I’m always intrigued when I come upon dicey anonymous commentary on local politics.
Like the videos the SF Weekly’s ‘The Snitch’ and Fog City Journal have been posting, which feature a cartoon version of SF City Attorney and mayoral candidate Dennis Herrera and political consultant Alex Tourk (in shirtsleeves) discussing their recent lobbying drama.
The creators of these videos call themselves “Eye on SF.” As I can tell, their only shared content are two videos about the recent Tourk lobbying melee, which you can see on Eye on SF’s Tumblr, FCJ, and The Snitch.
My first reaction when watching those videos was, “Oh! I wonder if this could be coming from another campaign? Scandal!”
Loads of folks are covering the approaching Mayoral election, all of whom are hungry for content. And now we have a mysterious anonymous contributor providing that content! I love a nerdy mystery!
Now, I have no proof these videos are coming from anyone associated with a particular Mayoral campaign. It’s entirely possible “Eye on SF’ is an avid watcher of local politics and nothing more.
I’m just saying there are clues that the maker of this video is way too inside the nerdy process to be an uninvolved observer. And as I myself am way too inside this nerdy process too, I’m going to get a little Jessica Fletch on this “Eye on SF” and explore that possibility.
My first question is, why has “Eye on SF” only posted two videos about one subject? The videos have gone up anonymously on a Tumblr account and were sent to various media outlets (including this one) via an anonymous gmail account.
But there’s no other blog or video content from Eye on SF, suggesting to me that the Eye is on a very, very specific part of SF. I wanna see more dramatic reenactments! Do Joanna Rees shopping at Barney’s! Do Leland Yee asking a prostitute for directions! Do a Tony Hall and Wilma Pang duet!
Another thing I noticed was that in their second video, “they” make mention of an assistant (who happens to be my good friend.)
It was at this point in my viewing that I was like, ‘Wait a second.’ A reference to a consultant’s staffer doesn’t seem like the kind of thing someone getting their information solely from the extensive media coverage would have the knowledge about or feel the need to include. Right? Am I being paranoid? Probably.
Finally, anything anonymous is always intriguing to me because I have to wonder, why does ‘Eye on SF” refuse to reveal their identity?
And how do we feel about media outlets just republishing anonymous commentary of the Mayor’s race? We know political functionaries have tried to anonymously manipulate local online media before. Anyone could be making these videos, right?
What if it’s Gavin Newsom?!?
What the hell do I know? I recently pretended to vomit Mayoral Candidate headshots on my goofy webshow. I am not your best source on what is and what is not appropriate.
But I will be watching! And crossing my fingers that “Eye on SF”, whoever they are, provide us with a much needed Hall/Pang cover of “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.”
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