A Stutzman field worker contacted the schools and obtained teacher’s email addresses and then offered them an opportunity to allow their students to work as volunteers.

So who bitches about it? Krista Stockman, former Journal Gazette “eduction reporter-ette,” avowed liberal and wife of Journal Gazette reporter Dan Stockman. Krista Stockman  is currently the FWCS public information officer. Stockman was a gem for FWCS even prior to going to work for them, twisting the truth as you can see here where she employed “race baiting,” to their benefit.

During her time at the JG, Stockman didn’t practice balanced reporting. During the 2007 remonstrance battle, when FWCS was attempting to shove a half billion dollars down our throats, Stockman’s reporting was biased toward FWCS’ side. Wendy Robinson eventually hired her.

Had this been the Hayhurst campaign doing the same thing, we would not have heard a peep.

Stockman said government classes talk about campaigns, especially during election seasons, and review campaign material, but “it’s a completely different animal to recruit students to work on a campaign” through their instructors.

Huh? Maybe she missed it when the Obama’s Organizing for America had teachers of government classes passing out recruiting papers so students could sign up as interns? Did Stockman write  about this while at the Journal Gazette as the “education reporter.” No.

Stockman’s history at the JG and now at FWCS proves she’s unable to discern the difference between reporting facts and offering opinions.

Damn liberals.

No related posts.

Ben Lanka missed a point this morning in his political column in the Journal. His error, while slight, gave me time to think about the media in Fort Wayne.

Ben chided the mayor, Tom Henry, an old-family Fort Wayner, for referring to State Boulevard as State Street. So? Most of the old-timers in Fort Wayne, most who have been raised here would know it that way, not just as State Boulevard. Point for the mayor flub for the out-of-town reporter. Ben, however, is a very nice guy, works hard at his craft, but blew that one.

That brings me to the media. It is poor to lamentable around here. There is no radio news to speak of. The TV stations are staffed by youngsters who barely know the difference between Lafayette and Clinton before they move on to another gig in a bigger city. The editors don’t seem much more aware of the history, even recent history, of the city. As for the papers, you can now toss a hand grenade into the newsroom and only be charged for property damage.

Doonsbury once lamented the “vacuous brunettes of TV news.” I fully agree. They are ambulance chasers locally. They pick on government for most of their stories and the weekends are stories about one charity event after another. Watching council over the past few years, observing the reporters who “cover” council, it is clear that beauty is a prerequisite to carrying a microphone. The reporters, men and women, are usually very pretty. They are good on camera, but do they know the background on a story. Probably not. These young people come to us from Philadelphia, Cleveland, Columbus, Milwaukee and other larger cities through IU on their ways back to bigger cities. Fort Wayne is a training ground where some rise to the next level and others find the loves of their life, marry and become PR reps for local industry, the school district or other major employers.

Mass Fire Drill on WOWO Radio in 1948 with Bob Sievers on right.

The radio stations are worse. Once upon a time WXKE had a nine-member news staff. Gone. WOWO once had real journalists. Gone. . There were a half dozen newsrooms competing to ferret-out a scoop. Gone. Now, they are more concerned with timing stories, with drama, than with content and explanations. WBOI has stepped up its local coverage, but depends on “rip ‘n read” wire copy which is often flawed and written with Indy, not Fort Wayne, in mind. Sad. All sad. The decline and fall of local news.

As for the papers, there are a few good reporters left, some who are very good. While I have given up on TV news I have bulked up on newspapers, just to get the information I want and need. The News, JG and Wall Street Journal come to my door. I also ready the NY Times and the Guardian on line. Left to right. Balanced, if not fair.

The problem is money. Always is. Newspapers have lost revenue to Craig’s List, to myriad other on-line sites. TV is afraid of ticking-off a sponsor so they seldom if ever criticize business. Government is their target, when they can pull themselves away from a spaghetti fund raiser for some perhaps worthy charity. Easy copy, smiling kids for the 10 O’clock news.

