I wish Wheeler a speedy and complete recovery. I also really, really wonder why his accieent is newsworthy and so worthy of a Twitter announcement.

Now, if BlueOregon can find out where water commissioner Randy Leonard is hiding, that would be real breaking news.

Kevin, I don't think that I stated that any of your chosen headlines were more newsworthy, but for the sake of debate:

Oregonian - At least we are talking about animal humanitarians and those who strive to make things better for animals in Portland. Is this less important than a minor politician's bad accident while skiing of boarding?

Skanner - hmmm, growing food locally and organically in Seattle. Seems to cut down on transportation costs and supports a local entity. Again, is this less important than a minor politician's bad accident while skiing or boarding?

Willy Week - OK, you got me on this one. It is probably much less important than a serious accident to a minor politician while skiing or boarding at Mt. Bachelor.

I wish Wheeler the best, just find much of what is on twitter self absorbed crap.

The water commissioner is back from vacation: http://twitter.com/portlandwater/status/6180704335

He's pressing his blue jeans, putting on his scuba gear, assembling his HIT team, and will show that E. coli who really runs the Water Bureau ... in about three hours.

News coverage is fair game. So's a Dem op. And it's a blog, fercryinoutloud! Kurt seems to have his knickers in a twist on a few posts lately.

Guess he's going to be a two-wheeler for a while!

Best wishes.

OurPDX, then ThePortlander and BlueOregon all beat the traditional news outlets to the story. And some wonder why traditional news is dying.

The fact that the hacks who run this site thought this was news is another example of the hollowness at the core of the democratic establishment.

i think its hilarious that "new" democratic media thinks twitter posts from party hacks are important news.

okay okay folks - you can all relax now... The Oregonian posted a story Sun ~4:25 PM.

Kurt has it exactly right. But this matter demonstrates something quite serious about the collective mental health and character maturity of a whole segment of our culture. Who cares about this kind of health details and this kind of narcissistic behavior by a politician? This kind of thing truly is emblematic of empty, soulless, ugly, disgusting NW/Oregon/Portland culture.

T.A. is quite right that old-style genuine journalism is in trouble (of course the O, being a signal NW/Oregon/Portland institution itself, is far from a credible example of that.) But that's because, as TA demonstrates with a trite post that provides another example of the desire to just be in with the "cool kids" that typifies the "real-time web", too many are little more than psychologically stunted exhibitionists and narcissists.

Contrast Wheeler's desire to pump the brand of "Wheeler" to Tiger Woods statement on personal matters:

This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way.

Wheeler's behavior suggests he sees an opportunity to exploit this to gain some political and personal advantage. A simple one-liner in any mainstream media: "Ted Wheeler was injured in a skiing accident, he's resting comfortably, and his prognosis is for an uneventful recovery" should be sufficient publicity of the event for anyone, including him.

While you're in the hospital Wheeler, since by your own "look-at-me, look-at-me" admission your physical recovery will be uneventful (and I certainly wish you the best and hope that will be true as any mentally sound and mature person would), you might want to use the time productively by seeing a qualified psychologist.

And for those of you who my previous comments work up into a lather. You might want to watch this TED lecture "Is the internet what Orwell feared". And don't fool yourself by thinking you know what the journalist giving the lecture means by that title.

Remember Wheeler is first and foremost a politician in this context (after all that is the justification T.A. uses to claim this is "news") then think about how Wheeler has actually used the new media rather than how people like him talk about it, Davis's behavior in response to how Wheeler uses it, and T.A.'s statements here.

Oh and you might also consider the first question in the Eight Best Questions We Got While Raising Venture Capital blog post. My partner says FaceBook and Twitter hit a home run because they indulge all Seven Deadly Sins --- Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. But which does Twitter indulge most? Pride and specifically Vainglory seems far too simplistic an answer.

Dan Petergorsky wrote:

I can't see why it's in our interest to frame a discussion of the news industry in terms of a race to see who can be first to post an item in response to a Tweet.

You're right Dan, although the layers of meaning you may have intended in your comment are not quite clear. The question is what that first Tweet, and furthermore the impulse to send it, actually reveals about Wheeler's judgement and character, as well as the judgement and character of those to whom it appealed.

