
Deb Howell greets Washington Post readers who want more content in the paper with four small words this Sunday morning:
Get over it. Please.
Wow, way to ombuds there, Deb. Don't hurt yourself advocating for the reader or anything. But you make it pretty clear that's not whose side you're on very quickly in today's column, right Deb?
As newspapers grapple with declining circulation and advertising, journalists and business executives are scrambling to give readers a good newspaper in print and online. Even the smartest folks in the news business don't know how the newspaper's traditional economic model is going to support a robust news-gathering operation.
All those smartest people scrambling and grappling robustly is enough to give a gentleman the vapors! Lordy, Miss Howell, I love it when you talk dirty. Especially in defense of your Owners. All those gritty Grahams and Weymouths sweat and grunt as they try to understand the pixel side of the news business. Thank goodness they have you to lead the way!
The ink rubbing off on my hands isn't a bother. I love unfurling Page 1 and leafing through pages for surprises and stories that I didn't know I wanted to read.
Here's some stories I didn't know I wanted to read: the one about Hillary Clinton's cleavage by Pulitzer-winning reporter Robin Givhan. The innuendo-laced story by the now-absent (and unmissed) John Solomon about John Edwards' perfectly transparent Georgetown house sale. The stories all over the media about where Hillary was when the blue dress got stained. The story about John McCain's barbeque at his family's "cabin" in the Sonora desert -- and all the gazillion identical stories scattered throughout major media the very same day.
Are those the stories you didn't know you wanted to read, Deb?
The ink rubbing off on my hands isn't a bother, Miss Howell (well, actually, it is and always has been). What's a bother is the taint of closeness to Village narrative. What's a bother is your fawning adoration for WaPo0nline blog-like appendages like "The Trail" and "The Fact-Checker" that have begun to appear in the paper, and also online, which only serve to reinforce the narrative. What's a bother is that only half as many facts about John McCain have been "checked" as those about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
There are, of course, some teehee moments from Deb that illustrate her steampunk approach to that wacky internet. First of all, she's got a funny understanding of server chow and how hungry the little hamsters in their wheels can become:
Readers miss the daily congressional calendar, congressional votes and the list of Supreme Court hearings. But they're all on washingtonpost.com. You didn't get that late sports score you wanted? It's online.
Cyberspace is free and instant and has no space limits.
Did you know those online-only writers at WaPo0 worked for free? Betcha Dan Froomkin didn't either. And did you know the webmaster who moderates Paul Lukasiak's comments out of existence works for free? And that it's all instant?
Fundamentally missing the point about how those of us who hardly ever pick up a newspaper get our news, Deb also presents this screamer for your twenty-first century enjoyment:
And who wants to sit in an easy chair at night with the fire going and read the news off a computer?
Miss Howell, Miss Howell, pick me, oooooh, pick me!
"With three dogs, watching the Lakers play on teevee?" (Of course, anyone who sits in an easy chair at night and reads the Washington Post is reading twenty-four-hour-old news. Does that matter to Deb?)
But, at the end of her column, Deb decides she wants to encourage those oldsters who don't like her answer "find it online and stop bothering me!"
Readers who aren't online often feel cheated or left behind. Usually, they are older people afraid that they can't learn to use computers. To those readers: You can do it! Readers in their 80s and even 90s e-mail me all the time.
Aww, isn't that sweet and condescending? Kind of the ombuds version of "Got off my lawn!"
In that vein, I have this to say, Miss Howell, about your two-year ombudsing contract: You are in your fifth overdrawn month. You have strayed far afield of the dead-tree paper that is your sole bailiwick, by writing about the dot-com part of the business -- even though we readers are brushed off when we write to you about the dot-com output. Finally, you are telling senior citizens to spend their precious tax rebate checks on new computers.
Won't you just please leave? Thurston wants his laptop back.
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Teddy!
Dang, you’re astride your favorite hobby horse again, eh? Thrashing the Wapoo!
Her face looks starched - and she’s an idiot.
gosh, teddy, do ya think lil debbie clutches her pearls while readying this foul mouthed fem blog or do ya think she has one of the little people do it for her?
Ack! It’s Dolores Umbridge again. Really she needs to read up on the definition of ombudsman. Maybe she’s just ill-informed. /s
Oh snap!
hiya CT~!
She’s well starched, eh, Twain?
Gotta wonder, Suzanne — that “fire going” quote really made me wonder. Is Deb dog-whistling at FDL?
Hi madmom!
Snap back, lilysmom!
she’s not gonna like the firedogs responding to her - but then, maybe that is her point. perhaps she is wanting a response to prove her point that we are all dfh’s.
