The beauty of the HA

[aaron]

In the HA today, they have a story about HPD recruiting new officers through TV and billboards (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050804/NEWS01/508040301/1002). On the surface, it looks rather harmless and just another filler story that most people wouldn't be interested in, but if you start really reading the article, you'll find this little piece of information:

Statistics from before the June mayoral election show that 54 officers left the HPD between July 2001 and February of this year. Ten of those were retirements, 41 were resignations and three were terminations.Between July 1997 and June 2001, 46 officers left the force: eight were retirements and 38 were resignations. For the current year alone, 13 officers already have left the department.


The fact that they put those statistics in there are one thing that really surprised me, but look at the dates. Is that specifically the dates of Dupree's previous term, and Morgan's last term I see in there? I think it is. There are no big headlines and they don't even really mention that they are splitting it up that way, but I find things like this all over HA stories. You have to look deep into the story to find the subtle hints that things are amiss.

These are the people that should be in a political office. They could shake your hand, while stealing your candy. Somehow they promote HPD, while indicating management may have a serious problem. Quietly satisfying everyone, since Dupree probably read that headline and the first paragraph and moved on. Everyone else reads the entire story and feels good about the complete coverage of both sides that they got out of it. Some people might say they are dodging the hard-hitting reporting that some people would like to see. I say it's just good politics. A work of art for a newspaper that wants to sell newspapers.

[beggingforrelief]

As we all know, Nikki Davis Maude is going to "spin" every story so that DuPree and his henchmen are presented as saviors for the city. If you ever see her around DuPree and Wynn its kissy, kissy ang hugs all day long. How can a newspaper be objective in its reporting when the person who is assigned to researcing facts and reporting seems to have an unbias opinion on the issues.

Talking to people who have or had contact with the HA and the aforementioned reporter has stated that it is common practice that when negitive publicity (proven facts) are brough forward, the story is buried in some inconspicious page, but a full page propaganda story released by DuPree's information person is on the front page (example: Mt. Carmel Church expands for the sake of the community, DuPree wants to borrow 60 million to pay off old debts).

I wish the Independent would be a dailey paper, atleast you would get the hard facts no matter who it involves.

[ynotme297]

the ha is so one biasis that they will never really get to the truth. so we have to depend on the indy and our own inside peoples here for the facts. too bad.

[The BARD]

These are the people that should be in a political office. They could shake your hand, while stealing your candy. Somehow they promote HPD, while indicating management may have a serious problem. Quietly satisfying everyone, since Dupree probably read that headline and the first paragraph and moved on. Everyone else reads the entire story and feels good about the complete coverage of both sides that they got out of it. Some people might say they are dodging the hard-hitting reporting that some people would like to see. I say it's just good politics. A work of art for a newspaper that wants to sell newspapers.

Good politics? It's good journalism, son. It's called telling both sides of the story. I know you don't get much of that sifting through the independent fishwrap you read every week, but at real newspapers, it's common practice.

[2002usmgrad]

Good politics? It's good journalism, son. It's called telling both sides of the story. I know you don't get much of that sifting through the independent fishwrap you read every week, but at real newspapers, it's common practice.

hahahahahahahhahaha, good journalism, ohh, bard, you crack me up. Sure, newspapers like to give everyone their equal side, but to do it for every story and not bring out the truth, be it good or bad, is terrible for the readers and the public that depend on the media for their information. If people just believed everything the HA said, they would think that the Mayor is a perfect choice for the city, Fairley is truly trying to help the community, and the Police Department is doing a most excellent job because crime is down (just because it isn't reported doesn't mean it's down). At least the Independent has the guts to tell us a little bit of what's truly going on with this city, without fairy dancing around the topic at hand.

[aaron]

Look, putting an easter egg called the other side of the story is not good journalism. I commend them for their good politics, but good journalism?

