She's Grown Up Before Our Eyes

Democratic Representative Betty McCollum bids a fond adieu to some old friends:

Last week, we received news that the Minneapolis Star Tribune's two Washington correspondents will be taking other assignments as a result of the paper's change in ownership. I want to thank Rob Hotakainen and Kevin Diaz for more than 20 years of service each with the Star Tribune and wish them well in their new assignments.

Seems like an awfully cozy relationship between the government and the press there . When the people who are supposed to be afflicted by the press are going out of their way to thank them for their fine performance, you have to get a little suspicious. Let's just say I don't expect to hear reports of Michele Bachmann and John Kline sending cookie bouquets to them any time soon.

But the departure of the current batch of Star Tribune reporters doesn't mean the good times will end for Rep. McCollum and the rest our DFL Congressional contingent:

I and the rest of the Minnesota congressional delegation look forward to working with the Star Tribune's intern, Brady Averill, who will now be responsible for covering the news from our nation's capitol.

I'm sure they do. I must say that's an interesting choice for the Star Tribune in terms of covering our nation's capitol. At the very least, it should make for an interesting business card: Brady Averill, Star Tribune Intern and Washington Bureau Chief.

It seems like only a year and four months ago, Chad and I were perched on barstools at Keegan's getting interviewed by a pleasant, fresh-faced, young journalism student and intern from the Pioneer Press named Brady Averill. No doubt some grizzled yet savvy editor heard a rumor that "blogging" was the next big thing and he dispatched his ablest, most promising underpaid employee (not including Craig Westover), to get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I don't want to rehash all the gory details (which were freshly hashed for you back in December of '05). Suffice it to say, the process and end product were less than confidence-building for the fifth estate. An unfocused, superficial interview yielding an article with errors of commission, omission, and a documented partisan bias. Granted, she was just a student, learning the ropes. And that effort was probably good enough for an A- at the local journalism schools.

She does get bonus points for finding a way to jam in a quote from Media Golden Rolodex Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Professor Larry Jacobs, on why blogs can't compete with newspapers:.

Along with partisanship, credibility is another problem for blogs. There's nothing in the First Amendment about the need for an editor. Bloggers can write anything they want; they can spout fact or fiction. [U of MN Professor Larry Jacobs] advises readers to beware: "There's no gatekeeping here."

That quote of course was the genesis of the NARN sensation "This Week In Gatekeeping" so perhaps we owe her a little bit of gratitude (and probably thousands in royalties once our Showtime special debuts later this year).

My summation of that article written by the future Star Tribune Washington Bureau Chief:

I suppose it's hard to work in any depth or understanding or balance into an 831 word article, which is all Brady Averill is allowed to provide. But it's this kind of easy, cheap lunch the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press have served up for years. This town deserves better from its newspapers.

But that's just my opinion. I'm sure the likes of Betty McCollum will continue to be thrilled.