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99centstalepretzel t1_j9k3e71 wrote

I have very mixed feelings about this article.

On one hand, I love Philly, I do. And anybody who takes the Mayor's seat needs to be confronted with tough questions, instead of running on ✨vibes✨. And who better to do it than Former Mayor Nutter? He's done the job a couple of times and knows what it's like. I'm not his best friend or anything like that, but I am glad that he is there to ask the questions. Still not crazy about him asking Rhynhart softball questions, but whatever, politics schmolitics.

What I'm not crazy about is how The Inquirer (I'm only subscribing to them because I want more accountability as an org; for every one or two good journalists there - you get clowns that write articles like this) okay'd an article that basically paints a Black man as "scary" for "being aggressive" in asking questions or whatever. As someone who's very visibly marginalized person, I'm especially attuned to things like this, because it's an everyday occurrence for me (it just happens in a form of death by a thousand papercuts and not written down by a journalist who clearly doesn't have as good of grasp of power dynamics that they might have thought). And how journalists and editors okay'd this is...just fucked up.

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Marko_Ramius1 t1_j9kcxe2 wrote

>And anybody who takes the Mayor's seat needs to be confronted with tough questions, instead of running on ✨vibes✨

I agree with this, especially since the current guy has done nothing in his tenure to improve city services. IMO that makes it even more important in this election to have someone who's a good at dealing with the nuts and bolts of running government efficiently, since that's 95% of the mayor's job. Another candidate who's asleep at the wheel and only cares about platitudes/abstract policies is just gonna lead to more of the same as it has been under Kenney.

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99centstalepretzel t1_j9keoo0 wrote

Right?! You want to be the face of a city?! Step up and be accountable to your actions and answer to your constituents.

Anyone who runs for office for the 'gram should be summarily casted out of the race.

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Robert_A_Bouie t1_j9ki0kt wrote

Cancel your Inquirer subscription (I did) and stop sending them money every month for their garbage "journalism."

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99centstalepretzel t1_j9kisxh wrote

It's a thought that's crossed my mind more than once, as of late. Sigh.

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AbsentEmpire t1_j9lbleu wrote

I also canceled my subscription because of the shit quality articles they put out and blantent conflicts of interest.

I don't care about a politician's vibes, I care about what thier qualifications are, what thier vision for the city is, and how they will implement it.

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bushwhack227 t1_j9qcrnq wrote

They have produced some great journalism recently, like the investigation into the PPD disability scams.

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MagnusUnda t1_j9w8hej wrote

That series saved us all tax money. They should get a Pulitzer for it

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ConfiaEnElProceso t1_j9kklcj wrote

Which section in the article do you think painted Nutter as "scary" for "being aggressive?"

I can understand that as a legitimate concern. It just didn't read that way to me. The full videos are online so people can certainly make their own judgments. I don't think it is unfair to say that Nutter was the most aggressive questioner of all the candidates, or that his approach has differed from candidate to candidate. I didn't get the impression of him as "scary" either in-person nor in the article.

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99centstalepretzel t1_j9l49fb wrote

I wasn't saying that he was aggressive, because I watched the videos, too. I appreciate anyone who can cut through the bullshit and ask the tough questions. I think you and I are in agreement, for this much.

But if I were someone who was reading The Inquirer alone? I would have thought that Mayor Nutter was personally waterboarding Gym, live on stage. "it was tense", "he kept asking her questions, shown by the repetition in paragraphs". I mean, shit, I get that newspaper articles are supposed to be simple to read, but a responsibility of a journalist is painting a picture. And the journalist was painting *a picture* that some folks who are historically in the majority will get, and a wholly different picture for people not historically in the majority will get.

Could he be less confrontational about his questions to Helen Gym? Sure. Why not? The fault is still on her for running a ✨vibes✨-based campaign.

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ConfiaEnElProceso t1_j9l9nsc wrote

Thanks for the response. I was/am genuinely interested in understanding the way the article read to you.

Do you mean to say "I wasn't saying that he was *NOT* aggressive?" in your first line?

I'll admit that it may be hard for me to read the article as painting a sinister picture because I read it only after watching the encounter in person. Being in the room, it was tense. Very much so. He did keep asking questions. The description matched what I felt while in the room, but at no time did it feel threatening or scary or anything out of place for the forum.

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