The Official Thread for Joe Cowley and his Agenda.

[caulfield12]

Cowley might be able to get away with that in Spain, in Italy, in Central and South America...but he's NOT there!

 

It's part of the reason that Ozzie also constantly gets himself in trouble. The things he says might be "okay" to utter in Venezuela or Latin America (vis a vis women), but no way can you say that in the U.S. today.

 

The difference is Cowley SHOULD know better, Ozzie at least has the excuse of being brought up in another culture and at a slightly different time. Just like if Ozzie made those Castro comments 10 or 20 years ago, he would have been fired on the spot in South Florida.

 

You can't make the defense that it USED to be okay or "it's still okay in some places or cultures in the world today" because you can find an exception anywhere in the world or recorded history for nearly any possible behavior.

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12

[greg775]

The Dixie Chicks comments were 1) made at a time where President Bush was still considered popular by a majority and 2) Cowley's comments were broadly offensive to huge groups of people, like all women in the world, all Asians and all airlines personnel.

 

Had the Dixie Chicks waited 2-3 more years for the tide of the war to completely turn against the administration, nothing much would have been made out of those comments.

 

With the Patriot Act, the Secret Service probably could have had them arrested (at that time) had they wanted to. That was their point in making the comments in the first place, that they weren't proud to live in a country where freedom of speech was being obliterated by PC "patriotic group think." Isn't that how we got into the wars in the first place, Congressmen and Senators were afraid to take a moral stand for fear of losing their next election?

 

 

Perhaps Cowley was already on the borderline of losing his Sun-Times job and wanted to test the absolute limits where Free Speech, his role as a public figure or "pseudo-celebrity" in his mind, and workplace behavior all collided together...especially the continued battle to define where the workplace ends and begins in a digital world.

 

As Balta pointed out, if the Sun-Times does nothing, then who's to define what is and isn't permissible in terms of a hostile working environment/discrimination/harassment? Does it then make it okay for the editor of the entertainment section of the newspaper to tell his more academically-inclined Kellogg School grad to "hottie up her picture" that will run with her weekly column?

 

 

 

Greg or Marty...do you work with any Asian-Americans? Please go to work tomorrow and repeat verbatim the Cowley tweet about Short Round/Indiana Jones with your own version of an "Asian accent." You will last for less time than the ESPN copy editor who came up with the "Chink In the Armor" Jeremy Lin headline.

 

I thought we were just talking about this incident.

I haven't seen the short round tweet yet.

I said after reading the 22 year old's story that Cowley is obviously a troubled jerk and what goes round does come around.

But my position was this current flap is not a fireable offense.

I'd like to see the chinese post.

If indeed Cowley tweeted something to a woman about wanting to have sex with athletes, well that one is pretty bad.

This current incident though ... much ado about nothing. He should be reprimanded and told to watch it.

Some of the other alleged tweets seem much worse.

Whatever happens, he seems like a turd who won't be able to b**** much if he gets canned cause of what he did in getting the intern canned for the same thing.

[caulfield12]

I thought we were just talking about this incident.

I haven't seen the short round tweet yet.

I said after reading the 22 year old's story that Cowley is obviously a troubled jerk and what goes round does come around.

But my position was this current flap is not a fireable offense.

I'd like to see the chinese post.

If indeed Cowley tweeted something to a woman about wanting to have sex with athletes, well that one is pretty bad.

This current incident though ... much ado about nothing. He should be reprimanded and told to watch it.

Some of the other alleged tweets seem much worse.

Whatever happens, he seems like a turd who won't be able to b**** much if he gets canned cause of what he did in getting the intern canned for the same thing.

 

 

@SloaneMartin Three days (since she "un-followed" him)? Not bad. And we didn’t even get to debate what a joke Title IX is… Another time … You’ll be back. #cantquitme….And when you come back, hottie up that pic a bit more. You look like the Russian icy villain from a 70s Bond movie. XOXO.

 

So here we have a form of sexual harassment, denigration of all women in the US (making fun of Title IX, and linking that to either women piloting planes or being able to be sportswriters instead of only men having that "right")...

