Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Albuquerque Journal(istic) malpractice

In three days, it will be one day too late for anyone to place
their name in the hat for the vacancy in APS school board district 7.

Still, the Journal has made no attempt to inform stakeholders
that the position is open, or the about the process that is being
used to fill the vacancy, with a crony of school board head
honcho Paula Maes Modrall. link link

Edward M. Fouhy, wrote;

Civic journalism is about providing people with the news and information they need to allow them to function as citizens, to make the decisions they are called on to make in a democratic society.

In research into the relationship of newspapers and democracy, a few things become apparent. One is that newspapers are a dinosaur; the internet provides "better news" faster. There are some kinds of news, local human interest stories, that are not likely to be covered as thoroughly by bloggers. But, on stories of more global interest, one can find higher quality articles with more variety by simply googling a topic, than any newspaper is capable of offering.

If one googles "APS school board race", one finds no information that would allow them to participate in the current process, or in the process ever.

After Jon Barela, Modrall lawyer is appointed by the board to bolster their defense against an audit of APS Modrall, the editors of the Journal will lament the fact that only one candidate applied.

And after the February School Board Election of four of the seven seats on the board, the Journal editors will lament the fact that nobody showed up for the election.

Either they can see the connection between the Journal's decision not to inform stakeholders about what is going on in the school board elections, or they just want to point the finger of blame in a different direction.

There is overwhelming evidence that the Journal is covering up the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS. If I could afford a lawyer, I would be inclined to sue the Journal for "journalistic malpractice", if for no other reason than to force them to articulate their refusal to provide stakeholders with the information that they need to participate meaningfully in a decision that affects their interests.

The person, whomever s/he is at the Journal, who has
decided to protect the corrupt and the incompetent in
the leadership of the APS, deserves a front row seat in
the special hell for corrupt journalists;

and be forced to read nothing but the Journal
for the rest of eternity.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He's a lawyer with Modrell?????
Oh crap!
Is he just filling in for the rest of Rowes term? Could this be why they aren't holding a full election?