tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post901367842974918209..comments2023-09-27T03:58:56.646-06:00Comments on Bessemer Opinions: Is Bessemer Opinions "Illegitimate?"Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10842576168520693461noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-28998716546134760022007-12-01T09:55:00.000-06:002007-12-01T09:55:00.000-06:00Well, Mr. Jones, you have compelling evidence as t...Well, Mr. Jones, you have compelling evidence as to why the Western Star should be considered among America's elite publications. The next time my dog pees on your newspaper, I will admonish him not to be so disrespectful of such greatness.Ben Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422661704234212927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-76926122247343216412007-11-30T21:33:00.000-06:002007-11-30T21:33:00.000-06:00There is no reason for me to call you Mr. Jones. T...There is no reason for me to call you Mr. Jones. There is nothing for us to talk about. I mentioned the facts behind my criticism of the Western Star in my last post on this blog. Given the tone of your previous posts I will assume that you will interpret my unwillingness to call as proof that I am not who I say I am. You will be wrong. Nevertheless, I am under no obligation to prove anything to you to satisfy your curiosity.<BR/>Suffice to say, IF you will read your own paper, you will be left to face the indisputable proof of the evidence I presented regarding spelling,punctuation, grammar, typo's, etc. <BR/>As it stands right now, I read the Western Star in order to "find the errors." It's become somewhat of a game to me. <BR/>Hopefully my criticism will be an incentive to you to pay closer attention to what you are publishing.<BR/>PriscillaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-33147398171557461642007-11-30T17:13:00.000-06:002007-11-30T17:13:00.000-06:00Call me Priscilla. Let's talk about it.I'd be hap...Call me Priscilla. Let's talk about it.<BR/>I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.<BR/>I look forward to HEARING from you.<BR/>And THANKS for reading The Western Star.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-19224474715174763342007-11-30T16:55:00.000-06:002007-11-30T16:55:00.000-06:00Mr. Jones,I'm sorry but I just have to respond. If...Mr. Jones,<BR/>I'm sorry but I just have to respond. If your paper won so many awards I shudder to think about how the competition must have looked. <BR/>Let me give just a "few" examples of my criticism's from this week's Western Star. <BR/>On page one in the article by Kyoka Akers this part of one sentence jumps out and hits one in the face, "According to Bates she have been working...." Pardon me? She HAVE...where did that kind of grammar come from?<BR/>In the Social Scene Club News, I counted 15 errors alone. They were either typo's, misspelled words, lack of proper capitalization or lack of proper punctuation. I didn't have to hunt for them. They jumped right off the page at me. They were as obvious as the nose on your face. <BR/>I'm not trying to be ugly. I'm just stating the facts. I challenge you to pick up your paper and check what I have told you. I'm not even mentioning all the paper, just those couple of areas....<BR/>How can you defend that kind of sloppy journalism?<BR/>By the way, it's me, Priscilla Conway, again....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-227555148471107442007-11-30T14:34:00.000-06:002007-11-30T14:34:00.000-06:00Well, Ben, if that is the case, then where do you ...Well, Ben, if that is the case, then where do you get off saying that I don't know the first thing about running a newspaper? <BR/>Again, I encourage you to make yourself known. Give me a call or come by my office and introduce yourself. I realize that THAT will never happen.<BR/>YOU are the VERY PERSON I wrote about in my editorial last week. Not you personally, but people like you. You COWARDLY hide behind this fictitious name of BEN MASON, and take shots at me about the way I run my paper. <BR/>As for the 'shot' at the Baptist paper, I'm not sure what that is all about but have a pretty good idea.<BR/><BR/>Our paper is part of a company that owns numerous papers in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. At our recent corporate meeting, The Western Star won MORE AWARDS for newspaper excellence than any of our other publications except for the one DAILY paper that is part of our company. Next year we will be celebrating TWENTY FIVE years in Bessemer so we must be doing something right. <BR/>*Over the past year, our subscriptions have increased significantly (despite lying dormant for almost 3 years) and the number of racks we have throughout the West Jefferson area are increasing as well. <BR/><BR/>As for news content...<BR/>*The Western STAR was the first paper to give COMPLETE coverage of the Wachovia Bank Robbery. <BR/>*The Western STAR broke the story (even before the B'ham news) that the security cameras in the bank were not working. <BR/>*The Western STAR was the FIRST media outlet in ALABAMA to publish the TRUTH about the Hoover football coach when no one else would touch it. Despite receiving several threatening emails, it ALL turned out to be 100% TRUE.<BR/>*The Western STAR is the only weekly paper in West Jefferson County that is a member of the Ala. Press Association.<BR/>*The Western STAR is the ONLY newspaper in all of Jefferson County to feature Award Winning Journalist Paul Finebuam.<BR/><BR/>And Ben...it's Plagiarize!