Philadelphia 2035 (credit, live, title)

[ilovephilly79]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Ernest Owen’s journalism essentially amounts to an opinionated version of TMZ, if the host of TMZ was a miserably sad narcissist lol. Sorry, not sorry. I have read enough of his stories for a lifetime already.

Completely agree. He's a good representation of today's quality of journalism. If they'd print his articles on toilet paper, I'd buy it.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by ilovephilly79

Completely agree. He's a good representation of today's quality of journalism. If they'd print his articles on toilet paper, I'd buy it.

It certainly seems with the rise of the internet and social media, elitist media types, on both sides of the aisle, seemingly think it's okay to vilify everyone is not exactly like them. It's okay to have varying viewpoints of opinion published, but when every story amounts to "I really hate X-Y-Z because it was doesn't specifically cater to my wants and needs", it's pretty obnoxious.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

It certainly seems with the rise of the internet and social media, elitist media types, on both sides of the aisle, seemingly think it's okay to vilify everyone is not exactly like them. It's okay to have varying viewpoints of opinion published, but when every story amounts to "I really hate X-Y-Z because it was doesn't specifically cater to my wants and needs", it's pretty obnoxious.

Bingo. Across the spectrum as you mentioned. A sad time we live in.
Mr. Ernest is a pro at this, and he successfully wraps his narcissism (disguised as victimhood) into all his "articles".

[cpomp]

After delay, Philadelphia Ballet will break ground on North Broad Street expansion

https://www.inquirer.com/arts/after-...-20220819.html

Philadelphia Ballet is finally getting a long-delayed front door on the burgeoning northern leg of the Avenue of the Arts.
The company expects to hold a groundbreaking next month on an expansion of its North Broad Street headquarters that will more than triple its current space with a suite of dance studios, offices, a new black box theater, and other public areas. The $34 million project builds onto the ballet’s current low-slung building to create a five-story facade on Broad Street with glassed-in studios visible on the top floor.

[mphilly]

Yeah, it’s sad how many people go through their lives completely miserable hating everything and everyone that doesn’t think exactly like them or enjoy exactly the same things they do. Is Diner en blanc something for the elites? Maybe, maybe not. But who cares? Who is it harming even if you think it’s a little strange or pretentious?

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Tonight was Diner en Blanc at Logan Circle.

I unfortunately stumbled upon a garbage article from Ernest Owens today... He is more miserable and bitter than ever... He happily attended in years past, and now claims the event is elitist and apparently racist, even though the crowd appeared diverse on the news.

If one doesn't like the event, don't go. Why slander it and call thousands of attendees wannabe elitists? Especially when he is the saddest wannabe elitist in this city. I would have critiqued him personally, but he blocked my email and social media, he can dish but can't take.

And Sandy, Mr. U Penn still can't get it right, his quote... This is still the poorest big city in America

Anyways, OT, but figured I'd share for a laugh and some trash talk.

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2022/...lanc-10-years/

Lol. DEB would never be my cup of tea. Never. BUT, I absolutely do not care that people do it. It has no bearing on my QoL, nor anyone's who does not want to participate. His *passion* for this topic is completely unfounded. There are so many pressing issues in the city. And he chooses to make a fuss over this. Like...

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Lol. DEB would never be my cup of tea. Never. BUT, I absolutely do not care that people do it. It has no bearing on my QoL, nor anyone's who does not want to participate. His *passion* for this topic is completely unfounded. There are so many pressing issues in the city. And he chooses to make a fuss over this. Like...

Many of my Phillymag colleagues and my boyfriend said before the event that they were over DeB as well. (Bf made a Freudian slip in texting me about it, typing "Diner en Bland." Yes, he went the first couple of years.)

But one of my colleagues performed at it — Victor Fiorillo leads Martha Graham Cracker's backup band. And at least one staffer I know attended as well.

I think you're seeing the reactions you see this year because it's DeB's 10th anniversary.

Frankly, I don't get the appeal of packing your own dinner and marching to an undisclosed location, all dressed in white, to hear music and wave sparklers in the air, either. The event seems pointless to me. But
obviously, others don't see it that way, it's harming no one and only inconveniencing some motorists in the case of this year's location.

And I read later that one of Ernest's criticisms — that there's no charitable purpose — isn't quite true either. Though the event is not explicitly billed as a charitable fundraiser, the organizers do donate some of the proceeds to local service agencies.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by ilovephilly79

Completely agree. He's a good representation of today's quality of journalism. If they'd print his articles on toilet paper, I'd buy it.

He's not reporting, he's doing commentary.

Don't confuse the two. Too many people do, and the New Journalism of the 1970s probably helped blur the line between them.

For the first eight or so months after we hired him to oversee the now-defunct LGBTQ channel, I couldn't go anywhere in the Gayborhood without getting an earful about Ernest Owens.

One acquaintance actually offered me $100 if I would punch him in the nose the next day. I declined the offer, and the reason why I declined (besides not wanting to behave like an a-hole in the office*) was: When he did straight reporting, he played the story fairly, down the middle, offering all sides in a controversy the opportunity to comment or respond.

For many of my friends and acquaintances in the G'hood, though, it was what he chose to report rather than how he reported it that got their goats. "Doesn't he ever report on the good things going on in the gay community?" one asked me.

I think that a fair question and a fair criticism. But given that he rose to prominence calling out racism in the Gayborhood, he had already established a brand for himself. (BTW, one of the more notable incidents that he reported on ended up with my testifying before the city Human Relations Commission because I had been part of the coalition that reported on discrimination in the city's gay bars back in 1988. I explained what we found in that study on Phillymag.com shortly before I testified.)

But I also tell people when they ask me that "Ernest Owens has a little Donald Trump in him." If you read this article focused on his years at Penn that ran in the print mag in the summer of 2017, you should be able to figure out how I reached this conclusion. Like Trump, Owens desperately wanted to be accepted as a peer by the elite kids in his high school years in Houston — and, like with Trump, the elites declined to do so.

One of the reasons I don't have his resentments is because I played the game on the elites' own turf and beat them. I was the top student in my class from the day I entered that school, then known as Pembroke-Country Day, from the semester I entered until the one before I graduated. A popular teacher in its lower school, who taught my brother when he went there, told me some years later that the slip to second may not have been because I slacked off but because some faculty members there had Fear of a Black Valedictorian — I would have been the school's first. This is one reason even we integrated types have some sympathy for the more aggrieved, for even we get it when we aren't looking. But one does catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

I would invite you, however, to look at Owens' news stories from the days when he ran the LGBTQ channel. There, the outrage was what he was reporting on, not the tone or approach of his reporting.

*Actually, when we were all still working in the office, Owens wasn't there every day. He's a freelancer for us, not a full-time editorial staff member. He does, however, now have the highest title we give a freelancer — editor-at-large.

[Muinteoir]

^^^Thanks for sharing your experience and perspective, Sandy. I definitely learned a thing or two. Most people are more complicated than good/bad. It’s certainly true that this “cancel culture” thing is not just a problem amongst “the Left.”

[thedirtypirate]

Can Ryan Boyer Change How Philly Unions Do Politics?

When Owens has something to actually write about, he's a much better editorial writer. This is a good article.