Corpus Christi Editor Shoots Back At Critics Over 'Podunk' Coverage of Cheney Shooting
Vice President CheneyFebruary 20, 2006 4:30 PM ET
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035276Corpus Christi editor:
"While the White House press corps seemed stunned that the Caller-Times broke the story on Dick Cheney's hunting accident, our local readers expected it," Avertyi declared in her piece that also ran online. "And we were glad to meet their expectations. Frankly, the newsroom had some difficulty understanding what all the hubbub was about last week. As national newscasters asked repeatedly why a local newspaper first reported the story instead of the White House press, we kept asking, 'Why not?'"
Shane Fox, promotion manager at a newspaper in Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph wrote (in part), in response:
"The two Texas newspaper reporters who broke the Cheney story seem to suffer from being a part of the institution instead of covering the institution. Local journalism has a peculiar set of circumstances not faced by national reporters which often leads to this syndrome. ...
"This is probably why a reporter would accept as unchallenged fact a Sheriff's statement that, 'We've known these people for years, they would not call us and lie to us.' It also would explain the reporter's statement that they 'don't want to look like pit bulls.' One wants to take the reporter by the hand to a quiet booth in the rear and over a cold beer say, 'This is precisely when you need to start disbelieving, when a law enforcement official says someone involved in a shooting accident would not lie -- that is not how police think. There is something wrong.'
"Sometimes local journalists have to take on the challenging task of developing a story rather than reporting what others have to say."
complete article:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035276