from ever having the chance to attract the money you need to succeed. Challenging Mark Rohr, C. J. Huff, the Joplin Progress Committee and others who have spent their lives accomplishing something while you continue to howl into the wind is an exercise in futility.







I have a feeling that in a few months this idea of expanding the Turner Report will fade away and maybe every once in a while someone will remember that for awhile you were a big pain in the neck standing in the way of Joplin's progress. Some people may remember you with fondness. I would guess that most people simply won't remember you at all.

In conclusion, people are not going to pay for something that you are giving away for free. And if you stop giving it away for free, they are still not going to pay. The Turner Report is a hobby, nothing more, nothing less. It is fitting that you were a teacher, so I will end this way, in Joplin, those who can do, those who can't write the Turner Report.