On politics and Tweeting and my aching head

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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On politics and Tweeting and my aching head

Posted 1/28/2010 6:32 AM EST on tallahassee.com

After tweeting my way through The Associated Press Legislative Preview yesterday, let me say this: Good Lord, my head hurt.

Please understand what this event is. The Legislative Preview is an annual conference hosted by the AP that brings together the political leadership of the state to talk about what's going to happen during the upcoming session. It's like a series of press confrences one after another after another after another.

It draws lots of media to the 22nd Floor of the Capitol Building for a discussion of the big issues.

Or that's the intent. I decided when I read today's Tallahassee Democrat that what I really pay Bill Cotterell to do is to translate, not report. For the life of me, what I heard was the language of Gobbledygook, which Cotterell -- God bless him -- managed somehow to put into English.

At one point, I actually started tracking each time a politician found a new way to not say a darn thing. Some for instances:

In explaining why Florida must further reduce spending on important state programs, Senate President Jeff Atwater spoke at length and eloquently on the federal budget.

Asked if he agrees with Gov. Charlie Crist’s rosy projections for state revenues, House Speaker Larry Cretul smiled and said: The reality is we deal with the budget numbers we have.

At one point he began talking about the film "Seabiscuit," which I never saw but learned from the Internet is “True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.”

I tweeted ????

At another point just Grrr.

Then this: “Not sure why (he’s saying this).”

Let me repeat that: ???? then Grrr followed by not sure why.

That about sums up my feelings.

My head hurt.

Oh, there were a few things that made sense.

I understood completely what it meant when President Atwater said he was not sure if they could get throughout the budget process this year without reducing the state’s workforce or cutting wages. If you are a state worker, you know that that means, too. You’re getting slapped. Again.

Not that the Democrats were any better or more clear, except for one sentence by Democratic Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson. Asked what he thought of Crist’s proposal to cut corporate income taxes, the senator from Tallahassee said: “It’s insane.”

That's plain enough. It is almost shocking when someone says aloud exactly what he’s thinking in those situations, if only because it almost never happens.

House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands said that some tax cuts and some tax increases are good and it is a matter of who we are taking money from and who we are giving it to and that he’s proud of the work of Floridians in Haiti and the media does an important job in keeping a watch on government and there needs to be transparency in the budget process and he’s a small businessman and knows they need a tax break.

Or at least that’s how it sounded to me: just one big long run-on sentence of scattered thoughts.

But it could have been just me, I don’t know: My head was really hurting by then.

And it wasn’t just them hurting my head; it was us, too -- that is the media.

First up was Crist who was charming as usual. Next was former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who was straightforward and on point, as usual. He was late getting there though, saying he was locked out of the 22nd floor elevator and that only a few people have a key to that elevator.

The governor said he was not there as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, but as governor, although he is both. Rubio said he was there not to answer questions about the Florida Legislature or state issues, but about his campaign for the U.S. Senate, though he got both.

Following me so far?

They behaved exactly as expected.

But the tone of the two sessions was different and I blame the media for that. I thought we were too cozy with Crist, too accepting of his dodges. Not so much with Rubio. It’s just the comparison to the two sessions left me feeling we cut Crist a break.

I heard lots of explanations on why the media would treat these two differently. Rubio is now the frontrunner in the race and he has to expect tougher questions; Rubio’s personality makes things feel combative; and Rubio is dismissive of questions he doesn’t want to answer.

All true, but none a good reason.

And Crist, well, he’s just hard to dislike. At one point a reporter sneezed off to the side. Without missing a beat in midsentence he looked over and said “God bless you” and continued on. It was so smooth and natural that I’d bet half of the crowd missed, but not the sneezer. He calls reporters by name. Knows where they are from and asks about their family.

He is genuinely a nice man and gets treated that way in return, which is something I think we have to think about as the campaign moves forward.

On Rubio’s personality, well, let's just say he'd better hope nice guys really do finish last. He's not a bad person either, and in full disclosure my daughter is engaged to marry a relative of Rubio's wife, a cousin, I think.

It's just that he's different and dismissive of questions he doesn't want to answer. Plus, he uses big words to talk about things like “fundamental issues of our time” and “untenable economics.”

He’d better learn that with just 140 characters, that’s a lot to Tweet.