TeddySanFran! Love your posts.
The woman looks as though she was weaned on a pickle.
Having mastered sycophancy, cornered irrelevancy, dominated bombast, the mainstream media are rushing toward oblivion with the likes of Deb Howell and the rest of the punditocracy leading the way in their little horse and buggies.
Every week, I try to remind Deb in her comments section that we are watching:
She’s a glutton for punishment, M’dear! She reminds me of Shrub uttering; “Bring it on…”
Weaned on a pickle! I love it.
dugg, teddy. excellent post
Hi suzanne.
Hey Teddy, fine post once again. Specially liked the comments you left her on the Post website. Problem is that she probably will never be able to log in.
Bwa-ha-ha!
Great post, Teddy.
Thanks.
she must really dislike you, teddy. hehehehe
I doubt she’d be savvy enough to know FDL, Teddy.
The thing that struck me is her comment,
Like the traditional economic model is supposed to work forever and forever? No wonder they are going under. Ya gotta think up something new, ya know, Debbie! The world is not your oyster, no matter how hard you clutch those pearls!
Shame her. Disgrace her. Embarass her. Run her out of Washington. Flood the switchboard, faxes, emails, letters. Enough of Deb Howell. She’s a howl alright.
I really think you’ve reached your ombuds sell-by date when you resort to “Get over it. Please.” as a response to reader inquiries. The lady is tired.
And it shows~
I’m just thinking about Josh at TPM winning the Polk for bringing the DOJ attorney scandal to light. Where were the Post’s reporters.
Aren’t THEY paid to unearth these things, they are after all, oh so very serious professionals.
God help them. If they did that they might miss out on the next Repub sponsored food fest.
As the British would say, “Gits”.
Dayam, Teddy. Picked some mighty ripe (if the aroma is any clue) fruit there, buddy. Speaking as an aging boomer who almost never reads print journamalism (I like the thrill as the juice passes through you when you pick up the electronic version), Ms. Howell can please to shove her head the rest of the way up her ass (and take her elitist, GOP enabling paper with her).
May I post a link to this thread over there? Just asking…
But Teddy’s posts about her are so much fun - we need her to stick around. :)
“Little horse and buggies…” Oh, Hugh, you crack me up! And I love your writing.
Something is happening here and you don’t know what it is, do you Mrs. Howell?
I resemble that remark! 8-)
Has The Onion ever put that face and hairdo to use?
Teddy would be bereft if she did leave…! ;-)
Does she have a Thurston? Can we call her Lovey?
This is not a good century for Deb. She’s still grousing about having to learn how to use a computer and the fact that her 5 year old grandson still has to show her how to send stuff to Print.
Hi Q!
The comments section behind her wee column is dwindling away — there are only five comments tonight, after the column’s been online for about thirty hours.
She used to get at least one “attagirl” from some poor deluded soul, but not so much anymore. I guess this is the level of ombudsing WaPo management, including new publisher Katharine (II) Weymouth wants. Little Donnie has turned all the reins over to her, including Teh Online, so Froomkin better watch his step! *g*
The bad thing with the Wapo online version of the news is that I just can’t seem to line my cat’s litter box with it like I can with the paper edition.
lil debbie did not mention froomkin once in that drivel she called her column.
oh, i think jane (with help from friends like teddy) may have made a bit of an impression.
TEDDY,TEDDEEE,Teddddddeeeeeeeee,great post….the gulf between the punditz/msm….and normal curious news readers is amazing! just amazing!
See, there really is a good use for the dead-tree version of the WaPo!
Just call Little Debbie’s grandson and he will tell you how to print it out.
Somehow, though, I imagine the next ombudsthing might provide a more worthy target — and would provide a corrective on the institution itself! Though letting Deb’s contract extend itself without comment seems to indicate the kind of ombudsing they prefer. Especially since WaPo reporters no longer reply directly to any of her inquiries — she has to go way up the ladder when covering a specific story.
So she doesn’t do that anymore, just yells at readers, “Get over it. Please.“
hey marymc! How’s things?
and yet she calls us shrieking harpies
Dang, that was an ancient post written in cuneiform…! *g*
Things are good. Things are happening.
How are you Miss Mad?
i just grabbed the link to one of the first ones i found. there were a lot of them at that time.
She’s mad as heck, and, she’s not gonna get over it…! *g*
This might be a fun chatz tomorrow:
Same as usual, running about like a loon. Trying to get everything done and always seeming to fall a bit short. How are your travel plans?
CT-that’s right, and don’t you forget it, mister :0)
NYT article: In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop
snip
To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.