Every journalist who is not too stupid or full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people's vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.
--Janet Malcolm, The Journalist and the Murderer, 1990

[The BARD]

The problem with you, aaron (and most of the rest of your fellow posters), is that you're biased. And that's fine -- for a private citizen/pundit, that is. You've looked at the facts, let them simmer in your brain, and reached a conclusion (be it positive or negative) about public officials in this town. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Journalists, however, do not have that luxury. I would wager that most of the people who work at the Hattiesburg American despise city officials even more than you. After all, HA reporters have to deal with Fairley, HPD, etc. on a daily basis. But, unlike you, they are not granted the luxury of producing only one side of the story (even if they privately believe it to be the "correct" side). To do so would be, well, bad journalism.

The reason you like the Independent so much is the same reason Mississippi State fans like Gene's Page, Ole Miss fans like the Ole Miss Spirit, etc. It's one-sided, which means (a.) you hear what you want to hear, and (b.) you don't have to hear what you don't want to hear. You (and others like you) don't want the other side of the story, and the Independent obliges you.

If that's what you want from your newspaper, then fine. But simply because the Hattiesburg American doesn't stoop to that level doesn't mean it's playing politics. Far from it, in my mind. Considering the people running the show in this town, the American keeps its head admirably above the filth.

[ynotme297]

just look at the sunday edition of the ha. after the first page, all the rest is taken from the wire. most of it comes fron n/o. that is the news that i`m talking about.

[2002usmgrad]

It's human nature to be biased, other wise we would all be sheep. I agree, a journalist shouldn't be biased, but a journalist also has a duty to report the facts, and not to cookie coat every situation, that's the job of a PR specialist. You are right that they probably do have to deal with Fairley, Wynn and Dupree every day. Since they do, they must know what the truth that most of us know from this site and other sources other than the media. Now, they don't have to report anything they don't want to, I just feel that if they wanted to be a benefit to their readers that they would want to report the corruption of this town, but of course, they might have grave ties with the city, they do have all legals and such.

[AlphaMale]

Bard, I think you don't want to be confused with the facts because your mind is made up already. The HA is not going to consistantly report negative news because the well would run dry and they would not be priviledged to breaking news. Reporters go to City Hall and the Courthouse everyday to ask for newsworthy information to fill news gaps. If you don't make trouble, you'll get the early scoop and everyones happy. You make trouble and everyone avoids you and clams up and you have no stories to fill the paper. Thats the way it has worked for years here in Hattiesburg whether you want to believe it or not.

[wilebill]

I agree that the HA tries to be unbiased. But it doesn't always succeed. I attended an event last year that could have been very contoversial, and truth be told a lot of things said by the speakers were just that. Nicky Davis Maute covered it and she sat right beside me. We both heard the same thing, but the next day in the paper all the controversial things said were not even mentioned and it was made to look like a very positive event for the whole world. It's like the paper doesn't want to report on controversial issues because they may hurt someone's feelings or maybe lose some advertisers or subscribers if they do.

It seems that journalism in general has taken a back seat to profits. I think it affects almost all mainstream papers. What we need is a group of people who are more interested in digging up and giving the facts and not worrying so much about the profit margin and the shareholders.

[aaron]

I have a problem, because I have an opinion? I have a problem with that opinion.

[bartspoon]

Its a shame the paper used at the HA is not given to school children to color on.
It would be such a better use of the paper..

[bartspoon]

