Monday, July 13, 2009

We're back and better than ever (?)

We tried to stay away. We really did.
But recent events and the lack of coverage or the butchering of those events by the Herald-Press just screamed out for comment.

But first, a little background. The Herald-Press deadline was recently moved to 5 p.m., despite the fact that the press run for the newspaper in Marion isn't until sometime after midnight. Stories need to be planned four days ahead, leaving no room for any kind of breaking news. Basketball games, which don't end before 5 p.m., don't make the next day's paper, putting them in the paper two days late.
The editorial staff in Huntington makes no decisions on story placement. All those decisions are being made in Marion. Presumably, editing of stories is being done in Huntington, but as we've seen lately, very little in the way of editing is being done. Either that, or writers and editors have absolutely no grasp of basic grammar or basic newspaper style rules. There's also no one in Huntington who knows enough of what's happening in city government, law enforcement, schools, etc., to chase down the stories that are important to the public knowledge.

OK, back to the rundown:

Early in the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, there was a fire call to the southern part of the county, near Mt. Etna. It would have been worth sending a photographer and even a reporter down to check it out. Anyone with an emergency scanner would have heard the fire and police department dispatched.
Events changed quickly when officers discovered that someone with a weapon was supposed to be around the area, possibly after having a meth lab blow up. In any event, the fire department couldn't get in to put out the fire, and a total of four buildings burned to the ground. In addition, a manhunt began for the person suspected of having the weapon.

The manhunt became huge news on local television as officers from three counties and the state police went on the search. Updates were given on TV, and Fort Wayne newspapers updated information on their websites. A story was even posted statewide by the Associated Press.

All this managed to escape the people at the Herald-Press. No one there knew anything about what was going on until Monday morning, by which time the manhunt ended with the suspect dead, either in a shootout or by a self-inflicted gunshot.

The Herald-Press did finally manage to post a story on their web site Monday afternoon. Even then, the incoherent story was a travesty of journalism, with confusing information poorly constructed.

The lede of the story gave a clue to what the rest held.

"Police’s search for a man they believed was out to kill his father ended early Monday morning in a deadly shootout."


POLICE'S? Did the writer actually begin the opening sentence of the story with POLICE'S?

"Barton L. Thompson, 34, Warren, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:47 a.m. Monday after he got into a gun fight with officers from multiple police agencies. Huntington County Coroner Leon Hurlburt said Monday it is still under investigation whether Thompson’s death was caused by police fire or a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

At the scene? Where is the scene? Got into a gun fight?

"Thompson’s house at 8584 S. 600 West, as well as three nearby barns caught on fire, and were eventually completely destroyed."

Just for everyone out there, something is either destroyed or it is not. There is no degree of being destroyed. You don't say "completely destroyed." It's like being pregnant, either you are or you aren't. You're not completely pregnant or partially pregnant. The house was destroyed. Otherwise, it's just damaged. You might think that's being picky. No, it's just a matter of being correct. Nothing wrong with that.

"Huntington County Sheriff Kent Farthing said they believed Thompson escaped into the nearby woods, but would go to his father’s house 7365 W. 1000 South next. At around midnight, officers backed away for the night, except for state police officers, who stayed guard over the father’s home. Surrounding homes were evacuated for the night, Hurlburt said."

I don't know where to start. Let's just look at "officers backed away, except for state police officers." That's like saying "everybody got a lollipop, except for those who didn't." Just bad writing.

"Outside the house, Thompson came out of the woods and got into a shootout with waiting police that ended in his death. Hurlburt said it’s believed Thompson had several firearms at his disposal during the fight. No one else was injured in the fire or the following investigation and gun fight, Hurlburt said."

Good to know that no one was injured in the investigation.

One more note: The photo that was used with the story (a photo taken by the state police, not the Herald-Press photographer) also had a dandy of a caption.

"The foundation of the house set on fire by Barton Thompson is all that remains following Thompson's suspected arson on Sunday. Three barns were also completely destroyed in the fire."

Well... the Herald-Press has apparently already convicted Thompson by saying he set the barn on fire. BUT WAIT! Just a few words later, Thompson is only "suspected" of arson. Journalist nullification. We close out with another "completely destroyed."

