jk
Junior Nomad
Posts: 43
Registered: 8-23-2003
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Gringo Gazette
I have subscribed to the Gringo Gazette for the past year. I have been very frustrated with the way they layout the thing. Trying to follow a story
as it carries through the paper is very difficult. In fact, I might nominate it as the worst example of newspaper layout on the planet.
Then there is the editing. I am continually surprised at some of the editorial comments thrown into various stories. Lots of comments about
"eco-N-zis" etc. Do others of you read it? I am curious what you think about it. Is there any background that might help explain the editorial
comments?
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backninedan
Senior Nomad
Posts: 865
Registered: 3-8-2003
Location: Loreto
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I have tried several times to read the Gringo Gazette on line and agree that it is very hard to follow a story that is continued on 6 different
pages, plus the ads disguised as actual news articles.
I do occasionally find some good info, but it is hardly worth the effort.
Dan/Oregon/Loreto
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Mike Humfreville
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Registered: 8-26-2003
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GG is confusing as their articles "scroll" right through their ads, i.e. you can be reading down a column, encounter an ad, which normally means the
text column will continue at the top of the page. Theirs continue downward, resuming after the interjected ad. Also, the first time I read the GG I
was refered to another page. I spent a halfhour looking for page numbers before I discovered they're the fingers at the top left and right of
alternating pages. And their editorial style is WAY kickback. But I have spoken with the GG editors and that's what they want and they are, as far
as I know, the major periodical publication for northern and southern Baja California. It just takes a little time to get used to the format.
[Edited on 10-22-2003 by Mike Humfreville]
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Stephanie Jackter
Senior Nomad
Posts: 566
Registered: 11-3-2002
Location: Arizona
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The Gringo Gazette is a real RAG
if there ever was one. As you have seen, it does have a very anti- environmentalist slant. It is also very anti-Mexican govt., which got its editor
Carrie Duncan booted out of Mexico. In response to that, the "journalists" at Gringo Gazette started writing under those silly pseudonyms a couple of
years ago and the caliber of the paper has gone down even more precipitously since then, as nobody has to bare responsibility, at this point for
anything they've written.
I've taken a lot of flack (mostly from Braulio), about citing news items from the Gazette and do wonder myself sometimes if he's not right that I
shouldn't believe anything they say.
In case you didn't see it, I just ragged on their lack of journalistic integrity for not challenging any of the lies the dolphin "caretaker" has been
spouting for the last few weeks.
But with that in mind, they still get some info to me that turns out to be true that I simply wouldn't get from any other venue, especially living far
away from La Paz where I can't get any other papers.
And yeah, Even being 65% schlock, imagine how much they could up their readership if they would make it so that you didn't have to go to 8 different
pages to read one Frickin' article! Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get and do the best to seperate the wheat from the chaffe (which there
is certainly plenty of in this case).- Stephanie
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Ski Baja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 652
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: Rosarito Beach
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Is it is or is it isn't?
Seems like we have had this conversation before with somewhat of a different outlook eh Steph?
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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As a Wanna Be Writer
I had to experience the process of publishing an article in a newspaper to understand the way things work. I't didn't take long to figure out...
Newspapers rely on ad sales. I'm told that's where they make their expenses and their future. I the case of some papers, it's their profit too, if
they are giveaways.
I have limited insight, but newspapers, especially small ones with limited focuses have to capture their audience and their advertisers quickly. Thus
they want to endear themselves to both sides. This means the articles must be written for the audience and be as flattering as possible to their
advertisers. It's common practice to write an article flattering a specific industry or facility and then solicit ad space from those same folks.
It doesn't take a genius to see the web they're trapped in.
I learned quickly that if I was ever going to write what I knew to be the truth and speak openly without my work being twisted toward the advertiser
that I had to stay away from biased sponsors. That's not a bad thing, in fact it's just common sense. Guess I'll have to find a publisher that
doesn't sell ads with the copy.
[Edited on 10-22-2003 by Mike Humfreville]
[Edited on 10-22-2003 by Mike Humfreville]
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Ski Baja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 652
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: Rosarito Beach
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Mikes writing
Mike, you have a surefired talent, apparently more than one. I am sure Ms. Nancy would love to have your writings. It's just that they would be so
split up like everything else in that fishwrap, no one else would be able to read them. I especially like her interpretation of page# 3.
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Stephanie Jackter
Senior Nomad
Posts: 566
Registered: 11-3-2002
Location: Arizona
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Seems like we have had this conversation before with somewhat of a different outlook eh Steph?- Ski Baja
Not really. I stand behind what I've said in the past about the Gringo Gazzette and if you'll check what I've said, it's pretty similar to what I'm
saying now. They can be way off the mark, as they were with the Dolphin slant, but I still need them to provide me with information I can't get
elsewhere and that's why I read it and repeat some of the info here. It's kind of like a bad marriage where the partners stay in out of need rather
than love. - Stephanie
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Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
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Having published a similar sized newsletter twice monthly for several years I can tell you that some editing skill and a bit more common sense would
make GG easily to read and still feature ads in a way that pleases the advertiser.
That said, I still occasionally stumble through it for the "news".
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
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Ski Baja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 652
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: Rosarito Beach
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Gringos Gazzeette
And, I might add, so do I. In fact, I picked one up in El Centenario and it was most interesting after the hurricane. Although still put together by
a beginning editor so it would seem.
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