PALM SPRINGS, Ca. – Coachella Valley residents were recently treated to an anti-Democratic lead story on the front page of The Desert Sun’s LOCAL section. An anonymous website designer posted a ten-year old story trashing a local Democratic candidate and used it as the basis for his/her web creation. The designer sent an email message advertising the site to the local newspaper staff. A reporter from Gannett’s The Desert Sun newspaper critiqued the new, partially completed website, emailed the designer a note listing some errors and suggested corrections, and then published a story announcing the new website’s debut. The reporter also gave the greatest gift of all by printing the new website’s Internet email address. The reporter subsequently enhanced the gift by posting that website email address online in various areas of the newspaper’s MyDesert.com news and blogging service.
The Desert Sun newspaper’s participation in the creation and advertising of the new Internet offering was the most important factor in the anti-Democratic website’s success in achieving visibility and recognition. If budding designers wish to achieve similar results, here’s a handy recipe that may prove useful in their pursuit of an active and vibrant new website creation.
1. Register your new website name in the Internet registration database on Tuesday. Select an alias name for yourself so you can remain anonymous. Use that alias in all your correspondence about the new website.
2. Upload a skeleton design to your website and then fill a few pages with out-dated, anti-Democratic political garbage.
3. Send anonymous email announcements advertising your new creation to local politicos and, of course, to lots of staff members at The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs.
4. Wait while The Desert Sun newspaper reporter logs on and critiques your new website content.
5. Review email from The Desert Sun newspaper reporter advising of errors and suggested corrections.
6. Make newspaper reporter’s suggested error corrections to website content and thus enhance its credibility.
7. Wait for reporter’s Monday morning Political Insider column to appear in The Desert Sun newspaper.
8. Read lead story announcing the debut of the new website and yourself as its anonymous author – written under the oversight/supervision of the reporter who so helpfully critiqued your new creation.
9. Your anti-Democratic smear campaign is on the road to success for the reporter has printed the Internet address of your new website. The free exposure provided in The Desert Sun has provided the high visibility you sought and need in order to attract viewers to your website.
10. Sit back, have a martini and congratulate yourself on your exemplary accomplishment. You, an unknown entity, acting anonymously, have created a new anti-Democratic political website and managed to have its debut the subject of a newspaper story – AND they’ve even printed the Internet address of your creation. Your identity is secret and nobody knows whether or not you’re an employee of The Desert Sun newspaper. They took your offering, hook, line and sinker – just like fish bait – and didn’t bother to learn the identity of their source. You did it all in less than a week and they can’t even prove you exist! They’ve left no doubt about you for it’s clear you’re a genuine professional – and possibly the only one of that caliber sitting at their table.
Lest anyone question whether this report represents fantasy, it’s all based on fact. The numbered steps above represent a fairly descriptive recitation of events leading up to The Desert Sun’s March 24th publication of “Mystery ‘Scoop’ slings Pettis dirt” story in its weekly Political Insider column. One word of warning to other new website designer wannabees. Don’t expect similar red carpet treatment from the newspaper if you’re planning on an anti-Republican political website. Your effort has to be directed against Democrats in order for you to merit their support and the free publicity.
At The Desert Sun newspaper, “They don’t just report the news, they create it!“