Always end on a high note.

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There was another recent whiff by the staff.

Two city police officers were busted for looking at porn while on the job. There was an intial story in the Herald-Press, noting that one officer had been suspended, with no names or reasons. The reporter was told that they were not able to get the information because it was a "personnel matter," even though a public official had been deemed guilty and punushed. Apparently, no one at the Herald-Press has ever heard of the Freedom of Information Act or Indiana's Open Door Policy, in which information has to be provided upon request.

The Fort Wayne newspapers know that, and they were able to get the information, and thus got the story. Although, only one of the officers was mentioned in any of the stories. The second officer was allowed to retire and walk away unscathed.
After the story naming the first officer made Fort Wayne television and newspapers, the Herald-Press followed up with a weak story, which looked like it was based on the story from the Journal-Gazette. No one seemed to do any real reporting, or any follow-ups on the second officer or what the police department was going to do now that they are two officers short.

This is an important oversight by the Herald-Press. Newspapers are the watchdogs for the public trust. If there's no one to ask questions, then there's really no accountability for any public official. If no one covers what goes on, any missteps, wrong-doing, etc., can go virtually unknown by the public. That's a bit scary.

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There has also been outright willful ignorance of events in the community.

Heritage Days is the biggest community event of the year, and the naming of the Chief of the Flint Springs Tribe the centerpiece celebration, where a member of the community is honored for his or her lifetime of service to Huntington County.
The Chief's breakfast happens on Thursday morning. The Herald-Press editor was there, as was a reporter to cover the event, as Steve Mason was deservedly bestowed the honor of Chief.

But despite have Herald-Press staffers there, was the story in Friday's paper? No. Was it in Sunday's paper? No.
Finally, on Monday, after Heritage Days had ended, the story finally ran in the paper.
An oversight? Nope. It was planned that way. Apparently, all the available space had been allocated, and there was just no room to get in that story. Not that it was important or anything, or that newspapers are supposed to be TIMELY!

The writer of the story, who knew that the story wouldn't run for four days but couldn't do anything about it, felt he had to apologize to Steve Mason. The editor then had the audacity to follow up later in the week with an editorial lauding Mason as well-deserving of the honor.
Well-deserving of the honor, for sure, but apparently not well-deserving enough to run the story as timely as possible.

Sickening. Steve Mason deserved better than he received from the Herald-Press, which deliberately kept the story out of the paper for four days.

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One of the bigger local stories lately was the murder-for-hire plot by a Roanoke doctor. The story reached something of a conclusion last week when the doctor made a plea deal. The story was the lead in the Fort Wayne papers, made statewide news everywhere but in the very county where it happened.

The Herald-Press never ran a story about the plea deal.

Speaking of big stories, the death of Michael Jackson topped newspapers around the world, and his funeral service was equally a huge event. For sure, the news media went a bit overboard in the coverage, but none went so minimalist as the Herald-Press.

On the death of Michael Jackson, the Herald-Press ran a small story on Page 2 announcing his death.

For the funeral service, an event witnessed by countless millions around the world and splashed on the front page of every paper on Earth, the Herald-Press ran no story. Ooops, they did run a two-paragraph story on Page 2, noting that people gathered in Jackson's hometown of Gary to watch the service on TV.



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Like we said at the beginning of this post - we tried to stay away. Despite having a new editor, things are no better at the Herald-Press, and in many ways, it's getting worse. The paper may look a little better, but the content is just as lacking. There is no one doing any real editing. News judgement is non-existent. Many, many important stories are being missed. Other stories run days or even weeks late. Deadlines are now so ridiculous that the Herald-Press can hardly be called a newspaper.

On top of that, advertisers are still bailing. Revenue and subscriptions are falling.

The decisions being made for the Herald-Press, both out of Marion and the Paxton Media home base of Paducah, make absoutlely no sense. If someone was deliberately attempting to put the Herald-Press out of business, then could not do any better job than what is being done right now by the current management.

It's all so very tiring, frustrating and maddening. Small towns need a paper that cares about delivering the news. The Herald-Press no longer is doing that.