About

Patrick O’Grady spent 15 years devaluing a series of largely undistinguished newspapers until he finally heard one too many publishers sigh theatrically, “Are you still here?”

Next he did the same thing for twice as long at a series of outdoorsy magazines until likewise.

At some point, he discovered that he could run his own tiny one-ring flea circus just across the border, in the dimly lit barrios of the Internet. And so he did. And still does. The WordPress blog Mad Dog Media, which turned 15 in 2023, is the one that’s lasted the longest — is it weird that all his enterprises run in multiples of 15 years? Did he peak at 15, when he was cartooning for his high school newspaper? Does it have something to do with the old journo’s mark “-30-” meaning “the end?”

Well, whatevs. We digress. This is his latest Crime Against Journalism. It takes its name from what he dubbed the new house in 2014 when he, Herself, and their three companions — Field Marshal Turkish von Turkenstein (commander, 1st Feline Home Defense Regiment); his adjutant, Miss Mia Sopaipilla; and a canine hanger-on, Mister Boo — moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Turk and Mister Boo have since departed on their final journeys; only Herself, Miss Mia, and the Ould Fellah remain. You’ll read more about them than is good for you, if you stick around, which would be proof positive that — like your host — you don’t know what’s good for you.

“Are you still here?”