 

 

 

 

 

Flight delayed because of “Mandatory Crew Rest.” God forbid anyone strains themselves handing out orange juice off a cart for an extra hour.

I’m more likely to see a Squatch before I see a hot flight attendant. Then again, I think the airlines are hiring Squatch’s to do that job.

 

Chick pilot. Should I be OK with that or am I just a sexist caveman?

 

Kid next to me looks like “Short Round.” Think I’ll give him a dollar to say to me, “You cheat, Dr. Jones!” #firstclassproblems

 

 

 

 

So go into your workplace, Greg, and say that same exact thing in a Chinese/Asian accent. Not only that, but he's implying that there's a problem in the first-class/business section of the plane because he has to sit next to an Asian person, heaven forbid.

 

Tell a woman you work with she needs to "hottie up her Facebook pictures a bit" in order for you to deem her worthy of having a conversation with...

 

Or just call any woman you work with a "Squatch" and complain about Title IX being a joke (because we want all women to return to the 1950's, right?) and while you're at, complain you don't have any "hot" women working in your department.

 

Then mention why any of this should matter at all since you're already married. Objectifying women is only okay if you work at Playboy Magazine and people implicitly accept that treatment when they work for such an enterprise. But not for a major US newspaper.

 

 

 

Greg or Marty, if you can get away with all those things, then I'd like to know what company you're working at...self-employed? Marty34 was trying to draw a parallel between his/Joe's case and the Dixie Chicks doing a concert abroad and stating that they weren't proud of their country anymore.

 

Or just imagine if someone like the U.S. Secretary of Interior said this on his government account...he would be fired or re-sign within 24 hours. If you or I or 99.8% of normal everyday workers made the same comments (from/at our workplace or using an employment address/account/e-mail), we'd have been fired as well.

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/2462-...witter-comments

[Quin]

[caulfield12]

Beware the extreme narcissist. Although he may radiate a seductive confidence, he can justify and forgive himself for just about anything, given his belief in his own exalted purpose. He’ll lose sense of the line between boldness and recklessness. And he’ll quit the stage reluctantly, because he can’t bear not to occupy the very center of it.

 

What once drew so many people to Guillen and to Cowley? Both men had an exaggerated and infectious certainty about them. In Cowley’s withering sneer and Guillen’s shampoo-commercial smile and infectious, if NSFW sense of humor, there was a seeming estrangement from any and all doubt. It is the kind of thing that assuages a sports fan’s anxieties.

 

It is also the kind of thing that arises from vanity on a scale well beyond the norm. Guillen spoke of himself in ludicrously grandiose terms. Cowley charted the size of his Twitter followers and the volume of their applause (and disdain) the way a day trader watches the Dow. Every day was a bull market.

 

When you’re that wholly in thrall to your own heady promise, you exempt yourself from rules, absolve yourself of hypocrisy and persuade yourself that you’ll get away with it all.

 

Someone as intent on affirmation as Guillen — or as Cowley — isn’t likely to remain content with the knowing gaze of his longtime sycophants. He needs the bedazzled expression of a fresh acolyte.

 

this is from today's NY Times, Frank Bruni...see if you can figure out whose names I substituted Guillen and Cowley for!!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/opinion/...-defeat.html?hp

 

 

As an aside, you can only get 10 free articles per month from the NY Times currently

 

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12

[Balta1701]

Again Caulfield, simply writing the name of the person who authored an article isn't enough. At the very minimum a hyperlink is necessary, and some companies have decided that isn't enough any more and will start making legal trouble for sites that excerpt too much material.

[caulfield12]

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-172244089.html

Cowley story starting to make it into national publications.

 

 

In his defense, female anchors/reports fawning all over professional athletes plays right into the stereotype he was poking fun at in some of his misogynistic comments about Title IX and female pilots.

 

If she has that position because she's "cute" and is taking a position away from a more deserving/knowledgeable male reporter, that strengthens his position. However, in this case, the reporter is assigned the entertainment beat, so she's not a "pure" sports reporter, but the line is a bit blurred/murky.

