by Travis Mateer

As an English Major with a double-emphasis in literature and creative writing, I know that the word RESILIENT is an adjective, not a noun, which makes the Missoula Current headline I took a screenshot of a little confusing.

The Missoula Current isn’t the only local media outlet publishing incoherent headlines, here’s another one from KGVO that I saw recently:

Shoplifting numbers are…are WHAT, Peter Christian? I had to click on the article to see what those numbers were doing, which is exploding. Is this some new form of click bait? Or just sloppy, shitty local media?

I went to check the new kid on the block, The Pulp, to see what this “non-profit” is up to, and while I didn’t see any glaring grammatical errors upon first glance, I did see the VERY important article on girls riding skateboards, which features a cool, relatively new word that signals how very woke The Pulp is trying to be (emphasis mine):

Skateparks have historically been dominated by cisgender men and boys for all kinds of reasons. In some worst-case scenarios, women and girls have faced actively hostile boys-club attitudes rooted in obvious sexism. But a lot of times, the issue has been more nuanced. Women and girls who broke into the scene often did find acceptance and camaraderie with the boys—it’s just that they were still an anomaly. Girls on Shred is working to change the culture, and they’ve found support over the years with the Montana Skatepark Association and Missoula’s iconic Hip Strip snowboarding/skateboarding shop Board of Missoula. Volunteers—of all genders—that come out to help at Girls on Shred events are often at the skatepark a few times a week, which means they become a friendly face to the newbies.

“That helps build confidence,” says Veysey Gibbons. “I think Missoula is pretty lucky. A lot of the guys at the skatepark are really quite nice. But, you know, it’s still good to have a few buds in your corner, just in case.”

What does it mean to have “a few buds in your corner, just in case?” In case of WHAT? In case violence breaks out, like it did last July, when GIRLS, plural, allegedly ganged up on another girl, who had to use a knife to defend herself, and is now being charged for a crime?

One of the commenters in the post made some interesting points about what was NOT included in the news story from local media:

From sloppy headlines that make no sense, to woke messaging, local media doesn’t offer the public much of a reason to read and watch, so guess what? They DON’T, and because they don’t, they don’t know what’s actually happening in their own damn community.

Readers of THIS blog are different, because the content here is different. If you’re a regular, then you probably know more about local headlines than non-Zoom Chron readers do, like the recent headline about the mentally ill woman who knocked on some random door, then grabbed the 11 year old girl who answered.

From the link:

On April 29, 2024, Missoula Police Department Officers were dispatched to a purported disturbance at Jane Doe’s residence. The complainant, Doe’s mother, reported to officers that she and her family were at their residence. Doe is 11 years old.

Doe heard someone banging on the front door. Believing it to be her friends, Doe opened the door. The door to their apartment is an inward-opening door. To Doe’s surprise, an unknown adult female was standing at the door. The female reached forward inside the door into the apartment, grabbed Doe by the hair, and began pulling her.

Doe’s mother and father intervened, and the female left their home. Doe’s mother then observed the female enter a blue Subaru vehicle. The woman then left the Subaru and proceeded to walk away. Doe’s parents lost sight of the female at that time. They began searching the area for the female and located her at the Pattee Creek Market.

When I saw the name of the woman who tried grabbing the girl I immediately thought of the short video clip I recorded in October of 2022 for this post. Here’s the video:

Do you WANT uncompromising journalism, Missoula? Because if you do, you’re not going to get it with conventional platforms that struggle just to put out accurate headlines DESPITE having stuff that I don’t, like a budget and support staff.

I got a nice comment recently on a post from March that asks the following question about a local non-profit: Is The Political Timing Finally Right For Legacy Media To Ask The LifeGuard Group Tough Questions? Here’s the comment:

If you appreciate my FEARLESS journalism, please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) because I’ve got some interesting stuff up my figurative dress that I’ll be sharing soon.

Thanks for reading!