And enough to make my head hurt.

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These Tallahassee stories aren't newsworthy?

These Tallahassee stories aren't newsworthy?

Posted 1/25/2010 6:44 AM EST on tallahassee.com

A local official had a “private” conversation last week with a Tallahassee Democrat employee, saying he was disappointed – as were others, he said – with the newspaper’s coverage of the city.

Too much attention is being given to issues that put the community in a negative light, things like the Rachel Hoffman murder, homelessness and the commission voting itself an increase in compensation through deferred retirement pay. These issues are not newsworthy, he suggested.

He said he wants to come over to the Democrat and talk to me about it. The newspaper should be highlighting more good things.

Yes, I think it is time we have a talk. But let’s do it publicly, and let’s start right now.

There are many wonderful things happening in our community, and we do our best to highlight those things. Our pages are filled with “good news” every day.

Life is good in Tallahassee for those whose lives are good.

But a newspaper worth the paper it is written on cannot be so dismissive of those for whom life isn’t so good. Nor can it stop being a watchdog on government activity. We’re not the public-relations arm of city government.

If a newspaper won’t question authority, who will? You certainly won’t get independent analytical conversation or debate on tough issues from the city-owned TV channel, WCOT.

It’s been my experience in 30 years as a journalist that the most newsworthy stories from the public’s viewpoint are the ones the politicians don’t want us to write about.

Let’s take some of the issues brought up to our reporter as not being newsworthy:

On deferred compensation: The commission votes to enrich its own members and city staff – without a vote of the public – to the tune of $1 million since the vote was taken five years ago, as reported in the Sunday Tallahassee Democrat – and that is not newsworthy? I wonder how city employees who have lost their jobs feel about that.

We were told the city could not afford to follow the charter to conduct an election to replace a vacant commission seat without cutting more jobs. Now we know why.

Look, all of this occurred at a public meeting. It was under-reported in the media, maybe missed altogether. Legal? Probably. Ethical? I don’t know. Moral? It seems to me that if you are going to take a million dollars out of the public’s pocket over five years, you want to make darn sure they know about it.

On homelessness: I spoke with a homeless man last week – a good and honest man, I might add. For much of his life, things were “normal.” Circumstances have conspired to have him living on our streets. He is 47 years old and desperately needs a job. With temperatures at life-threatening lows, he was handed a mat and told to sleep outside, even with beds available inside.

“This is how they do people,” he said, shaking his head. “This is how they do people. This is how they do people.”

Not newsworthy? I guess that depends of which side of the door you’re on when it’s cold outside.

Employers: If you need a man with character and integrity, call me. I’ll introduce you.

On Hoffman: Where do I begin? After all that we have learned about the city’s behavior in the death of this young woman, I’m simply amazed that this was brought up as not being newsworthy.

After all this, nearly two years of news stories by media outlets across the nation, changed state law and police procedures and a pending lawsuit, this is not newsworthy?

Doing these stories is just a matter of the newspaper trying to sell papers to fix declining circulation, our reporter was told. Instead we are only hurting our own reputation and losing readers.

But it’s not that people aren’t reading us that creates the worry, is it? If so, rest easy. The reality is our readership is strong; combined with Tallahassee.com, our readership is growing.

But come now, it’s not the newspaper’s reputation you are really worried about, is it?

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No one can tell you what's the right thing to do

