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Advertise on Dakota Free Press: More Eyeballs for Your Money

Advertise on Dakota Free Press!Pat Powers invites you to advertise on his blog. For your money he offers you exposure to “non-campaign season traffic” that “averages 1000-1500 unique individual visits daily.”

Or you could spend your money advertising here, on Dakota Free Press, which drew 1,355 unique visits on Christmas Day, one of the slowest blog days of the year. Dakota Free Press has averaged 2,560 unique visits per day since I opened this incarnation of my South Dakota political blogging in early March. Over the last twelve weeks, DFP unique visits per day have averaged 3,417.

Why will your ad get more than twice the attention on Dakota Free Press than on Dakota War College? Maybe it’s because where Pat gives you a government press release on a breaking story, I give you original reporting and analysis.

Read my ad policy. Do the math. Then make a good capitalist decision about where you’ll get the most interested eyeballs for your advertising dollar.

121 Comments

  1. Lynn 2015-12-28 17:31

    [CAH: My apologies, dear readers. The inexplicably grudgeful Lynn, who used to be a friend of this blog, has decided to hijack the comment section with another attempt to brand this blog as something it is not, an advocate of the pro-pot agenda that she has made into her single-issue crusade for 2016. She has made it her defining mission to misinterpret statements and misrepresent this blog and me. I’ll leave her words here, but I tire of her willfully deceitful sabotage, as I’m sure do many of you.]

    I could see Colorado pot grower Monarch America and the fake flawed medical pot folks advertising on here. Ryan Gaddy’s SDAP is going at it again after Jan 1st with another petition for a Nov 2016 vote to fully legalize pot and could see them advertising here. They would be a good fit for this blog. Otherwise it would be toxic for many businesses to advertise here given the posts and commentary.

    [CAH: Lynn’s statement of “toxicity” makes no sense in the context we’re discussing here. This blog gets more than twice as much regular traffic as Dakota War College. That may be a low bar to which to compare oneself, but given the numbers above, DFP appears to attract far more interest in the blogosphere than its nearest apparent competitor. That’s not toxicity; that’s success, the kind that advertisers look for. And for the record, if the medical marijuana measure makes the ballot—and its relatively slim 16.6% allowable error rate suggests that certification is far from certain—I will give equal consideration to running ads from the pro and anti sides of that debate.]

  2. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 17:39

    Amen, Lynn. i just bought 500,000 shares of $BTFL.

  3. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-28 17:44

    This seems to be a pretty wild assumption Lynn, you have no idea whether or not those groups will advertise on DFP, you’ll have do like the rest of us and wait and see.

    By the way, have you all done like Larry has suggested on a couple of threads and hit Cory’s Tip Jar.

    Whether you agree with him or not, Cory does provide the most successful political blog in the state.

  4. Lynn 2015-12-28 17:56

    It might be the only thing Larry from New Mexico and I could agree on is that you need to cater to your audience and it could be sold as that to those entities I posted above right Lar? Cory could make a little extra being targeted to pot users.

  5. Lynn 2015-12-28 17:58

    Not sure where Monarch America is financially right now given they have had some challenges in the past but I’m sure they would love to expand to this untapped market.

  6. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 18:00

    you go, girl…and take bree with you.

  7. Ken Santema 2015-12-28 18:08

    Well, if Monarch America wants to place ads I’ll happily include them with the advertisers I’m adding to my blog in January. Getting rid of victim-less crimes will go a long way towards actually helping the poor and sick in this state.

  8. Lynn 2015-12-28 18:14

    Lives lost to Cannabis overdose zero but we don’t have to mention crimes, injuries whether work related or not and deaths caused by Cannabis intoxication inhibiting judgement. We can leave that out obviously in the advertisements.

    Heck include freedom of choice to put whatever drugs we want into our bodies. Make Aberdeen the new Amsterdam! A-Town!

  9. Lynn 2015-12-28 18:17

    Yeah DFP could make some real money in advertising!

  10. happy camper 2015-12-28 18:18

    I knew all along he was just about the money (that’s pulling your leg like duh). In fact I’ve come close a couple times but surmised my demographic didn’t quite line up. Would be profitable for both you and your advertisers to know just who are your readers. They want identifiable clicks, and clicks with disposable cash. Larry just blew a over a thousand on a stock with a value of .0023 per share, but Lynn is incorrect in her assumptions of who reads this blog in my opinion.

  11. Nick Nemec 2015-12-28 18:18

    Legalize, regulate and tax pot. Save money on incarceration. It works with alcohol.

  12. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 18:23

    Mr. Nemec, Mr. Santema: peace be among you.

  13. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-28 18:23

    Happy Camper, Lynn is wrong about most of her assumptions. She’ll do whatever is necessary to take over a thread and make about her and her pet subject.
    She has, not nor will she say, anything that she hasn’t already said numerous times.
    If she is working to block any marijuana legislation from becoming laws, she is working the wrong side of the street.

  14. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 18:25

    hap: blow is a powder.

  15. moses 2015-12-28 18:28

    Hey larry do us a favor and blow out of here.

  16. Lynn 2015-12-28 18:31

    Larry you grow magic and other hallucinogenic mushrooms here in New Mexico right? Why stop at pot? Advertise those mushrooms here on DFP and work towards legalizing everything out there and have a syringe exchange program set up.

    No sense beating around the bush with denials which further make people angry. Just let everyone know where they stand, sell it and run with it. DFP/Cory could making good money in advertising revenue and when you come to this blog you know exactly what to expect.

    Marketing!

  17. happy camper 2015-12-28 18:32

    Larry bought a penny stock. Very, very risky, but something tells me he knows how to calculate his risks and someone is gonna make money on that thing that this post is not about.

    Advertisers do not throw money down the drain. They want identifiable demographics. Not that you should play in to your perceived readers and lose your street cred. Built it and they will come. They’ve come, so sell your authenticity. Sell us. We’re worth it.

