Taking the middle of the road with Walking Duck

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Good afternoon,

A TV news veteran and  Delaware native Paul Wilke  have teamed up on a  news website with a middle of the road stance and the unusual name  Walking Duck. 

Wilke is  a long-time friend and former co-worker.

It isn’t easy being in the middle these days and the past four years have only widened the gap.

Walking Duck offers links to news stories from a variety of outlets. The goal is to provide content without the  loaded language  and heated rhetoric  that make their way into  coverage. You can check out their work  at walkingduck.com.

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Co-founders are  Wilke and Mark Halperin.

Paul was born in Seaford and grew up in Wilmington. (Yes he is the son of a DuPonter).  He returned to the state with bachelor’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University,

After a stint at selling cars and snapping up a black license plate, Paul came on board at the Delaware Business Review in the 1990s. When I moved on to the Business Ledger, Paul  was named editor.

Later on, Paul  took on what at the time was the arduous   task of uploading stories to  the Business Ledger’s website, perhaps the first of its kind in Delaware 

Paul’s other career came in public relations where he worked for credit card giant VISA in Singapore and later San Francisco.

With his wife Audra, he  founded  Upright Position  Communications in the Bay Area. 

Halperin’s career on the other coast  had its ups and downs.

He rose to prominence  as an author and TV journalist. but was fired from left-leaning MSNBC after allegations of sexual harassment with female co-workers  dating back to the ’90s  when he was with the ABC network. He apologized and sought counseling.

A long-time fan, Wilke worked with the TV  journalist on a path forward, stressing to  female associates  at the agency they could opt of any projects related to Halperin.

Of late, Halperin  has been appearing on the  NewsMax  cable network with a show that fits in with his centrist stance. The show stands in contrast to the normal bill of fare at the network that has focused on  claims of fraud in the  election that sent Delaware’s Joe Biden to the White House.

The show, produced by Walking Duck,  features focus group discussions from both sides of the spectrum.  Halperin also has a daily newsletter “Wide World of News” that offers commentary and points to stories of interest.

Paul sees plenty of room in the middle  for Walking Duck.

“As the daily news cycle continues to chum the waters with inaccuracies and over-the-top rhetoric, journalism seems to be broken: We watch, read, comment on, retweet and engage with reporting we wholeheartedly agree with and absorb what we find shocking. Truly unbiased information rapidly delivered remains in short supply,” he said.

Paul  describes WalkingDuck.com “as  part news analysis, part human-curated content designed to quickly, and accurately provide news stories to follow.”

Walking Duck Co-Founder  Halperin said, “It’s the human-curation aspect that makes this distinctive. We will only post those stories that are credible. We are fact checking and eliminating left/right bias. Being informative is key – We’re not providing clickbait, nor will we put a story on Walking Duck for the sole purpose of generating views.”

Enjoy your evening.  – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.

 

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