RAGBRAI Organizers Split from Register

[capitalcityguy]

It's pretty easy to go listen to the podcast on Iheart radio if you really want to listen. IMO he didn't do a great job explaining why he was leaving. He made it clear he was not planning on this at all until a few weeks ago. Kept saying they wouldn't let him put out his own message to represent RAGBRAI on the Carson King thing. The message he wanted out wasn't strong support of King, just wanted to basically say the stance of the Register does not represent the stance of RAGBRAI. Kinda of felt like he was talking a lot about how he thought the backlash was going to damage the ride a lot. He had zero issues with anything prior to this when dealing with the Register.

Based on the interview it feels poorly explained and very reactionary. I feel like he's been planning this far longer than he was saying in the interview. The timing and plan seem very calculated to me.

Wow...I only caught the end of he conversation, but either you didn't hear the entire interview or you only heard what you wanted to hear.

That fact he often worked unpaid due to the budget crunches the Register would find itself in that caused him and his staff to get laid off periodically.

The fact that he will now be able to better assist small pass-through towns with hosting. Mentioned logistically things like porta poddies as well as local charities benefiting more. Things he wasn't allowed as much influence before.

The fact that the end of RAGBRAI was rumored over the last few years so there were always questions on how long it would last.

 

[tim_redd]

Completely agree and because of that I am torn on this. On one hand I don't like the DMR at all and their handling of the King story was horrid, so I think it is funny that they are getting completely burned on this deal. On the other hand, the new ride organizers seem to be taking advantage of the King story to propel their own personal interests in the new ride.

The whole thing is a cluster and it seems that there is no "good guy" to cheer for.

I see it as an inevitability. The long term outlook of the Register is not good. Change was going to happen sooner or later. People will still drink and bike their way across Iowa. That's what the event is presently about. The name is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Sure there will be some nostalgia for the old name, but life goes on.

 

[NorthCyd]

Wow...I only caught the end of he conversation, but either you didn't hear the entire interview or you only heard what you wanted to hear.

That fact he often worked unpaid due to the budget crunches the Register would find itself in that caused him and his staff to get laid off periodically.

The fact that he will now be able to better assist small pass-through towns with hosting. Mentioned logistically things like porta poddies as well as local charities benefiting more. Things he wasn't allowed as much influence before.

The fact that the end of RAGBRAI was rumored over the last few years so there were always questions on how long it would last.

He briefly mentioned those things and never presented them as reasons he was leaving. I'm not the one with the hearing problem.

 

[CYdTracked]

I'm sorry but people are being woefully naive if they think an apology from the Register would have satisfied people. The online mob got at least a half pound of flesh with the firing of the reporter and that did nothing to calm them.

People continue to paint this RAGBRAI thing as some kind of Register failing based on...what exactly? That the director - whose motives are very much in question here - quit of his own accord and trashed the Register on his way out the door?

You're taking everything he says at face value when he has pretty obvious reason to bend the truth to benefit himself.

No matter what they did it would never satisfy everyone but an apology probably would have satisfied a lot of people they pissed off and caused less damage than the choice they made to just let it blow over. I would have been more satisfied with an editor involved with the decision resigning or being fired over the reporter as the reporter did his job at the direction of the editor(s) who told him to run with it. That reporter would probably still have a job with them today had he not been directed to run that part of the story that stirred up the controversy about if his old tweets are relevant and newsworthy.

Personally I quit wasting my money on the DMR many years ago. I can't even remember the last time I bought an actual paper and I never subscribed to their online content. Their coverage since Gannett bought them has been crap as they basically have gutted the staff and what they have left is not very good nor is the content they are putting out worth the paper they are printing it on. It's a shame because they used to have some really good columnists and a lot more local coverage than they do now and I would not have an issue paying for the content they used to deliver. If they keep going down the path they are now I think it is evitable they will go out of business some day.

 

[06_CY]

Wow...I only caught the end of he conversation, but either you didn't hear the entire interview or you only heard what you wanted to hear.

That fact he often worked unpaid due to the budget crunches the Register would find itself in that caused him and his staff to get laid off periodically.

The fact that he will now be able to better assist small pass-through towns with hosting. Mentioned logistically things like porta poddies as well as local charities benefiting more. Things he wasn't allowed as much influence before.

The fact that the end of RAGBRAI was rumored over the last few years so there were always questions on how long it would last.

That is great he said those positive changes they want to work on, but time will tell if they actually happen. These organizers are no longer pulling compensation from the company they work for; they ARE the company now. So while they say they will be donating whatever to charity, they are going to pull their compensation and other expenses off the top first. I doubt they will have anyone to answer to as to what their comp could be and what they spend money on. Some people would see this as a chance to "get theirs". I don't know any of these people, so not sure what their mentality is. It's just something else to consider.