  18. happy camper 2015-12-28 18:37

    Happy Camper spends money. He clicks. So does Larry and Lynn and all the readers who do not post. Who are they? I’m just tryin to make a little bit of money. This is a capitalist country, isn’t it?

  19. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 18:39

    Join me. Let’s buy a lobbyist.

  20. happy camper 2015-12-28 18:40

    These Socialists you have to kind of lead em along. They need retraining.

  21. Bree S. 2015-12-28 18:41

    This would be a great place to advertise against Monsanto.

  22. leslie 2015-12-28 18:43

    well, not really. 10 to 19 % ( i dont remember precisely), are alcoholic in the nation and that illness, condition, addiction, “lapse of will power”, depending on the science, takes on average 25 years of abuse to gain sobriety and recovery. big chunk of peoples lives. it costs hundreds of billions in impact and consequences. these stats are easily available on NIH sites like jerry sent us on a red herring, for pot, but i pretty well knew that.

    when your 15 year old starts taking booze to school, count on a 40th birthday to come around, if alive, to count up the lost productivity, loss of quality of life and physical debilitation.

    fun stuff. i wouldn’t say regulation ect. works for those alcoholics, their average of 5 or 6 family and friends each, hurt by their illness, and society injured and killed by DUIs , accidents, crime yahdayadah. the rest of us pretty much ignore this stuff and drink for fun and dysfunction until it stares us in the face.

    anecdotally, the nation is awash in denial. boehner has been our most recent national example of a functioning alcoholic, teddy kennedy before him. ask their familys how “functional” they really are. Today one old grey beard said to me at the ER:

    “I had no idea”. bullsheit. you can see this in every town, every day, all day. yet we support the capitalism of killing “some” people with this particular product.

  23. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 18:51

    Lynn, go find your leash and have someone take you for a walk.

  24. Bree S. 2015-12-28 18:55

    Does anyone else find the heroine trendline from jerry’s link interesting?

    Getting rid of the Taliban sure was worth it.

  25. jerry 2015-12-28 19:21

    You are correct Brees, this was probably not the best place to post something as insignificant as drug deaths from heroin or other dangerous narcotics. As far as the Taliban is concerned, I would not know if it was worth it or not as I only see they still are killing South Dakota servicemen. I shudder to think that they were invited to visit George W. Bush in Texas and welcomed as honored guests. What would have happened if that would have been President Obama that welcomed them as honored guests? Here is how we got rid of the Taliban and why we cannot. http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a120497texasvisit

  26. grudznick 2015-12-28 19:42

    Mr. H’s blog gets more views because it’s not just regurgitated press releases we could read elsewhere, AND because he fixed his Error in line 433 and made his blog faster. He has started posted PPesque headlines, but his blog is much faster, and for that I salute him.

  27. larry kurtz 2015-12-28 19:43

    mose, try to keep up: k?

  28. Bree S. 2015-12-28 19:57

    Jerry: Spent the last few minutes studying up on the opium trade and it seems the Taliban is currently in control of most of Uruzgan, and therefore most of the opium trade. So, so much for getting rid of the Taliban. Obama & Clinton’s 2009 offensive against the Taliban appears to have more than failed. Heroine overdoses were stable and low in the United States before 2010 and have only recently exploded.

    The supply of heroine in the United States must be greatly increasing, which would only be possible if the Taliban had a deal with one or more of the border cartels, and despite the civil war between those cartels they don’t seem to be having any problem moving product across the border.

    The explosion in deaths from heroine is telling because overdosing is so directly linked to supply of product, the junkie will shoot up as much as he can get his hands on.

  29. grudznick 2015-12-28 20:02

    Mr. H is not going to advertise the selling of illegal things on this here blog. Read his policy rules. It says he reserves the right to refuse service to anyone if he feels like it. No shirt, no shoes, no smokie smokie, Lar. And those leather Jesus sandals that show off your snaggly nails don’t count for shoes, my friend.

  30. jerry 2015-12-28 20:07

    Of course, it was Obama. It was he that decided to invade Afghanistan in the first place, Bush just went along because it is hard to argue with a black dude. Now comes your man Trump, you betcha he is gonna take over the place and rid us of the Taliban or ISIS or Ebola. He is gonna be so good that I am sending you this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKSdgf0i67w

  31. grudznick 2015-12-28 20:10

    Trump’s not going to advertise on Mr. H’s blogspace. But Mr. Stan and those beer-swilling Democrats in Sioux Falls could use some new company so some of you libbies need to ante up and buy a placard.

  32. Bree S. 2015-12-28 20:19

    I wonder what else the border cartels might be moving for the Taliban.

  33. grudznick 2015-12-28 20:22

    Bernie Hunhoff? I suppose he might be well disposed to place an ad for his magazine here. It is a good magazine. Some of the fellows here who don’t live in South Dakota would be well put to buy some copies and learn things.

  34. Lynn 2015-12-28 20:27

    Sioux Falls Free Thinkers always seem to have money from a very generous benefactor. I’m sure it would be an easy sell for them to purchase ad space.

  35. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-28 20:29

    Cory,
    Sorry to change the subject from marijuana to political advertising and fund raising, but I just returned from a meet and greet fundraiser for Paula Hawks at Joe Lowe’s gallery in downtown Rapid City.

    Political advertising on DFP will probably increase in the new few months and I’ll do my part to get candidates and party’s to advertise here.

    The good news is that Paula seems ideal to take on Kristi, she has a great personality and doesn’t seem have the fear of offending anyone. I did talk to her and Joe about opening that Rapid City field office.

  36. Jason Sebern 2015-12-28 20:41

    Cory:

    Your blog is my first place for South Dakota news. Everyday. Gracias.

    Jason

  37. Spike 2015-12-28 20:47

    Roger,

    How did you learn of the meet and greet? The SDDP just doesn’t publicize enough in MHO. What a great opportunity to get some publicity for Ms. Hawkes in West River. And I bet there was some good food. SDDP has to open a Rapid City office (and hire Leslie full time).

