Anyone who closely followed the poll farce of the 2008 Alaska elections knows that Progressive Alaska has been hard on supporters of Democratic Party candidates on this issue.For instance, when local "pollster" Ivan Moore took it upon himself to sign a contract to represent several local media to our voters as unbiased, while maintaining a 24-7 fundraising page for one of the candidates, I got him to quietly end the unethical relationship.
His fundraising wasn't making Moore any money. He responded, and his polls gained far more stature from that time forward, if not more accuracy.
I'm now raising similar questions to Anchorage shock radio denizen, Dan Fagan. He's started the Alaska Standard, with some friends. It has gotten off to a great start, attempting to fill the void true conservatives and tweaking wingnuts and a lot of Republicans in between felt the Voice of the Times never came close to filling or - fulfilling. It's a huge space to fill, and Dan seems to be wanting to fill that void. So far, I'm impressed. I'll give the big guy a big chance to fulfill as well as he fills.
I sent him this today:
Dear Editor,
In The Alaska Standard you have published a poll, comparing Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. In the undated article accompanying the poll, the Standard states:
"According to a poll commissioned by The Alaska Standard and conducted by Dittman Research, Governor Sarah Palin is no longer Alaska's most popular politician."
Could you describe how the poll was financed? Other than revenues from normal operation of the Alaska Standard, or from funds provided by the editor or staff, was there any financial help on the poll? Could you detail this?
Regards,
Phil Munger
Progressive Alaska
32 comments:
Should prove interesting...Good job Phil
Fagan did not released the entire poll results with crosstabs because Dan is hiding something.
Fagan is only an entertainer trying to get ratings. He lost his ability to be objective long ago and has turned into a mouth piece for the Big three oil companies.
Dan has some personal problems, and is not very mature. He has problems relating to women. And he has a real big problem with Sarah. If Sarah was a man maybe Dan would not be so intimidated.
Dan needs to get laid. (can you say that on this blog) At least he could date a women. He is just to uptight.
Phil, you should love Dan Fagan. He does his best to divide conservatives and open the door for Democrats to get elected.
But his childlike tantrums are good for ratings.
A Valley Conservative
The oil companies are very afraid of Sarah.
Dan Fagan is being funded indirectly by the oil companies to attack Sarah.
Now that Bill Allen is gone Dan Fagan is filling the void. Instead of cash Dan is passing out airtime that attacks Sarah and supports her opposition.
The oil companies love Fagan and are indirectly supporting his efforts.
psssst, Phil, I wouldn't be to suprised if Fagan does NOT respond. That crotch shot was kind of sicko, even for Fagan standards...
much ado about nothing
who cares who funded the poll? dittman's listed as a contributor to the dispatch, and pollsters often will do polls and then release them to favored outlets to keep the firm's name in the press (KTUU reported on the poll as well). as for the other 'pollster' you mention, you're quite deft with the backhanded compliments, but i have to correct you - Krestia and I asked Ivan to take the fundraising page down, it wasn't a result of your blog posts. but it strikes me as an awfully similar situation to a member of the Press Club board actively campaigning for a primary candidate - especially when said board member has taken it upon himself to be the journalism police. what are you asking anyway? what's the state of the Dispatch's finances? none of your business, i'd say. it's not an election season really (although that's debatable, i myself have written about a palin/murkowski matchup), and if a candidate didn't pay for it then it's not subject to FEC filings and is really no one's business (you can bet Palin didn't pay for it, and i know Murkowski's extremely competent operation well enough to think any internal polling would be held close to their chests right now).
you'll enjoy the next issue, Krestia's diving into this blogger/media thing even further (so he can share in the spewed bile ordinarily reserved for me from the blogosphere), and an aforementioned 'pollster' is making his debut in an unorthodox outlet. it'll be fun!
(btw tried to comment earlier and it never showed up, so if there ends up being two like this, my apologies)
oops i spoke too soon, Ivan's debut as a restaurant critic will have to wait a while longer...
Brendan,
you know quite well that had I not brought up I. Moore's active Blue America page, it would have stayed there.
complain to the friggin' AKPC board. File it in writing, send it certified, if you want.
I still want to know what kind of $ is behind the AKStandard poll, thank you.
"I still want to know what kind of $ is behind the AKStandard poll, thank you."
call Dittman then. picking up the phone and making inquiries ought to be a simple enough skill for a board member of the Press Club. or call Fagan, his number's easy enough to find.
"you know quite well that had I not brought up I. Moore's active Blue America page, it would have stayed there."
your dopey antics made me want ivan to keep it up there - it wasn't pulling in $$ anyway. and your statement in the post that 'his polls gained far more stature from that time forward, if not more accuracy' is just ignorant. you're accusing ivan of putting out BS poll numbers until Officer Munger of the APCB put the screws to him? and that thousands applauded after Officer Munger announced an increase in ivan's 'stature'?
