The new Iowa blog
called “The Counterpoint” is the brainchild of U of Iowa rhetoric
teacher Ted Remington.  As Ted puts it, “It began basically as a
way to vent my own frustration with “The Point” being forced on KGAN
viewers.  I wrote a piece for the Iowa City Press Citizen a couple
of months ago about Sinclair Broadcasting, got a good response, and
wanted to do something to follow up on it.  I found myself writing
critical responses to Sinclair often enough that I finally decided to
simply do it online so that other like-minded people might have a
chance to see it (and also so Sinclair knew that my criticisms were, at
least in a small way, available to a wider audience rather than simply
being directed at them privately).”

”As a teacher of rhetoric, I get particularly ticked off at sloppy and
misleading argumentation,” Remington continues.  He says two
things infuriate him about the broadcast of “The Point”: first, “the
specific opinions in “The Point” and the fact that it’s forced on local
viewers by Sinclair executives in Baltimore,” and second, “the style of
the argumentation (distortions, ad hominem attacks, etc.)  It’s
talk radio babble posing as reasoned journalistic opinion, and I think
people who use such simplistic thinking need to be called on it.
I try to [call them on] it with attention to facts and details (e.g., I
include hyperlinks to both the “Point” itself as well as to relevant
outside sources), with a little humor, sarcasm, and parody thrown in
when I can manage it.”

Sounds like a good read and a much-needed public service!

Ted will be sharing “The Counterpoint” with Blog for Iowa readers on a weekly basis.

Visit “The Counterpoint” here.