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

Report item as: (required) X Obscenity/vulgarity Hate speech Personal attack Advertising/Spam Copyright/Plagiarism Other Comment: (optional) No one can tell you what's the right thing to do Posted 1/18/2010 8:44 AM EST on tallahassee.com The question has been bothering me for almost a week. “Where does it end?” the caller asked. He had just read my blog on how our leaders – especially governmental – failed to act decisively, leaving homeless people out in the bitter and life-threatening cold. With so many needs in these tough times, he said, where does the public obligation to help end? That day, the earth shifted in Haiti, crushing – and now starving – tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people. Where, indeed, does it end? The answer, I guess, is a matter of priorities and faith. No one person can answer that question for another. As city leaders and local community agencies gather tomorrow to assess how to better respond to a local cold crisis, I hope that they will consider both priorities and faith. I hope that they will consider not only “where does it end,” but also how we begin. The Rev. Michael Foley, pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church, noticed a shining crucifix among the rubble shown in our front-page photograph from Haiti. He took that as a symbol, as if God were saying, “I’m still here,” and calling on the world to help. As the richest nation in the history of man, he said, it is a matter of duty and faith to do everything we can. The Rev. Pat Robertson saw things differently. He called the earthquake a “blessing in disguise” in one moment and later repeated what he called a “true story” about how the Haitian revolutionaries made a deal with devil while attempting to throw the French out. “And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' They kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got themselves free. Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.” Robertson said that last week while attempting to raise money for Haitian relief efforts on his show, “The 700 Club.” They had turned away from God, he said, and this is their punishment. Our obligation was to turn Haitians back to God. What then was that crucifix doing in the rubble? Did God somehow save only the Christians – or even certain kinds of Christians – and not others? According to the CIA’s The World Factbook, about 96 percent of Haitians are either Catholic or Protestant, with about 10 percent Baptists. The same report says more than half of the population also practices voodoo. It would be easy enough to ridicule Robertson for repeating as “true story” something for which there seems to be no historic basis. It has been told and retold, especially in the last couple of decades to explain why Haiti – the poorest country in our hemisphere with infant-mortality rates of more than 50 percent – has been allowed to suffer. It proves again that the bigger the lie the more the people will believe it. Does thinking that there are theological and not simply geological reasons for the horror that has occurred just 700 miles off the Florida coast make it easier to turn away when there are tough choices to be made about where our resources go? But Robertson did what we all do, or at least what many of us do. I hear it in the reactions to news reports all the time. When I wrote about our community leadership’s failure to respond to the needs of the freezing people sleeping on the streets, one person said, “Don’t you think some of these people could help themselves if they wanted to?” Another called to say, “Well, whose fault is it they are on the street? It’s not mine.” Like Robertson, we judge the victim before considering the need. Where does it end? I guess when it’s over, when either the need for help or our capacity to help is gone. Until then, maybe it never ends. But everyone has their own moral compass. Knowing what is the right thing to do is something for each person to decide for him or herself. You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com. You can also find links to my blogs on Facebook but you have to request to be my friend.

Finding Christmas on Bald Point beach

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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Finding Christmas on Bald Point beach

Posted 12/21/2009 8:43 AM EST on tallahassee.com

It’s been hard for me to get into the mood for Christmas this year, which I will forever remember as a year of losses and sad news.

Jobs were lost. Joblessness in Florida is at 11.5 percent, with more than a million people out of work, some my former colleagues in an industry particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. The Florida joblessness rate is the highest since May 1975 and less than half a point lower than the state’s record. Beyond the numbers are the people and families so devastated in this economy.

Sadly, we watched for the past few weeks live on Tallahassee.com as a jury considered whether a young man, Deneilo Bradshaw, would be sentenced to death for his role in the murder of Rachel Hoffman. Bradshaw’s two children will grow up with their daddy in prison without the possibility of parole, pending appeal. And Hoffman’s parents will be deprived of seeing their daughter’s wedding or getting to hold their grandchildren.

Lives were lost. We’ll not forget easily the death of 26-year-old Curtis Brown, a bystander gunned down as violence erupted at 4 a.m. in the Circle K/McDonald's parking lot on Lake Bradford Road.

Nor will we easily overcome the loss of another good man, Tallahassee Police Officer Michael Saunders, who was cruelly killed by a hit-and-run driver while the veteran officer was off-duty.

And, as all families mourn their own losses, at the Tallahassee Democrat, we continue to grieve the sudden death of our friend and co-worker, Steve Ellis, and the stories he will no longer tell us.

It has been a tough year all around.

Yet, walking with my son along the white sandy beach at Bald Point State Park during low tide this weekend, I was reminded of the ebb and flow that is life’s natural process.

I thought about the joy of quiet moments like that one with my children, those already grown and those who soon will be. I thought about the birth of a co-worker’s grandbaby, the marriage of two others and the planned weddings of others and of my daughter.

Watching the birds hunt for food in the shallow pools along the beach, it was a reminder that for every Bobby Bowden and T.K. Wetherell who blesses us with their presence and then moves on, there is a Jimbo Fisher and an Eric Barron ready for a chance at greatness.