 

[Cyclones423]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

no one is saying they don’t want to read newspapers. Just not this one. I would assume that is why some cities/areas have more than one newspaper.

 

[mdk2isu]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

Calling it a “local” newspaper is a bit of a stretch since it’s owned by an out of state company. That’s like calling the Walmarts of the metro local stores.

 

[Walden4Prez]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

Please explain to me how people not wanting to support a pile of garbage and book burning are remotely the same thing?

 

[06_CY]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

What about a bra burning? Can we go watch one of those?

 

[tim_redd]

What about a bra burning? Can we go watch one of those?

Don't you hate pants?

 

[CYdTracked]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

I don't want to see it die but I am not going to support it financially either by just accepting garbage journalism as the new standard. If the quality and content were worth the price I'd pay for it but sadly it just keeps getting worse and the people running that place have their blinders on about the direction they have been going in. Just look at how many people here constantly rail on Randy P's work and he's just 1 of many there that people have issues with. And trying to keep politics out of this as much as possible but they definitely have turned into a much more liberal leaning paper when their demographics cover a wide swath of rural Iowa that probably leans more conservative. Not saying they can't cater to both audiences, they just seem to be catering to 1 side much more than the other if you follow their op-ed content and in their business if you neglect certain demographics they probably aren't going to subscribe.

 

[Trice]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

Yeah, it's pretty disturbing to see. I've got countless criticisms of the Register myself, but it's the only thing we've got and in this media environment, nothing is going to spring up to take its place. The public reaction has been wildly out of proportion to the Register's mistake.

 

[herbicide]

Remember...Busch found the tweets too, and someone was going to have to explain why they pulled out. If the Register hadn't reported on it that day, they would have been forced to a day or two later.

What most people assume (incorrectly or not) is that the Register tipped AB off about those tweets. The Register reported that they did not "inform" AB about the tweets, which is careful choice of words. If the Register "asked" about the tweets, they are not technically informing AB of their presence.

The Register did not say they had no contact with AB about the tweets, only that they did not "inform" them of the tweets. There is a subtle yet very important difference between the two statements.

Regardless of what the Register did or did not do, their handling of the situation has been nothing short of a disaster as current events show. They bungled it in multiple ways no matter if they tipped AB off or not. How they handled the story is the real problem.

They took something extremely rare these days, a feel good story for everyone, and pissed all over it. That is why the pitchforks came out of the barns.

 

[RoseClone]

Yeah, it's pretty disturbing to see. I've got countless criticisms of the Register myself, but it's the only thing we've got and in this media environment, nothing is going to spring up to take its place. The public reaction has been wildly out of proportion to the Register's mistake.

The Register is a contributor to "this media environment."

 

[Trice]

The Register is a contributor to "this media environment."

And...?

 

[CYdTracked]

What most people assume (incorrectly or not) is that the Register tipped AB off about those tweets. The Register reported that they did not "inform" AB about the tweets, which is careful choice of words. If the Register "asked" about the tweets, they are not technically informing AB of their presence.

The Register did not say they had no contact with AB about the tweets, only that they did not "inform" them of the tweets. There is a subtle yet very important difference between the two statements.

We'll probably never know but I am under the assumption someone from the DMR most likely called AB to comment on the tweets when they found them. What motive or reason would AB have to actively want to go digging back through his old tweets when the only thing they had invested in this was the positive publicity they were getting out of it plus the money going to sick kids and some Busch Light and promo stuff going to Carson? They over-reacted to the story as well by pulling out of all the "sponsorship" stuff Carson was going to get which made it more of a story for the DMR to report on too. I think in hindsight everyone involved probably wishes they would of handled the situation differently than they did.

 

[Urbandale2013]

Yeah, it's pretty disturbing to see. I've got countless criticisms of the Register myself, but it's the only thing we've got and in this media environment, nothing is going to spring up to take its place. The public reaction has been wildly out of proportion to the Register's mistake.

The Register was already dying. I can only speak for myself but I hope it’s the catalyst that leads to a quick death and a replacement. I want a local paper but the Register can never be that anymore. There’s to much baggage. It is better than nothing but I see it dying now as our only hope for a paper long term (ie longer than 5-10 years).

 

[CyCrazy]

Blows my mind how many people want to see the Register completely destroyed. I get it, it's not the bastion of great journalism it used to be, but we shouldn't be celebrating the demise of the local newspaper. Will you all be attending book burning ceremonies later? Please, calm down and come back to reality.

I don't care what the register does but if they went away I wouldn't bat an eye, Neither would most people. You dont need a paper in this day in age.

 

[Cy94]

I don't care what the register does but if they went away I wouldn't bat an eye, Neither would most people. You dont need a paper in this day in

I don't care what the register does but if they went away I wouldn't bat an eye, Neither would most people. You dont need a paper in this day in age.

You must be a politician.