And newspapers wonder why they lose readers . . . Letter to the NCN Editor, and his response:
LETTER TO EDITOR
Mr. Bruscas,
I was sorely disappointed by your recent editorial regarding the motion made by Council member Schroeder to affirm the discontinuance of the surf rescue program.
I was disappointed because I thought that as a seasoned reporter, you would at least have a knowledge of the term “ethics”. Instead, I found that you only repeated the blather of another council member who clearly doesn’t understand the meaning of the word.
According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, ethics is defined as a set of moral principles. There was nothing immoral about the motion Mr. Schroeder made. He had every right to make that motion just as the council, as a whole had the right to postpone action on it.
To quote sections of a draft “code of ethics” that has not been passed by the Council as the reason his action was unethical is not only poor journalism, but an unfair disparagement of Mr. Schroeder’s character.
Council member Schroeder deserves an apology, as do your readers.
Sincerely,
From: Angelo Bruscas [mailto:abruscas@thedailyworld.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 4:31 PM
To: tim@rogers.org
Subject: Re: editorial regarding Councilmember John Schroeder
You are entitled to your opinion and I have mine. Is this a letter to the editor for publication? It’s interesting in your own reply that you appear to disparage another council member, too. Whom are you referring to? Is this how local politics is done here in my home town? No apologies for asking hard questions.
Home of...The Immaculate Jagoffs of Pittsburgh 
I hope Angelo is reading all the messages here and in the other parts of of this blog back to April 1st. There are many comments regarding this issue by people that have a true grasp of the issue here. I know he thinks Surf Rescue is the end all be all for Ocean Shores, but if that was so, why don’t all cities near the ocean or water have this service? How effective is the service? Could it be done better? How does Long Beach do it? Now that would be reporting. As to John’s motion, he was instructed to wait until new business by the meeting leader, the mayor, to wait until New Business. Was it New Business? Yes. Is that where council members are allowed by Robert’s Rules of Order to add it then? Yes. Was it accepted by the council to add then? Yes. Was it discussed? Yes, partially. Will it be brought up at the next meeting? Yes. Did he get something that he wanted on the agenda? Yes. Was he sucessful? Yes. Are council members allowed to meet in groups smaller than 4? Yes. Can they discuss in those groups of 3 or less individuals city issues and form proposals, ordinances, resolutions or other actions? Yes. Is that good government? Yes. Why? Because they are seeking to bring things to council outside of the staff offerings that many times are not well formed or vetted either. Council can come up with their own solutions. Just look at the legislature. They get ideas from members. Yes, they have committees to evaluate and flush out issues. However, Ocean Shores does not have these committees. We have non-formal committees set up by the mayor, but since they don’t have to have minutes and publish what they have done, what is the difference between those hand picked groups and a group of one to three council members? Remember, there are three parts to our city government too. The executive, legislative and courts. Each is empowered to bring forth solutions depending on the powers given them by the state constitution or RCWs.
It is a good thing that the NCN Editor responds to e-mails so fast. And I congratulate him for saying what he believes is true. Mr. Brusca is entitled to his opinion and so are his readers. I, too, am entitled to have an opinion and I agree with Mr. Rogers. Rogers is right, Brusca us wrong. But rather than sending the North Coast News editor an e-mail, I simply cancelled my NCN subscription – and will get a refund for the unused portion. If you really think that e-mailing is the best way to make comments of editorial quality, be sure to cc a copy to:
Bill Crawford (Publisher – The Daily World) bcrawford@thedailyworld.com
Mike Ferguson (CEO – Stephens Media) fergy@stephensmedia.com
I’m sure both will appreciate your opinion. But for me, after reading Brusca’s first editorial I don’t need to hear anymore. Talking with your checkbook is the best way.
I completely agree with both Watching Out and Tim Rogers, and disagree with Mr. Bruscas. He is right in one thing…we all have a right to our own opinion. I’ve already formed mine and after buying a couple of the NEW NCN at IGA, my husband agrees with me. We will not be renewing our subscription after letting it lapse last year out of fear of this very thing. Another boring newspaper! Only good for bird cages and starting fires.
Asking hard hitting questions is quite different than cheap and obviously politically slanted attacks . Mr Bruscas seems to have quickly sold his opinion to the antique political party that has caused so much trouble for the past eight years in their”anything that works” attempts to become the dictatorial de-facto leadership in O/S. We are all paying dearly for their right. The real story here is not an attempt by a councilmember to make a legitimate motion in a manner used many times by others but the cheesy and insulting manner being used to create the illusion that somehow a councilmember needs permission from anyone to request an action in open session. The real story is the manner being used to discredit the councilmember as unethical when the real truth is that all the dust is being kicked up by those who did not want the motion to pass. Guess the fact that they could have simply voted “no” escaped their minds. And the real story is also that the NCN editor missed the real story while doing the bidding of the cheerleading squad. Suggestion for next weeks NCN headline “Will the NCN become the Pravda of O/S????? Suggestion: article could contain new and still-misleading statements by the mayor and quotes from a councilmember as to how this would be handled by a seasoned school board member and what punishment should be meted out. And the date of the hanging
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pravda?s=t
Prav·da [prahv-duh] Show IPA
noun
(formerly) the official newspaper of the Communist party in the U.S.S.R.
Compare Izvestia.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To pravda
On the same web page:
Howard Brenton quotes
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The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.
If you want to listen what this is all about go here.
https://tomscanlonsblog.com/2013/03/29/dysfunctional-government-who-us/
I agree with Mr. Rogers. I am sorry that you are not hearing from more like minded. I think that editorial was not researched well enough and maybe the kool aid at the table needs to be replaced with bottled water.
Mr. Schroeder was directed to wait for new business and the rest is history being controlled.