Detailed reporting and meaningful comments here:
Gamble backfires as Mariners lose to Angels 4-3 in 10 innings
“It was a risky play made by a desperate team that is well aware of its run-scoring issues over the past month and the current fight for a postseason spot that felt like an inevitability in June.”
What to do about Felix Hernandez after the Angels thrash the Mariners 11-5?
Reporters are free to ask hard questions and write stories about teams, players, managers and coaches in sports.
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.
Big drug busts
News video:
I-Team Exclusive: Inside Coachella Valley raid Operation ‘Narco Navigator’
The story is always reported as a big success. Zero questions asked about why cartels are somehow able to move product past National Guard Troops, strict post 911 security protocols and federal agents manning a $40.6 billion US Dept. of Homeland Security- before the drugs end up in Hometown, USA.
US Dept. of Homeland Security
Operation Macho Swagger & Port Angeles Heroin
2011-
Newspeople play the role of federal public affairs personnel during Operation Macho Swagger– a ride-along to let us know what is being done to keep the southern edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca safe from B.C. incursions.
2013-
Heroin epidemic gripping Port Angeles
2015-
Port Angeles residents fed up with heroin problem
Has Port Angeles CBP been able to intercept any inbound meth or heroin? Even one time?
Newspeople, reporters and journalists are free to ask basic public policy questions and post updated reports at any time.
Has anyone ever seen the press question the Port Angeles Border Patrol/CBP on their role in keeping heroin out of the Puget Sound area?
US Border Patrol, Port Angeles, WA
Secret arrest statistics, denied FOIA requests, heroin in the community, no cross-border USBP arrest in more than 8 years, and zero questions from the press.
Are fraudulent overtime claims still the norm at Port Angeles?
Border Patrol whistleblower pays price for refusing overtime pay
If you run a government operation- these are the reporters you want to see on interview day:
More here: News tip/story idea
Each year, at the Super Bowl, the US Dept. of Homeland Security promotes their own image Re: preventing criminal activity. Why do these impressive capabilities fail to keep meth and heroin trafficking cartels from moving product into the US?
The Troops
Local paper in a military town-
About two years ago, hometown pride was running high when they posted:
“For the past couple of years, the Whidbey News-Times paid the insurance for the Veterans Day Parade, about $200, because it was a small way of saying thank you to the men and women who sacrificed so that we may have our liberties, including our Freedom of Speech.”
Were US troops sent to Vietnam so that Americans could be free to send letters to the editor?
Is there any case in which the US Armed Forces have been sent to distant lands on a mission to protect freedom of speech?
Is protecting freedom of speech even part of training scenarios?
War on Terror
The people of Connecticut need services in Kuwait and Afghanistan:
CT National Guard Members Deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan
The people of Arizona need services for a year in “…Kuwait, which is near Iraq…”
Girl who cried ‘dada’ reminder of sacrifice at ceremony for 400 soldiers deploying to Kuwait
Did any newspeople show up to ask questions about undeclared/unwon wars that never end?
If The Troops were an NFL team, sports talk radio would feature comments like:
The Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911. We haven’t won a war since.
17 years after 911- we see that life wasn’t meant to change after the big Saddam Hussein/Osama bin Laden takedowns.
September 1st, 2018 The Washington Post:
Why you might soon undergo a body scan to ride the subway or bus
“An added layer of protection like this makes terrorists think twice about strapping a bomb to themselves,” Denver-based security consultant Autumn Harris said.
Ms. Harris has the final word. Zero follow up questions from the press.
Newspeople fail to ask:
What stops suicidal bombers from blowing themselves up just short of the crowded screening checkpoint?
Local water quality
June 15, 2018 South Whidbey Record:
“Mucking about in clamming class”
“Last year, signs went up closing the waters around Penn Cove to any shellfish harvesting because testing revealed high levels of paralytic shellfish poison. The biotoxin can potentially lead to fatal paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans if consumed.”
“The Penn Cove ban has since been lifted.”
South Whidbey Record, which Penn Cove beach would you recommend for clam digging?
Image above:
Washington State Dept. of Health image updated June 16th, 2018.
Source: Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
View Penn Cove water quality for clam digging using the Dept. of Health map at the bottom of this page.
Love to see newspeople get out and ask questions about why:
“This beach is within the closure area for a sewage treatment plant outfall and is unsafe for recreational shellfish harvesting.”
Sounds like the sewage treatment plant is sending unsafe product into Penn Cove?
“State Dept. of Health cautions that Clams,Oysters and Mussels from this beach are not fit for human consumption at any time.”
More here:
Temporary Kitsap Wastewater Spill
Sports has tended to be a more honest part of American culture. Lately, well known players are involved in a marketing campaign featuring Salute to Service TV ads to fix the glorification of military service messages in our minds.
Undeclared/unwon wars that never end?
0:24
The purpose is to protect our freedoms:
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Photo- Port Townsend Ship Canal
