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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A Tale of Two Stories - Part III

Accuracy of Reporting
Doesn't Equate to Fairness

Sunday we examined Jeremy Cox's front page piece on Salisbury mayoral candidate (and SBYNews publisher) Joe Albero.  Yesterday we looked at its companion piece on incumbent mayor Jim Ireton and his penchant for control.  As we noted in Part I, Cox's Albero piece was accurate but lacked fairness.  We admit that fairness is, at best, a highly subjective concept.  We also admit that IF a reader looks at both articles (Albero HERE, Ireton HERE) IN THEIR ENTIRETY he or she would not believe that the Daily Times had hacked Albero to ribbons while publishing a puff piece on Ireton.  However, it is the middle ground, where you examine tone and what was left out that is a subject for concern.  We also live in the real world and know that not all readers examine an article in its entirety or read critically.

Mirror Images

Look at the titles of the two articles:

ALBERO: Candidate haunted by past blog posts
vs.
Ireton: Incumbent says he speaks for city

Look at the leads for both articles:
From birther conspiracies to local blurbs attributed to the likes of “men in trench coat-like jackets,” Salisbury News has distinguished itself as a safe haven for mainstream-eschewing news and viewpoints.
vs.
Serving as the unofficial spokesman and public face of the municipality is one of the most important, if unwritten, functions of the mayor in any city. Think Rudy Giuliani in New York City or Cory Booker in Newark, N.J.

What's YOUR impression?  My view is that it appears you are about to be reading something negative about Albero and the Ireton article is positive.  In reality, both pieces are negative.  They just happen to be mirror images.  The Albero article starts off with a negative tone while the Ireton piece starts off positively.

Just as I argued that there are a few suspect facts and a glaring omission in the Albero piece, there are even more glaring omissions in the Ireton piece.  Nowhere is there any mention of Ireton's repeated attempts to influence media coverage (remember the DT sending reporter Sarah Lake to take part in a private political strategy session) and his refusing to allow the city council access to staff is barely glossed over.  Let's not forget that the reason the council changed the charter to put the city attorney under the council was because Ireton prohibited the city attorney from meeting with the council.

Less Than Perfect Reporting OR Excessive Editorial Influence?

You don't need to lie or even misreport facts to be biased.  The two previous posts provide ample evidence that tone and choosing what facts to OMIT can change an objectively neutral article into one that is PERCEIVED as positive or negative.

I know that Cox did a fair amount of research for these two articles.  Therefore I have to ask - were these omissions, and the tone of each article deliberate on the part of Mr. Cox or was it the result of heavy handed work by his editor(s)?   Four years ago, a DT reporter took the unusual step of demanding that their byline be removed if editors continued to change the tone of certain articles written during the last mayoral election.  While all of the editors involved no longer work for either Gannett or the Daily Times, we know that the precedent does exist.

We can only hope that coverage of city politics and government will improve during this election.  Mr. Cox is doing a far better job than his two immediate predecessors.  Yet, I think the voters of Salisbury deserve more over the coming weeks.



G. A. Harrison is a former editor of Salisbury News and a guest contributor.  He also writes at the DelMarVa Observer.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Albero ia Waaaay more than a blogger as is depicted in this DT article. A young man with a vision and the energy to improve our fair city. He has a businessman's and entrepreneureal background & experience. He knows the ways & means. He's stood alone many times in his battles against our status quo. Courageous & outspoken...& Much, much more! He's not from here & that should speak to the previously closed minded individuals amongst us...What is it that takes so long for the people to awaken?

Anonymous said...

LOL 8:58. Isn't it so funny they attempt to portray a blogger as a lower class citizen or something.
The fact is-The MSM hates bloggers because they are killing them oh so slowly but surely. Bloggers have proven to not be the slobbering lapdogs to politicians that Brown Nosing "journalists" lower thenselves to so the politicians hate bloggers.
Politicians hate anyone that "gets their number" and they hate it even more when a blogger exposes them.
Then they try to justify their hatred of blogs by saying off the wall stupid things like how you can never believe anon comments-Oh how they wish this were true.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 9:48, I can tell you that when I was being interviewed I brought up my STATS page so Jeremy could see what kind of numbers we do every day, hence his mention in the article that we beat WMDT, yet he purposely and conveniently dismissed bringing up WBOC or the Daily Times.

Salisbury News has more local traffic than the local MSM and they know it.

That being said, I am a one man show, (so to speak) that does not advertise this Blog anywhere. We have EARNED the traffic by word of mouth and that says a whole lot more then anyone else out there. We don't buy billboards and we don't market through free Wednesday papers being thrown in every one's yard in the County.

