So I got a call from Delhi News-Record reporter Vicki Hartlen, who apparently is “PO-ed” at my critique of her news article last week. You know a call is going to go well when the response to my polite “How are you?” is “I’m very P.O-ed…”
In this call Vicki proceeds to tell me that despite many many attempts, via phone, in person etc, Ron Ruel never never responded, and that if she’d had the fact that Loblaws doesn’t traditionally deal with Western Union, then she could have included that.
Well wait, wasn’t that the point of my critique?
She then goes on to say that the Delhi Your Independent Grocer is not a major advertiser to the News-Record. Again, not entirely true, since Bowes publishing owns not only the Delhi News-Record, but also the Lake Shore Shopper, in which the YIG flyer sits every week. So that argument doesn’t hold much water either.
In her opinion, this was “big news” and the fact that so many tobacco farms are not coming because of the loss of this service needed to be published. My argument was that this story did more to damage retail in Delhi than any lost service that YIG or any other store in Delhi could have attained. Not to mention that this was not necessarily fact, but that Vicki took these guys’ words as gold. She didn’t attempt to interview other farmers and their workers that still show up every Thursday and Friday night; couldn’t hold the story for a week to get Ron Ruel’s side of the story. After all, the Western Union service had been gone at least 4 weeks already, what’s another week to get your facts straight and appear less biased?
At any rate, I don’t get to find out because not to far into the conversation she is offended by my nervous laughs which she took as condescending. Let’s face it, I’m a night shift worker and I’m tired and taken aback by a girl who calls my home to basically yell at me in reference to an article I wrote “about what she wrote.” She hung up on me. Now that’s professional.
But it hits me while I’m on the phone with her the real reason she has called. She is offended by ME! By my wee article, which is sandwiched between Paris Hilton going back to jail, and a post about me doing a fashion show!! I’m not exactly CNN or the BBC. Who calls to say “I’m PO-ed at your blog?” and then hangs up on the person she called cause he was defending himself on the spot.
Seriously, Vicki, don’t take it personally that I didn’t like your story. You got a reaction, and reporters like reaction as opposed to indifference, don’t they?
