A few days ago Genia Lovett, the president and publisher of
the Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper, which is owned by Gannett, made note in
her column in the newspaper that 25 Gannett Wisconsin media journalists,
including nine employed by the Post-Crescent, signed the petition to recall
Governor Walker. She went on to say
those employees broke the paper’s “Code of Ethics” by signing, and further said
they would be disciplined.
This is the biggest load of BS that’s come down the road in
a long time.
First, before we go any farther, I’m sure people more
experienced and smarter than I, have already explained (in colorful language)
to Ms. Lovett that Wisconsin has very specific laws in place to prevent
organizations like Gannett from taking any sort of “disciplinary” or
“retraining” action against employees who are exercising protected rights.
The concept that a reporter can’t write unbiased news
coverage because he or she signed a recall petition is as ludicrous as saying a
reporter who owns a Ford can’t write about General Motors. Or a reporter who's ever been treated by a doctor can't report on health care.
Ever since I was a boy who grew up in Hortonville reading the Post-Crescent, the paper has endorsed political candidates every election cycle. So, the newspaper itself takes political
positions. And yet its reporters
can’t? What kind of cockamamie “code of
ethics” does Gannett follow?
Shout-radio tea partiers like Charlie Sykes and Vicki
McKenna loudly trumpet that they’re going to “expose” local reporters who
signed the petition, apparently unaware that one of Appleton’s other notorious
products, Senator Joe McCarthy, had a brief and failed career trying to
“expose” the communists that he saw everywhere.
It’s being reported that Ms. Lovett (who apparently lives in
Hortonville!) is on the board of the Appleton Chamber of Commerce. If that’s true, I expect she will resign that
position immediately - or resign from the Post-Crescent - so there can be no “appearance of conflict of interest”
if her newspaper decides to report anything about a business located in
Appleton.
In her column (and yes, there is a difference between a
column and an article) Lovett talks about the “higher standard” she expects her
reporters to adhere to, by apparently not having any opinion on any political
issue. Some of my long-time friends in
the news business have made public posts on social media, clucking about how
“wrong” it is for “journalists” to engage in such blatant political activity as
signing a recall petition.
Next thing you know, reporters will be outed for voting.
In a world where Rush Limbaugh refers to himself as
“America’s Anchorman” and people actually believe he is giving “news” on his
program….in a world where Fox News and MSNBC both exist under the banner of
“news”….in a world where George Stephanopoulos leaves the Clinton administration
and suddenly becomes a “trusted, non-biased journalist”, it may be well past
time for organizations like Gannett, and Ms. Lovett, to get off their high
horse for a few moments and re-think their “code of ethics” for reporters.
Have the hiring standards for news reporters plummeted since
I was last in that business, four years ago, to the point where reporters can’t
be trusted to hold a political opinion and still write balanced, unbiased work
product?
Or, are we “safe” because Ms. Lovett and her ilk are
carefully monitoring the work-product of these reporters, making sure no
“opinion” slips into their work?
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.