"complain to the friggin' AKPC board. File it in writing, send it certified, if you want."
i don't consider them to be journalism cops like you do - you weren't badged in and sworn to an oath when you made it onto the board, no matter what you think. i do think that the Press Club should require that board members are actually journalists though. although the fact that it must piss Pat 'editorsblog' Dougherty off to no end that you're on the board does amuse me.
i'll bet it was no more nefarious than your connection timing out. try typing those long-winded replies in word and pasting them into the comment box. of course, as a professional you already know.
@clark: i'm definitely not a professional in the world of blog-commenting (hence i'd never attempt to be on the board of the Alaska Blog Club), so thanks for the helpful tip.
Brendan,
You are more snark challenged than the average person, aren't you...?
you're most welcome.
if you were a professional journalist you wouldn't talk to him in internet slang!
"You are more snark challenged than the average person, aren't you...?"
um, is that a diversionary tactic aimed at distracting readers from the fact that you're speaking out your ass? much like when you resorted to the Fagan crotch shot? the combination of self-congratulatory hubris, the demands that anyone and everyone explain their actions to you, constant chest-thumping that you're leading the charge against the dreaded MSM (when the MSM isn't constantly stealing your stories), with a sprinkling of barely-disguised racism, has turned your once-thoughtful blog into a cesspool of liberal hate, something i was just discussing with several (democratic!) lawmakers this week.
"with a sprinkling of barely-disguised racism..."
- please elaborate.
i don't know, man... there are plenty of diversions out there, even if one isn't involved in creating them.
i'm still laughing and rolling my eyes about the very idea of an "Alaska Blog Club". would we talk about dominating the internet there? give each other awards? what sort of navel gazing is this?
"- please elaborate."
you just wrote about Bob Lynn denouncing your cantata. now, don't get me wrong, i don't think that everyone who's sympathetic to the Palestinian plight is an anti-Semite, but it's part of a pattern that i'm definitely not the first to notice (and actually didn't notice till it was pointed out to me last spring). many of the targets of your vitriol share a certain trait: Jewish heritage. so whether you're conscious of it or not, there's quite a few people who peg you as an anti-semite, and i understood their thought process as you bashed EB and Rahm Emanuel (oh, and examine closer who contributes to that PAC you think is so evil, what do they have in common?). there's your elaboration.
i always think it's interesting that jews who complain about israel's actions and policies get labeled 'self-hating jews'. maron and seder come to mind, among many others.
whoa, this is approaching intelligent discourse. better get back to sniping and trolling...
intelligent discourse is why i used to enjoy this blog. well, not really, now that i think about it munger and i have been e-brawling on here a long time.
Brendan,
1. If you look back at the criticisms of Rahm Emanuel's PAC that I featured here, they were written by Howie Klein and Jeff Cohen. Both of them advised me on what I wrote.
2. I'm about to get clearance for reprinting a very insightful article about Gaza by Max Blumenthal
3. The the group who produced The Skies Are Weeping in London is called JFJFP - Jews for Justice for Palestinians.
You're very ignorant, young man. To accuse me of "barely disguised racism" in this regard is a serious, insulting canard.
you used 'canard' improperly, i wasn't telling a story, just making an observation and everything i observed you actually did. and i appreciate you calling me a young man, though i doubt you know how old i actually am. you just dodged any reference to your own actions by citing others whose opinions i don't care to hear you parrot. you cite Howie Klein like he's Moses come down the mount with the stone tablets. and i think your attacks on Rahm and Ethan did smack of anti-semitism, whether those were ideas you stole and repeated or not. if you don't see how the sum of your postings involving israel and jews can smack of anti-semitism, then you're the ignorant one, old man.
FYI - One who is critical of people, who just happen to be ethnically Jewish, doesn't make them anti-Jewish. Seriously BJK - your comment was way off.
If one criticizes those who are - let's say Anglo-American would that make them a "WASP hater?" (Cough)
Notice how I used the term "Anti-Jewish" as opposed to "Anti-Semetic."
Anti-Semetic is a misnomer.
Palestians are also Semites.
For one to be an Anti-Semite, he/she would have to be a broader hater, including hate of those who are Arab, Persian etc.
I know all to well Phil is not Anti-Jew. Even with his Palestian beliefs, he and I (a self-described PRO-PALESTIAN American) have gotten into it quite intensely on the difference of our views.
BJK, you are a kewl guy but shame on you.
{{{{reesh}}}}
(that's a big hug...)
Brendan,
Please explain what it is about the way I dealt with Ethan Berkowitz or his campaign that leads you to write, "i think your attacks on Rahm and Ethan did smack of anti-semitism."
This is a very serious charge, the most serious that has been made against me here.
I refute the charge totally, but you certainly shouldn't be making such a statement without a specific example or examples to back it.
Feel free to submit a guest post to Progressive Alaska, should you deem the subject too important to be posted as a comment to this or another thread.