Doonesbury's running joke about Hedley's tweets certainly is about more than the superficiality of meaningless quick scoops. It is also about what Headley personifies as a figure in pop culture and to whom that figure appeals. (Some may remember that Hedley was introduced as a cartoonish satire on Sam Donaldson who, as one of the first "celebrity journalists", willingly turned himself into a cartoonish satire of an investigative journalist. Oh and in the ultimate satire, he even has a real Twitter account

T.A. Barnhart wrote:

the Oregonian got it, too, although unlike many others (including OurPDX.com but excluding Willamette Week) they didn't do anything with it. what else are they not paying attention to?

You're spinning and weaving as you backpedal T.A. and it's a sad but very instructive spectacle to watch. If your post really was a substantial one about the demise of the old media, you could have headlined it differently, omitted all details of Wheeler's tweet including the picture, and, most importantly, actually made a credible argument why it was even necessary for any media outlet to say anything more than "Ted Wheeler was injured in a skiing accident, he's resting comfortably, and his prognosis is for an uneventful recovery within say 24 hours of the event.

In other words, you needed to make the argument why the O wasn't actually being the credible journalistic source here by giving this the minimal attention it deserved. That is not the thrust of your post nor the argument you have subsequently made.

Now you may have just picked a very bad example to try to make whatever point you are trying to make. Nonetheless, it is clear the REAL story here is what this really says about Wheeler's judgement and character and what that might actually indicate about the quality of his leadership. You have demonstrated why that is the real story, intentionally or not.

T.A. Barnhart:

HD, until you identify yourself, your comments are meaningless. how hard is it to be honest about who you are? at least you know who you are addressing your insults to; i don't even get that option with you.

Sorry T.A., but while that kind of childish argument as an attempt to deflect that your arguments have been held up to the light and found transparent, it doesn't help the case you are trying unsuccessfully and impotently to make about the O.

By your actions you have opened the question whether a person who exhibits the judgement Wheeler has here, actually demonstrates the character qualities appropriate for government leadership.

This is not about not about you, and your attempt to make it so is a side fact that further illustrates a self-aggrandizing pathology that the Twitter phenomena indulges.

I just love how y'all have turned a story about a serious injury into a pissing match about, oh, um, who cares.

Kevin, you really need to engage brain before posting and buy a dictionary.

Tweeting to 1600 people/bots is "a self-aggrandizing pathology" according to HD. Pontificating on a blog that reaches 2500 per day is therefore.... what?

Wheeler's tweet is apparently a self-aggrandizing action precisely because you know it was Wheeler tweeting personal information about himself that we have absolutely no need to know, for reasons that have nothing to do with providing us legitimate, relevant news. It's not my opinion ("according to HD"), that's pretty much a definition by example of "self-aggrandizing".

You'll have to fill in the "what?" to make a point which can be debated. By using "what?" in the not very clever way you do, you avoid making a specific point which can be refuted and for which you can be criticized. Instead you invite people to draw an false implicature. That kind of dishonest tactic impugns your integrity even worse than making a direct but invalid point. Now that the snide triteness of your tactic has been highlighted, it is simply a fact that the comments made on this post fit none of those definitive criteria just noted for being self-aggrandizing.

That is, unless your assertion is that all political commentary is by definition "self-aggrandizing". If that is your contention, it doesn't help your credibility any more.

You might want to consider what we have just learned about you, just as we have learned about T.A., and Wheeler.

mp97303 wrote:

I just love how y'all have turned a story about a serious injury into a pissing match about, oh, um, who cares.

The question here is what the real story is. Although you demonstrate that childish deflecting cynicism that would make the NW/Portland/Oregon a real cesspool if it wasn't called out and exposed for the low-quality behavior that it is.

Personally, I'm waiting for the real story, from the O or whoever, that explains exactly how this happened. Was it the result of recklessness or risk taking on the slopes, as Wheeler's little PR stunt with his tweet, or a true accident? That's potentially the real news here. Hopefully that is what real news organizations are investigating. Not just simply parroting Wheeler's tweet and aiding him in his PR stunt.

And by the way mp97303 do you think Wheeler or Woods handled their personal matters better this weekend? Just being an example of a shallow NW smart-aleck doesn't bring credit on yourself.

@ All - Jesus, you people will argue about anything and everything.

