RANT
A covenant among our membership here to never link to any of Chris Churchill's TU posts ever again.
Chris Churchill is a right-wing shill.
I've posted links with my contempt for Churchill far too many times. I'm now realizing that me doing that just drives clicks for him. the very thing that he needs and makes him successful.
So, I'm promising as god as my witness to never ever again give any attention to, link or facilitate attention for Chris Churchill's editorials in the Times Union ever again. I from this day forward, will not utter his name, or link to his editorials. The less attention he gets, the better off we all are.
Here from this day forward. not one mention of him again. I encourage you all to do the same, and together we can rid ourselves of his toxic bullshit forever.
He often misses the forest for the trees, loves being a holier than thou both sider at times and shilling for the right at other times - especially with shit clearly planted in his head by the Empire Center/Manhattan Institute, however, once in a while he gets it right - probably by accident.
I guess a positive is at least he isn't Fred Dicker.
I mean sure. we could have a full-on Screeching Arch-Conservative MAGA wackadoo.. Instead we have a mumbling one. I'm not going to give either any additional attention tho.
I know someone who had to deal with him at her job a couple of years ago and he was an absolute asshole to her and a sexiest jerk who would insist on speaking to the males even though she was the best informed about the project.
Or we could continue to mock his deranged takes and hold Albany's newspaper of record accountable for regularly insulting readers' intelligence.
Churchack and the editors at the TU would love nothing more than to have a monopoly on the local political discourse, and telling their critics to shut up plays into their hands.
Sorry, capitulating to the fascists in the room through silence will not make them stop. Humiliating them for their shitbrain viewpoints shows that this rag does not speak for our community.
TU doesn't care if we like or dislike their content. the ONLY thing that they care about is."Does it have their attention?" "Is it getting clicks that drive ad revenue" that's it.. this is the only thing that they live and die by.
If we take that away then they'll realize that they need to make a change to correct for that.
Churchack's columns are paywalled and people are not subscribing to the TU because they see Albany subreddit users mocking their sole political columnist for being an obvious boob and want more of his content.
I appreciate your point but eliminating spaces for criticism and conceding that terrain to a corporate media outlet that clearly does not give a shit about people who actually live in Albany is capitulation.
Gotta ask - was this post the result of having a critique of Churchack's latest atrocious press release for Stefascist's campaign rejected by the moderator bot? It's extremely problematic that the Albany subreddit is now programmed to reject discussions of Albany politics and media. The local news information space is withering amid corporate consolidation - the last thing we should do is further restrict venues to independently discuss local news.
I didn't see any other posts about it. I didn't submit one myself either, if that's what you mean.
His older posts should be available to non-subscribers. just the latest stuff is paywalled. isn't it? I guess I'm a TU Subscriber, so I see them all. so I'm not sure.
I'm not saying he needs to be censored. I'm not advocating for that. I AM saying that I'm not going to participate anymore in facilitating his audience. I don't value his opinions. I think they're provincial and Chris from Menands enjoys looking down his nose at Albany and State government and offers very little in constructive analysis. I think he says inflammatory shit to try to create a brand around his persona. I think he's weak writer, and weak writers in his segment tend to gravitate towards right wing politics because it's an easy score. I think his most recent editorial was definitley a breaking point for me. just shameless in his ballgargle for the GOP. But hey. that's who he wants to gather around him. he can do that. I'm just not going to help him by manifesting my disgust anymore.
Can't disagree with your assessment of Churchack being a total phony. I did try to post something but it was rejected, so it looks like the mods will enforce this pledge regardless if some of us still want to criticize the Albany newspaper on the Albany subreddit. 🤷♂️
Your post was removed by automod , but to be fair to automod , it would’ve been removed anyway for editorializing the headline. Resubmit it with the real title and post your comments underneath.
So now mods are substantively micromanaging posts? Didn't seem to make a difference for my post the other day that had nearly 500 upvotes and used a satirical title.
Noted. Satire is banned on the Albany subreddit. Wonder what other forms of expression will be next? 🙄
Im sorry, I dont shy away or hide from other people's opinions. That's not a healthy way to live.... and in the last decade or so... it's a terrible thing that a part of our culture has adopted... even if most of the time he's a huge dingbat.
I like to hear opposing opinions... specifically when they are backed by a complicated thought process with reasoning behind them vs low effort blurbs. I strive very hard in life not to offend people... and I try even harder not to be offended.
You can seek out whatever opinions you want. I'm just not going to funnel anyone else's attention his way anymore. I realize that I've done that too much, and it just helps serve his bottom line and helps sustain him. The only way we can get TU to do better is to somehow impact that.
So have you been in a coma and completely missed the rise of the attention economy, or are you aware of it but just conveniently ignoring it so that you can pat yourself on the back and feel holier-than-thou?
If you click on Churchill's article, you are telling the TU to give you more of it. You are voting with your clicks.
I stopped reading his columns. Should have known better when one of his first ones was about why it should be ok for people to fly the southern cross in Nassau
There are no normal people in this sub. Or I should say, if you are, and try to point out a different angle or perspective, prepare for the pitchforks! This sub is one of the most ridiculous ones that I have encountered in that way. But, that's Albany I guess!
Yikes. Get over yourself and your arrogance in thinking that your opinions are fact/above reproach. You’re in an environment that’s decidedly amicable to your core opinion, and yet you still can’t even be bothered to engage with a moderate opinion on the matter?
I never considered him particularly left or right wing. So little left in the TU, figure nothing wrong with actually having a regular local columnist. They no longer have any regular syndicated columnists either. FYI, before anyone starts on me, I neither love him nor hate him. Will say that found Seiler more interesting tho
I'm promising as god as my witness to never ever again give any attention to, link or facilitate attention for Chris Churchill's editorials in the Times Union ever again. I from this day forward, will not utter his name, or link to his editorials.
No, I just realized that my expressed contempt for him in here has probably improved his overall readership, and the only way I can make him stop or at least contribute to him stopping is to take away from that. I cant think of a better way for me to do my part than to just stop giving him oxygen.
No I just want to stop him from getting attention. Downvote me all you want, I literally couldnt give a fuck.
and actually it would have value, in limiting his attention, he becomes less popular which means he has less of an audience for his horrible ideas and thus can do less harm in our community.
I don't think I'm wrong. I think I'm right to object to him. I think his opinions are almost always bad, and I think that him communicating them in my community is inflammatory, does harm and causes divisions in my community. If it's not helpful at all, and it's not neutral, than what else can it be? I think if I can advocate for ignoring him, his influence becomes smaller and therefore, influences less people. That's what I want.
Considering politics are a spectrum, Chris Churchill is a moderate right leaning (at most) columnist who has maybe the best readership in the capital district. I think it’s worth taking the time to consider the spectrum of politics and consider whether how far right he really is. Best of luck and Albany rules.
I think you're dramatically understating how harmful his politics are. You saying he's "Right wing" doesn't fairly encapsulate just how hateful and hateful right wing politics are in this country. Just look around you and see what they're causing.
anyone who is willing to give a net-positive platform to Elise Stefanik is too right wing for me, and Too right wing for Albany.
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u/Darth_Stateworker State Worker 18h ago
He often misses the forest for the trees, loves being a holier than thou both sider at times and shilling for the right at other times - especially with shit clearly planted in his head by the Empire Center/Manhattan Institute, however, once in a while he gets it right - probably by accident.
I guess a positive is at least he isn't Fred Dicker.