by Travis Mateer
This post will be a quickie. I wanted to highlight something Engen reportedly said about our local media landscape and the city budget that raised a BIG red flag for me. Here is our Mayor (and former Missoulian reporter) explaining why “communications” will be a budget priority for his regime:
Investing in the city itself is also a budget priority, Engen said, naming communication as an area needing improvement.
“Mainstream media has declined or eroded and isn’t a source of information for many of the folks we serve anymore,” Engen said. “There are a number of solutions out there. What we’re doing today is outmoded and doesn’t contemplate the media environment we’re in now. We need to modernize our approach to all of this.”
I’m VERY curious about the “number of solutions out there” our Mayor is contemplating. We already know that he thinks using $46,000 for a New Yorker named Spider to develop a communication plan is a good idea. What other good ideas will our Mayor direct taxpayer money to develop?
I don’t know about you, but I’m eager to find out.
Stay tuned.
JC
Well, the media is mostly never a source of information. They report on information they collect about their subjects and regurgitate it. Engen seems to be conflating ‘reporting’ with ‘information’. Interesting for an ex-reporter to be doing so. I’d say intentional.
This should invoke Marshall McCluhan’s theory “the medium is the message” as Engen appears to be creating a new medium through which to propagandize Missoula. “McLuhan proposes that a communication medium itself, not the messages it carries, should be the primary focus of study. ” (Wiki)
It will be interesting to see what medium Engen constructs to carry his message. He appears to desire both being the source and conveyor of information. Most people would call that propaganda.
These kind of comments from a man who won’t talk to the press
He needs to show his tax return to prove that he’s not on the take just a question not an accusation he should not be afraid of anything if he has nothing to fear why does he not want to show his tax return I feel that it shows him propriety in promoting LLCs that he becomes a member of cuz they don’t have to tell anyone but the IRS there was a rumor he’s developing property in East Missoula let’s see those tax returns Jolly John…..
He used his connections in The Missoulian did the same Bible and slander me in an article after he and his cronies made me a houseless Missoulian this is a man who in 2015 was a section 8 HUD landlord
A police officer told a convicted pedophile that was his friend that he could take our rental property and get away with it
And if I added this quite illegal quite corrupt behavior which falls under the RICO statute because it came from uppers
Then when you ask them to explain they say well we turned it over the police commission and they made a decision but you’re not allowed to see it stasi SS secret police
Hey you know that water company the supreme Court overturned the decision and we don’t own it but yet we’re invested and we’re acting like a big ballers but we’ve been neutered