 

Imagine if Cowley was at Wimbledon, for example, asking a similar set of questions to Maria Sharapova or Anna Kournikova (before they had significant others). A male reporter, whether on the sports beat or not, would get pilloried for that kind of "fluff" interview, and rightly so.

[Balta1701]

(Xie Xie)

[caulfield12]

It's going to be extremely tough to keep this thread in the PHT section.

 

Probably at some point, it might need to be bifurcated from the point at which the Twitter scandal/suspension started and that half broken off and lodged at SLAM.

 

Simply a feeling these "free speech vs. workplace harassment/discrimination" discussions are going to get pretty heated.

 

 

[Dick Allen]

It's going to be extremely tough to keep this thread in the PHT section.

 

Probably at some point, it might need to be bifurcated from the point at which the Twitter scandal/suspension started and that half broken off and lodged at SLAM.

 

Simply a feeling these "free speech vs. workplace harassment/discrimination" discussions are going to get pretty heated.

Cowley's boss could use his/her free speech,wouldn't be funny if his boss was a female, and say you're fired. Even if they wound up paying him every last dime he has on a contract if he has a contract I doubt its a huge amount of money.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Dick Allen

[iamshack]

There is no free speech argument...it's not like anyone's going to put him in prison for being obnoxious or anything...

 

Just because I have a right to free speech doesn't mean I can go tell my boss to go f himself and not expect to get canned within 3 seconds...

Edited May 1, 2012 by iamshack

[southsider2k5]

This could be part of the reason things are different now for Joe. New Management

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04...-editorial-post

 

In what light will Sun-Times cast itself?

With new owners and now a new editor, tabloid tries to move forward in digital direction for flagship and suburban papers

 

Four months into the latest chapter in its long and colorful history, the direction of the Chicago Sun-Times is a little hard to read. New owner Wrapports has touted a digital strategy that would harness its suburban newspaper network into a robust online resource. Meanwhile, the flagship newspaper has appeared to drift toward a sensational approach.

 

Four months into the latest chapter in its long and colorful history, the direction of the Chicago Sun-Times is a little hard to read.

 

Is it a cutting-edge digital pioneer or sensational throwback tabloid? A quintessential Chicago street paper or a synergistic suburban network?

 

Chicago's longtime No. 2 in a struggling newspaper industry, the tabloid has been rescued from the brink of oblivion and sold twice since 2009, emerging this year under a masthead filled with new names.

 

New owner Wrapports, an investor group led by technology entrepreneur Michael Ferro and Tim Knight, former publisher and CEO at New York's Newsday, has touted a digital strategy that would harness its suburban newspaper network into a robust online resource.

 

Meanwhile, the flagship newspaper has appeared to drift toward a sensational approach reminiscent of a short-lived run under the yoke of Rupert Murdoch in the mid-'80s, a dark era that caused franchise columnist Mike Royko to escape to the Chicago Tribune.

 

Cover stories this month have included celebrities Nicole Richie and Tyra Banks and a screaming full-page photo revealing Kanye West's affection for Kim Kardashian, evidence for some critics that the Sun-Times has gone New York Postal.

 

Into the mix last week stepped Jim Kirk, a respected Chicago journalist who left the top editorial post at Crain's Chicago Business to become senior vice president and editor in chief of Sun-Times Media Group.

 

With a resume that includes the Tribune and Bloomberg, the south suburban native has a prodigious challenge: writing a relevant future for the city's second voice in a cacophonous digital age.

 

"It's obviously a big challenge given what the Sun-Times has been through over the past several years," said Kirk, 46, who left Crain's on Tuesday and joined the Sun-Times the next day. "I think the papers have been a little left behind because of all of the chaos over the past few years in terms of moving forward more aggressively into digital, and I think there's a great opportunity to do that very quickly."