    She is a good person for sure.

  38. Bree S. 2015-12-28 21:04

    Why wouldn’t Trump advertise here? He’s not likely to get a better reception at DWC, and like Cory says, this site gets more traffic.

  39. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-28 21:12

    Spike,
    If you ever go on Facebook and locate Paula Hawks for Congress, the South Dakota Democratic Party you can like their page and get on their various mailing lists. I got my invite from vice president of the state party, Joe Lowe.
    If you live in Pennington County, the Democrats have a Facebook page too. The quickest way to get on anybody’s email list is to donate money, you’ll immediately find yourself on every list the party has.

    And yes, there was plenty of good food and good people to visit with, Democrats are fun people. Paula shows a lot of strength and possibilities, but she cannot do this by herself, we all need to find some way to help her unseat Noem.
    And Spike, I reminded Paula how much she needs that Democratic Party office in Rapid City.

  40. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-28 21:17

    Lynn, please stop trying to falsify my brand.

    And 500K shares, Larry? That’s $1,000 you’ll never see again. Monarch can’t buy enough advertising to pull itself out a dive that has eaten 99.6% of its stock value since its peak last January.

  41. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-28 22:09

    Jason, thanks for reading! I’ll try to keep starting you off right.

  42. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-28 22:10

    Bree, is Trump doing any advertising? Does he need to? The media is doing all the work for him, right?

    While I’m thinking of it, Bree, does Trump have any organized campaign ground game?

  43. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-28 22:10

    Roger! I’m glad you made that event! How’s Paula doing?

  44. leslie 2015-12-28 22:12

    in brees’ dustoff w/jerry, this surfaced from jerry’s cite. i hadn’t previously heard it, but i’m pretty lightweight here (spike-u funny, we all work for free as volunteers west river to affect politics to the left-if possible-in this dense red state. come to a monthly mtg) :
    ***
    MT. RUSHMORE
    The Taliban…visit Thomas Gouttierre, an academic at the University of Nebraska, who is a consultant for Unocal and also has been paid by the CIA for his work in Afghanistan (see 1984-1994 and December 1997).

    Gouttierre takes them on a visit to Mt. Rushmore. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 328-329….(citing robert dreyfuss, “devil’s game: how the US helped unleash fundamentalist islam” (nyny metropolitan books)]….a dozen Afghan leaders visit the US. They are militia commanders, mostly Taliban, and some with ties to al-Qaeda. A few are opponents of the Taliban. Their exact names and titles remain classified. For five weeks, they visit numerous locales in the US, including Mt. Rushmore. All their expenses are paid by the US government and the University of Nebraska.
    ***
    Unocal was one of the key players in the CentGas consortium, which attempted to build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to run from the Caspian area, through Afghanistan, to the Indian Ocean, at a time after the recent Taliban siege of Kabul in 1996. [In]…2005, Unocal merged its entire upstream petroleum business with Chevron Corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary….now ceased operations as an independent company, but continues to conduct many operations as Union Oil Company of California (Chevron). wiki

    sometime ago a poster mentioned putin’s personal profit motive in syria/ukrain and black market petroleum and perhaps this has further linkage.

    brees and jerry appear to be slugging it out while lynn and larry just got hauled away in cuffs.
    i think lynn started it. impulsive. definitely appears to be out to get sddp and dfp.

  45. jerry 2015-12-28 22:22

    leslie, now you know the rest of the story, you know when those buzzards came here to soil our air, some big shots in the political elite were in the know as well. Hmmmm, I wonder who would have been in charge of the state at that time. Thanks for reading the link! Bree is just pissed off at the world cause the corn prices went in the crapper, I guess. Me, I am just an avid reader of all things corrupt.

  46. Bree S. 2015-12-28 22:24

    Since the news is still about Trump today, I know that Trump got access to the RNC voter file, and has done some radio ads. A significant portion of expenditures has gone to fabulous hats. I’ve read that Trump doesn’t have a significant ground game yet. I’ve also read that Rubio doesn’t have much of a ground game yet. I’ve read this is a bad thing. If you ask me its a good defense against infiltrators.

  47. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-28 22:25

    Hap says I need to identify my demographic. Bree says this would be a good place to advertise against Monsanto. I see a connection in the posts: my demographic is the folks who don’t have money who are fighting the folks who have too much money. My demographic also consists of people interested in South Dakota. I thus may have chosen the smallest, poorest demographic possible.

    Hap’s right: we socialists needs some help with business. :-D

  48. Bree S. 2015-12-28 22:29

    Maybe its just been a bumper crop for opium poppy, Jerry. For the last five years straight, with yields rising exponentially.

  49. leslie 2015-12-28 22:45

    brees, do u know the kochs too? glad u enjoy trump. what a flake

  50. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-28 22:45

    Cory,
    To show the effectiveness of DFP, Paula recognized my name from the blog. She said something like, “oh! That’s you”. That has actually happened a couple of times, once at the bank and another at the Social Security office and other places.
    There is little doubt that DFP is the best blog in South Dakota and I always encourage friends to read it, even if they don’t comment.

  51. Bree S. 2015-12-28 22:51

    No worries jerr. Next year’s Super La Nina will cool things down.

  52. Roger Elgersma 2015-12-28 23:13

    A good blog does not write what the readers want like a newspaper might do. Since the readers write more than the blogger a good blogger is one who presents facts that make the readers first think then write on what they have thought. That is what makes this a great blog.
    This is democracy working. Only well informed thinking voters can make democracy work well.

  53. leslie 2015-12-28 23:19

    kochs are interested in voting rights for property owners only?

