I’m not going to argue with you.

We are big fans of Independent/alternative media here at Oak Bay Starfish.

The family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks are more welcome to do interviews related to public policy. Unfortunately, they seem to have moved away from asking questions.

Here is a small independent media team out asking questions.

At 10:03 we see that a mesh stunt mask is OK for entry into the facility.

A chance to respond with honesty is met with:

I’m not going to argue with you.

Alternative media is also good about keeping an active comment section up & running. There’s always something to learn or think about from the points others make in the comment section.

It looks like both Whidbey papers have stripped away all comments from past articles, and removed the opportunity to post comments to new articles.

Various newspapers in the Puget Sound area have gone with this trend.

Suppressing comments, getting away from asking questions related to public policy and telling us they need more support from subscription and advertising sales.

Got it.

You can always read letters to the editor.

Manage it, don’t ban it. Online comment sections

If you run a government operation-these are the reporters you want to see on interview day:

In sports culture, reporters are free to ask hard questions and write stories about teams, players, managers and coaches.

After each game, the press has access to coaches and players. All sorts of information is available all of the time.

In government, it is fully understood that people will not have access to complete information through everyday channels.

Ever hear of a Freedom of Information Act Request in sports? How about a denied FOIA request?

Ever see a pro football coach or quarterback refer reporters to his press secretary for answers? Presidents do so on a daily basis. Professionals are hired to provide only the desired version of answers to questions.

Ever see a pro football coach or quarterback refer reporters to a public information officer for answers to questions?

The open attitude about sports reporting does not cross over to stories about the US Dept. of Homeland Security, big drug busts, The Troops, the War on Terror or local water quality impacted by sewage treatment plant outfalls.

JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society: