Thursday Daily Delawhere [6.26.14]

Filed in Delaware by on June 26, 2014

The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington’s Rodney Square. Photo by xzmattzx.

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  1. bamboozer says:
    June 26, 2014 at 8:13 am

    If you play Jazz it’s hard not to realize what a genius Clifford Brown was. When inspiration is running low all it takes is listening to his solos to get back on track.

  2. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 9:46 am

    Is it any wonder that we disagree?

    News media informs so much of our perception of reality that stories often anchor our adverse positions.

    Below find Exhibit A on why being skeptical of what you read in the media is prudent. Two news articles – covering the same event – published in two different places but written by two different people. Two dramatically different, conflicting stories:

    For the all hell broke loose version see:

    http://news.msn.com/offbeat/ny-homeless-angry-at-china-tycoon-publicity-stunt

    For the good deed done version see:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/chen-guangbiao-lunch-cash-giveaway-2014-6

    Who got it right? Did someone’s personal agenda cloud the reporting or is just an example of sloppy reporting by one or both?

  3. Geezer says:
    June 26, 2014 at 9:59 am

    Did you read both versions all the way through? Sounds like the same event to me; the first link interviewed more of the upset homeless who didn’t get their cash, but other than that they both touched all the bases.

    People who can’t get the whole story in these days of media proliferation are those who don’t want the whole story.

  4. cassandra_m says:
    June 26, 2014 at 11:02 am

    Yeah, they read much like the same story to me — with the second having more detail on the giveaway and the anger of those not included.

  5. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Read both articles all the way through. Can’t square this:

    According to MSN – no money was handed out to individuals – bitterness ensues as the freebie was denied:

    “Michelle Tolson, director of public relations at the Mission, said Tuesday that no cash would be handed out to individuals and that it had taken 1.5 months of negotiations to convince Chen to instead donate $90,000 to the group.”

    with Business Insider reporting – money handed out – gratitude ensues as the freebie was given:

    Multimillionaire Chen Guangbiao, . . . . held a massive event in New York City on Wednesday during which he handed out $100 bills to 200 homeless people at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park.

    The whole point was that two different media outlets reported the same event in dramatically different ways.

    Take your own advice.

  6. cassandra_m says:
    June 26, 2014 at 11:21 am

    And the Business Insider article also documents the bitterness:

    At least 100 other homeless community members were left outside the event.

    Duwell, one of the men who found himself barred from the luncheon, called the event “the worst fraud [he] has ever seen perpetrated against the homeless community.”

    “I am handicapped, and I have been waiting here for 10 and a half hours,” he said. “I have been chased by the police and treated with disrespect after we were promised a gourmet meal and $300. This is a publicity stunt.”

    Another woman, Tammy, claimed she waited three hours and said she “was going to stay as long as [she] had to, to get her good meal.”

    Tammy questioned the method used to invite people to the event.

    “Why would you send an invitation by email to homeless people? If I had a computer, I would have a home!”

    Tammy never made it inside.

    If you are doing contrast and compare, make sure there is a contrast. Sheesh.

  7. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    The MSN article never mentions that money was given out? In fact, it says no money was handed out.

    Point is that two news reports provide different spins of the same event. This quasi reporting, intentionally or otherwise, happens frequently. The problem this foments is that political discourse is often informed solely by media reporting from a single source.

    You want the whole story read more. Sheees . . .

  8. Geezer says:
    June 26, 2014 at 12:16 pm

    If you’re drilling down to that level, the “good deed done” version says he handed out $100 bills, but the photo shows people holding three of them apiece.

    I wasn’t looking for the details. Both stories described a publicity stunt that ended up pissing off a lot of people. The business publication soft-pedaled that aspect, but didn’t leave it out. I don’t find the accounts “dramatically different.” But then I know how to read between the lines.

    Have you ever actually done any journalism?

  9. Geezer says:
    June 26, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    Frankly, I find the entire stunt offensive. It’s inappropriate to bring homeless people to a fine-dining establishment, and many of the quotes make it clear that they wanted the cash, not the lunch. Doesn’t this country have enough over-moneyed vulgarians of its own without importing more?

  10. cassandra_m says:
    June 26, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    And since this is an AFP wire story, it also appears in the Business Insider. Bet that changes the outrage calculation.

    But I agree that this kind of stunt is really offensive and if an agency serving the homeless was a party to it, shame on them. The money spent on that meal could have fed alot more people really, really well. A much better stunt would have been to open an apartment building that would house those who need it.

  11. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    Haven’t done journalism. I only read it. That’s enough to teach me that journalists are inherently, and sometime intentionally, unreliable.

    Before you undertake that self enlightened read between the lines, try reading the lines first – it helps with understanding.

  12. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Remarkable!!!

    A private citizen – from China – offers to pay for a good meal for 250 or so of NYC’s poor AND also donates $90,000 to the New York Rescue Mission and you all find that an offensive publicity stunt. Never mind that the NYRM asked him NOT to give money to individuals.

    Color me crazy. I was thinking that a “thank you” might be in order. The criticism has all of the hallmarks of tea bag logic just with different colors.

  13. cassandra_m says:
    June 26, 2014 at 1:48 pm

    I’m not sure why *I* should be thanking this guy. He was the one who got all of the free publicity out of it, using homeless people as a way to get that free publicity. And if you don’t know the Loeb Boathouse, you should wander over to their website and see what a meal costs.

  14. Aint's Taking it Any More says:
    June 26, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Really, you can’t think of a single reason to thank this guy? Not even one?

    I’ll bet the New York Rescue Mission has 90,000 reasons to thank him.

    Content to castigate a guy because you think he did it for publicity rather than thank him for what he actually did.

    Done here.

  15. cassandra m says:
    June 26, 2014 at 6:37 pm

    I’m thanking this young man, because he seems to get that the only performance charity needs is your own generosity.

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