They don’t even cover government well. It is a “big” moment when the reporters show up for council, and they do not dare sit through the whole meeting. They are there for a big issue, for a quick quote, for a highlight. The business of the people in a 20-second sound bite. They miss many of all of those big moments because they are so understaffed. They missed the 80 to 100 blacks who showed up on Wayne Township Trustee Ricky Stevenson’s call to “raise hell” over a recycling center on Pontiac. And, they did raise hell. For those of us who where there and who are there regularly it was a moment of high-political drama and substance. The TV folk, the radio folk all missed it. They were surprised to hear about it, so superficial is their coverage.

So, I don’t blame Ben Lanka for not knowing State is also called Street, not just Boulevard. I doubt he knows the Coliseum Boulevard was once the Circum Urban and before that portions were called the Krauskopf Road and Bueter Road. He can’t be expected to. His editors, however, should. Shame on Tracy Warner.

Unfortunately, we are a pass through market, so the electronic people are just there for mild entertainment. I expect more, though, from the papers. Sometimes, I get more from them, but with increasing money woes, decreasing circulation and many other news and information options I do not expect the New Sentinel to last much beyond this year. I hope I am wrong, but money talks and times are tough in the local media.

Photo credit: historyofwowo.com

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King Henry spoke whined at the Downtown Rotary Club yesterday and used the event as a bully pulpit to moan about the city and county sharing the City-County Building and Renaissance Square.

In his speech to the Rotarians, Henry threatened to move the entire city operations into Renaissance Square if the county doesn’t pony up more money. In other words, pay-to-play in his sandbox, or he’s taking his toys and leaving.

It’s interesting to see how the MSM mouthpiece of the Henry administration writes about this in their journalistic flotsam called the Journal Gazette.

The city bought the Renaissance Square building for $7.3 million. It has about $8.6 million budgeted for renovations. The city has committed to not spending more than that on the building, although early engineering studies said it could cost more than $11 million to renovate.

Come on Benji, where’s the beef? On the high side, you’re at $18.3 million. It’s going to cost a hell of a lot more than that. How about telling the truth? How about the now projected cost of $23 million?

Times are good, what’s another $5 million dollars?

On another note, (and my apologies to Leo Morris), we’re going to block Fort Wayne Newspapers from accessing this site for a while. Lanka and Warner will have to wait until they get home, or find another way to get here for a while. We only wish we knew Pat White’s IP address as well.

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Here are stories available only in Sunday’s print editions of The Journal Gazette:

Sandra Bullock, one of Hollywood’s most popular and successful stars, talks about “The Blind Side,” her relationship with husband Jesse James and her unconventional life.

Want to read it now, go here.

With the World Series in full swing, how much do you really know about the annual fall classic? Test your knowledge with Parade’s 15-question quiz.

Want to take the quiz now? Go here.

Wanda Sykes says nothing will be off-limits as she enters the late-night TV arena as the only person who is not white and male. TV Journal cover story.

Want to read that now, (not sure why anyone would), go here, bottom of article.

This Sunday’s “celebrity q&a” focuses on Joseph Fiennes from “Flashforward.” Inside TV Journal.
Color comics.

Not sure this is it, but if you really want recent news on Joseph Fiennes, go here.

Crossword puzzle, Sudoku, advice columns from Carolyn Hax, Ask Amy, Salee Reese and Dr. Peter Gott.

Play crossword puzzles online free at USA Today, here. Billions of Sudoku puzzles here. Carolyn Hax’s latest column is here, (free registration required). Ask Amy is here. Salee is local, so nothing for you there. And, Dr. Peter Gott is here.

Yup, only available in print.

No related posts.

Today, we’ll take a look at the Journal Gazette’s circulation numbers. As a follow-up and to be fair, down the road a bit we’ll feature the News Sentinel’s numbers.

From the Audit Bureau of Circulations (3/31/04-3/31/09)

THE JOURNAL GAZETTE (Monday-Saturday Morning)

Metro Population (Adults 18+) 305,017

NDM* Households – 130,547
NDM Circulation – 39,328
Market Penetration – 30%

The Newspaper Designated Market *(NDM) is determined by the newspaper. There are in fact 162,200 households in Allen County, which gives the JG an effective penetration of only 24.2%. That means almost 76% of the local market no longer receive the Journal Gazette.

