Have no fear, the age of the anti-blogger has arrived

Column for publication in The Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008
Move over, Barry Baker, Chad Moats, Gregg Drinnan and Brian Alexander. Eat your heart out, Arjun Singh. There’s a new blogger in town, and it is me.
Say it ain’t so. After spending more time than necessary to trash bloggers during the past few months, [...]

What if Betty just said no to Tory trashmail?

It’s getting so I’m afraid to look in the mailbox — you never know what you’ll find in there.
Last night, on my way home, I approached our rural mailbox with trepidation. My fears were not unfounded, for, among the bills and new-credit-card offers and assorted other propaganda was — you guessed it — mail from [...]

Foul-mouthed blogger takes run at council seat

Kevin Skrepnek stood on the pier at Riverside Park today, hoping the rain would hold off as he announced his intention to try for a seat on City council in November’s civic election.
He wants, he told a baker’s dozen young supporters and media, to become a voice of “cooperation, consensus and common sense” on council.
Skrepnek [...]

Is this a great media town, or what?

What might be a first appears in today’s edition of The Daily News — a story about a couple of pictures in our competitor’s newspaper. The name of that competitor is Kamloops This Week. There, I’ve said it.
The Kamloops media have long had a fetish of refusing to name any of their competitors. It’s silly, [...]

Rules on MP mailouts in drastic need of tightening up

Armchair Mayor column for publication in The Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Aug. 23
When Betty Hinton’s first election flyer arrived in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, I wondered if she was in too much of a hurry to do her regular householder.
But when another arrived, and another, it was obvious something was up. Turns [...]

Who cares who gets the story first?

I am reminded once again today that we in the media care a lot more about who’s first off the mark with a story than our readers/viewers do. I was listening to CBC radio news at lunch time and on comes Kelowna broadcaster Mohini Singh (who arguably has the most unpleasant voice delivery in all [...]

Welcome to my blog

Bloggers. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t erase ‘em.
I’ve had a few verbal run-ins with bloggers the past few months, and quite enjoy poking a few sticks at them in my column in The Daily News. That might not stop any time soon, but I figure the best way to figure out what blogging is all [...]

City all abuzz about new hotel

Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008
The buzz this week has been all about the city’s newest hotel. Not a Hilton, not a Ramada, but a Sandman.
A Sandman? You mean like those pull-off-the-road-and-get-a-quick-night’s-sleep-before-moving-on type of hotels?
Not at all. We’re talking Signature Sandman, a recently launched brand for Northland Properties, the company started by Bob Gaglardi and now run [...]