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-60246330522352851852007-11-30T10:25:00.000-06:002007-11-30T10:25:00.000-06:00I'm not in the business, but I have been reading n...I'm not in the business, but I have been reading newspapers for many years. I even used to read the Western Star for its news value. But, Dale, since I have spent many years as a reader -- and I can spell -- I guess that does make me more qualified than you. Plagierize this.Ben Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422661704234212927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-65243582940874689302007-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:002007-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00Ben,Are you "the" Ben Mason? You know, they say n...Ben,<BR/>Are you "the" Ben Mason? You know, they say newspapers are best for washing windows, they don't leave lint or streaks..maybe Dale could tie the two in..washing car windows with the papers...<BR/><BR/>Priscilla, <BR/>A dictionary might be nice. We know that there are at least two words Dale does not know the definition of...Illegitimate and plagiarize. Also, I guess Dale thinks you are really me just adding comments to my own blog. Dale, I don't need to do that.<BR/><BR/>Dale, <BR/>Don't talk about anonymous posts. Remember the one you or one of your employees posted in June about Bessemer business owners and such...the one that I removed because it made baseless accusations...and you (or your guy) posted it anonymously?<BR/><BR/>And as for the party...since you have threatened me through an email no I will not invite you in to my home this year. I have to look out for myself.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10842576168520693461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-21978279389159828312007-11-29T21:04:00.000-06:002007-11-29T21:04:00.000-06:00I appreciate Mr. Jones' correction of my spelling ...I appreciate Mr. Jones' correction of my spelling errors. But, I have one question? I wonder why, if Mr. Jones is so adept at spelling he doesn't catch all the typo's and misspelled words in his paper? I, after all, am not a newspaper editor. Also, I don't have a blog. This is Joe's blog. I am only making a comment on his blog. And, since I have been accused of hiding, I think I will legitimize (did I spell that right and is that the proper use of the word?) Mr.Jones' comment and sign myself "anonymous."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-2487921883784342812007-11-29T17:11:00.000-06:002007-11-29T17:11:00.000-06:00Oh...and Ms. Conway (yeah...RIGHT) since you are s...Oh...and Ms. Conway (yeah...RIGHT) since you are such a stickler for spelling, it's *COULDN'T* and *ILLEGITIMATE* We wouldn't want anybody reading mistakes in your blog, would we?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-3699684541366581642007-11-29T15:55:00.000-06:002007-11-29T15:55:00.000-06:00Hhhhhmmmm...interestingly I've never met Ben Mason...Hhhhhmmmm...interestingly I've never met Ben Mason or Priscilla Conway. I at least RESPECT Joe's opinion (although I rarely agree with it) because, like myself, he is willing to put a face and a name with his comments. That's to be commended. <BR/>Seems to me like two people with such STRONG opinions would be willing to personally talk to me, but I doubt that will happen.<BR/>Mr. (and I use that term loosely) Mason says I don't know anything about running a paper, which leads me to believe he must be in the business himself. Now which paper is it that you work for Ben? Again, I doubt seriously we'll ever find the answer to that one.<BR/>Joe, since you are so IN LOVE with the Tribune, why don't you get some background information? Why don't you do some investigating? Find out why the editor there is no longer at The Western Star. Find out why, even though he often attacks our elected officials, he is not ALLOWED to VOTE for any of them. Find out why ALREADY, after less than a year in business, the paper has been REMOVED from some of our local businesses. I've been called STUPID on this site. I've been called an idiot by people I've NEVER MET. And that's fine.<BR/>But Joe, if you'll DIG a little, I think you'll find out some INTERESTING INFORMATION.<BR/><BR/>But whatever the case, thank ALL OF YOU for reading the Western Star.<BR/><BR/>Have a Merry Christmas!<BR/>*I guess I'm not gonna get an invitation to your Chirstmas party this year, huh Joe?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-29767216480371046092007-11-29T12:41:00.000-06:002007-11-29T12:41:00.000-06:00I read the Western Star for comic relief (but I do...I read the Western Star for comic relief (but I don't buy it!) It's always amusing to see how many typo's, incorrect spellings, announcements made to look like ads, sentence fragments and sloppy lay out's I can find in each edition. Then, of course, there is NEVER any news! This week when Dale Jones referred to your "illegitimate" blog ( I knew it was yours, he was making reference to) I couln't restrain myself. I broke out into a belly laugh. What, pray tell, is an illigitimate blog? How could any blog possibly be "illigitimate?" Perhaps Mr. Jones should ask Santa for a dictionary for Christmas...but then, given the way the rest of the paper looks, he probably wouldn't know what to do with a dictionary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1677108722778516534.post-80326689976704261212007-11-29T12:30:00.000-06:002007-11-29T12:30:00.000-06:00Dale Jones should be washing cars for a living. He...Dale Jones should be washing cars for a living. He doesn't have the slightest clue about operating a newspaper. Maybe he should apply for a job at the Baptist newspaper -- delivering them And then he can wash cars -- make those tires shine, boy!Ben Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422661704234212927noreply@blogger.com