The Twin Cities is pretty lucky they have 2 pretty decent papers the Strib and the Pioneer press. The Register used to be pretty good but now at least half the articles are cut and pasted from the USA Today.
https://whotv.com/2019/10/21/des-moines-register-opinion-editor-leaving-the-paper/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5dae8e164c15b80001488e1e&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook Will be interesting to see how many more departures there will be in the near future.
The staff was 4 people. I thought it would be like 20 people and if it was I thought it would be a big deal. Since it is 4 they can be replaced. There are a lot of other ride organizers across the US that would jump at the idea of planning the largest ride in the US.
I was wondering how big the staff was. Were they all FT? It would be fairly difficult to change the feel of RAGBRAI unless they stop over-nighting in the smaller towns/cities. Does anyone know how much control RAGBRAI has on the vendors on the route? I always thought it was up to the counties/towns to license who is there.
I don't doubt that aspect, my intent with the message is at least to me it lends some credibility to TJ's claims, versus it being a purely opportunistic move. To get the entire (yes 4) people on the staff to leave with him, tells me he either had a golden opportunity, or his claims of the Register violating their ideals do have merit. Personally I don't see a competitive ride on the same week as the largest ride in the US being a golden opportunity; on the surface it seems like a recipe for failure.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue at hand. There is no "journalism" involved in the Register communicating to the public through RAGBRAI. TJ was never a journalist being censored by PR people. He was an employee of a company who never for one moment - whether he thinks he did or not - had the right to say whatever he wanted about the event he was hired to manage. Or to distance that event from the company that owns it and employs him. Of course corporate PR people are going to get involved - it's a major public relations issue! I can't imagine TJ was that dumb - though watching him handle this in the past week has me reconsidering that position - but I'm sure he's happy to let the RAGBRAI community think that.
The part you don’t seem to get is they hired him and the rest of the staff to run a successful bike ride. Part of that is knowing how to get people to participate. TJs professional view on that was that RAGBRAI needed to clarify that they are a separate event that doesn’t necessarily share the views of the paper. The Register is free to disagree with that opinion but that means they lose their staff. I also think it’s important to note that while the Register technically owns RAGBRAI the event is bigger than the paper. They are the ones that are destroying the event. From everything we have heard they were wanting to end it in the future. I still see this as them offering a ride that can continue even if it doesn’t have the name.
He had every right to say what he wanted. He just couldn't say it as a Register employee. Because of that he his no longer an employee of the Regsiter, and we are now in this unfortunate position. Per his own words (the interview) the statements the Register gave him to make put him in a compromising situation to run a successful RAGBRAI, hence his resignation.
Correct. People seem to think I'm advocating for whatever the Register's position was. I'm not. I'm simply saying it was the Register's event and they have the right to manage it as they see fit - including what their employees say about it in public.
Ah sorry, we are essentially saying the same thing. I think (know) some don't understand this relationship, and its particular consequences as we see here. (removed disagree )
Good timing if you happen to be promoting a big new bike ride. https://www.kcci.com/article/conference-tied-to-iowa-bike-official-features-his-new-ride/29553556
but they shouldn't be celebrated for forcing all of us to go help destroy RAGBRAI or see an event we love split up or destroyed.
When was the conference planned? Was/is Ragbrai a participan? Which ride is the guy who blasts the Iowa Fight Song the whole route choosing?
No idea when but big conferences are usually planned well in advance. You think TJ is going to promote both rides at his conference? lol
https://www.raygunsite.com/blogs/news/how-to-destroy-a-community-in-3-simple-steps Raygun seems to side on the DMR side so that makes even more anti-DMR.
Iowa’s Ride changed their dates to the week before RAGBRAI. Not as much support as they thought they would get?