When my son created the American Traveler International Apology T-shirt five years ago in preparation for a job in Denmark, it languished on Cafe Press until an anti-Muslim website started denouncing him as an anti-American traitor. Then sales started taking off.
I mention this for two reasons. 1. Are you guys really doing this because you are seriously at odds with each other? If that's the case, can't you state your issues without calling each other names? Or is this a way to get better traffic for both your respective outlets?
2. In the internet debates over the t-shirts, at first there was brainless name calling, but eventually, as voices from around the world jumped in (Europeans were questioning American claims to have saved Europe from Hitler, giving Russia more credit) putting a lot more information and a lot less emotion into the forum. People actually began listening to each other and learning things they never knew.
It seems to me that stray rays of light are breaking through some of the BS in this forum too.
Name calling is just not my style, but if it leads those who like to play that game to actually communicate after they bloody each other's egos, well, go for it.
So, can Phil and Brendan tell me:
1. Do you enjoy slugging it out this way?
2. Is this just your first reaction to someone getting your goat, before you calm down?
3. Are you just copying talk radio's way of getting ratings?
Help me understand how two normally intelligent men get into such behavior?
phil - do i think you're a raving jew-hater racist? no. i think that you've not been meticulous in really thinking about what the sum of your comments/analysis/etc has been. perhaps i'm oversensitive to finding racism in subtleties, perhaps to a fault - working with the SPLC against racism and hate groups of all sorts may do that to someone. in all of the Rahm/Ethan bullshit, especially after i read the entire list of contributors to his PAC, i saw not that their common trait was conservatism, it was Jewishness. that, combined with the fact that i'd heard people who are Jewish express concern about your Corrie cantata and your views on the midEast conflict, led me to pay more attention to issues that concerned Jews, and i heard more Jewish friends of mine express indignation. so, while i honestly do not believe that you're a racist - despite my hollering (i made sure i referred to statements on here, not you yourself) - i think you've been insensitive to the issue. that's where i'm coming from, you know i don't think you're a racist, but that doesn't mean that things don't appear on this blog that can be construed - despite intention - as such. and i think that's from carelessness, which when your job's like mine, you have an editor to keep in check before you spew something that people can misinterpret.
i'm off to drink some expensive wine because i won $500 on the rippies tonight. cheers.
BJK, Phil paid tribute to an American who was MURDERED on foreign soil (Isreal) with his cantada. To even mention this is simply foolish.
The many who expressed outrage (the majority of whom were Jews) were lost in their own ethnocentrism -- and Brendan, you seem to be also (caught up in general mainstream ideological thought.)
Dude, you are showing some of your own bias. Instead of examining the many issues in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, you are automatically siding with one group (by association that is, constantly mentioning the Jews you have spoke with etc.) -- yet condemning Phil for his courage to speak out with opposing views.
Because of this, he is Anti-Jew?
A famous local member of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) resides among us. She is known as Judith. She was one of the crazy rabblerousers who stirred up trouble for Phil.
BJ, hasn't the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) -- who you love to mention you have worked with -- deemed the JDL a terrorist organization? Just saying...
Interesting how you are shining the spotlight down on Phil when your new found best friend -- Dan Fagan -- is a CLASSIC RACIST.
I guess as long as Fagan sticks to expressing his prejudice of anyone that ISN'T JEWISH -- he is okay.
Phil, again - I know all too well you are not a "Jew hater." You and I battled this issue years ago on a local message board. While I was an outspoken critic of Israel, Zionism, AIPAC, and general mainstream American acceptance of the Palestinian genocide -- you were always trying to express views from both sides of the issue.
Cheers to you for your courage.
Jeers to BJK for his misguided spotlight on you and (his) blindness to those in the local media community who are true racists.
Peace.
Assalamu Alaikum.
Shalom.
(Maybe I should have put the Shalom before the Assalamu Alaikum... oh well, I guess I am just an "Anti-Semite.")
Thanks again, reesh!
When I read BJ Kelley's reply, I just shook my head. Then I went to mondoweiss, one of my favorite blogs about the cognitive dissonance that this particular issue - the I/P conflict brings out so fully, and read this:
"The Shifa director also told me that emergency medics still cannot reach the Zaytoun house that yesterday morning was bombed with inhabitants locked inside. There are two main accounts of the story, both criminal.
"One: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, separated the men –15, I was told–and shot them point blank in front of the women and children of the family, 20, I was told. Then, laid explosives around the house and bombed the rest of the extended family.
"Two: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, locked them in one room for a day, and bombed it the following morning."
I'm not saying this account is true. We may never know. But Phil Weiss is as credible as they come. OTOH, Juan Cole isn't reporting it yet. He's got his hands full, with genuine, verifiable stories of ongoing war crimes.
This is good stuff
yeah, Phil, you should stick to Fagan crotch shots and victimization of teen mothers...
Anonymous Last - you seem to have a real fixation on Dan's crotch. Why bother posting if you can't contribute something of value?
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