Media Monday - 070625
If you are concerned about coverage by the “Tilghman Times” how do you keep them at bay? Easy, hire the spouse of one of the editors.
As I have noted in the past, the Communications Director for Rep. Wayne Gilchrist (R-1) is none other than the spouse of “Tilghman Times” Executive Editor Greg Bassett. Whatever Mrs. Bassett’s other qualifications she helps to assure Rep. Gilchrist good coverage on the Lower Shore.
Recently I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law. We were discussing some issues in the Wicomico County public schools. I happened to note that I was a bit perturbed that there was no real coverage of the public schools here.
My sister’s response was, “You idiot! Don’t you know who the spokesperson is for the Wicomico Board of Ed? It’s the wife of the paper’s managing editor, Erick Sahler.” Sure enough, Tracy Sahler is the “spokesperson” for the WCBOE.
Now, in all fairness, should the spouses of two of the three most senior officials at the “Tilghman Times” be barred from holding employment that involves working with the media? Probably not, but a paper that had a concern for at least the appearance of objectivity would disclose the relationship every time they printed an article. Of course we would still need an answer to the question of whether we would read better, and more aggressive coverage, if the paper’s editors weren’t married to the hired mouthpieces of a congressman and the single largest spender of Wicomico County’s tax revenue.
Technorati Tags: media, TilghmanTimes, Gannett, WayneGilchrist, education, WicomicoBoardofEd
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I would argue that a quality newspaper could cover those issues objectively and fully without compromising the spouses of their employees or their own place in the community.
It’s a matter of integrity, objectivity, and leadership by the senior editorial team. When the leadership is abused by the view that the job of journalists is to “make the world a better place” or “to make a difference”, the integrity and objectivity parts just get flushed down the crapper.
Per Joe Albero (at today’s dog & pony show):
I made mention directly to the Governor [about Salisbury’s recent property] tax increase and his response was, “Great, it should have happened a long time ago.†Lt. Governor Brown stated to me directly in a separate conversation that he was blown away by that staggering figure and that he though the State Law was a maximum of 15%. . . .
Source:
http://www.sbynews.com/index.php/site/comments/the_city_of_salisbury_is_declaired_capitol_for_a_day/
Jeez sneeky Peek, you carrying water for Jihad Joe now? What does that have to do with the subject matter of the post?
To Gunpowder -
I’m not advocating that Mrs. Bassett and Mrs. Sahler resign. I just expect that every time the paper runs an article that mention Rep. Gilchrist or is about the school system that a disclaimer is put in the article telling readers about the relationship.
Every decent paper that I know of does the same thing. Even a straight story in the WSJ about Dow Jones earnings disclaims that Dow Jones owns the Journal.