The opinion pages of the News-Press have been pretty much devoid of dust-ups and throw-downs since editorial page editor Travis Armstrong departed last October. So where has Travis gone? Although there have been no terrestrial sightings of him since his departure, he has surfaced in cyberspace. Check out Travis Armstrong's Website.
So what's Armstrong been up to lately? On his site, Armstrong says that he departed Santa Barbara to travel, take a break and look at "other opportunities." In other words, not much.
I guess even the mean-spirited writers are having trouble finding work these days. Or does that simply mean that Armstrong's close association with News-Press owner Wendy McCaw make him an untouchable in the journalism business?
Armstrong delivers a specific message for those of us who still live here: "To my Santa Barbara friends," Armstrong writes, "I hope you don't feel that I've let you down too much by not continuing the good fight to preserve Santa Barbara and hold its elected leaders accountable. One never knows, though, what the future might bring ..."
Now, that's a tease if I ever heard one.
The site also includes quotes about himself that appear to be flattering, but one would have to wonder if they really are if they were placed in their original context.
One thing I found a little odd about the site was that he never mentions McCaw by name, instead only referring to her as the "owner of the paper."
I wonder if Wendy told him: "leave my name out of it."
The site does have "snippets" of his writing, and they are just that, snippets. No links to the full columns and of course, no opposing viewpoints allowed.
If you weren't a soccer fan before Sunday's championship game between Spain and the Netherlands, there was nothing about the way the game was played that would make you want to become one.
Santa Barbara viewers tuning in to watch the start of the game on ABC were reportedly dismayed to find that KEYT's signal was knocked off the air. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. The game's first and only goal wasn't scored until 28 minutes into overtime.
I'm more upset about Anna Chapman moving from New York to Moscow than I am about LeBron James going from Cleveland to Miami.
© 2010 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
