Posts Tagged ‘Rachel Maddow’

I shared with you earlier an email exchange between myself and NBC 26 reporter Kristoffer Engebretson (Kris Engebretson, the new Joe Friday of Green Bay: ‘Just the facts, ma’am’). I can’t believe this guy continues to try and debate this with me!

Here’s his latest installment in an increasingly more ludicrous conversation (note how he loses his professional cool and starts getting vindictive):

Do your research and check with the organizers, it is not a listening session or a debate, it is a rally. People on the left have been holding these same type of rallies. Your angle on this event is not a story.

If this was a listening session or a debate, it might be a story, but I still wouldn’t think it would qualify. There is nothing wrong with either side telling supporters to go out and show your support for any event. However, it was a story nationally, when the networks discovered information from groups telling supporters to disrupt the meetings.
That was a story.

And why don’t you ask Fox news why they cancelled their interview with you. I’m sure you would love that producers response.

Kristoffer Engebretson
NBC 26 Reporter

lol! I almost feel like a bully on the playground; this man is clearly not equipped to debate on any intellectual level. My response:

Kristoffer,

I am not a reporter, I am a private citizen. Researching stories is not my job, it’s yours; but we all know from your history of investigating that no research is required to back up your angle on a story; if a google search and a screen shot are evidence enough, the Organizing for America email should be as well. I have no angle on this event; all I have is what Organizing for America has told me in their email blast. Again (and this time I’ve highlighted the key terms enforcing my impression, since those points seem to be eluding your sharp journalistic instincts): ” He’ll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback on the need for reform. Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this event is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.”

And, again, I agree with you that this is not a story, anymore than the story on me was. I just figured that if you were able to turn my story into a breathless expose, you’d have plenty of material to work with here.

Feel free to investigate the Fox news story; I’d love to see them cover this baby from beginning to end. I doubt you’d receive the same accolades from them that you received from Rachel Maddow. Please let us all know what you find out.

Heather Blish
Just a Mom From Down the Street

Let’s see if he can resist the temptation to further expose himself as the biased hack that he is.

Update: he couldn’t resist. Here’s Engebretson’s last (?) stand:

Again, feel free to contact the Fox News producer to find out why they cancelled their plans to put you on camera.

Kristoffer Engebretson
NBC 26 Reporter

My response?

That’s all you got left? Okay, I’m officially bored with this conversation.

May I suggest that instead of spending your morning engaging in a debate with a housewife about whether a story qualifies as a story, you may want to get out there and find out why Congressman Kagen’s office is still refusing to confirm that he will be at this event today, even though the email I received confirms that he will. Now that sounds like a story. Here, I’ll even throw you a bone: here’s some audio of Kagen completely dodging the question during an interview with a reporter on Monday: http://partyofknow.org/2009/08/24/answer-the-question-dude/

That’s a good start for you. Start investigating. Get some sunshine. It’s a beautiful day!

At last! A journalist with integrity who is willing to do a little homework! Amanda Carpenter writes in today’s Washington Times…

“Heather Blish was shocked when big-name television personalities labeled her as a Republican operative after she made an impassioned plea to her congressman to quit letting Washington intervene in the free market during a town-hall meeting.

Mrs. Blish, a graphic designer, quit volunteering for the Republican Party last year because she was so disillusioned with Republican politics.

“The Republican Party wants nothing to do with me any more than I want anything to do with them,” she told The Washington Times.

But that didn’t matter to the local NBC reporter who aired the television piece about Mrs. Blish that was picked up by left-leaning outlets far and wide as evidence of dirty politics. ” Source: Hot Button – Washington Times

Ms. Carpenter goes on to say…

“It all began with a segment by Kristoffer Engebretson, a television reporter for the local NBC affiliate, who covered Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen’s meeting in Kewaunee, Wis. The TV spot was teased by a desk anchor who warned, “There were allegations of opponents being planted in the crowd” at the town hall.

Mrs. Blish was presented as a top example of such nefarious activities. Mr. Engebretson said Mrs. Blish “introduced herself as just a mom from a few blocks away not affiliated with any political party” but that information about her on social networking sites, such as Facebook, “showed something different.”

Mr. Engebretson strongly suggested she wasn’t truthful, citing information he found on LinkedIn.com, a business networking Web site, showing she had worked as vice chairman of her county’s Republican Party and volunteered for a Republican candidate in the past.

“Again, Blish introduced herself as just a mom with no affiliation with any party,” he emphasized again in the report.

“The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC embraced the story during a show dedicated to exposing Republican operatives’ intent on disrupting town-hall meetings for political effect. “Ta-da! Journalism!” the host declared, smiling broadly, after showing the local news package. “Congratulations to Kristoffer Engebretson of that local station in Green Bay for going the extra step to find out what was behind the incivility in his town rather than just covering it like a ping-pong match.” Read the rest of this entry »