  54. leslie 2015-12-28 23:56

    Opium Production Dropped by Half This Year
    By Eva Hershaw, VICE

    December 18, 2015

  55. leslie 2015-12-29 00:10

    opium prices have dropped, the thin profit margin on production has likely driven growers to abandon their fields. “In their heyday these former desert areas were a potential route out of poverty for some, and a source of asset accumulation for others,” but, “farmers just cannot afford the high production costs, the diesel, the maintenance, and the labor without a decent yield from their opium crop.” id

  56. Bree S. 2015-12-29 00:43

    If lower opium prices translate into lower heroin prices on the street, that could account for some of the increase in overdoses in the U.S.

    You have certainly proven that the heroin epidemic in America is not caused by increased production (unless production of opium poppy has greatly increased someplace other than Afghanistan).

  57. Bree S. 2015-12-29 00:50

    Report I just read states that Helmand and Kandahar in the south are the top opium producing provinces, both under partial Taliban control. Also, production per hectare decreased significantly for 2015. El Nino? Funny.

  58. Bree S. 2015-12-29 00:57

    My guess is the Gulf Cartel is most of the problem..

  59. leslie 2015-12-29 01:22

    you also suggest the border occasions nuclear smuggling.

    the US [could] takes control of Pakistan’s nukes and disarm Pakistan. In return, Washington can provide security guarantees to Pakistan similar to how it did with South Korea. http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/isis-pakistani-nukes-419/

    el nino is apparently occurring projected thru spring (noaa defin: pacific equatorial warming for 15 consecutive months). funny? will la nina arrive? what relevance to poppies?

  60. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 06:43

    Roger C, thanks for that marketing research!

    Roger E, thanks for that apt description of the democratic mission of the blog. And as we see from the conversation here, just like democracy, blogs can be messy. :-)

  61. barry freed 2015-12-29 07:22

    Cory,
    I sent an email to the NRA suggesting they advertise on sites like this, as it: “displays a woeful and willful lack of knowledge when it comes to gun ownership and political history in America and around the World while claiming to have a large readership”.
    The moderator just wrote about advertising and it occurred to me that you might advertise on sites like DakotaFreePress to counter the cut-and-paste lies and half-truths concerning gun ownership presented blithely by the media.

    Waddya think?

  62. barry freed 2015-12-29 07:23

    You should pay me by the post for that one…

  63. leslie 2015-12-29 09:15

    barry: GOP’s seminal moments like ‘you lie”, sara palin’s ” I can see Russia”, Mccarthy’s “untrustable”, NRA’s “more guns”, rush’s “slut”, and Faux’s attack on the media all day every day, define you. why attack cut/paste? how about scanners, cameras?

    “If you’re incompetent, you can’t know you’re incompetent.… [T]he skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is.
    This explains quite a lot about our world, especially about the limitations on our ability to propagate a reality-based worldview. It explains nearly the whole phenomenon of Fox News and its viewers.” daily kos today

    ammosexual, metrosexual, “DUNNING KRUGER EFFECT”, “blck lives matter” are just short-hand but accurate, highly effective notations for complex phenomena you may take offense to. because you think you have to defend guns is an immediate handicap. why bother?

  64. happy camper 2015-12-29 09:16

    For what it’s worth I know a lot of diverse readers with plenty of disposable income. They don’t comment but they talk to me about the blog. Lynn please rethink what you say. The man has created something unique. In this modern way of business he should be rewarded for this hard work as you want to be even though clearly it’s never been his priority. He puts out a lot of content, but as his geographic reach changed I didn’t think ads would work for me. Not that I’m a business with a regular ad budget, but advertisers really do want want to target ads which wouldn’t have to be traditional lefty stuff only. I know Repubs who come out here and they like it (not always). It’s kind of strange to think that we are the product being sold, but I did 3 clicks last night in the middle of the night and bought some stuff. People buy stuff. Comes right to my door. Honestly I have no idea how the marketing of blogs work, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with making some cash. He’s already working harder than most people who get a salary.

  65. Troy 2015-12-29 10:12

    Roger,

    This is what I actually tweeted today: “This explains a lot. One person told he gets his news from Hannity (conservative) and another said Maddow (liberal). This isn’t news!!!”

    DFP and DWC are not sources of news except to the degree they comment on a news item. Sometimes they are sources of analysis. But mostly they are expressions of opinion on the news more formed by ideology than facts/unbiased analysis. Nothing wrong with it and valuable components to the entire information package but not news.

  66. Troy 2015-12-29 10:16

    P.S. CH’s post on population wasn’t true news but straight-up comparative analysis. I found it interesting on many fronts.

  67. Ken Santema 2015-12-29 10:21

    I agree with Troy to a large extent. But I do think there are more bloggers trying to actually report on news without relying so heavily upon mainstream media sources. Sadly most of them I see try to do real consistent reporting find out it is more expensive than they would have thought possible.

  68. Craig 2015-12-29 10:28

    Troy I do think there have been times where DFP did in fact report/publish news. Certain stories surrounding fraudulant signatures on nominating petitions for Bosworth were discovered and reported here well before other media outlets picked up the story. Same is true for some details on the MCEC debacle, details surrounding the games played by the fake 18% petition crew, and stories and details surrounding the EB-5 investigation.

    Facts have been stated here well in advance of that same information reaching KELO or the Argus. For a while, I wasn’t so sure KELO wasn’t using Cory’s posts on DFP for their show-prep since their stories were a day or two behind what was stated here. Yes most of the time Cory interjects his analysis and commentary, but blended news is still news in my opinion.

  69. Troy 2015-12-29 10:45

    Craig,

    Don’t get me wrong as I am not being critical. But even in the situations you reference nearly all the time, CH concludes with an opinion or makes a statement to draw out opinions (not add-on information/news). To the extent it is news, it is only the base for his analysis and/or opinion.

    And, to my point, true news only gives the information, diligently scrubbed for even word choice to remove opinion. Neither DFP or DWC provide much true news. When our primary source of news is “blended news” we aren’t really getting news from which we can form our own opinion without a taint of opinion/influence and affirmation of our prior opinion. Too few people are diligent about getting real news, myself included.

