FRIDAY'S HUM (04-20-07)

LEOPOLD, OTHERS BLAST SEVEN DAYS
COVER STORY ON BURLINGTON CITY TREASURER USED NUMEROUS 'ANONYMOUS' QUOTES
Kevin Kelley's Seven Days lead piece on city treasurer Jonathan Leopold was an unintentional primer on how not to craft a responsible article. Kelley's BIG investigative submission used the following:
"Many political insiders suggest..."
"Many Democrats, and even some Progressives, discreetly..."
"One well-known figure, requesting anonymity..."
"Another well-placed official..."
"Pols and pundits..."
"But sources who are close to both--and do not want their names associated with critisisms of the current treasurer..."
"One former city official cites the example..."
"But that's just a ruse on Leopold's part, charges a left-leaning former city councilor..."
"Some veterans of Burlington mayoral campaigns say..."

Hmmm. Maybe that's why Kelley writes for a free, small-market weekly instead of a major. Who knows. But the proof is in the pudding, er, anonymous sourcing.

To Kelly's credit, he did use some actual quotes from actual people, including councilors Kurt Wright and Joan Shannon.

Go ahead and read the piece; it's fun trying to find all the unnamed quotes, kind of like a treasure hunt.

Here's the 4-11-07 Leopold story and here are letters, including one penned by Leopold himself, from 4-18-07.


ALEC BALDWIN BARRED FROM SEEING DAUGHTER
DIVORCED DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST HURLS THREATS AND INSULTS AT 11-YEAR-OLD
Yeah, we like to keep it local - but you gotta hear this.


FIVE CORNERS UPDATE
Got to the Essex Junction Five Corners light yesterday and my car died. Sensing it was a major engine problem, and knowing I had oodles of time, I jacked the car up, put a pulley on the motor, extracted it from the housing, and went about my business trying to fix the darn thing. I was about halfway finished when...THE LIGHT CHANGED!
So I waved at the motorists behind me to go around and kept working. Luckily, I was able to make the necessary repairs before the next light turned green, and everything was hunky dory.
Maybe an out of work mechanic could hang around the Five Corners and make some extra cash working on cars! Why not.