Miami has a lot of media personalities and journalists who are full of it. They spread poorly thought-out opinions and don't do any real reporting. You can't trust them. Here's my list of the worst news reporters, columnists, talk show hosts, and publishers.
1. Michael Putney. The host of WPLG-TV's This Week in South Florida uses his show and a column in the Miami Herald to promote bad projects. For example, he advocated for Genting, the company that wants to build a casino/resort on the site of the current Herald offices. But he sometimes opposes development in the African-American community. Last year, he criticized Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones because she tried to give grant money to small-business owners in Liberty City to fix up their storefronts.
2. Barry Jackson. This Miami Herald sportswriter has misquoted me in stories about the University of Miami football program. He also takes things out of context. I have cussed him out more than any other reporter because he always gets it wrong.
3. Fred Grimm. The Herald's metro columnist is a hypocrite. Last year, when I endorsed former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina over Carlos Gimenez in the county mayoral race, Grimm wrote a column attacking me by bringing up my 20-year-old arrest record and my raunchy lyrics with 2 Live Crew. But Grimm has not written one word criticizing Gimenez for getting in bed with Robaina and current Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez. I'm still waiting for a Grimm column slamming the Gimenez re-election campaign's role in the latest absentee-ballot fraud scandal.
4. Sid Rosenberg. The 640 AM sports talk radio host castrates athletes who act stupid off the field. But when he gets busted for driving under the influence after a night at the titty bar, it's all hush-hush. He also has said Venus and Serena Williams belong on the cover of National Geographic and the U.S. women's soccer team is a "bunch of juiced-up dykes."
5. Rachel Reeves. The chief executive of local black newspaper the Miami Times doesn't care about quality journalism. When I ran for county mayor last year, I found out the first story is free. But a "second interview," I was later told, would cost me.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
