[Vision2020] The Daily News, or journalism in Moscow

Sat May 5 12:37:17 PDT 2007

I'm afraid I have to agree with Wayne on this one, although, since I'm not a reader of the Tribune, I'll confine my criticism to the Daily-News.I don't fault individual reporters; I know they're one-beat staffers with not a lot of experience, and they're subject to the whims and biases of their editors.  And I do fault the editors and publisher, and have told them so in person.  The reporting is hit-or-miss and too often relies on press releases and "official versions" of events.  Hard questions don't get asked and so can't possibly be answered.  The newswriting in the Daily News is horrendous because of a belief that you, the reader, can't possibly wade into the classic "who, what, when, where, why and how" of a lede (that's what the first paragraph is called) and instead will read something only if you recognize a name in the first paragraph.  Thus, news events are regularly reported with a style something like this:Ella Mae Frondhoven doesn't like daisies.She doesn't mind daffodils, though.  Roses and tulips are OK, too."It's just that daisies aren't pretty," Frondhoven, of Moscow, said.Her neighbor, Willard Beenpicker, agreed."For me, the daisy never quite did it.  Give me a rose,  yeah -- but never a daisy," the Potlatch roofer said.Both residents' floral concerns will be highlighted at a UI-City of Moscow symposium on xeriscaping, which Frondhoven had never heard of, but liked because the cool "ZZZZ" sound made by the "X" in "xeriscaping."  "I would like daisies more if they were spelled 'd-a-i-z-e-e-s,'" Frondhoven said Thursday.The City of Moscow and the University of Idaho were awarded a $35 million grant last week to enforce mandatory xeriscaping laws that, grant development director Lucy Anne Arroyo said, could reduce Moscow's dependence on its aquifers up to 35 percent. . . ***********************Obviously, I've exaggerated, although some of the "news" articles I've seen in the Daily News are only slightly less bereft of actual newswriting.  I know something of what I speak; I strung sports for the afternoon daily in Tucson during high school (when I also worked on the high school paper), wrote for a bilingual newspaper in college, landed a job as a beat reporter on a daily newspaper in Texas when I was 22, and in 1987 ended my career by resigning as editor of the weekly Mill Creek/Snohomish/Everett Tribunes in Western Washington.   I come from a family of journalists, too, and I'm  one of those  hyper-consumers of  news via  newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and the  Internet.  My point, then, is that the Daily News doesn't allow its reporters -- young, talented, intelligent and motivated -- to be real reporters and instead has them focused on featurizing news stories in their writing and flacking for news sources in their reporting.  Nobody really knows what happened with Sitler or with Wight, although "liberal Intoleristas" somehow managed to get their due in the D-N's coverage.  No one from the paper seems capable of asking how many FTE students NSA really has -- is it compliant with its CUP?  Is NSA correct in asserting that it can now raise the enrollment cap because of compliance on parking issues?  Is it holding classes off-site, in violation of the CUP, in Anselm House, the NuArt, or the vacated Goodwill building?  How are the NSA student boarding houses, which Christ Church elders knew were in violation of city code back in 2001, allowed to continue running with impunity?  Will infrastructure (sewer, lighting, etc.) in the Hoffman/Wilson/Gray development north of town be city-built and city-approved, or a "private" project by the principals?  How would this affect resale?  And one of my burning questions -- Why the hell does the Daily News continue to take such a hands-off view of Wilson, et al, and the City charged with governing them and us?  Is someone on staff really so deceived that he thinks those poor guys are just suffering religious persecution at the hands of Moscow's unwashed, non-devout, Intoleristas?  Does Wilson and Co.'s track record not suggest that perhaps, maybe, a healthy dose of journalistic skepticism might be warranted -- as it should be toward every story until the facts pan out?  And is Ed Iverson really the best representative of Conservative Moscow?  Really?  I quake in my Birkenstocks if so . . . keely From: deco at moscow.comTo: vision2020 at moscow.comDate: Sat, 5 May 2007 10:36:53 -0700Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Questions for you legal eagles

Keely, et al,

During the time when this debauchery of justice 
was more active, the only press coverage by those wonderful community 
newspapers, the Daily News and the Lewiston Morning 
Tribune was only one significant article.

That article was a spoon-fed, whine-baby 
complaint from Cultmaster Douglas Wilson and No Saints Around Headmaster Roy 
Atwood.  The article told of the alleged great woes that the publicity 
from Steven Sitler's and Jamin Wight's actions were causing the cult and 
NSA.

Yes, an good investigative reporter could shed 
some light on this case especially with material that could be supplied to the 
reporter.  Not only would the more creepy aspects of the principals' 
actions be brought to light and serve as a warning/wake-up call to the 
community, but other aspects of these matters including obstruction of justice 
and the failure of all parts of the local criminal justice system to handle this 
matter correctly and with appropriate justice would be exposed.

That these wonderful, community minded newspapers 
failed to report on these sexual abuse/exploitation cases from the beginning, 
but only reported upon the alleged sufferings of the principal 
enablers/fosterers/concealers, but not upon the sufferings of the many victims, 
should answer your implied questions.  It is doubtful that the local 
newspapers have the interest, inclination, and courage to run a series on 
child/neglect as the Spokesman-Review has just done.  Quite the 
opposite is most likely the case.

When the local major newspapers trumpet the views 
of child molestation enablers/fosterers/concealers but not of the victims, and 
when they fail to warn the community of the insidious threat to their children, 
there is something very wrong that only a through housecleaning would 
change.  Unfortunately at this time, brooms, mops, carbolic acid, and 
journalistic ethics are not available at either the Daily News or 
the Lewiston Morning Tribune.

Wayne A. Fox1009 Karen LanePO Box 9421Moscow, ID  
83843

(208) 882-7975waf at moscow.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: keely emerinemix 

To: Glenn Schwaller ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Questions for you legal eagles
Referring to Mr. Schwaller's Point #5 --Yes, that is 
sad.  Perhaps even inexcusable.  The answers to these and many other 
questions strike me as the sort of thing that ought to be covered by your local 
daily newspaper.  Maybe we'll see the answers in tomorrow's story. 
Anyone?  Anyone?  keely

  Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 11:51:34 -0700From: vpschwaller at gmail.comTo: vision2020 at moscow.comSubject: 
  [Vision2020] Questions for you legal eagles1.  I suspect one will 
  find out if the No Contact Order will be in effect at today's hearing.  
  Again, this will fall under P&P's jurisdiction as well.2.  
  I'm not sure if there will be "national publicity" on this case one way or the 
  other.  Seems like there is enough of a problem getting the MPD News to 
  pick up anything of importance going on in the community . . . 
  3.  I'm sure if the court was not aware of the "trophy website" 
  then, they are now.  A good point on why they or law enforcement was not 
  aware of it at the time.  Seems like unless the MPD or LCSD is handed the 
  weapon in a murder, they can't seem to find it so I suspect the web site was 
  unknown to them. 4.  I guess one would have to make inquiries to 
  the Prosecuting Attorney's office and/or the court to find out what was going 
  on in the plea bargain.5.  All very good questions - sort of sad 
  we don't have a good investigative reporter in the region that could answer 
  these and other questions in a neutral manner. 
Schwaller

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