    P.S. A corollary is the misconception that listening to analysis/opinion from two sides is news. It’s just both sides of analysis or opinion.

  70. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 11:31

    You know, Barry, I took Stace Nelson’s money last year; I might take the NRA’s. But I decline to rule on a hypothetical. If the NRA calls, I’ll review the message they want to put up in my sidebar.

    Troy is correct that I’m hard-pressed to do straight news without inserting analysis and opinion. I dispute Troy’s use of the adjective “true” to make his distinction. I understand Troy’s desire to distinguish commentary from opinion-free factual reporting, subjective versus objective, blogs versus KELO and that Sioux Falls paper. But I would dispute that KELO’s and that Sioux Falls paper’s reportage is “truer” than the things I offer for discussion here. If by “true” we mean “seeking truth,” then we have to acknowledge that truth is more than facts. Truth includes analysis, explanation, and interpretation, arrived at through open discussion and debate, which you commenters at your best do in spades over the corporate media. (Dang—now commenters will unionize and demand a cut of the advertising revenue.) Even if we all just presented facts and started no arguments (ha! what a dull and impossible party that would be!), we’d still be choosing a finite subset of facts from the infinite firehose of facts and fiction around us. And all of us—Kennecke, Ellis, Powers, Heidelberger…—choose to report certain facts and not a great goo-gob of others because we think those certain facts are more interesting, important, and instructive. We don’t just say, “That’s true! I’ll report it!” We say, “That’s true, and people need to know it, because it will help them make better political, economic, and social choices.” They key difference between KELO and me is that I make it 99.5% clear what choices I think should stem from those facts. You know exactly where I’m coming from. KELO and that SFP pretend they’re not coming from anywhere when in fact they are.

    We may also say, “That’s true, but people don’t really need to know it, but boy, people want to know it and see pictures of it, and they’ll click the crap out of our website and drive up our traffic and ad rates!” I will assert that if I ever make that decision, choosing a story for ratings over value, I make it far less frequently than the corporate media. Exhibit 1: where’s my sports section?

  71. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 11:34

    Ken’s right: more rigorous journalism (is that the adjective we can agree on, rigorous rather than true?) is very expensive! Uh oh—here come the chickens and eggs:

    —Buy more ads, and I’ll do more rigorous journalism!
    —Do more rigorous journalism, and we’ll buy more ads!
    —Ah, forget rigorous journalism! Give us more Babes of the Week!

  72. Troy 2015-12-29 12:00

    CH,

    Use of “true” was to distinguish it from “blended” and not to infer that analysis or opinion might not lead to truth or be true.

    I agree with your comment traditional media has a inherent bias just by what they report. That said, they have a different aspiration with regard to bias than you and Pat.

    It is all good, especially if one gets a healthy balance of news, analysis, and opinion. Unfortunately, I think the balance is lacking in whole.

  73. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 12:44

    Troy, permit me persistent vocabularial persnicket. If we use “true” and “blended” as our distinguishing terms, then what does our “blend” consist of, “true” plus what? Is “true” the most accurate word to pair with that other part of the “blended” to describe the spectrum you have in mind?

    If I take off my English teacher hat and put on my marketing hat, I’ll jiggered if I’ll let other players in my market claim the mantle of “true” while I’m stuck with some inferior term. :-)

  74. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-29 13:20

    It seems to me that Cory is reporting news in pretty much the same fashion as cable news networks. The reporter will report facts and rely on guest for commentary, not much different than us commenting on Cory’s reports.
    There are not a lot of places where you can get just the hard news, other than the PBS News Hour and a handful of major newspapers.
    If I’m an example of a news junkie, my sources are not limited to just DFP, most of us check our local paper, PBS radio and websites, other blogs, etc.
    In my opinion, Cory does provide both news and excellent commentary while inviting and challenging his guest to comment.
    The challenges readers face with the internet providing breaking news, twisted and spun news and the like is having the skills to ferret out what is true and what isn’t

  75. Troy 2015-12-29 14:35

    CH,

    You are correct. True is a word that connotes what I don’t intend (especially when non-true would be what I infer because I don’t apply true to what you do). Probably the most precise would be “predominantly factual or fact-based new” vs. “analysis, opinion or advocacy.”

    For instance, I consider Tom Roberts’ & Kate Snow’s shows on MSNBCv as news. Everyone else is analysis, commentary, opinion, advocacy or forums for discussion. Or Bill Hemmer’s portion of America’s Newsroom or Shep Smith at Fox as news while everyone else is something other than news at MSNBC. The main reason to me these four give news is they give a ton of information about what happened and use words like “this is what we know right now” and give a source. If the President or a leader in Congress speaks we hear their entire words in context. Kelly @ Fox or O’Donnell @ MSNBC give us a snippet, their commentary (but hard questions) and/or someone analyzing/opining about what this means.

    The shows that are far from news but just opinion is Hannity @ Fox or Maddow @ MSNBC. The are very selective about what news they give (opinion in and of itself) overlaid by their opinion. I’m not saying Hannity and Maddow don’t have their place but in my opinion they are way to prominent as a source of “information” as their respective audiences are so self-selecting and they confirm/affirm already held opinions. And, in my opinion, Maddow is only enlightening to me as she confronts my bias while only Hannity is enlightening to most of the people here. But, if you are like me, most here don’t listen much to the counter-view. Am I right?

  76. Bree S. 2015-12-29 14:36

    Leslie – can’t find much on el Nino affect on Mexican opium production.. Possible hurricane damage I suppose. Most of the heroin sent to the U.S. still comes from Mexico & Central America despite the explosion in Afghan production since 2001. But the increase in heroine overdoses since 2010 seems more correlated to the turf war at the border and the split between the Gulf Cartel & the Zetas rather than the increase in Afghan production. So the turf war is flooding the market, thanks to the porous border.
    Therefore the best way to raise the price of heroin is to make the southern border as difficult to cross as possible. Any cartel monopoly that develops would be certain to end eventually, and the current cartels couldn’t be trusted to maintain a price fix.

