News

The end of "Mamalogues" brings on many RFT blog monologues

STLog, March 14, 2008

blogs.riverfronttimes.com lit up with dozens of responses to the Post-Dispatch's decision to discontinue Dana Loesch's online "Mamalogues" column that appeared on STLtoday.com.

Monologues on "Mamalogues"

The Post-Dispatch has a long road to walk ahead of them. This was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their lack of understanding of the current trends in media. Merely asking a traditional reporter to write a column that goes online and sticking it in the "blog" section does not a blog make. The stories that are being pegged as blogs on their site are retitled feature stories, and until the Post understands that, they will continue to make poor decisions similar to their decision to let Dana go. These decisions aren't building their presence in the social media community; they are poorly executed attempts to regain the ground and readership (and advertising dollars) they are hemorrhaging as more people and businesses begin to look towards new media. I am not sure who is in charge of the revamping that the P-D is trying to do right now, but this was a misguided first step in that journey.
Melody

I'm a daily reader of Dana's blog, and when I heard that they dropped her from the Post I was astonished. Some people might find her offensive, but hey, you can't please everyone. What about the other 90 percent of readers who actually read her column and liked it? Why don't they give a damn about us? I can honestly say that her column was about the only thing in that paper that wasn't about as dry as the paper itself. As for the readers who don't like her style, over 40 or not, DON'T READ IT. Or at least open your mind a little.
Heather

Dana was given grief by offending "people" with comments about breastfeeding and potty training. Yet today on the front page of STLtoday.com is an AP video story of the now-famous New York governor call girl and her Girls Gone Wild discovery. Also, in the entertainment section, they write of a special that will air on prostitution. So, reading about normal things that happen in childhood, UNACCEPTABLE. Reading about prostitution and call girls, ACCEPTABLE. Interesting.
cl

I thought Bill McClellan was the Best Newspaper Columnist voted by the people. Ms. Loesch was the choice of your paper, no? Anyway, I took am glad that her column is no longer taking up space at the Post-Dispatch. I think the bottom line was that her column was just OK, not great, and clearly didn't have the readership to keep it in the paper.
Jennifer

I'm under 25, not married and have no children and I LOVED Dana's column. It wasn't always a home run, but she entertained. Not interesting? Pul-lease!
Lucy

Quit blaming the over-40 crowd for the Post-Dispatch's decision to "de-Loesch." Plenty of younger readers were turned off by her column, too. Even "cool" younger readers who gravitate toward the blogosphere. Loesch had a good run in the Post-Dispatch, but after a couple of years, her column became a lot less informative and a lot more annoyingly self-indulgent. Readers got tired of it.
Time Traveler

I think this is a case of a writer losing their voice (not to sound Hillary-esque). The first columns had a fresh, new voice, and then slowly drifted into a boring read. I hope that Ms. Loesch is able to regain that ability, and I look forward to seeing it in her blog.
MHO

Café, March 6, 2008

A couple of riverfronttimes.com readers took aim at Ian's review of Taqueria los Tarascos.

Torta Reform

"The torta was served with mediocre French fries, one of a few American concessions on the menu." Hey, mediocre or not, I wouldn't say that fries are necessarily an American concession — you can find papas fritas pretty well anywhere, Latin America included. Besides, they're Belgian!
Eric

Gee, I guess you have never had a taquito de chicharrón before since your complaint is that the pork rind is soggy. Uh, that's what happens to chicharrón when it is cooked in salsa verde. And the torta ahogada is traditional of Guadalajara and can be eaten with your hands if you are careful and not afraid to make a mess of yourself a bit. But in general, thanks for the well-deserved publicity. I was also surprised to hear you bragging of your taco experience on Cherokee, yet eating the barbacoa in flour tortillas. ¡Viva México, cabrones!
Derek

Café, February 14, 2008

Hell is Ellisville

That opening paragraph to Ian Froeb's reivew of the Original Pancake House, "Griddle Lock," was grand. I envision Hell to be hopelessly wandering through each and every labyrinthine mile of all the numbing subdivisions in Ellisville, as vinyl-frosted houses curse my every step, whispering for me to join their legion of sameness. If I can resist and find my way to Manchester Road, I am rewarded with Dante's highest circle and become an eternal citizen of O'Fallon. And to end the paragraph with a sentence that combines ogres and Rachael Ray? PRICELESS.
Winston S

Errata
In Ian Froeb's article "Amazing Grace," about the death of singer-songwriter Dora Magrath, we misidentified Linda Holtzman, Dora's mother, as an assistant professor of communications and journalism at Webster University. Holtzman is an associate professor.