I began to think about the dozens of readers who have written about our partnership with the Christmas Connection, the joy they find in helping other families and about the good people at the Democrat and in other businesses throughout the region who work tirelessly for good causes.

I thought about my daughter Jessica and the love so many readers and others – some complete strangers – shared earlier this year when she was badly injured after falling at school.

Somehow, walking along that nearly empty beach, it began to feel a lot like Christmas.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com.

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It is time to release public documents in Hoffman case

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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It is time to release public documents in Hoffman case

Posted 12/15/2009 8:25 AM EST on tallahassee.com

With the exception of defending your country in battle, I cannot think of a higher calling for a citizen than to serve on a jury. So I awoke this morning thinking of those on the jury in the Deneilo Bradshaw murder trial, the awesome task they face in this most extraordinary democratic process.

Sometime today, it will fall to those ordinary citizens to decide guilt or innocence, a decision that could ultimately lead to Bradshaw’s execution.

Bradshaw is one of two young men accused of killing police confidential informant Rachel Hoffman. In what might be a first for this region, Tallahassee.com – using footage from a pool camera provided by WCTV – has provided gavel-to-gavel coverage and will do so again when the closing arguments are made this morning. Click this link to watch video.

Bradshaw’s entire defense may come down to this one statement by his attorney, Chuck Hobbs:

“The defense's case is going to be short and sweet: that Andrea Green shot and killed Rachel Hoffman and that Andrea Green threatened to kill Deneilo Bradshaw if he did not cooperate.”

In other words, he seems to be saying, Bradshaw does not deserve to die, that he was an unwilling accomplice.

Green faces trial in October. His attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have Bradshaw’s trial closed to the public. They also had argued media coverage of the brutal killing would make the seating of a jury impossible in Leon County. That has proven to be untrue as the court and the respective attorneys had no trouble quickly doing so.

The Tallahassee Democrat and Hoffman’s parents have been fighting for the release of public documents in Hoffman’s murder for more than a year, battling defense and prosecuting attorneys. The court had allowed only a limited release of documents until the jury is sequestered.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Dekker ordered on Aug. 15, 2008, that “as soon as a jury is sequestered, all sealed discovery, regardless of admissibility, will be released for full public and media use.”

The Democrat, through our attorneys, has notified the State Attorney’s Office, of our intention to seek compliance with the court’s order.

No one will know exactly what goes on in that jury room, only the results of whatever discussions occur. But no one can argue the process has been unfair.

It does no one any good to withhold the release of public records any longer.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com.

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Print Exclusive examines new multimillion-dollar dispatch system

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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Print Exclusive examines new multimillion-dollar dispatch system

Posted 12/10/2009 8:50 AM EST on tallahassee.com

I’m sitting at my desk writing as I listen in the background to emergency services in Washington, D.C., dispatch police to an incident in the northeast section of the district.

With little effort, I can switch to New Orleans, San Diego or Fort Myers. Occasionally, I’ll listen in to what is happening in a small town in eastern Connecticut where I began my daily newspaper reporting career 30 years ago.

Emergency-service radio traffic in all of these places and dozens more around the country is live on the Internet in real time. In some places, there are options available to get scanner traffic sent to a cell phone or Blackberry, in addition to being able to hear it the old-fashioned way over a relatively cheap scanner radio.

In Leon County, however, local governments have just invested millions of dollars in shutting the public out.

Our Sunday Print Exclusive story this week by reporter David Saez will address how the digital and encrypted radio system is different than the old system, where the money to pay for it came from and how it improves communications among local agencies and serves the public.

It will also address the decline in public access to information from its government and whether communications could be improved without shutting the public out.

To be clear: No one is violating any Florida laws by taking scanner traffic out of the public space. Such communication is not covered by the state’s progressive Sunshine Laws. Media lawyers and government-access advocates say that this is an issue that might have to be resolved at the legislative level.

And to be fair, efforts are being made to quickly provide much of the same information in text format to the media. In reality, some officials are going above and beyond what is required by the law, which is nothing at all. Frankly, I think it is just one of those things no one expected to come up when the laws were passed.

Still, my question is why shut out the public?

We always oppose it when government reduces citizens’ access to what their government is doing, and this is a very significant step in the wrong direction for citizen access. This is not a matter of citizens being voyeuristic, but having a legitimate interest in public safety in their community.

