Michael Smyth

[Regs]

Does anyone take what this guy says in the paper seriously?

The whole issue of attempting to take the government to task for using an image of a fireman from a US image bank for it's newspaper ads thanking firefighters for the job they did over the summer is assinine. So what that they didn't plan a photoshoot with a local FF. Does that make the gesture any less worthy? FF across the province should have had a sense of pride from the ads but instead have now been incited to lash out and missing the entire point of the ads completely

Then we come to the whole Canucks/BC Lotto deal... Did anyone see today's rant? Smyth infered that the Canucks buttered up BC Lotto by giving free tickets and stuff to Liberal members. BIG FCUKING DEAL!

I realise that this style of "journalism" sells papers but isn't there a line or something where it just goes too far?

~Regs.

 

[kurgan]

What's a newspaper? I get all of my news from the web. Obviously I have much more faith in my sources...

 

[the manager]

regs,

i tend to agree with you. this is the same micheal smyth who has a spot on AM 980 every morning on the Frosty Forrester show. for the most part, he tends to be overly critical, incredibly sarcastic and borderline sardonic with his comments about not just the liberals, but whoever may be in power. he's a cynic to say the least and the tone he uses (I'm not sure if you can pick it up in the column he writes as I don't read it) is that of a whiney boy who has nothing better to do than to make those in power look guilty of one thing or the other. rarely does he point out the positives. my conclusion is that he paints an overly grim picture of those who sit in the seat he only dreams he could be in.

the one good thing he offeres is a half decent Don Cherry impersination.

manager

 

[Reccos]

Regs:

I don't agree that the Seattle firefighter (a real live firefighter apparently) was the right thing to do. The Fire Chief in Kelowna himself said it best when he noted that the guy was dressed to fight structural fires not forest fires and questioned how they couldn't have found some local firemen to put in the ad. I haven't talked to a firefighter who likes the ad done the way it was. Why do we need US photos if the ad is coming from the BC Government through a local ad agency. I am not sure that an ad is even justified as a way of thanking firefighters. Maybe overturning the pension plan changes that are having fire and police guys taking early retirement before year end would have been better than the $150,000 ad.

I think Forest Minister Mike DeJong got it right when he said that 'we should have shopped local' or words to that effect.

Although I personally have no problem with the hockey lottery or even Cabinet Ministers taking Canuck tickets, this is the same government that jumped all over everyone else for doing this type of thing. It is a bit hypocritical.

 

[Regs]

The Kelowna Fire chief though probably didn't give 2 shits about it until Smyth and/or other media types started grilling him about it.

It was a sincere gesture by the government. A thank you... many seem to be overlooking this fact. Let me ask you this: when you first saw the ad, did you immediately feel what the picture was portraying?

It was an effective ad until the useless fcuks in this province started their nitpicking. Again.

~Regs.

 

[Reccos]

When I saw the ad I was shocked as it did not portray the guys seen on tv as they were all wearing coveralls and not the same as the guy in the ad.

I agree that too often Michael Smyth nitpicks a lot but and the ad is borderline.

 

[One Dart]

this is the same government that jumped all over everyone else for doing this type of thing.

Examples please.

Bottom line is that the provincial government shelled out a lot of cash to fight the fires and then thanked the firefighters who were actually doing the job. The message is way more important than the picture.

 

[cerebral smallsy]

the hubbub shouldn't be limited to the fireman that is in the pic,(my opinion is that it should have been a bc firefighter) it should be about the $150,000 bones (i swear i read that in the paper/article) that the gov't shelled out to some marketing firm (liberal supporters i'm sure) to put the campaign together and pull the pic from some database.

i believe that was the purpose of smyth's article. he recognized the gesture, but questioned the dosh being spent on the campaign.

(could i fit another bracket in this post)?

(i just did).

 

[Reccos]

Examples

One Dart:

I can't think of one example, but...when Gordon Campbell campaigned for office and before in the Legislature, he constantly berated the NDP for spending taxpayer dollars on ads.

The ad did not reflect the true forest firefighters, military personnel or the type of equipment and dress the forest fire people wear, nor the fact that there were men and women.

If they truly wanted to do something good, the idea by the Kelowna Fire Chief of the collage of photos of the front line personnel might have done the trick. I know the real photos of real personnel in New York provide a haunting memory of the terror of that event.

The old adage: if you are going to do something like that, take the time to do it right, or don't bother.

Smallsy, you are right - it was $150,000 and a major portion of the money goes to the very newspapers like the Province who attack the ads! Ironic.

I still say, put that money as a one time gift into the fire and police pension plan so that those working now won't have to take reduced benefits when they retire.

 

[Regs]

The problem with the "cost" rant is that it followed close on the heels of the Smyth attack on the "Health Authority" logo stuff where he basically dismissed everything the design industry in this province does.

If you missed that one, he took aim at the cost of the logo and quoted some buddy of his you said "I could do the same logo in about 30 minutes using a $50 piece of software"

That's like someone saying that they know a friend's brother who can build a website with all the bells and whistles for under $100 exactly like TTP

While the current government should be taken to task for some things, you shouldn't just attack them aimlessly w/o knowing ALL the facts and bringing disrepect to entire industries that provide jobs and stimulate the economy.

Just like I have attacked the VMSL & FVSL executive dealings

Monkey see, monkey do,

~Regs.