I will be in LA and (omfg) MS on the 18th. Want to do lunch or somethin.
Oh my! I love those flashbacks.
Wow, no kidding! Considering that it is JP Morgan using those tax payer funds…!
I can’t link….that NYT article is in the technology section.
we put it in the news box early this morning.. here’s our link
oh, ok.thanks Suzanne.
glad to help out, ccmask :)
In the immortal words of Barry White, “Too much of anything ain’t good for ya, baby.”
marymc-shoot me an email with a contact number so we can try to get together!
Teddy, I think it would be good fun if you could take over Deb’s job. Shake things up a bit over there.
Let’s see. Bloggers die. People die. People die usually when they are older. These bloggers were in their 50’s and 60’s. Not ancient. Not young. Blogging didn’t kill these people. Life did.
hahahahahahahaha
yes i like dark humor
Hah, shake things up… He’d be a 9.5 on the Richter scale…! *g*
I don’t think that the powers that be would approve of that. After all, the job is to give the appearance of caring about substance, integrity, and honesty, not actually doing it.
OH Teddy!!!! I love this post- Kudos, Teddy. oh, it is dripping with snark, and wow, did you ever get it right.
Course you did! You have been a WaPo watcher ever since when. Howell has given cause for a lot outrage at FDL especially, ever since her debut! Gosh, I wish I could get paid to say the stupid things she does.
I FBed you.
I am a left handed, southern scorpio. Darkness is in my bones.
just like with the boosh administration, its all about the appearance without actually doing anything.
Nice work, Teddy.
Thanks for trying to keep Howell accountable. It is not a job I would want.
Thanks, VG, knowing you to be a connoisseur of snark, that’s high praise indeed.
Gee, I’m a left-handed scorpio and I can’t bowl worth a shit.
Who will ombuds the ombuds?
We’d be much better off if they didn’t do anything…
Got it, and back at ya.
ABC news is reporting that the Olympic Torch Relay in London was swarmed by protesters…! Wait till it gets to SF…! *g*
That is because your mind is in the gutter.
In effect, Teddy has become the WaPo readers’ (volunteer, unpaid) ombudsman in charge of riding herd on the WaPo’s (official, paid) ombudsman. It is a sad commentary on today’s journalism that they would need one.
Good evening dear friends. Hi Teddy. Photos now available from Gnome de Plume’s birthday party.
should i get my mind outta the gutter and on vacation?
Wow, Teddy! You posted that comment while I was drafting my comment 78! Do I owe you a Coke, or something?
woohoo, thanks tex
Think I will toddle off. Another grueling week of student abuse ahead of me and I have my talk on Gender and Identity for the Lambda Alliance’s Campus Pride Week on Tuesday. Take care and enjoy the gourmet quality snark.
g’nite dr (pause) dick - enjoy corrupting the young minds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....008.china3
That column mug shot makes her look like she has a stick up her ass.
hehe heh heh
If I roll over on my back, I can say things are looking up.
Aloha, DD! Howdy, Tex!
Buncha DFHs!
Love the Jane Austen action figure/flying monkeys cake.
Hi Betsy, looks like lotsa fun.
tex, that was a great birthday crown for gnome. looks like ya’ll had a lotta fun
teddy, newton posted this a few nights ago. covet!
A great time was had by all, especially the young man who caught a fish and got grandpa to take it off the hook for him.
That cake rivaled the ones you bring us sometimes at Late Nite (hint, hint….)
Weened on a pickle still has me laughing. Should have come with a spew alert!
My daughter brought the crown. My sister, who sent the Jane Austen action figure to me, used to have her kids make crowns for birthdays, but they’ve outgrown it and send me flying monkeys instead.
Saw one like that in the ‘hood the other day, but with BDSM
Aren’t there some cuties there.;)
Looks beautiful!
Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time! It is a favorite and cherished comment my Granny used to make when dealing with crab-asses.
What a beautiful place! Looks like everyone had a great time, including the ducks!
Happy Birthday!
Off to dreamland, night y’all!
Suzanne sent me a bunch of Russian cake pix. Whoever made these used great care and spent a tremendous amount of time on them. THIS ONE is drink and cake all in one.
I’ll stick with the DFH sticker for now. But thanks for letting me know that there are other options. 8>)
sleep well madmom!
Aloha, MM!
I’m not sure I would want to eat a cake like that. Who knows where they got that silver paint . . .
my hungarian born and austrian trained baker step-father sent them to me.
Whoa, that looks just like pepsi cases…!
Would you eat this one? Must be for dentists.
From the article:
Wow. Beijing provides security guards…