Tell Me Again Why You Are So Great
Submitted by Al Diamon on Tue, 04/01/2008 - 2:21pm.
We're terrific: On March 30, the Maine Sunday Telegram devoted its lead editorial and editor Jeannine Guttman's weekly column to telling readers what an outstanding job the Telegram and its sister paper the Portland Press Herald did over the previous six days filling pages and pages with a series called "Falling Behind: Mainers Cope With The Slowdown." It told stories of people who are having a tough time dealing with the state's poor economy. It was sometimes moderately interesting (Matt Wickenheiser's piece on the tourism industry showed a real disconnect between what tourist-oriented businesses are hoping for the coming season and what outside experts are expecting), but it was mostly predictable (prices are up) or rehashed from previous stories (bankruptcies and foreclosures are up). It didn't merit Guttman's gushing reprise (quoting news editor Eric Blom: "That's what good business journalism is all about - helping people understand the world they live in and the connections they have with others"), let alone an editorial informing readers they'd been served "a cold dish of reality." I suspect they didn't need a newspaper to know the economy is tanking.
We may be conflicted: The same issue of the Telegram carried a letter to the editor from author John Robinson of Portland, which raised some serious ethical questions. In the previous week's issue, Robinson's book, "A Concise History of Portland," had received a negative review from historian William David Barry. In the same article, Barry had also praised another recently published book on Portland history. Robinson claimed Barry should not have been allowed to critique his book, because, he said, Barry works with the author of the other book at the Maine Historical Society and "may have helped" with his research. By publishing this letter the Telegram lends credibility to those claims. By not devoting some space to examining these charges (maybe the editor's column could be used for something other than self-promotion for a change), it diminishes its own credibility.
We may be boosters: The big story on Farmington on the front page of Sunday's Morning Sentinel was about as positive - and one-sided - as journalism can be. The piece touted the Franklin County town as "dynamic," "historic" and "unbelievable," claiming it was "weathering the financial downturn much better" than much of the rest of the state. Which is odd, considering its 5.9 percent unemployment rate is more than a full percentage point higher than the state average, its per capita income is well below the state average, and it's southern outskirts is a perfect model for the damage sprawl and unplanned growth can do to local agriculture. I can't help but wonder if this relentlessly sunny portrait was less about presenting a realistic picture and more about promoting the Sentinel's new Web site devoted to Farmington. (In the interest of full disclosure, I write for the Daily Bulldog, a competing Web site that covers Franklin County.)
We may be wrong: The March 30 Boston Globe devoted part of its travel section to Maine, leading off with a photo of a salt marsh surrounded by woods. The banner near the top of the page read "Scarborough," where there is, indeed, a salt-water marsh surrounded by woods. But the small caption below the fold indicated the scene was actually Reid State Park, which is in Georgetown. Seen one marsh, seen `em all.
- Filed March 31, 2008
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
We may be conflicted: The same issue of the Telegram carried a letter to the editor from author John Robinson of Portland, which raised some serious ethical questions. In the previous week's issue, Robinson's book, "A Concise History of Portland," had received a negative review from historian William David Barry. In the same article, Barry had also praised another recently published book on Portland history. Robinson claimed Barry should not have been allowed to critique his book, because, he said, Barry works with the author of the other book at the Maine Historical Society and "may have helped" with his research. By publishing this letter the Telegram lends credibility to those claims. By not devoting some space to examining these charges (maybe the editor's column could be used for something other than self-promotion for a change), it diminishes its own credibility.
We may be boosters: The big story on Farmington on the front page of Sunday's Morning Sentinel was about as positive - and one-sided - as journalism can be. The piece touted the Franklin County town as "dynamic," "historic" and "unbelievable," claiming it was "weathering the financial downturn much better" than much of the rest of the state. Which is odd, considering its 5.9 percent unemployment rate is more than a full percentage point higher than the state average, its per capita income is well below the state average, and it's southern outskirts is a perfect model for the damage sprawl and unplanned growth can do to local agriculture. I can't help but wonder if this relentlessly sunny portrait was less about presenting a realistic picture and more about promoting the Sentinel's new Web site devoted to Farmington. (In the interest of full disclosure, I write for the Daily Bulldog, a competing Web site that covers Franklin County.)
We may be wrong: The March 30 Boston Globe devoted part of its travel section to Maine, leading off with a photo of a salt marsh surrounded by woods. The banner near the top of the page read "Scarborough," where there is, indeed, a salt-water marsh surrounded by woods. But the small caption below the fold indicated the scene was actually Reid State Park, which is in Georgetown. Seen one marsh, seen `em all.
- Filed March 31, 2008
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
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