When Friends Fight: Creative Loafing Is Pissed at Decatur
Decatur Metro | March 20, 2010Yesterday afternoon, Creative Loafing’s Chief Marketing Officer, Henry Scott, used DM to fire the first verbal shot across Decatur’s bow, in what is already being called “The Great Newspaper Box War” by those with nothing else to do.
The City of Decatur has violated the First Amendment by removing news boxes from public rights of way before offering an alternative (the proposed group boxes). It amazes me, a long time journalist, that any city government could be as oblivious (or is it hostile?) to the rights of its citizens to have access to newspapers.
But that was just a quick taste of the wrath to come.
Then came the storm in the form of a slobbering tirade of sanity by the most unhinged and reasonable of CL staff members, Thomas “Crazy-Eyes” Wheatley.
In a blog post from late yesterday, Wheatley details how CL just became aware of the missing newspaper boxes from Decatur’s streets (read Decatur Metro, yo!), and how the city apparently sent notices of the new newspaper box ordinance – in both electronic and paper form – to old CL addresses.
Henry Scott is still pissed.
While the city has every right to regulate the placement of newsracks, Scott says, it hasn’t provided an alternative to distribute publications in the interim [between old boxes being picked up and new ones being installed]. By doing so, the city has caused the paper economic damage, violated our constitutional rights, and deprived Decatur’s residents and visitors of a valuable resource that will tell them their horoscope.
Serious claims, in a light-hearted post. CL wants its boxes back working street-corners by Monday. No word yet on how Decatur will respond.
Let’s hope these two bashions of liberal thought can soon reconcile and return to congratulating each other on their respective progressiveness.
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If CL just discovered that the boxes have been removed, they’re a little slow on the uptake, to say the least, and they haven’t been communicating with their distributors. The boxes have been gone for 2 weeks and the notice stickers were on the boxes for at least a month before that. I guess they had more pressing news to cover.
This surprises me, sadly, not in the least. Who else but Mayberry (ahem) Decatur would send notices to a building that’s been demolished for years? The City LOVES LOVES LOVES to create plans in a magic vacuum where reality usually fails to exist. Shame on them for once again pretending they have the answer to a question that hasn’t even been posed. In the meantime, truly important issues will have to wait a few more years (or decades). Transportation Plan? Oh, who cares about that when we can outlaw unsightly newspaper boxes? Decatur…where priorities and sensabilities are always optional.
I imagine that the City sent the notices to the address under which the original permits were issued. Again I say, CL isn’t talking to their distributors, since the distributors would have seen the stickers on the boxes a long time before the boxes were taken away. I can find no fault with the City on this. They more than fulfilled the requirements of the law.
As for the Transportation Plan, when was the last time you talked to Amanda for an update?
Creative Loafing should have provided the correct address on the application, they created this problem for them selves. Let’s get rid of the permits and see what happens – wheelchair access gone, easy walking on side walks gone, increase in litter which increases the number of workers needed to clean the square . . . more taxes all to make Creative Loafing happy. The city must regulate and protect it’s residents and visitors.
It seems pretty simple to me, CL either needs to be compliant with the new ordinance – get the proper permits/meet the requirements of the City of Decatur….or quit complaining and move on to other metro areas that don’t care. In my opinion, I do not believe the vast majority of the people in Decatur really care about the boxes & the minority of people that do care, are the ones that will continue to blow things out of proportion.
CL publishes horoscopes? Really? Man, I’ve been missing out…
Maybe I’m thick, but I don’t really think it’s violating the first amendment to remove newspaper boxes. I mean, people can just go and get the newspapers somewhere else. It’s talk like this that engineers unnecessary fear and hatred.
There’s a first amendment component and that’s fine, so long as it doesn’t become the whole of the issue. The real question is, in exercising one’s first amendment rights, do people/companies have the *right* to litter the sidewalk with private property. Decatur, fairly I believe, thinks not. Want access to our sidewalks? Adhere to littering/storage of property statutes.
Here’s an analogy: When a belligerent drunk on the sidewalk gets hauled away, yes, his freedom of speech is being temporarily curtailed, but only because he’s in violation of other ordinances that make him a nuisance. Once he sobers up, he can speak his mind on the sidewalk all day.
I know. That whole “with rights come responsibilities” stuff is such a drag.
I miss the Blotter.
It’s pretty bad when bastions of liberal thought are hissy-fitting…
I think it’s hilarious!
I agree that cities should have the right to require newsracks be well-maintained and not a danger to pedestrians. But Decatur’s newsrack regulations devote a lot of words to appearance and not public safety. Methinks this is an issue of a government that’s more concerned about appearances than about the people’s access to information. That happens, in seems, when people worry more about how things look than how they work.
I like the town to look neat and clean and orderly. I value that.
CL are coming across like a bunch of whining children – That first amendment canard should embarrass them. Do wonder no one reads that thing any more.
(To be fair, I don’t know for certain that their circulation is down, but it’s clear they’re not making enough money to stay solvent on those escort, psychic and porn chat ads.)
Listen folks, it’s dang tough to publish a newspaper or be a journalist right now. The newspaper industry is fighting for survival. Loss of independent journalism is not good for Decatur, Georgia, the USA or the world, in my opinion. Do y’all really want it to all come down to having the right people control ALL of the information we read and/or hear, instead of most of it, as it is now? Seems like the city could have picked up a telephone and worked something out.
After all, what we’re talking about is distributing READING material and independent journalism in a highly literate town. I don’t think the news boxes were an eyesore, but I’m sure something could have been worked out.
Talk about a huge, monumental community relations blunder. Why get into an argument with folks who buy ink by the barrel?