Bard, to have an opinion does not make you bias. If your opinion is based on facts. The HA has very little local news in it. And at a time when there is more local news then ever before. And that local news is interesting. You cant tell me that a good journalist worth his or her salt would not be out doing some investigating on their on. Arent there questions you would like to ask the people who run our town. Why is there no one at the HA interested in asking hard questions. WDAM suffers from the same thing. Tonight they had wynn saying he heard from people at "a night out on crime" that the nieghborhood enhancement team was not in force. He said that it was in tact. Why didnt someone ask him , chief wynn is it like it was when you got here. cause anyone who has done any research would no it is nothing like it was before he got here. But yet they let him get away with seeming to be innocent of destroying the NET to where it is no longer the pro-active force it was. So to someone watching who does not have time to get out and find out what is goin on, it seems he is doing his job. That is a de facto cover-up of the real facts. Aaron is just saying to the HA, are you a city newspaper or a spin doctor for the mayor and his departments. I read that article he is talkin about and could not figure out why it was written, what was the point. Its like when the HA endorsed dupree and said oh yeah there are some valid questions about the HPD and dupree did put a wedge between the city and USM. They just refuse to take a stand on anything.
Bard you can try all you want to defend the HA. But you are a day late and a dollar short, the jury is out and the HA does not serve the needs of the people of this town. Tell us just one time that paper has broken any kind of newstory. It does not print the news until the news falls in its lap. We run out and buy the Independent the day it hits the stands. And contrary to your opinion, I read it because it goes out and uncovers the news. It comes out once a week and still beats the HA to the news. I can name three stories that the independent printed which later turned up in the HA, and the Independent follows up on its stories, our mayor and our chief of police are so afraid of being asked a question that they dont allow the Independent access to them. Now when a newpaper that has as many readers as the Independent is banned by the mayor and chief of police is that not news. Then why is that news not reported on by the HA. Why doesnt the HA just ask them, hey guys why dont you talk to the independent. Oh I forgot, its like you say, the HA has to deal with the city government everyday so they dont want to upset them. After all the HA is not in business to inform its readers, its consern is not to upset city hall.

[SoMissTV]

Bartspoon, I think part of the problem lies in the nature of both WDAM and HA's status within their respective corporations. Both media outlets are some of the smallest within Raycom and Gannett (respectively), so they are used as stepping stones. Show me one reporter at WDAM that was here since the Morgan administration. Aside from the anchors and John Brown (who I believe was still a photog during the previous administration), I don't believe there are any. Most hires at the station are new reporters. They get their two years' experience here, then get a better contract in a larger market. I'm not as familiar with the HA, but I believe it works in much the same way. Gannett sticks them at the HA, and if they are good, they move up the corporate ladder to a larger market. As a result, most of the "newsfinders" don't know how things have changed because they weren't here to see the previous conditions. This, sadly, is the downside of having two media outlets with a high turnover rate.

[JB2379]

You are absolutely correct SoMissTv about the HA and WDAM being stepping stones. Just from my brief stint at WDAM, I saw enough to realize that more emphasis was put on learning techniques rather than the quality of news they present to the media. The new reporters come in, work their two years, and then they are off to bigger and better things at one of Raycom's bigger stations. Its a sad situation, but it seems that WDAM's only purpose is to be a training ground for new reporters, when they should be really focusing on presenting good, quality news to the viewers.
The HA is no better. It is what journalists would call a cookie-cutter newspaper. If you noticed, they mostly recyle stories from the Clarion Ledger and add try to add a few local stories every now and then. Once again, new reporters come in, get a year or two of experience and move on to one of Gannett's bigger newspapers.
So why waste your time trying to report on what's really going on when you are under direct orders from the corporate heads to just train new journalists and move them on to another position with the company.
The bottom line is these two media outlets are doing Pine Belt viewers a big disservice by spending all of their time to train new journalists rather than report the news. Another major newspaper and television station is desperately needed in this area. But the sad thing about that is WDAM and the HA are household names, so it would be hard for another major newspaper and television station to survive financially.

[THERebelRouser05]

The only beauty of the HA is the different colors on it after my birds get finished.

[The BARD]

Bard, to have an opinion does not make you bias. If your opinion is based on facts.

What? Are you serious? Surely not. Example -- I hate George W. Bush. I think he's the worst president we've ever had. We're in a war without basis, the economy is shaky at best, he has made major policy decisions at the expense of the environment and middle class citizens. I absolutely can't stand him. And although my opinion is undoubtedly based on facts, I am undoubtedly biased.

Why is there no one at the HA interested in asking hard questions. WDAM suffers from the same thing. Tonight they had wynn saying he heard from people at "a night out on crime" that the nieghborhood enhancement team was not in force. He said that it was in tact. Why didnt someone ask him , chief wynn is it like it was when you got here. cause anyone who has done any research would no it is nothing like it was before he got here. But yet they let him get away with seeming to be innocent of destroying the NET to where it is no longer the pro-active force it was. So to someone watching who does not have time to get out and find out what is goin on, it seems he is doing his job. That is a de facto cover-up of the real facts.

