Cornwall ON – Have you ever had one of those weeks? You know the kind where you feel your on one of those airport motorized walkways, only that’s it’s going faster and faster and you can’t jump off?
I guess the choice is to enjoy the scenery and the wind in your hair or stress out 🙂
A lot is happening around here. A lot of stories, material and oddness creeping around and rumbling; like Solar Flares just not as ….
Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Most of you reading these words are women so an extra cheer to all of you for helping support us by viewing, and I’m hoping you’re all thanking our sponsors by visiting their websites and where possible using their products and services as they pay the bills to keep us going.
According to our demographics Women 35-44 are our number one viewers at 17%. It was nice to see more women posting recently. Normally it feels like it’s cranky old guys that do most of the commenting, not that there’s anything wrong with cranky old men….
But I digress.
We’ve only done one Charlie Sheen story. There’s so much material there, but what interests me is that like any car wreck it’s the gawker’s that fascinate me.
I mean would Charlie be getting all this attention if there wasn’t interest? Are many of us hypocrites in that we will comment and pooh pooh the whole event, but still gossip about it and watch the coverage? It reminds me of a local drama aired out recently that had a tremendous amount of traffic on our site. Staggering and surprising especially as it was never meant to be a traffic type story.
While I’m taking this intimate moment to chat with all of you, to interrupt our daily flow of news, I wanted to comment on a few tid bits. One of the biggest criticism the CFN gets is that we’re not a traditional newspaper. It’s usually by failed journalism students working in fast food restaurant or anything other than journalism and it’s slung with passion and …..soemething.
Well what can I say? In The Social Networking movie the main character keeps saying “We don’t know what this is yet..” and I feel that way too about this site. Is it a true newspaper? Is it a message board? Is it trash or class? Adam Brazeau loves to call us TMZ, but TMZ is one awfully popular and successful media site in its own right and surely more successful than anything Mr. Brazeau has worked on or probably ever will until he learns how to use spell check.
Media is forever changing. When I started The Cornwall Free News the focus was on the word “Free” and the goal was not to cover the same old same old in the same way. I think in many wasy I’ve achieved my goals. It’s funny…when the paper started people would contact and connect with me. There was this personal connection via a very public medium. People don’t know me as a person; they only have the snippets from what I print here.
Now, with over 30,000 people viewing per month from all over the world never mind the country I still get emails and calls and people feel they know me. I kinda like that.
So I think it’s time to end this chat. The big news here is that we’re about to have a name change, but that’s for another chat. If you could change our name from The Cornwall Free News, what would you change it to? You can post your comments below and thanks to each and every single one of you; fried or foe, for making us the fastest growing media site in Canada.
Jamie Gilcig, your editor of The Cornwall Free News
“.soemething.” you were saying about spell check? 😉
yeah baby!
Maybe you should take it easy criticising others, Mr. Gilcig. From what I can see in this article, spell-checking is a skill that escapes not only Mr. Brazeau.
You’re quite correct Sarah; however I don’t put on airs that I’m something that I’m not nor probably ever will be. Kudos for you though standing up for your little friend. That’s something not enough people do in this day and age, and something to be commended for and respected.
You web site is like ten points of light coming off our ears. You have an understanding of conscience thought that vibrates like meteorites playing gangster rap in our heads. If Sally and I could share with you the view that the Sahara is a mass of granulated sand all inscribed with the jaws of life. If we could tell you Sally’s speech would be so loud, your hair would turn royal purple with the hope of thousands as we march forth to rally, yes rally our microbial pals from the red planet – it would come as a great surprise to the powers that be. Our Queen’s Counsel, an attorney of legend, from York county will contact you shortly for the unlawful and most highly illegally reading of our crisp mental minds and the engagement of illegals from Baffin Island in your sub-basement of pink slaves. Without prejudice. Ha, as if. You are challenged to obsessive pillow fights at dawn.Your site is curious guilty of truth, knowledge, lies, top quality golden horse crap and the occasional tea spoon of immortal sun shine. Your site is a mob, a gang, a hostile force looking for a Canadian fight. You desire to melt the snow off our sniffing muzzles. Clearly and obviously you are a great man, a fine man, a man of the great quest, a friend of dogs and an upstart. You are an upstart.
http://www.UpStartCanada.com
That’s your new name – now you owe me. Pay up in nickles made prior to 1982. Paper money is crap.
I absolutely love how a few of these “failed journalism students” have attempted to leave comments about this, but you decline them. So sad. I get it, if “no one” comments, then you must be right! Wow, Gilcpig. Good job.
Bailey we actually have standards here. If those students wish to actually all sign the letter they are sending to our sponsors I’d be quite happy to publish it too.
Standards? Well, I believe these standards are sub-par… considering the filth you post here.
Well Bailey you’re entitled to your opinion and the beauty here, unlike many places, is that we allow people to share their opinions, even if we don’t agree with them. We don’t however allow anonymous posters to simply spill their screed and vent their frustrations. There are medications for that.
I believe I attempted to leave a comment yesterday about your opinion of Adam Brazeau. What do you have against him, and journalism graduates for that matter? Are you jealous that we have been trained professionally? And who are these grads working in fast food? Did you know that journalism is the hardest field to get into? And so what if they are working in a restaurant. At least they are working.
