Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bay Guardian Bruce Brugman - Monopoly Crusher (or Builder?)

Nefarious characters throughout the history of this great nation, wait...just throughout history, have always sought to do ill under the guise of nobility. It is through delusion or narcissism of great magnitude which they convince themselves their actions are justified, even a footnote to history.

The Bay Guardian's Bruce Brugman seems to be one of these characters (http://ow.ly/1n6Om ). There is an old joke that goes "I looked (blank) up in the dictionary and saw a picture of you!" which comes to mind here...

Anyway, let's see if I can sum this up correctly (a step-by-step list to empire building!):

1. Accuse competitor (the only competitor) of being a Monopoly through obscure law
2. Disguise own faults / behaviors / same practices
3. Run competitor out of town, thus being the only man left standing
4. Use status to advantage by determining future of ad rates in said area
5. Look up "monopoly" in dictionary and summarily ignore what you have now become

Sound about right? It does to me after everything I have read about a very public feud with SF Weekly, whom Brugman sued and is now running out of town. He claims they were creating a "monopolistic" environment - what is the logical reaction? Why, create a monopoly of your own, of course.

I am a true capitalist (If you get a chance please read The Soul of Capitalism by William Greider) and believe competition does create a better marketplace. In the absence of competition I suspect the Guardian will become stale and irrelevant in an era where newspapers struggle for just this thing everyday. In this case I say "be careful what you ask for" as you just might get it.

No comments:

Post a Comment