Friday, March 25, 2016

Truth in Journalism - Doesn't exist in local Tabloid

Comment Up

Not only were the lies outrageous during this past election regarding Ryan Hartman and all the candidates running against the incumbents (lumping them all as anarchists or worse, even this blogger), and blown 100% out of reality, our local news "reporter/editor" was a part of the hateful and deceitful conspiracy to divide this city even further than it already was.

The trio, with professional guidance, reached into the soul of people and their basic fears and anxieties by over exaggeration, downright lies and character assassinations telling us if we did not re-elect the Trio, our lives and city would be doomed to slum, blight, crime and trouble. Their lies worked with the biggest landslide of recent memory.

Pelican Pete, who has been drinking the Kool-Aid back as far as I can remember, published his paper this week that mocks the Earth First group that he previously reported would be here for the Hartman campaign with its sole purpose of helping an anarchist. Scads of people were to be here even registering to vote. Of course, and as usual, there was no truth to his wild and twisted suggestion. But he ran with it and perhaps believed it but personally maligned a candidate.

Today he prints in his loony bird column: "By the way, this bird hasn't seen the musical supposedly being made in February, you know the one that called for people from all over to come to Lake Worth and sleep under the stars. The one that would like people with strong telephone experience to perform in.  Have you?  Didn't think so."

Sorry you missed it, Mr. Pelican.
Play performed by environmentalists' family and children

Can we ever get truth in journalism from our local newspaper?  When a newsman writes a story, he should be interviewing both sides in order to report honestly and fairly. This rarely happens here. Take his Christopher McVoy crack in this week's editorial calling him "less than honest." I would bet any amount of money on it that he never talked to Commissioner McVoy about the topic at hand (dinner meetings behind locked doors) nor does he talk to him about any matter. He listens to his preferred Trio.

The bird must have failed Reporting 101. Accuracy is essential if journalism is to inform the public debate. A news story needs to be balanced and representative of the widest opinion base in order to protect credibility. This is why Margaret Menge was so good at what she does and why she was so feared by this side of politicos in this city and why they brought her down. Honesty in journalism has little chance to survive here.

But this is all written by a political bird, so accuracy, credibility and honesty be damned.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't even understand why people advertise in this stupid paper. I used to get it but dropped it. I don't like the Post either with their one-sided journalism. The only stories worthwile are from the associated press, etc.

Anonymous said...

Helen Green writes some nice stuff.

Anonymous said...

A free press is essential for a working democracy. Totally missing in our town. I find it curious that this small tabloid is now the official paper used by the City for mandated public notices. One would think they would use a source that at least could spell and print grammatically correct copy. Money buys all, especially big outside Republican machine money.

Anonymous said...

Just look at the amount of money he made during the campaign. That should tell you what a piece of crap that paper is. And as for the trio, WE AIN'T DONE YET!!!!

RH said...

This whole time I thought the Herald was satirical; now that I know that the editors are trying to be serious, I'm slightly concerned. Sure, the city uses the paper as it's offical rag, but anyone with half a brain wouldn't be able to make it through one article. The spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and lack of facts disclude it from being considered an actual serious newspaper.

Sorry you weren't invited to the musical, Pelican Pete. If you were an actual journalist and tried to get both sides of the story, you would have seen that it was a public event on Facebook and performed in public on two consecutive nights. Hundreds of people in Lake Worth saw it because they bothered to look into it. What does the Herald think happened? There was no mass anarchist voting turnout, there was no camping under the stars in Bryant Park, there were no crazy disruptions at City Commission meetings. Dummies

Anonymous said...

So sad to see how far this long standing local paper has fallen. No reporting,just slanted opinions not based on real facts or real interviews.

Lynn Anderson said...

If you want to post here, NO lies. Please read my policy.
thanks very much.
I believe that the voters got enough LIES during this past election for a lifetime.
Thanks again.
And that means you, pretzel!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps a good offense beats a good defense... One thing for sure, when Ryan Hartman filled his paperwork to run and numerous people started doing their research on the Internet, they got freaked out about his criminal past and his radical activists threats when he was in City Hall at the commission meetings about bringing an occupy movement to Lake Worth. Showing up in September or October and making threats sent up red flags to everyone in the audience as well as at home watching the live feed video. Couple that up with his numerous public disruptions in Palm Beach county in 2014 and 2015 which led to his arrest - and the hoard of smelly vagabonds tagging along with him to city hall - people took him at his word that he in fact would bring protests and disruptions to LW.

People were pushed over the edge with the EF Musical planned staging for the entire month of February and their open invitation for everyone to come to LW with a 'willingness to be arrested'and to 'enjoy sleeping under the sky'.and you can't escape a possible conclusion or that the possibility certainly existed for voter registration to occur within this nomadic population who had no intend to actually live here but instead would soon be shuffling off in true wondering traveler fashion to the next gig of whimsy.

Perhaps better vetting of candidates would help... But when a fruit cake gets offered up, even cleaned up, funded from out of state, shaved, in an ill fitting suit - he could not escape his convictions and his radical views, albeit not to all, were far too much for even Lake Worthians to swallow.

Lynn Anderson said...

Somehow or another, I missed all his "threats" on Occupy, etc. I believe that Ryan Hartman knew the city's feelings on activists of any kind coming to Lake Worth and you and your compatriots got totally paranoid and made mountains that did not exist. You have the gall to say he was funded by out of state people when these incumbents raised $127,000 from special interests and Republicans in this non-partisan election. Ryan's contributions were all small, grassroots donations.

Anonymous said...

Does the editor have any real journalism background? Wasn't sure as I have never heard of him but it is a small paper.

Anonymous said...

Well the Palm Beach Post is not truthful either. They sensationalize news and do whatever to sell, not caring if they hurt good citizens. Many years ago, the PB Post allowed a Lake Worth mayor to call a citizen here a liar for saying there is too much crime in this city after reacting in an editorial to an article they published about a lady who had lost her children to gang violence in our City of Lake Worth. The Post is the worst these days. I never will buy, read, or write to them again-the worst!