First of all, that's an example of a reporter telling both sides of the story -- an ideal to which journalists are ethically bound. But let's forget that for a second.

When Chief Wynn said that, what was your reaction? The phrase "That's bullsh*t" probably rang through your head, right? Well, my friend, that was probably the intent of the journalist. If a reporter were truly biased, he/she wouldn't let a ridiculous quote like that get published (or broadcast...whatever the case may be). Oftentimes, reporters will throw in a ridiculous statement like that so that the readership can undergo the same reaction you did. Unfortunately, such journalism requires readers and viewers such as you to use your head.

Bard you can try all you want to defend the HA. But you are a day late and a dollar short, the jury is out and the HA does not serve the needs of the people of this town.

The only thing either of us is short on is you on valid arguments. But let's keep going anyway.

Tell us just one time that paper has broken any kind of newstory. It does not print the news until the news falls in its lap. We run out and buy the Independent the day it hits the stands. And contrary to your opinion, I read it because it goes out and uncovers the news. It comes out once a week and still beats the HA to the news. I can name three stories that the independent printed which later turned up in the HA, and the Independent follows up on its stories, our mayor and our chief of police are so afraid of being asked a question that they dont allow the Independent access to them. Now when a newpaper that has as many readers as the Independent is banned by the mayor and chief of police is that not news. Then why is that news not reported on by the HA. Why doesnt the HA just ask them, hey guys why dont you talk to the independent. Oh I forgot, its like you say, the HA has to deal with the city government everyday so they dont want to upset them. After all the HA is not in business to inform its readers, its consern is not to upset city hall.

And I can name 10 stories that the Independent fabricated, and probably another 10 in which they pulled quotes directly from the American. Remember the story about Amy Tuck going back to the Democratic Party? Yeah, that didn't exactly happen, did it?

Furthermore, the reason city officials won't speak to the Independent isn't because they're "afraid" (please!). It's because the Independent has lost its credibility with them. Remember the Dupree/Fairley picture fiasco? Dupree is a jerk, but if a newspaper pulled that kind of stunt on me, I wouldn't talk to them anymore either.

The BARD has spoken.

[THERebelRouser05]

Wow, sounds like El Nino is back.

[2002usmgrad]

Ok, let's keep going. Maybe DuPree can take a good lesson from Amy Tuck. I remember back in 2003, I believe, when the Sun Herald outed Tuck for taking a $500,000 contribution without naming the source. They called her out on it and she finally revealed the source, Ricky Scruggs. You bard, based on your opinion of good journalism, would I believe call this bad because they actually showed guts in calling out a political figure. I had the honor of talking to the Sun Herald publisher, Ricky Matthews, when he spoke at the USM graduation that year, I asked him if the Sun Herald and Tuck were still on speaking terms, he said they could never be better. What Tuck learned is that you don't make enemies with the media, because the good journalist will call you out when you do wrong. If I remember correctly, the story in the independent only said there was talk of her going back to the democratic party. The story caused so much concern that I heard the head of the state republican party flew back from San Fransico that same day to take care of this. It's weird to me that you don't hear about this picture but only on this website, and even strong dupree supporters on here have said that dupree wasn't all that concerened about the picture, so that must not be why he's holding a grudge. In my opinion he's hiding something, not sure what it is, but if he wasn't I'm sure he would have no problem speaking with the indy and setting the record straight.

Why don't you do us the pleasure and name these stories that you are talking about. I've heard a lot about these so called stories, but still no stories mentioned.

