Looks like Madame DeLadd does not like the Yarber administration's treatment of her and her alternative news weekly publication. The Jackson Free Press sharply criticized the Yarber administration over its new interview policy for the JFP:
"That transparency, which he (Mayor Yarber) pledged to us when he was running for mayor, has now apparently disappeared. It's gotten so bad that his communications director, Shelia Byrd, has told JFP reporters that city officials will only answer questions provided to her by email. When reached by phone today by the editor-in-chief, Byrd (a former AP reporter) would not confirm if the JFP can actually interview a City Hall official without submitting questions for prior review (so far, she hasn't let us) or if she will allow officials to talk to us if we do.
Byrd's response: "If you send us your email questions, I can provide you with the information you need." When pressed to clarify if that meant no interviews without submitting questions for review, she simply refused to answer. She said "all other media" around here allow "email interviews" and hung up on us when pressed to answer whether that meant no live interviews with city officials.
This cuts to the heart of government transparency. It makes no sense to have either elected or appointed public officials who cannot sit down with a reporter or pick up a phone and answer real questions and explain their actions and ideas. The role of a PR person, such as Byrd, is to schedule those real, live interviews, not block them altogether.
Sending questions in email is not an interview. What would happen is that the questions get passed around, and PR folks write watered-down responses. The public gets little or no real information out of such an exchange. And they're usually boring answers that no one wants to read anyway.
This is the lowest form of "journalism," and we do not practice it at the JFP. Our writers sign a code of ethics promising that they will not resort to such a lazy practice. It is also highly unusual for public officials to demand that questions be provided and answered in email; neither the editor-in-chief or news editor have ever run into that, including in cities from New York to Illinois.......
Bottom line: We will report the stories that the city would rather us not, regardless (ask the late Frank Melton, the master of trying to hide stuff). This policy will only keep city officials from having real voices in the press -- either responding to the public's questions or bragging about their efforts.
We urge the city, led by Mayor Yarber, to re-embrace the transparency he modeled on city council. Efforts to muzzle and hamstring the press never work out- at least with media outlets that maintain high standards, such as avoiding email "interviews" and taking time to factcheck stories, as we do.
Even if the "other media" don't bother." Editorial
Ms. Ladd sure didn't complain when she got preferential treatment from the Harvey Johnson administration. It's like this: Ms. Ladd had her seven years of feast, now time for some famine. It's not that her publication engages in tough journalism. It's more a case of when Jackson mayoral elections are the subjects, she engages in distortion journalism. The Yarber administration owes her no favors. Hell, the JFP even tried to charge the Yarber campaign nearly $3,000 for advertising for the runoff.
It's also quite amusing to see her suddenly wax so eloquently about subjecting the Yarber administration to some tough media scrutiny. Funny. When Harvey Johnson removed the minutes and agendas from the city website, she did not say a word. Even Doug, Robert, and George provided more transparency over at the Hinds County Board of Supervisors than did Harvey. Where she raised hell over Frank Melton refusing to provide the Comstat crime reports, she was silent when Harvey didn't publish them on the city website for months at a time. The JFP was downright comatose when Chokwe removed the crime reports altogether from the website. (The Yarber administration put them back up on the website recently.) The only reason they were released was because yours truly filed a public records request for every those published on this website during the Lumumba administration. The only media outlet that did so. There are more such examples but you get the idea. Apparently the JFP has a different standard for the Yarber administration and a different one for those that start with the name Harvey or Chokwe.
13 comments:
Yarber better enlist Thad's team quick. He's gonna have a tough race if he loses Donners endorsement.
In my opinion, Yarber must be doing something right if JFP doesn't like him. So far I've been impressed with Yarber's work ethic and low-key approach.
How funny! I drop in on McDades once a week and grab a handful of JFP copies for bird cage liners. My parrot really enjoys them.
4:14 Hey me too! I use them for the kids' hamster cages... just great for catching crap. If they run out at McDade's Backyard Burger has them too. Also, they are good to catch the grease from your fried foods, wiping the grime from your windows, and use as stuffing for packing. Thanks for sharing, good note for Good Housekeeping Tips on ways to save money.
I really don't blame them for taking questions via email. Sometimes the intentions of reporters is for their own political gain. But sometimes, it's helpful to have questions prior to a meeting to be better prepared so you'll have the answers from the team prior to the interview/meeting. In my opinion, Yarber's office wanted to be better prepared. JFP is looking at this incorrectly. At least they invited the questions. They could have just denied them.
4:51: I agree with you. The reason many companies (govt and private) are going to email questions is the lack of integrity of many who call themselves "journalist". I deal with the media frequently. I'm typically dealing with inexperienced writers who are just trying to make a good headline and meet a deadline. They truly don't care what is between the headline and closing. It can be inaccurate, biased, or just down right untruthful. I don't know people at Yarber's camp, but I can say that I don't blame them at all. The days of truthful, honest, unbiased, factually-based reporting has gone away (for the most part). There are a few TRUE journalists out there, but the are the exception.
She's nuts.
And that my friend, is the bottom line.
Bless her heart, Ladd suffers from delusions of adequacy.
I've always found it interesting that the rag loves to bitch about people who have left the city, but is fine with stocking it in places like Buffalo Wild Wings (Ridgeland), Cups in Madison, and the Chevron at the corner of Spillway and Northshore (Rankin County). I'm certain they use such places to puff up their circulation while claiming the people in those places are racists who fled Jackson because of black faces.
So far, I've been pleased with what I have seen from Yarber and his administration. I saw a billboard with Tony standing beside the words, "Jackson, Open For Business." He's not trying to alienate the business community like his predecessor. I'm sure that irks Little Miss Fondren to no end!
I've no idea why this matters.
The JFP doesn't practice the lowest form of journalism??
Could've fooled me...
Illinois city? Interesting!
Illinois city? Why am I not surprised.
Post a Comment