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Professionalism and journalism
One response to the posting of the “Wagner: Martynick should go” story from May 12 says that “the sending of the request from Wagner to the ‘newspaper’ is uncalled for and unprofessional. Furthermore, it is also unprofessional for the ‘newspaper’ to publish excerpts from personal correspondence...”
Council President Henry Wagner certainly had the right to notify our reporter that he had requested George Martynick to quit the planning commission. In fact, such openness could be viewed as a good “professional” tendency for a public servant.
There is no way to argue that the request for a resignation didn’t merit a story. Would keeping that action secret have been preferable? The fact that e-mail was used to notify the reporter instead of a telephone does not change that.
As for publishing excerpts from personal correspondence, how personal can an e-mail message be when it already has been copied previously to so many people, including other council members and planning commission members? Is there really any expectation of privacy?
It is certainly a very public matter being discussed, not confined just to personal issues or even personnel issues, but with public policy implications, since it includes matters of ethics, accuracy, council/planners relations and deference vs. due deliberation by each body.
Given the amount of comment that this article has generated, most of it pretty deliberative and issue-oriented rather than just personal attacks, readers seem to agree that it was an important story to publish.
Posted by
Patricia Matson
Editor, The Phoenix
Council President Henry Wagner certainly had the right to notify our reporter that he had requested George Martynick to quit the planning commission. In fact, such openness could be viewed as a good “professional” tendency for a public servant.
There is no way to argue that the request for a resignation didn’t merit a story. Would keeping that action secret have been preferable? The fact that e-mail was used to notify the reporter instead of a telephone does not change that.
As for publishing excerpts from personal correspondence, how personal can an e-mail message be when it already has been copied previously to so many people, including other council members and planning commission members? Is there really any expectation of privacy?
It is certainly a very public matter being discussed, not confined just to personal issues or even personnel issues, but with public policy implications, since it includes matters of ethics, accuracy, council/planners relations and deference vs. due deliberation by each body.
Given the amount of comment that this article has generated, most of it pretty deliberative and issue-oriented rather than just personal attacks, readers seem to agree that it was an important story to publish.
Posted by
Patricia Matson
Editor, The Phoenix
posted by The Phoenix Files at
10:58 AM
9 Comments:
Agree or disagree, Trish, with the post which initiated this comment, and if copying the reporter on this issue is as written to be "...good "professional" tendency for a public servant.", I fully expect to see ALL emails from and between Council, boards and commissions, as well as staff printed in the Phoenix so we may all judge for ourselves the public policy implications, ethics, accuracy, relations, deference and due deliberation by each body.
Every single act Council makes impacts on each and every one of us.
We should all be calling for full disclosure of every single piece of information regarding.
But, I believe it will be a bitter cold day at the equator when that happens.
Tish,
Speaking of stories, where is the update about what happened at last night's Council Meeting?
As one of the posters to the previous threat, I believe you completely missed the point. Most of the comments stated that either the "story" was overblown and/or that incomplete information was given.
Why no context -- for instance, the entire Wagner e-mail, instead of selected sections (which, I believe you did him no favors in choosing which portions to print) or a explanation of the purpose of the Planning Commission?
With the 24 hour news cycle, newspapers can't compete on "breaking a story" anymore -- every analysis I've read about both the US and European press says that the newspapers that survive will be those that provide context and analysis on the world around them -- whether that be the local, national or international scene.
Attempting to jack up The Phoenix's circulation with manufactured "shocking, breaking developments on the local political scene!" -- and then whining whenever your journalist "professionalism" is questioned, rather than providing context and analysis on that local scene will neither increase your circulation in the long run or enable The Phoenix's finances to improve enough to hire back the reporters you were forced to lay off.