It seems to me that the security issues some have raised about open-air or Internet scanner traffic are no higher in Tallahassee than in Washington, D.C. It just seems ironic to me that we are spending taxpayers’ money to reduce taxpayers’ access to their government’s activities. Although I’ve asked, I have yet to hear a single good reason that explains why the public must be shut out to accomplish better communications.

We think this week’s Print Exclusive raises important questions but also shines a light on the very positive aspects of the new dispatch system, as well. We hope you’ll pick up a copy of the Sunday Tallahassee Democrat and then go to Tallahassee.com to debate the issues raised on the summary of the print story. You will also be able to purchase a single-copy e-edition of the Tallahassee Democrat on this link Sunday.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com.

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TMI for me in Tiger's sex scandal

Bob Gabordi's blog Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177

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TMI for me in Tiger's sex scandal

Posted 12/7/2009 8:22 AM EST on tallahassee.com

Once again, we see the price of worshipping the wrong kinds of heroes in our society.

Tiger Woods is simply the best golfer on the planet – or was. And because of that, we placed him high on the mountaintop and made him one of the richest men in the world.

Now he is publicly acknowledging “transgressions” that he says have harmed his marriage and family, and he's apologizing for hurting the people he cares most about.

As for the rest of us, he says, he should not have to apologize or admit his sins at a press conference. I agree. We shouldn't care that much.

But his comments set off a media-feeding frenzy, which, frankly, I find embarrassing. It’s ridiculous the way we are chasing down every detail – except that the public, by and large, demands the dirt. The more dirt, the better the public likes it. Admit it. You know it's true.

So the media is digging and the whole thing is spiraling out of control.

That’s what we do to superstars these days; we knock them off their pedestals.

A blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle says the media actually have lost track of the exact number of women now linked sexually to Tiger Woods.

Many counts are now up to six different women who I suspect have at least six different lawyers. Some are having press conferences. Photos of the women, in various stages of dress, are all over the Internet, along with their bios and ambitions. One of their moms is busy telling the world her daughter is a "good girl."

We haven’t had a sex scandal this big or juicy since Bill Clinton. The Florida Highway Patrol called a press conference just to announce they were writing a $194 ticket in Tiger’s one-car accident that set off this speculation.

Tiger is bigger than the president, affair-wise, when you think about it. Financially, at least, he has more at stake.

As leader of the free world and head of the world’s most powerful military and economy, Clinton made about $200,000, although the president’s pay was doubled to $400,000 in 2001.

Tiger, on the other hand, earned $110 million in the last year, according to Forbes magazine’s annual report on the world’s highest paid athletes. Tiger was No. 1 in the world.

Almost all of that money came from sources other than the professional tour, Forbes said. Golf earnings were about $5 million. Remember that Tiger was out last year for eight months after surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

Much of the rest came from Pepsi, Nike, AT&T and other endorsements, meaning golf is now a side job and that these companies believe that Tiger can convince us to buy their products.

Apparently, Tiger took Nike’s “Just do it” slogan to heart.

Faced with his affair with an intern, the president lied. Tiger simply said it was none of our business, which, of course, it’s not, except that he is making so much money because his partners believe the public believes in him.

They aren't paying him for his great golf swing.

Tiger was made by the media to be something beyond a great golfer. And now the media seems intent on bringing him down.

If you want to find them, details of his prenuptial agreements with his distressed wife Elin are on the Web, too. The staid Associated Press, the chronicler of all important news, tells us she has renegotiated her prenuptial with Tiger so that she is entitled to $80 million. That’s $75 million for his transgressions – hopefully that’s all inclusive, and not a per affair charge – plus a $5 million one-time lump sum. I use the word lump advisedly in this case.

Every detail of this sordid affair is out there, somewhere, on the Web and in mainstream media.

Now that’s just great reporting.

But we've missed the real story: Turns out, Tiger was nobody special, after all; he’s just a great golfer.

Oh, and P.S., please stop sending me photo-shopped pictures and videos of Tiger and Elin. I’ve got the whole family album.

You can send your comments by clicking the button below, e-mailing me at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com, Twitter @bgabordi, LinkedIn or Blogger.com

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