  77. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 15:27

    Reminder: I watch neither Hannity nor Maddow—no cable TV! I do have a cool Euronews app on my TV that plays the same newscasts in seven or eight different languages. :-)

    I find Troy’s elaboration of his news–discussion–advocacy spectrum acceptable.

    I remind potential advertisers, whose heads may be spinning at all this discussion, to focus on the original issue:

    • Fact: More people will see your ad on Dakota Free Press than on Dakota War College.
    • Analysis: Basic advertising principles say you’ll get more eyeballs for your dollar on Dakota Free Press.
    • Advocacy: Buy an ad on Dakota Free Press!

     
    (Here’s what we know, here’s what it means, here’s what we should do—I can’t resist, Troy!)

  78. Lynn 2015-12-29 15:31

    [CAH: here she goes again… but wait! I get it now! Lynn forwarded me information that Colorado information about marijuana. I didn’t get around to posting it, figuring I’d wait until the measure got onto the ballot to discuss it. I had the chance to do an in-person interview here at the Brown County Fair and posted that before ever getting to that Colorado information. I believe that Colorado information got posted anyway in the comment section, so that work seems to be done. But is that it, Lynn? Did this whole conversion and betrayal of the Democratic Party stem from the fact that I didn’t print your news tip as fast as you wanted me to? Good grief: if that were the standard for turning traitor and going to war against the blog and the Democratic Party—which, reminder, are two separate entities—I’d have slushballs getting thrown at me from countless tipsters who send me stuff that never makes it to the final editorial cut. I thought I made clear from the start that I wasn’t going to exert myself on the marijuana issue one way or the other. I saw Melissa. I made a video. I gave her some press. Boo hoo. I’ve given Lora Hubbel and Gordon Howie more attention than that—does that make me a radical right-wing theocrat? Come back to Earth, Lynn.]

    Cory,

    “willfully deceitful sabotage” Seriously? It is my honest opinion that I completely disagree with the lopsided posts and commentary on this blog regarding this particular issue that South Dakotans will vote on.

    Information regarding trends and stats coming out of Colorado since legalization of both medical and recreational Marijuana along with resources for further information were forwarded to Cory Heidelberger from Sgt. Tony Harrison Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET) here in South Dakota but none of it was posted to help balance posts and comments. No interviews with Sgt. Tony Harrison to counter the interview with Melissa Mentele from New Approach South Dakota or any other legalization effort posting. None of the information sent was utilized to counter, challenge or add to the discussion.

    Readers can simply go back and read the numerous marijuana legalization posts and comments from Dakota Free Press to check it out for themselves. It will take an investment in time but I feel confident they will come to the same conclusion.

  79. Lynn 2015-12-29 15:46

    [CAH: Sigh. Lynn now takes a comment from Nick Nemec, writing here as an individual, as indicative of policy for the entire SDDP. Have you met Nick, Lynn? Have you assessed all of his policy positions and decided that all of his goodness and decency is outweighed by the one statement he makes above on one issue? We’ve had this conversation, and you know how anemic I think that narrow vision of yours makes your politics. But exert yourself as you see fit.]

    Cory,

    You had a board member of the SDDP advocate legalization last night up above in the comments. This thread pertains to advertising and the revenue it brings right?

    Many have commented on this blog that they are for legalization and I have easily found myself to be in the minority opposed to it that has commented on this blog. If that is the case I suggested advertising focused on your audience. Sanders whom you have shown a great deal of support is for legalization. SDDP had a fundraiser in Vermillion this summer that we have discussed numerous times with speakers that were pro-pot and reps from the industry. How many times prior to me making it an issue was Cannabis brought up in non related threads by Kurtz and other pro-pot commenters? If we get a count it would be far more than I ever mentioned it.

    It’s just marketing and advancing agendas that are popular to your readers, contributors with the tip jar and possible ad revenue.

    Will there be an ad for the 36% rate cap? That is up to you.

    [CAH: but go ahead, Lynn. Run screaming down the street (cell phone in hand to make more calls), “Oh my God!!! Democrats support legalization of marijuana!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Lock up your children! Stop those drug-addled heathens! Vote down everything Democrats talk about!” —and see if you get a better, more tolerant, more just and broadly prosperous society.]

  80. leslie 2015-12-29 15:46

    Troy: cory suggested we correct grammer/spelling. It’s “too”.

    But substantively, your false equivalency of Maddow with Hannity is pathetic. notice “too” that republicans almost always use these false equivalencies, not democrats. we don’t have to justify ridiculous positions. justifying hannity is ridiculous. Maddow is young (has youthful influence), highly educated, gay, bright, right about most positions she takes, and like cory, picks and chooses what news she wishes to deliver, and in maddow’s case to get a result that is right and good. she almost took down chris christie, which would be right and good. hannity on the other hand tried to cover up maccarthy’s “untrustable” debacle concerning hillary and benghazi. she jumped into SD EB5 election cover-up. “they all do it” suggesting democratic politicians are as corrupt as republicans, is a fallacy and ignores the devastating values republicans protect against the 99%.

    i don’t generally correct other people, i am just making a point. it is arrogant, and distracting from the message. i also get tired of spell checking, typing ect. perfection is too high a price, and unobtainable anyway. the worst grammarian often tells the best story.

  81. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-29 15:56

    Lynn,
    Why don’t you just buy an anti-marijuana ad on Dakota Free Press, it would save you a lot of time and we would see it every time we logon to DFP.

  82. leslie 2015-12-29 15:56

    brees-will do some digging and get back to you. i enjoy the weather/climate aspect, question the border issues, am curious about el chappo’s sinola, gulf and several other cartels noticing lots of recent news there, the smuggled nuclear threat, and jerry’s issue about putin/piracy of oil/turkey/syria complexities.

