Virginian-Pilot publisher to work for Obama
By Brian Kirwin | Friday, September 23rd, 2011 | PoliticsWonder why people think the media has a liberal bias…….
“President Barack Obama intends to nominate Maurice Jones, the publisher of The Virginian-Pilot, to become deputy secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the White House announced Friday afternoon.”
Jones, who had also worked for Bill Clinton and Mark Warner, frequently sat in on endorsement decisions between Republicans and Democrats. (We all know how they go, don’t we?)
But he gets to be the publisher of the “unbiased” Virginian-Pilot long enough to get employed by …………….ohmmmm…..The Great One!
I wonder what Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb will say about the nomination of the Publisher that helped them get elected.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
Comments
17 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot publisher to work for Obama"
Maybe he is unknowingly telegraphing that there are even more and deeper problems with the continued decline in VP readership?
http://blog.vivianpaige.com/2011/09/07/jones-beating-the-defense/
Can’t help but think how great it is to see a native Virginian getting stuff done for the nation. And a H-SC man to boot. I’ve met him a few times at school functions. Great guy who will make us proud.
The left had a plan and executed it. Take over the media academe/schools and wall Street. Conservatives did what with their time? Reminds me of the ant or maybe the termite and the grasshopper.
Anyway will BK join the Chris Christie campaign? Enquiring minds want to know.
What is Patrick Kennedy doing since he drank his way out of the House of Representatives? He’d make another another “nonpartisan” Pilot Publisher.
Great.. send the ED of a failing paper to work for a failing president.. Must be good for building a resume or something.
“Great.. send the ED of a failing paper to work for a failing president.” — is the paper failing? What has Mr. Jones done to adjust to the changing industry? On the changing face of journalism and the newspaper business, Bob Gibson, Executive Director of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, recently said: “I think our journalism and our politics are changing at an ever-increasing rate. The rapid change in journalism is very unsettling to the business. They are finding new business models that can work for newspapers in the internet age. Radio and television are also cutting back as advertising has shifted. They have to find working business models. They’ve also started cooperating with non-profit groups…. I think new partnerships are going to change the way the media is covering the news and the way the platforms are for reporting the news…. Everyone is trying new business models because old print newspaper empires will die if they view themselves as old print newspaper empires. They are either in the news business or in the newspaper business, and if they are in the news business they will adapt a new business model and survive. If they are in the newspaper business, they’ll just go out of business.” (Gibson appeared on the Charlottesville, VA, politics interview program Politics Matters with host and producer Jan Madeleine Paynter discussing journalism http://bit.ly/pm-gibson)
Reprinted from Vivian Paige’s blog:
Newspaper’s Weaknesses
•Newspaper is a passive medium.
•Generally loosing appeals for creating market demand.
•Visual only. No audio. Limited linking.
•Not the best medium for building awareness or image-building.
•No competitive separation. If most tire dealers run in the Sports section, they are all clumped together out of view to readers who don’t read that section.
•Daily circulations continue to decline because most under 40 years old are prefer electronic news media.
•Internet has no shelf life. A day old newspaper is yesterday’s news.
•Not all readers read the entire paper. Many read only certain sections.
Newspaper Strengths
•Enables the advertiser to reach mature audiences who are less prone to utilize electronic media.
•Delivers the ability to saturate a market with a particular ad campaign on a local basis.
Tried lining a bird cage with the internet?
2011 is here and Va Pilot still has a weak internet presence.
Full disclosure, we spend plenty of ad dollars in the local paper but we are finding more good leads on the internet today than the local paper if our visitor surveys are accurate. Most of our internet ad dollars are out of state.. Not preferred but we go with the best out there.
It is ironic, and very telling, that so called fiscal conservatives would condemn this apointment. First, we should all be proud of the accomplishments of this Virginian. Second, he is an incredibly competent executive who has found every conceivable way to cut costs while producing an excellent product, and of all places, I would think this page would acknowledge that is exactly what we need in an executive running HUD. Third, he has been very supportive of charities and of regional organizations, dedicating his time and talent to help Hampton Roads prosper. Frankly, anyone who knows this man would congratulate him for his appointment and be proud has has labored amongst us, but the petty, political animosity displayed by posters to this sheet is frankly, disgusting.
Mike, as usual, you look at this from government’s point of view.
I think it’s horrible when powerful members of the press are “hired” after years of dutiful water-carrying disguised as reporting. It calls into question everything they published.
This is patronage for the press.
Excuse me Brian, but he is the top executive running a major business in an industry buffeted by incredible technological change. He’s not a reporter. Of course, there may be some accusing you of….”dutiful water-carrying disguised as reporting.” But I won’t. I rarely agree with anything you report, but you certainly have the right to report it. Perhaps you ought to extend the same professional courtesy to Maurice Jones who deserves your admiration for acomplishment, contribution to Hampton Roads, and incredible talent in a job that is challenging at best, impossible to many.
Mike, you cannot admit that accepting any political appointment to a business leader from the press is suspect.
I could admit it if I believed that were the case, but it’s not. Does Sarah Palin’s role as a reporter with Fox disqualify her to run for office? All those reporters who have taken positons with government or other businesses have the absolute right to do so, and to call that suspect in this case is the height of absurdity. Further, given Jones’s incredible executive talent at sniffing out savings and cutting the budget, if confirmed, he will do a great jobat HUD.
Mike, are you honestly equating running for office where the voters choose with an appointed government job where the voters have no say?
An administration hiring a newspaper publisher calls into question everything that publisher published. Why shouldn’t it?
I didn’t like it when the Pilot’s transportation reporter suddenly got hired by Hampton Roads Transit either.
Here’s the path. Work for a newspaper. Carry water for the people you’re supposedly unbiased about, and get a cushy job offer in return.
Only you Brian would deny an accomplished executive the right and the opportunity to be appointed to manage a federal agency. You should be proud of his accomplishments. When you have attained 1/100 what he has done, perhaps you will have earned some street cred. Not now Brian.
Mike, since you have accomplished 1/100th of what he has, I guess you’re different.
Thanks Brian, the absurdity of your quip matches the absurdity of your article.
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.