 

Kirk first joined the Sun-Times in 1995 as a business reporter and columnist. In 1997, he moved to the Tribune, where he rose to associate managing editor for business. From 2009 to 2010, Kirk commuted to Washington to work for Bloomberg as an editor. He then became managing editor of the fledgling Chicago News Cooperative.

 

Topping Kirk's to-do list is developing an application for tablets and fully integrating content from the media group's suburban portfolio into the Sun-Times, both online and in print.

 

While he shares a digital vision with his new owners, it's less clear if they are on the same page regarding editorial direction. The potential influence of Ferro has been a source of speculation and concern in some circles. Ferro has been lumped in with a new breed of media barons who have been scarfing up heavily discounted newspaper properties.

 

"That whole idea of using (newspapers) as a platform for advocacy is resurfacing, and the reason is all these properties have gotten so cheap — roughly a tenth of what they were worth 10 years ago — that they are within the purchasing power of all different kinds of people," said media consultant Ken Doctor.

 

In late December, Ferro's group acquired Sun-Times Media for about $20 million, including the flagship paper, seven suburban dailies, 32 weeklies and a website with a freshly installed pay wall. The paper was purchased from another local investor group that had been led by Jim Tyree, the late chairman of Mesirow Financial Group, who rescued the Sun-Times from bankruptcy in October 2009.

 

A February story in Crain's Chicago Business opined that Ferro was intent on remaking the Sun-Times into "a New York Post of the Midwest," while insiders say his presence has been felt in the newsroom since closing the deal. His vision apparently has manifested in a regular feature promoting local charitable events, including an April 8 story saluting Ferro for his work with Clearbrook, an Arlington Heights-based nonprofit that serves the developmentally disabled.

 

The question-and-answer features appear to be news stories but are penned by the head of public relations for the Sun-Times. While many newspapers promote charitable causes, some observers find the Sun-Times' practice troubling.

 

"If your PR people are starting to write it, it becomes not a newspaper but an advocacy sheet," Doctor said. "It absolutely undermines credibility, and we are seeing more of that."

 

Ferro did not return calls for comment. Kirk said that the PR pieces and recent headlines were before his time and that he has received assurances from Ferro of editorial autonomy.

 

"I have assurances that he's not going to reach out to reporters in the newsroom and demand certain kind of coverage on things, and I take him at his word," Kirk said.

[caulfield12]

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articl...-deafening.html

 

 

I think it's time to find what that PR team is getting paid for at the Sun-Times. No response whatsoever from them.

 

He's NOT suspended, apparently. This article points out 3 articles on the Bulls playoff series (since the Twitter scandal), one of them written/dated last night.

 

Who's his immediate boss, the sports editor? Chris DeLuca? Can't SoxTalk make some kind of announcement or press release that we're boycotting the Sun-Times unless he's suspended or fired, lol?

 

Seriously, the group in Miami got TONS of ink for putting together roughly 150 protesters for a couple of days and then only 2 the following Tuesday when Guillen began coaching again...we have how many members here?

 

Can't the mods/owner put out a press release stating our own history with Cowley and pledge that none of the SoxTalk subscribers will read/buy/quote the SunTimes until some informal or formal punishment is handed down?

 

There are around 4,900 members here and 7,700 (probably 60-70% banned or self-banned) at WSI.

 

Shouldn't we take a leadership role here?

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12

[Balta1701]

If it bothers you that much, pick a Sun-Times advertiser and send them a polite email informing them of the comments, then wait a few days and see if they respond.

[caulfield12]

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1178839...bled-shine.html

 

This is pernicious stuff when your own newspaper prints self-congratulating articles like this to make itself look better. They call it "enlightened self-interest" and "corporate social responsbility" in the not-for-profit field. Here in China, CEO's have to pay by the column inch for "puff pieces" like this.

 

What next? Joe Cowley doing visits with Chicago children in the cancer ward?

 

Written by Alisa Alexander. Perfect name for someone who works for a PR firm. Doesn't even sound real, more like someone who works for the Daily Planet or S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012...cago-sun-times/

She's actually a corporate spokeswoman and head of the Sun-Times Charitable Foundation.