Now, whenever SBYNews.com is mentioned in a MSM article our numbers go way up for that day. The Daily Times was kind enough to publish a link back to SBYNews.com but guess what, our traffic actually went down last Sunday. Meaning we already have ALL of the Internet traffic one could possible achieve. The Daily Times can't fool people any more. I go door knocking all the time now and I get to see who gets a newspaper and who doesn't. Guess what, there aren't many deliveries any more.

The reason, (in my personal opinion) for their drop in circulation is because they have become a mouth piece for politicians because they are afraid to lose the only think keeping them alive, municipal advertising. They are scared to death when Joe Albero gets elected what is in their future. THINK people.

Anonymous said...

Could be municiple advertising but I believe also that journalists think if they cover and defend politicians then they will be 'included' and this make them feel important when they have an 'in' with a politician and are seen out and about in their company. In other words they are attempting to inflate their importance for whatever reason.

Anonymous said...

Sarah Lake certainly had an "in" with Ireton and Mitchell to be the only media there for the political strategy meeting mentioned in this.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 11:04, so did Joe Carmean.

Anonymous said...

That's all it is. Certain jounalists will brown nose, cover, lie and defend certain politicians because then they think if they are seen as having access to that politician they will be seen as important. Problem is, it doesn't work that way and they aren't seen as important at all but as the brown noser they really are.

Anonymous said...

Many journalists actually believe if they wallow in the mud with the pigs it will further their career. How's Sarah Lake's career doing?

Beezer said...

Great Article GA. I truly believe SBYnews has articulated its position very well, and, being a FAIR AND BALANCED media - has tried to look after the ordinary folks as opposed to ruling over them.

There is a very big distinction to be made between an Albero administration verses an Ireton one. Hopefully - the people will see through the gross distortions now that the fog has been lifted.

Thank you for helping to remove the fog.

Anonymous said...

I warned Sarah Lake via this site time and time again that she was going to lose all credibility and damage her career unrepairably but she didn't heed my warnings.

Anonymous said...

Sarah Lake certainly had an "in" with Ireton and Mitchell to be the only media there for the political strategy meeting mentioned in this.

Anonymous said...

I am disturbed when I hear people who read and believe this rag. I overheard two people bashing the council based on the mantras of the Daily Times and Ireton.

Guess the Barrie Tilghman playbook is working again. Tell a lie enough times and people will believe it's the truth.

Anonymous said...

The few that read that rag, most likely don't even vote here in the city. The people that voted for Debbie Campbell in the last election will be voting for her again, no matter what the rag publishes!

The only two reasons Ireton won in 2009 a) he rode on Debbie's coat tail with votes by her supporters - b) his challanger was Gary Dumb as a Stump Comegys.

Anonymous said...

4:03, sadly, there are pathetic people who are turning their back on Debbie, believing somebody's smear, whether it is the Daily Times, Ireton, Mitchell or whoever.

After, what, 25 years of knocking herself out for her neighbors, her neighborhood, kids, total strangers and people all over this city, people not supporting her, especially those who have in the past, should be ashamed of themselves.

She stood by them WHEN NO ONE ELSE DID!

Anonymous said...

Ireton has few friends left, here anyway

Anonymous said...

The friends Ireton has now are the same ones that were stabbing him in the back 4 years ago.

Anonymous said...

I got the following from Ireton's website:

"Under his leadership, Salisbury has not raised its property taxes."

He fails to say that he wanted to raise taxes, however Debbie Campbell was the one who saved the taxpayers from Ireton's proposed tax hike.

He also mentions his city council experience, he failed to inform the pulic that he quit~~! He couldn't handle the pressure then, and he can't handle pressure now.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
The few that read that rag, most likely don't even vote here in the city. The people that voted for Debbie Campbell in the last election will be voting for her again, no matter what the rag publishes!

The only two reasons Ireton won in 2009 a) he rode on Debbie's coat tail with votes by her supporters - b) his challanger was Gary Dumb as a Stump Comegys.

February 13, 2013 at 4:03 PM

That is exactly what happened and the fact of the matter is Debbie Campbell got more votes in District 2 alone than Jim Ireton got in the entire city.

Most of Jim Ireton's friends and supporters do not live in the City of Salisbury and they can't vote. The only thing they can do is push money his way and apparently not many of them are doing that.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
The friends Ireton has now are the same ones that were stabbing him in the back 4 years ago.

February 14, 2013 at 8:26 AM

That is a fact Jack!

John Pick, Lore Chambers, Louise Smith, Barrie Tilghman, Mike Dunn,Lynn Cathcart, Billy Gordy Rick Hoppes, Jonathan "Grinchy" Taylor, city office staff and the Slum Lords.