THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503040108
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Joseph Banks
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
City Hall's report card on coverage by The Currents and The Virginian-Pilot does nothing to negate my perception that City Hall expects us to be nothing more than its mouthpiece, its cheerleader, its lackey.
Nor do the letters from City Hall that question staff members' motives.
City Hall often, if not repeatedly, questions whether the newspaper staff might be pursuing a secondary or personal agenda.
Of former staff reporter Alec Klein, the city manager wrote in 1993 that his ``reporting is not `aggressive,' but personal. He could save himself a lot of time and effort if he would simply ask me questions about the underlying thesis of his personal agenda that has become increasingly apparent to me and others over the past few months.''
Of me, City Hall expressed concern last month about ``a pretext for a secondary agenda.''
Of Ida Kay Jordan, City Hall was ``left wondering about (her) true agenda. Her predisposition is apparent.''
There is no personal agenda. There is no secondary agenda. There is no predisposition.
There is nothing secretive about The Currents' agenda.
When it comes to City Hall, the Currents' agenda is to inform readers of City Hall's agenda.
Ideally, The Currents would like to inform the public of a City Hall proposal or pending decision so that those affected might have a say-so before a decision is finalized. Be it the proposed sale or lease of the Sleepy Hole complex, consideration of the economic development plan, or riverboat gambling.
If The Currents is unable or fails to inform the city's some 103,000 residents of a pending decision, maybe The Currents can explain to the readers how a decision might affect them.
Despite what some might think, the intent is not to derail a proposal. The intent is not to rally public pressure thereby forcing City Hall to grease the squeaky wheel. The intent is not to pressure City Hall into a weak, short-term decision rather than a strong, long-term decision.
The intent is to provide sufficient information with which to educate the public, with which to encourage a dialogue, with which to encourage a critique, and with which to offer or solicit suggestions - all in hopes of achieving the best possible decision for the good of the city.
One can debate whether The Currents had a positive or negative role in the recent decision concerning the leasing, rather than the sale of Sleepy Hole complex; the revisions to, and Tuesday's approval of the economic development proposal; or the riverboat gambling issue.
Regardless of the decision, regardless of one's position on the issue, The Currents had a role in each by, at minimum, reporting the facts, presenting the public an opportunity for input, be it through Letters to the Editor, INFOLINE, or columns. Through such gateways, The Currents quite possibly presented to City Hall a different perspective, maybe even one that City Hall had not heard, did not hear or did not want to hear.
And that is part of a newspaper's role.
Last month, City Hall forwarded its ``article-analysis'' of 21 stories. The ``article-analysis'' found the following:
Questionable articles: 1
Unbalanced articles: 4
Balanced articles: 9
Positive articles: 6
Despite the flaws of the ``article-analysis'' - the addition is wrong; the ``article-analysis'' is exclusive rather than inclusive; and it fails to make the distinction between news stories, columns and editorials - I welcome the feedback.
Besides, it's only fair that if the newspaper, as part of its responsibility to the community, is sometimes critical of City Hall, that City Hall, as part of its responsibility to the community, is sometimes critical of the newspapers.
What concerns me about the ``article-analysis'' and the letters from City Hall is my perception that when The Currents is not serving as a mouthpiece, cheerleader or lackey for City Hall, then City Hall views us as intrusive.
There indeed are times when The Currents has served City Hall, such as informing the public as a whole of when and where it can register to vote; publishing the City Council agenda; or informing residents of a pending city-sponsored event, such as the Seawall Festival.
There indeed have been times when The Currents has cheered a city-sponsored success, such as The Children's Museum of Virginia.
But hopefully, there never, ever will be a time when the Alec Kleins, the Ida Kay Jordans, the Joseph Banks or The Currents will be City Hall's lackey. by CNB