And now you’re bring up people on medication? You are a sad little man.
Filth?
Bailey your posts were not approved because of what you wrote. Now if you want to discuss your subject I suggest you write us a letter to the editor, (info@cornwallfreenews.com) signed, and I’d be happy to discuss this subject further. What I can say here, and this will end our discourse for now, is that in this world, if you type something on facebook, or share it at public events, and it gets back to people, you can’t be upset if that person calls you on it. Essentially what you’re attempting to do right now and what you tried to do in a non-related thread. Also, Bailey, if you’re an actual journalism student reading comprehension skills are something key to actually gaining employment and achieving any success in the field.
I know. You should see the collection of posts I have not posted! I don’t want to see our standards erode like certain other media outlets posted comments. One local politician actually told me he wont’t give out interviews to a media outlet because of the comments allowed.
Part of our mandate is freedom of speech, but sometimes it’s a test to live up to. Our standards are very simple and basic. If you want to take nasty shots at people then your identity must be outed either by signing your name or making it clear who you are to the public via your posts. You can’t say things that can get anyone sued, abuse copyright, and of course if it really pushes the extremes of acceptable tastes or is simply banal it’s not going up either. It’s not a finite set of guidelines, but I think most people are happy with the results so far.
Jamie, censorship is the bitterest pill of all, and the CFN is an open pharmacy. If “local politicians” can’t give interviews that stand the light of critical response, then they shouldn’t be in politics.
The internet is a brilliant medium for voicing one’s opinions without reprisal, because IT’S ANONYMOUS. You can actually speak your mind, without someone with the opposite view fanatically stalking your facebook page, or spamming your email simply because they don’t like what you say.
You’re actually using that as a threat to prevent people from speaking their true thoughts knowing full well they may fear reprisal for their words. Shame.
You talk a good talk about open and honest discussion, but all I read, (or don’t read) is about the posts you censor. At least “other media outlets” have the fortitude to let people speak their minds even though those thoughts may be controversial.
Antogonizer I rarely will debate anonymous posters. I won’t start with you. I will simply state that the internet isn’t Anonymous. Everyone can be tracked and all laws that apply elsewhere, in other mediums, apply here.
Yes people can initially post anonymously and in circumstances that can be positive, but too many use that as a vehicle to attack others as you and some others have tried to do.
If you can’t sign your name to something you don’t get to say certain things on this site. I’m very proud of that policy and we are the only media in Cornwall that actually has one.
We don’t just use a profanity or phrase filter.
If someone wants to twist that their comment didn’t get through I would challenge them to reread what they tried to post. One day I may put out a book of the crap that hasn’t made it through this site. I have a hunch the vast majority of viewers would agree with those selections as well.
So when you’re ready to post using your real name or identity or simply make known your Nom de Plume I’d be happy to debate you on the issue.
You know it’s funny but I’ve never had my posts rejected before. I’ve called out the admin on a few occasions and he’s printed my comments. I’ve called out a few others on this board too and he’s printed those comments as well. Others have taken shots at me and those comments have been printed. (Which is only fair). I fully expect THIS comment to be posted. Some of the things people have written on this page had to have gone through the admin and they don’t all paint him with a pretty brush. I am not sure what the policy is on what gets posted and what doesn’t but it doesn’t look like censorship to me it looks more like someone is trying to moderate fair discussions that are not just viscous and mean attacks.
First and foremost, I do not agree with airing one’s own dirty laundry on a news website. Nor do I commend trashing people personally in print.
However, other than the Adam Brazeau attack, nowhere in this story states that the “journalism student failures” Mr. Glicig is referring to are from St. Lawrence College. I am a graduate of the journalism program at St. Lawrence College and I did not take offence. I know Jamie personally and I respect him. I may not agree with Mr. Gilcig’s news ethics, but I have to admit that he does get peoples juices flowing. If people are reading, then apparently it’s news.
Adam Brazeau is a good and reasonable person. He is a success. I would be glad to lend him some typewriter ribbon and carbon paper any time. The journalism program at St. Lawrence College inspires, educates and promotes skills and thought. Markus Noe is a very impressive and skilled writer who puts out with terrific speed. We’d be lucky to read more by him. I miss him.
I’ve had a one or two posts blocked by Jamie, and that’s just fine. It’s his site, and the posters are his guests. I get pretty nasty when responding to the preacher, maybe too nasty at times. He’s over at the Freeholder today bashing Muslims. He likes to spread his hate in different places.
Furtz it’s funny you mention Pastor Tom’s letter in the Standard-Freeholder today. I think it’s the very first time that I have ever agreed to something that the good pastor has said. We don’t need Sharia Law, we have our own Canadian laws here in Canada and they are effective. Saying that is not hate!
Well Stan, maybe you should should join the preacher’s cult just to be safe. We have Canadian law that works pretty well, but isn’t perfect. There is Shariah law that’s seems pretty brutal, depending on it’s interpretation, and we have the preacher’s law, that is absolutely brutal. The preacher is just carrying on with his obsession with other people’s beliefs, firmly believing that HIS way is the ONLY way, and anyone who believes otherwise will roast in hell.