[JB2379]

So the Bard has spoken? Yeah right. Let's talk journalism.
Since you claim that journalists are ethically bound to tell both sides of the story, why is that the HA never does that. If they were telling both sides of the story, maybe there would have been a different outcome to the mayoral election and maybe citizens would Know more about what's really going on at city hall.
Also, it is the job of the journalist to not be biased, but rather fair and accurate when reporting on issues that affect a lot of people, like the current mess in city Hall. That's why no media should be allowed to endorse politicians - because it leads to biased information being presented to the public, thus, not allwoing the public to form thier own opinion, rather than relying and accepting what media like the HA and WDAM perceive as the truth.
You claim that WDAM was telling both sides of the story when they were talking to Wynn about the NET team. Are you serious? If they would have actually reported on both sides of the story, we would have found out who started the so-called rumor about the Net team. We would have heard responses from other police officers, besides Wynn, and we would have heard responses from citizens on how they felt about the situation. Anad we would have heard about what the NET team has been up to lately.

JB has spoken

[ynotme297]

the net team has been doing a lot of traffic as of late.

[aaron]

What? Are you serious? Surely not. Example -- I hate George W. Bush. I think he's the worst president we've ever had. We're in a war without basis, the economy is shaky at best, he has made major policy decisions at the expense of the environment and middle class citizens. I absolutely can't stand him. And although my opinion is undoubtedly based on facts, I am undoubtedly biased.


Wow, I stopped right there, every "fact" in those sentences are based on opinion. Yes, we are in a war, but without basis? Opinion. Yes, the economy is shaky, but because of the President? Opinion. Policy decisions, blah, blah, blah, opinion. I realize you were trying to make a quick example, but it was a terrible one.

[THERebelRouser05]

And I can name 10 stories that the Independent fabricated, and probably another 10 in which they pulled quotes directly from the American. Remember the story about Amy Tuck going back to the Democratic Party? Yeah, that didn't exactly happen, did it?

Furthermore, the reason city officials won't speak to the Independent isn't because they're "afraid" (please!). It's because the Independent has lost its credibility with them. Remember the Dupree/Fairley picture fiasco? Dupree is a jerk, but if a newspaper pulled that kind of stunt on me, I wouldn't talk to them anymore either.

The BARD has spoken.

The BARD??? Are you there? Hey, the HA's PM extra is a story about an Irish choir helping First Baptist. That's in FRIDAY, AUGUST 5's edition... the Indy had the story JULY 28, MORE THAN A WEEK AGO! Sounds like the HA is stealing story ideas from the Indy!

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050805/NEWS01/50805001

[The BARD]

OK, Rebel Rouser. You win. For the Pine Belt's top coverage of Irish choirs, you should probably sift through all the fabricated stories and overglorified rumors and read The Independent.

[The BARD]

Wow, I stopped right there, every "fact" in those sentences are based on opinion. Yes, we are in a war, but without basis? Opinion. Yes, the economy is shaky, but because of the President? Opinion. Policy decisions, blah, blah, blah, opinion. I realize you were trying to make a quick example, but it was a terrible one.

You're stretching. As usual.

If you want a more thorough debate, e-mail me.

[aaron]

I can respond much faster here, I'd love to know your definition of "stretching" and how that pertains to my usual post content.

[bartspoon]

Bard...I cant add much to JB and USMgrad, they pretty well put you in your place. Read what you wrote and then read their responce, its easy to see who has a better grasp for the principles of good journalism..they do.
The dictionary defines bias as the unfair preference for or dislike of something. The way you discribed your feelings for Bush seemed to fit that definition. But like i said, if you have facts to back up your opinions its not bias because its not unfair, it is simply the truth. Aaron was not stretching at all, he was hitting dead center, you were just stating opinions without facts, or showing an unfair dislike for something. that something being bush. Not unlike your bias against The Independent. There is no justification for city hall banning a newspaper because it questions city hall. And any politician worth his salt knows that to forgive and forget is the only way to advance. You chastise our feelings about the HA and turn right around and use the same tactics you acuse us of having, to attack The Independent. Sounds very hypocritical to me.
Also, I dont think for one minute that dupree banned The Independent for that picture. (which no one has proven was given to hattiesburg frist by the independent) Dupree is banning the Independent because they are getting to close to the truth as to how our city is being run.