Every once in a while I see someone comment about certain Newsviners having the inside track. Long time Newsviners are expected to have some magic channel to Corporate. Sometimes the paranoia gets so thick that one or another Newsviner is accused of keeping secrets from the General Membership. None of this exists as far as I know and I get around pretty good.
I can count on one finger the number of Newsviners, from the General Membership who have ever been paid to do a job for Newsvine. I can count on my fingers and toes the number of members who have actually met anyone from Corporate. The only people from Corporate who have attended a VineMeet has been Calvin, Tyler & Sally. I once had Calvin's cell phone number but that was more friendship than Newsvine oriented. I have traded emails with Mike maybe half a dozen times and Lance once or twice. All this was way back when, no contact lately except to slap my wrists for getting too uppity a time or two.
I have seen a few members who have alluded, implied or otherwise talked familiar about Corporate but I have always figured I would have known had their illusions been real. Damn, I am sorry, I forgot something, at the MSNBC buyout I was asked to write an article about the merger. Although they published my article they never asked for another, so you see how much influence that got me. I do appreciate that Jennifer Sizemore, who was the boss at that time, and I think still is, had her staff send me a Care Package, You know, one of those fancy baskets with meats and cheeses and goodies of several kinds.
Folks and Fellow Members, I am as much in the dark as you when it comes to the machinations of Newsvine Staff. They are not transparent, never have been, probably won't be in the future. I think they like to operate that way. They like to set out the feast and let the Membership partake of what they please. From what little I know from behind the curtain there isn't all that much going on. It may seem like a long wait, but some of us have been waiting for years and we are still here. -30-
