Dallas Police Chief David Brown engaged in a brief Twitter spat with DMN reporter Scott Goldstein Monday. It all stems from an incident outside of Brown's office, when Tanya Eiserer, longtime crime reporter with The Dallas Morning News, dissatisfied with the fact that she would not get the exclusive she'd been promised, shouted "cocksucker" and "asshole."
According to The Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, those words were aimed at Brown. The DMN claims Eiserer was simply cursing in frustration at no one in particular. Frankly, who cares? In the friction of the journalist-public servant interaction, sparks will fly. But Brown hasn't forgotten it, and he took Goldstein's bait when the reporter sent out this tweet:
Great piece by colleagues @TristanHallman and @tanyaeiserer. As is often the case, @DPDChief did not respond to request for comment.
— Scott Goldstein (@sgoldstein) January 4, 2014I haven't yet gotten tired of seeing the following tweet associated with the official Twitter account of the police chief. You've got to admire the man for leaving it up instead of deleting it. Brown responded thusly:
@sgoldstein that's not true Scott,,,,I work really well with the majority of the reporters that cover our beat
— Chief David O. Brown (@DPDChief) January 4, 2014@sgoldstein I don't care for being called an asshole and cocksucker though by the Belo folks
— Chief David O. Brown (@DPDChief) January 4, 2014This fleeting instant of laudable candidness Brown soon regretted.
@sgoldstein I shouldn't have referenced the curse words Senior Dallas Morning News reporterTanya Eiserer called me
— Chief David O. Brown (@DPDChief) January 6, 2014@sgoldstein my apologies a better choice would have been to just continue to ignore these reporters and their vulgarity.
— Chief David O. Brown (@DPDChief) January 6, 2014The year is young, but this exchange, I think, is a strong contender for best of 2014.
H/T Frontburner