Sure, they should have complied.
But I’m AWFULLY suspicious of any law or mandate that removes a source of independent journalism from the community.
Nobody is removing any source of journalism. The City is merely asking for compliance with the law. When the publishers of the various newspapers, real estate and used car books comply with the law, the boxes will be restored.
As I said before, I think the City went beyond the requirements in trying to inform the permit holders. The stickers were on the boxes for at least a month and I imagine the notices were sent to the address of record for the holders. If it takes CL two weeks to discover the boxes are gone, I guess they were spending their time on more pressing matters.
What CL did is all on your smart phone now. Can’t remember the last time I grabbed one.
BTW what’s up at Taste on Church St. Kind of an ominous sign in their window.
I’d love to know where this Decatur as a bastion of liberal thought idea came from. It always seemed to me to be more like a bunch of well-off people who support liberalism from a distance while treating themselves well and otherwise maintaining the status quo.
From this blog, it seems more like a bastion of liberal-bashing than liberal leaners and there certainly were a lot of McCain signs around during the last election. But liberal thought is another concept. I think that Decaturites think liberally as in frequently and often, and in ways that yield high scores on standardized tests. Whether that thought is superficial or deep, creative or driven by dogma, self-centered or about social justice, etc. is another story.
Interesting side note to this conversation. I think Decatur is far less crazy-hippie-liberal than it has been in the near past. Perhaps that comes with prosperity – the prosperity following Decatur’s resurgence. In other words, you can’t “kumbaya” your way into a $500k house – you have to be a productive member of society in some way.
Regardless, I find most of my neighbors intelligent and prosperous, and with that, less knee-jerk liberal (I’d add less dogmatically right wing, but we don’t really have those, historically.) Policy differences we may have, but fewer and fewer reactionary leftists and more and more thoughtful conservatives can provide a welcome balance in what is increasingly a conservative city.
An increasingly conservative city? Wow, George, this whole post is really insulting on so many levels. “Crazy-hippie-liberal?” “productive member of society”? Being conservative equals prosperous? Seriously?
George, I hate to break it to you buddy, but if you are talking about politics, I have been in Decatur and its environs since the late 80s and it really isn’t any more conservative politically than it was in 1980s. If anything, the influx of new folks has actually made it bluer. Check out a few decades of voting patterns in Decatur; McCain didn’t fair any better than Kerry or Gore. In ’88, Bush 1 actually split pretty evenly with Dukakis around here. That’s the same year Republican Pat Swindall did pretty well against Democratic Ben Jones (AKA COOTER!!) in the congressional race. I am not sure where you get your info, but don’t be disappointed when Decatur doesn’t vote red anytime soon.
I gotta go with Nell on this one, George. Your presumption that intelligent + prosperous = conservative is pretty far off the bat. How then do you explain the entire State of Georgia (dismal economically AND academically, yet overwhelmingly conservative) outside the Atlanta metro area (and, to a lesser degree, the Athens area)?
Sorry – but does anyone actually read any more?
Try again, and see if you can find any direct equation of Intelligent = conservative.
I claim that productive & prosperous members of society may have policy differences (i.e. may be liberal or conservative) but what we have less of (in my opinion) is radicals/reactionaries who don’t contribute to society. I make that point that the more intelligent & successful someone is, the less likely they are to be at either extreme.
Sadly, both responses to my post are exactly what I (i thought!) we had less of – knee jerk reaction without reading or understanding the post.
Lastly, regardless of the ballot box – I contend that Decatur is, in many ways, perhaps the most conservative place I’ve ever lived.
I read the whole thing, George, and your response. Still find ti offensive. However, I do think, based on your other posts, that you are a reasonable fellow. I just think – know, really – we have totally different views of the universe. It happens
George, has anyone ever characterized you as a solipsist?
Gosh. Last week’s word look-up was hetty. This week is starting off with solipsist.
So many interesting things from so many interesting folks to learn about on here!
Yes, George, I can read just fine. I don’t think your statement was so complex that it needed to be analyzed line by line, so without belaboring your points, I simply boiled them down to the essentials.
George: I contend that Decatur is, in many ways, perhaps the most conservative place I’ve ever lived.
Me: Clearly, you’ve never been OTP.
Wow, small town gal, solipsist? Sounds like a deliberate attempt to insult, but clearly you have an opinion about whether I’d recognize it as such.
Gosh DM, this presents a difficult question: Does it still count as a personal attack if it’s a self-indulgent SAT/GRE word?
@Nellie – thank you sincerely. Much as I try, I simply can’t read my original post as an insult. (Anyone who thinks I’m calling them crazy, obviously isn’t. But for anyone who does self-identify as crazy, my apologies. No insult is intended to sane or crazy people.)
Depends. Is she talking about philosophical or psychological solipsism?
I’m not sure I’m seeing the same insults in George’s arguments as the rest of you. He’s seems to just be calling for moderation…though he’s doing it from a conservative viewpoint. I’m pretty sure he admits that the same argument can be made from the left.
As for the “crazy hippy”, “the more conservative, the better” arguments, they aren’t really more than just over-generalizations. I get in trouble for those too.
I’m beginning to think that the over-generalizations are what CAUSES half these battles. If we were only able to stop categorizing ourselves, we’d spend a lot less time arguing and more time talking specifics.
You make that sound as if it’s a bad thing.
The people’s access to information about upscale jack shacks having been severely impaired by Decatur’s heavy-handed fascism.
Someone please call Glen Beck or Larry Flint.
Cutting into your business?
It’s nearly been rubbed out.
I am actually BITING MY TONGUE not respond to this the way I want to.
LOL! I almost coughed coffee through my nose at this.