Let's Level the Political Playing Field
The only newspaper in a one-newspaper town would seem to have as much responsibility to fair playas the only electric company in a one-utility town.
Joe Sweeney, Editor-In-Chief and Publisher, IgramsOnline.com
To make sure KCP&L does not abuse its monopoly power, the state monitors the utility closely.
No state agency monitors The Kansas City Star, nor should it.
It is up to Star Publisher Mark Zieman to keep an eye on the newspaper's editors, but in the case of Kansas City's municipal elections, editors and publisher both seem lost in a quagmire of abuse aimed at one particular candidate.
Nowhere has that animus been on display like it was in the recent editorial calling for voters to deny Mayor Mark Funkhouser a second term. Rather than simply endorsing its favorite candidates to advance beyond the Feb. 22 primary - which it also has done, on behalf of Sly James and Mike Burke- the paper's editorial staff unloaded on what it sees as a litany of Funkhouser sins.
And, predictably, they gave him credit for exactly zero achievements over the past four years.
At Ingram's, we endorse no candidate – we strongly believe that media should report the facts and remain neutral. While I have a healthy respect and admiration for any candidates who would subject themselves to the pre-election scrutiny and brass-knuckle aspects of Kansas City politics (that includes James and Burke, The Star's picks), I would much rather see a level playing field, and from The Star, we do not see anything remotely close.
Its "just say no" editorial about Funkhouser presents such a lopsided portrait of the past four years- especially compared to the eight years preceding-that it makes one wonder whether Funkhouser left an unpaid balance on his newspaper subscription. Lead editorialist Yael Abouhalkah has proved to be even more unhinged in his commentary. In the post-Tucson spirit of civility, he calls the mayor "a largely ineffective, unnecessarily combative, nothing's-ever-my-fault, spouse-controlled shell of a mayor." OK, Yael, now tell us what you really think! And, is he speaking on behalf of the consortium of editors at The Star - I'm absolutely certain that he is not.
Our sources tell us that the anti-Funk rage at The Star runs from the publisher down. Please understand: I consider Mark Zieman a colleague and friend, but in a newspaper where all calls from the HR office are terrifying ones, the fear of crossing cost-cutting bosses inevitably affects the staff's objectivity.
In one editorial, for instance, The Star congratulates by name candidates Deb Hermann, Jim Rowland, and Mike Burke for finally recognizing that the city had issued bonds recklessly under city February 2011 councils of which they were members. However, it fails to so much as mention Funkhouser, despite his outspoken resistance to bond abuse from the get-go. The editorial claims that the candidates' new anti-bond position reverses "what's happened the last few years" and promises "a more fiscally responsible city government."
The editorialists, however, do not really mean the "last few years." What they mean is the last few years before Funkhouser. To state this fairly would be a veritable endorsement of Funkhouser.
Those who think that leadership's biases do not affect news reporting do not know how news reporting works in an era where available journalists vastly outnumber jobs. If the mayor does anything well - as with, say, balancing a budget or with emergency snow removal – the reader needs a magnifying glass to find published credit for the same. Blame, though, makes headlines.
Say what you will about Kansas City, but we haven't had to layoff police as Camden, N.J., has done with half of its force, or turn off streetlights like
Colorado Springs, or close libraries like Phoenix. Instead, our finances are in comparatively good shape and poised to get even better.
I realize that I'm taking on more than a century of tradition by calling for the local newspaper to dispense with the practice of using its editorials to pick political favorites. But this practice should stop. Even though there are more outlets for expressed opinion in the Internet age, what's happened in the newspaper industry is exactly the opposite, and as newspapers have merged or died, the survivors are left with the largest megaphone - sometimes the only one.
It would be one thing if The Star were to open its editorial pages to the candidates they've aggrieved, but in Funkhouser's case, that ain't going to happen. Absent that, it would be nice if the paper of record were to embrace a more responsible position with respect to its role as a force for influencing public opinion.
Just play fair, that's all.
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