  83. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-29 16:08

    Troy,
    In your critique of cable news stations and programs you seem to have dismissed CNN, my choice, from your lists.
    I don’t watch anything on FOX, the times I have watched Maddux, which isn’t often, she actually reminds me of Cory. She comes prepared with statistics and guests to help make her point or challenge them. Of course my MSNBC favorite was Keith Olberman, when he left MSNBC, so did I.

  84. Troy 2015-12-29 16:24

    Leslie, I am trying to pick examples and justify or vilify nobody.

    Maddow’s show is self-admittedly opinion and advocacy. Hannity’s show is self-admittedly opinion and advocacy. My point is they only use news as a base upon which to give opinion and advocate their position.

    I’m sorry for my typos and using the wrong words. two/to/too, hear/here, and there/their are words I too often incorrectly interchange and often don’t catch even when I proofread (which I also apologize I don’t do enough especially when I’m using phone or tablet).

    CH, you are missing good news from Shep Smith (Fox), Tapper (CNN) and Kate Snow (MSNBC). They cover a lot of ground in their shows about what is happening yet making sure one gets context. Shep stands out when there is rapidly developing stuff like San Bernadino (his Boston Marathon coverage was superb, probably because he was on the ground in Boston it seemed within an hour of it happening). Snow seems to do better with stories that develop over multiple days like the climate change summit or Ryan Speaker race. Tapper is solid but seems like he doesn’t have the depth of behind the scenes support.

  85. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-29 16:29

    Troy, the impression I get is that the only thing I miss getting my news from online print and public radio is that I don’t get quite the same level of ratings hype, hysteria, and advertisement.

  86. Bill Fleming 2015-12-29 16:34

    Wondering if either Troy or Cory have taken the time to watch this interview of Jon Stewart by Rachael Maddow (since both seem to not watch either of them very much…) Seems like it touches on a lot of things being discussed here, as well as some other things that take us into a whole other realm. Maybe make some popcorn and enjoy over the long weekend.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrS0pj7IbHM

  87. Troy 2015-12-29 16:44

    CH, the shows I reference are low in hype and hysteria but have a pretty good share of advertisement. Snow must be on vacation this week but this is an example of what her show is like. The Mayor and police chief’s actual words post-ruling on Tamir Rice. No “interpretation” and no ranting. http://www.msnbc.com/kate-snow under the video called “cleveland to open administrative process”

  88. Troy 2015-12-29 17:12

    Bill,

    Exactly although Stewart is going at it from a slightly different direction. Jon Stewart: “We have a tendency to grant amnesty to people we agree with and overly demonize those we disagree with.” Maddox thinks her prism is “right” so her opinion is “right” and those who agree with her are right. Same applies with Hannity. The problem is their prism immediately makes what they say opinion vs. news.

    We have three major cable news stations. From 6 am-10 pm, they each have only two hours of news, 2-6 hours of mostly analysis (depending on where you draw the analysis line), and the rest is mostly opinion/advocacy. I think the mix is backwards.

  89. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 17:41

    Heroin traffic is way up because people like Lynn from Plankinton eventually get cut off from their pain pills and take the next step. You see, opiates are physically addictive. Not so with marijuana. She fails to address the current crisis and prefers to lecture on what may happen. Over half the women in South Dakota have abused pain pills. A little too close to home, Lynn?

  90. mike from iowa 2015-12-29 18:27

    Rachel Maddow is a Rhodes Scholar,as was William Jefferson Clinton. Hannity-not so much.

    Roger C-Olbermann is and was the best at bringing the heat down on wingnuts and reminding them of their hypocrisies.

  91. Troy 2015-12-29 18:30

    Porter, I’m not sure why you used an inaccurate statistic to attack Lynn and South Dakota women when you could have made the point doing neither. According to the government, 1 of 15 prescription drug abusers will graduate to abuse heroin.

    Porter: “Over half the women in South Dakota have abused pain pills.”

    According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (http://archive.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2011SummNatFindDetTables/NSDUH-DetTabsPDFWHTML2011/2k11DetailedTabs/Web/HTML/NSDUH-DetTabsSect7peTabs1to45-2011.htm), 51 million Americans sometime in their lifetime aged 12 and over have abused abused prescription medicines. There are roughly 250 million Americans in this age group.

    Plus, SDans as a whole are in the lowest 20% in prescription drug abuse. Colorado is in the mid-range. http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/popping-pills-prescription-drug-abuse-in-america

    Thus, even if all of the abusers of prescriptions are women and none are women, it is mathematically impossible to get to 50% of women to be abusers of pain pills.

  92. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 19:12

    Troy Jones … Your statistics are now five years old and all the recent data shows a 50% abuse rate among women across the USA. I assert that SoDak is in the same category.

  93. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 19:23

    Pain pill abuse is defined as:
    A woman gets a prescription for pain pills. The pain is gone but she takes another pill to feel a bit better. Then it leads to a pill on Saturday night instead of a few beers. Same high with less weight gain.

  94. Lynn 2015-12-29 19:24

    [CAH: look who thinks she’s on my editorial board… and thinks she’s my nurse, telling me how to breathe. Really, Lynn, step back. You’re on a crusade to nowhere.]

    Cory,

    ” I had the chance to do an in-person interview here at the Brown County Fair and posted that before ever getting to that Colorado information.”

    You were forwarded the info from

    Sergeant Tony Harrison
    Pennington County Sheriffs Office
    Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team on 6/26/2015 6:24pm with a followup email in which you responded.

    The Brown County fair ran from AUG 10, 2015 – AUG 16, 2015

    Every time I have pointed out or questioned inconsistencies in your blog regarding policy or what you have stated you have either evaded them or went overboard with being defensive as displayed in the reply above in this thread and others to my comments. Relax! Take a deep breath, take a step back and look at what has been posted.