This was a pretty bad set of pieces that the paper and this blog published on Monday. Whether you and the reporter felt the public should know about the issue is secondary to the vomited emails that your paper called "articles". The opinion piece made mention to the disjointed argument by Mr Martynick and also claimed that upon further discussion with him, it was made clearer. I would love for a reporter to actually write in depth what he is actually saying about the issue. It could turn out that what he is saying, or the rest of the Planning Commission is voting on, is valid and for the public good. The really disgustingly disjointed statements came for Mr Lawerence's writing of that day (though his writings of late has had the vaguely wonderful stench of "insiderness" and leaves me if he will ever clue us in to what it is he is talking about). The public needs the full story and not just the reprinting of some hate mail.
I see on another blog that the hearing for the ordinance is set for June 10th. Could we get some reporting on it that will not sensationalize some obviously personal conflict between these two men. Perhaps interview one or more people for an article.
My problem with all of this is that you are all just plain lazy with your reporting. When people like Mr. Wagner and Mr. Martynick see that all it takes to get some press is write an email to each other and copy a reporter, that just opens a avenue for politics as usual in Phoenixville. Your paper just turns into a bunch of chumps.
Certainly we have to use judgment over what turns into a story. There was a further flurry of e-mails that we debated printing the next day, but The Phoenix decided not to do that in the print edition, because there wasn't time to put it in context.
Instead it was posted as a blog so the public debate could continue.
News judgment is a continuing, evolving balance and I welcome all of your insights.
Patricia Matson
I think they have the journalistic freedom to do what they want. it does not matter if it is fair...it is the news.
in an age of instant communication our lives are now upset by violence in Iraq, earthquakes in china...having the Phoenix bring us the news in what i consider an unbiased way is a blessing. i believe it is their call on context...who sez they have to devote more space providing context to some posts by probably no more than 2 people using different names.
i can hear the discussion now "run 2 pages of explanation on what these bloggers are talking about because you kinda haveta be there to understand it". come on kids toughen up...
i thought they should have put in some of the lolita characters stuff. some of that was really funny. i was crying i was laughing so hard on the discourse on beavers. that should have been included no matter what.
Well isn't interesting that the pony tailed wonder wanders off of the mountain and presents his two cents on a topic that is of a borough personell issue. These issues where it seems to be personalities clashing have no place in a blog, an article or a press piece for the Democratic Party, written by Skippy.
Want to right real stories??? We are still waiting on the accounting of the $111,111 that is given to Ponytail, (Lolita's) office with no accountability?
We are still waiting for someone to obtain how much money an inexperienced borough manager cost this town when his employment was mercifully terminated. What has it costs us in hold ups in progress? On that there will be no price tag.
Based upon the comments that I see that have been posted here agreeing with my position, I cannot be too far off base.
I wish the paper well in their effort to recover, but unless you provide actual local news (again not press pieces for the Democratic Party) dealing with real issues and in a timely fashion, you will be doomed to fail. People want to know why taxes increased with no increase in services. We want to see our grandkids pictures in the paper. See stories about the local ball teams. Consider a name change to the Purple Press? Good luck!
The newspaper needs to verify facts before printing.
The 1st VP of the church selling property was not honest.
AS a member, I can swear that all members were not notified of this special meeting to sell the land.
IF you researched the number of members, you would know that he was dishonest in stating the majority of the parish want this since less then half were called about the meeting.
When the deal was off the table, the board was not notified of the plan to go to council to beg for support. The newsletter of church stated the deal was off the table.
There was proxy voting, as this man knew in Feb 03 by Walter W and two others. There is record of this.
Like the lease restricting land sale, this man has a way of loosing paperwork that interferes with agendas.
The newspaper could have access to these items as the proof was given to borough council. I think that Mr Evans involvement in the town, paper and council make some want to believe in his worthiness and not see the back handed way this all is going down. Why didn't he request the council to review this since he took it off the table Apr 15
Research this as it is not a good thing in that spot for our town.
truth speaks the truth..."On that there will be no price tag".
the rest is a bunch of hooey...and dennis is the only reporter...they had staff cut backs. hey man write a press release...send them an e mail. they want to cover as much local stuff as they can...but they have very limited staff resources.
and it was a she not a he and she quit did not get fired. she was and is a nice lady.
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