@ T.A. - it shows how many oddballs stay glued to their computers 24/7 while the rest of the active world and healthy normal people in the state wait to hear "breaking" news from "old media".

@ All - Jesus, you people will argue about anything/everything.

@ T.A. - it shows how many oddballs stay glued to their computers 24/7 while the rest of the active world and healthy normal people in the state wait to hear "breaking" news from "old media".

kevin wrote:

Sorry HD but in fact, and contrary to your inference, a clear identity isn't even part of the definition for aggrandizement.

kevin, just making blank assertions is not a valid argument, and in this case just serves to prove your ignorance. Here's a definition of "self-aggrandizement":

self-aggrandizement: The act or practice of enhancing or exaggerating one's own importance, power, or reputation.

First, a single thread of anonymous comments under a fleeting anonymous handle (which is not quite a nom de plume either, but you obviously aren't into observing the full semantic nuances of well-defined words anyway) hardly has the temporary or lasting effect of enhancing the commenters importance, power, or reputation. In fact, quite the opposite. The only thing any reader of normal intelligence would ordinarily concern himself or herself with is the argument itself, not the reputation, power, or reputation of the commenter since to them it is unknown and therefore irrelevant.

Second, the assertion was "Wheeler's tweet is apparently a self-aggrandizing action precisely because you know it was Wheeler tweeting personal information about himself that we have absolutely no need to know, for reasons that have nothing to do with providing us legitimate, relevant news." It is not that Wheeler identified himself by itself that makes it self-aggrandizing, it's the entire context and purpose of Wheeler's action that does, as the definition notes. Your attempt to solely focus, and incorrectly at that, on a single aspect of an act that makes it self-aggrandizing rather than the entire complex of properties that make it self-aggrandizing really does make you look foolish.

Also, in a previous comment you falsely imply I said Wheeler was vainglorious. My only comment about vainglory was in posing the question which of the Seven Deadly Sins Twitter indulges most, and noting that vainglory seems to be too simplistic an answer. It was not a comment about Wheeler at all and in fact I was even commenting to the contrary of what you imply about Twitterers generally; That is, claiming they were indulging in vainglory seemed to be too simplistic. The point about Wheeler was that his tweet very much comes across as self-aggrandizing, not vainglorious. But for the record, here is one of the definitions of vainglory:

vainglory: empty pomp or show

So what exactly of any relevance do we get from Wheeler not only posting the text he does, but also the exhibitionism of him posting an apparently self-taken picture of his "wounds"?

Reading your truly stupid comments kevin, and those of several others here spewing about all manner of issues except what we learn about Wheeler's judgment and character from his tweet, I am becoming more persuaded that the full circumstances of this injury and whether the reveal it was the result of a reckless or needlessly risk-taking characteristic in Wheeler's personality is an important --- and maybe only --- newsworthy issue here. I'll be waiting for some real journalists to investigate and report on that story, rather than paying any attention to the specifics of personal tweets that are little more than juvenile PR stunts. I just hope there are a few real journalists who haven't gotten lazy and sucked in by Wheeler's social media skills as the journalist in the TED lecture explains is the real danger and happens all too often.

And if it was a true accident, the bottom line is this tweet and twitter was simply empty exhibitionism. As already noted, in that case we would have been sufficiently served by a simple comment in the press: Ted Wheeler was injured in a skiing accident, he's resting comfortably, and his prognosis is for an uneventful recovery within, say, 24 hours of the event.

And by the way, I pose the same question to you as to mp97303 do you think Wheeler or Woods handled their personal matters better this weekend? Just being an example of a shallow, ignorant NW smart-aleck doesn't bring credit on yourself either.

"How..." I think your motivation is probably great, but you're coming across totally wrong. Trust me, I have an advanced degree in the subject.

The only thing that indicts the post is the number of comments/unit time. It remains an unfortunate reality that there is an inverse relationship between the posting density and strength of the post.

Not that I would have spotted it. Seems totally straightforward. If "How..." is trying to make the point it sounds like, there have been much better opportunities and examples (and, no doubt, will be again).

<h2>You're full of poop, TA. You used Ted's misfortune to take cheap shots at other media. And then you try to excuse it by saying you are interested in the "new" media and finally heap praise onto Ted. Get a life, Barnhart.</h2>