    []

  95. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 20:10

    I apologize to all the DFP readers for taking the thread towards a drug conversation. It’s barely relevant in SoDak politics and has little validity as a topic. I’ll restrain as everythings already been said. There’s no sense kickin’ a lazy hippy.

  96. moses 2015-12-29 20:40

    Porter can you meet with your followers and tell us the way.

  97. jerry 2015-12-29 20:52

    with a name like moses, you should be leading and not asking how to lead.

  98. Bob Newland 2015-12-29 21:21

    For about 75 years, we have been afflicted by one of the stupidest and least-relevant (to anything) laws ever imposed on a population. I speak here of the prohibition of possession or use of cannabis. Tens of thousands of South Dakotans–perhaps a larger group of “criminals” than any except those who have received speeding tickets–have had their lives adversely affected by a prohibition which has accomplished less than nothing.

    Yet Porter says it’s barely relevant. And he says it with a sneer, indicting all who imbibe as less than worthy of consideration.

  99. grudznick 2015-12-29 21:24

    Bob, you think it was you he was callin’ a lazy hippy? That part of his comment may have been arguable, but the rest of it was a good comment from Mr. Lansing.

  100. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 21:32

    C’mon, Newland. It took years to learn how to write with a sneer. It’s not relevant because Cory doesn’t want it on his blog. I support decriminalization, everywhere. But it’s not on your ballot.

  101. Bob Newland 2015-12-29 21:47

    Not yet, but it may yet be (on the ballot). Cory doesn’t want to deal with it, because, like the Democrats in general, he doesn’t want to deal with a set of public policies that has caused a greater disruption of American families than any since the end of slavery (at least in theory).

  102. Bob Newland 2015-12-29 21:48

    It may not be clear that I meant that slavery has ended only in theory.

  103. Porter Lansing 2015-12-29 21:58

    Cory doesn’t want to deal with it because it’s a distraction. Everything about the subject has been discussed, ad nauseum. If you want a drug blog take Lynn and start your own…but use proper punctuation.

  104. barry freed 2015-12-30 07:40

    Cable “news” tends to have guests who agree with each other and the host. Rarely, is a real or fairly matched debate happen.

    Lynn wants Sgt. Harrison to have an anti-marijuana pulpit here. Good, but let the lady leading the medical marijuana movement also have 200 words to make her case. Then let them pick apart each others’ arguments without any comments, distractions, or coloration from readers.

  105. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-30 07:42

    I do agree with Troy, Porter, that accusing a commenter of abusing pain pills is unproductive and unnecessary to make one’s point. Recommending some chill pills, however, may be in order.

    But manufacturers of pain pills and chill pills, do consider advertising on Dakota Free Press!

  106. Les 2015-12-30 08:38

    The link you posted was several years old, Porter and it did nothing to prove up on over half of the woman having abused pain pills.

    Piper Kerman (orange is the new black) was on Diane Rheems and stated 1 in 4 woman have been put on mood altering drugs.

    Your other statement that woman move to smack because they get cut off. That is hardly the thesis of the pharmy industry to kill the goose that lays their golden egg. They mostly move because heroin is so much cheaper for a similar a effect.

    You basically model your inadequacies here with your ignorance or distaste for woman as whole.

  107. Les 2015-12-30 08:47

    As for Lynn, if anyone brings up legalization, she should be able to respond, until they kill the 1st amendment for everyone.

    I believe in legalizing mj and clearing our system of the costly failure the war on drugs has been. As far as kids and mj, it is easier for kids to get pot now than those needing or wanting it for medical use. Always has been and always will be. Raise your kid to survive in our society now and most will with changes coming.

  108. Porter Lansing 2015-12-30 09:12

    The subject here is how much more effective it is to advertise on Dakota Free Press than any other political site. The “three L’s” (no, that doesn’t stand for loser) prove the point. There are more Republicans that read DFP than that “low energy” blog. Undecided voters are the “high value” targets and they come here because this blog is informative, controversial and funny.

  109. leslie 2015-12-30 09:21

    55,000 people w/o health care won’t raise kids to survive. their kids will educate themselves on the street

  110. jerry 2015-12-30 09:56

    One of the things that drives me to this blog site is the diversity of ideas and opinions from other people. To me, that is what advertising is all about and why someone would come to this site to advertise in the first place. I think that those that support one thing with much zeal are no more important than those that oppose with an equal amount of zeal. While we are all zealous in our opinions, we need to reflect on how we are able to put in words our thoughts. When that happens, you notice who supports the site with the capitalism of advertising, it is so American I blush.

  111. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-30 10:09

    “Informative, controversial, and funny”—thanks, Porter! Curious: could we apply all three of those adjectives to any other South Dakota media outlet?

  112. larry kurtz 2015-12-30 10:44

    100 Eyes.

  113. Roger Cornelius 2015-12-30 11:54

    I’m with Porter and stand with Paula Hawks.
    The final quarter of FEC reporting is a mere 30 hours from now and Paula needs some solid $$$ to report.
    If you haven’t already, go to her Facebook page and make a donation.
    If she raises enough money, maybe she advertise on Dakota Free Press.

  114. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-12-30 14:48

    Good call, Roger! Paula Hawks can lead the charge for good government in 2016. I’ll do all I can to help.

  115. happy camper 2015-12-31 09:27

    Interesting interview with Maddow, who like Cory cites accurate sources (different from other opinion newsmakers) making a logical argument most of the time although there is a point beliefs twist the story, especially when it’s not the goal to present a balanced view. That’s really missing now since we gravitate toward what we want to hear which reinforces that tribal thing. There’s a good documentary on Netlix called Best of Enemies that reflects on how news changed after Gore Vidal and William Buckley were part of the televised debates back in 1968. Afterward ratings (money!) became the accepted new priority for all the networks. Also interesting how much their rhetoric sounds much like what we hear today.

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