 

 

 

Okay, Balta, I'm not in Chicago, so where can I get a list of their advertisers, at least the ones who advertise in the Sports Section? It's not going to make much of a difference coming from one person in China, but if it came from a consensus or group/s, it would have a lot more influence. I can't even physically buy a copy of the Sun-Times, so I don't think they will care very much what I think, but I can try.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12

[southsider2k5]

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articl...-deafening.html

 

 

I think it's time to find what that PR team is getting paid for at the Sun-Times. No response whatsoever from them.

 

He's NOT suspended, apparently. This article points out 3 articles on the Bulls playoff series (since the Twitter scandal), one of them written/dated last night.

 

Who's his immediate boss, the sports editor? Chris DeLuca? Can't SoxTalk make some kind of announcement or press release that we're boycotting the Sun-Times unless he's suspended or fired, lol?

 

Seriously, the group in Miami got TONS of ink for putting together roughly 150 protesters for a couple of days and then only 2 the following Tuesday when Guillen began coaching again...we have how many members here?

 

Can't the mods/owner put out a press release stating our own history with Cowley and pledge that none of the SoxTalk subscribers will read/buy/quote the SunTimes until some informal or formal punishment is handed down?

 

There are around 4,900 members here and 7,700 (probably 60-70% banned or self-banned) at WSI.

 

Shouldn't we take a leadership role here?

 

It is funny that Joe makes a living talking about everyone else's problems, but no one will talk about his.

 

[caulfield12]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2008...o_suntimes.html

 

 

This article looks exactly like something that would be written TODAY about Cowley, oddly prescient.

 

So where the heck are DeLuca and Telander now? Under orders not to say anything at all and stand by their co-worker?

 

 

If at this point you're wondering if maybe this is just sour grapes from a fellow reporter, De Luca clinches it with the words of Sun-Times editor Michael Cooke:

 

"We wish Jay well and will miss him -- not personally, of course -- but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days,'' Cooke said. ''A paper, like a sports franchise, is something that moves into the future. Stars come and stars go, but the Sun-Times sports section was, is and will continue to be the best in the city.''

 

 

 

[RockRaines]

There is no free speech argument...it's not like anyone's going to put him in prison for being obnoxious or anything...

 

Just because I have a right to free speech doesn't mean I can go tell my boss to go f himself and not expect to get canned within 3 seconds...

Anyone else on here have an agreement where they could get fired by what the post on social media? I know I do.

[southsider2k5]

Anyone else on here have an agreement where they could get fired by what the post on social media? I know I do.

 

Absolutely.

[Dick Allen]

What they are doing is psuedo hiding him on their website. He's not listed where they show today's columns but obviously continues to write. I would think this means he isn't being disciplined.

[caulfield12]

So is there anything he can say that will actually get him fired?

 

If they're letting all those multiple comments slide without even a suspension, one shudders to think...

 

Perhaps the compromise is that the same thing that happened to Ozzie happened to Cowley. Twitter and uttering "personal/political opinions" outside of the scope of his job...those rights were taken away from him, at least temporarily. Certainly with any connection with the CST handle.

 

Maybe he deleted the account himself, but I'd be willing to wager it came with a push and shove from someone at corporate.

 

 

[Kyyle23]

This thread has now hit Caulfield overdrive, which is 10 steps faster than Maximum overdrive. Please fasten your seatbelt, and prepare for news articles from every corner of the earth.

 

 

Thank you.

[Balta1701]

This thread has now hit Caulfield overdrive, which is 10 steps faster than Maximum overdrive. Please fasten your seatbelt, and prepare for news articles from every corner of the earth.

 

 

Thank you.

It's gone plaid!

[caulfield12]

I just want to know where Marty34 is today...well, at any rate, I never would have expected 3 weeks ago that Ozzie would get fired for his managing/team record and Cowley for what he said about things which had nothing to do with sports.

 

 

Must not let Cowley seize the Tesseract, as he is burdened with glorious purpose.

Never mind.

Edited May 1, 2012 by caulfield12