Circulation can be a mysterious number. I know that I get at least 30-40 free JG’s stuffed in my box every year. They go in the trash. That’s not market penetration, it’s landfill penetration. I’d hedge a bet the freebies are at least 2-3,000 per week.

From the report:

Some newspapers may count bulk sales at discounts up to 75% of cover price under ABC’s recent third-party-sales rule change.

Bottom line, the JG is becoming the bottom liner for a lot of bird cages.

Makes you wonder if Jaclyn Youhana has her resume up-to-date. I’m just saying..

UPDATE: I’ve known for quite some time the JG subscribes to updates of this site. Pat White does as well. Here’s the JG checking out this article only 9 minutes after I posted it. They use phony email addresses to get the updates. Go figure.

IP Address 204.106.7.# (Fort Wayne Newspapers)
ISP Fort Wayne Newspapers
State : Indiana
City : Fort Wayne
Visit Length 55 seconds
Page Views 4
Visitor’s Time Oct 27 2009 5:41:25 pm

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The press release that went out to everyone was sent a few moments ago.

from Rachel Blakeman <Rachel.Blakeman@ci.ft-wayne.in.us>
to Fort Wayne News Releases <Release@ci.ft-wayne.in.us>
date Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 4:26 PM
subject News release: Mayor works with County to move forward with 911 consolidation

Rachel Blakeman to Fort
show details 4:26 PM (1 minute ago)
For release: Monday, Oct. 26, 2009
Contact: Rachel Blakeman, Public Information, 427-1120
rachel.blakeman@cityoffortwayne.org

MAYOR WORKS WITH COUNTY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH 911 CONSOLIDATION
Proposal creates governance structure for consolidated 911 center to improve public safety.

I bet if the Henry administration stopped real quick, WANE and the JG would need to have their journalistic heads surgically removed from, well, you know.

Douglas B. and John Henry are right on the money.

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Here’s the email I received:

Hi Dan –

My name’s Jaclyn Youhana, and I’m a reporter for The Journal Gazette. I’m working on a story, and I was hoping you might be able to help me out. The story is about how much, if at all, racism drives anti-Obama sentiment. If you’d be willing to talk to me, I’d love to set up an interview. Feel free to call me at 461.8462 or e-mail jyouhana@jg.net.

Have a great weekend!
Jaclyn

I replied and asked, “Why me?” and got this in reply.

One of the editors here suggested I talk to you, and after reading over your blog, I thought you might be a nice source to have in the story. Would you be interested in talking to me? If you’d rather not, that’s fine — I just ask that you let me know either way.

I’m sure the JG is not an AWB fan. So sorry folks, I’m not chasing that carrot, but here’s your answer.

Most of the enmity and frustration that is being expressed around the country right now has nothing to do with race. In spite of that, many of the left-leaning media and elitist continue to look for a racial element that, by and large, does not exist. Why is it that publications like the Journal Gazette refuse to look at the ideological divisions between conservatives and liberals? Why is it they cannot look into the real sentiment behind the public’s anger with Obama?

Obama’s approval ratings keep dropping, yet the Journal Gazette ignores it. It’s news, report it.

Racism isn’t always overt, and it does exist in some of the more radical fringe groups on both sides of the aisle. I’m afraid that may never go away completely, but it’s certainly not the case with the majority of those that have issues with the President.

To write a story about Obama and racism is, in my opinion, another reason to avoid the real facts. How about a story on how Obama seems intent on taking away more of our liberties? How about the disgust most senior citizen’s have with his plan for government to take over the healthcare system?

The media narrative that anyone that criticizes Obama must be racist is getting to be old hat, yet the folks at the Journal Gazette are still consumed with it. Well, get over it.

Personally, I’m very proud that our country was color blind when it came to electing our first black President. They just chose the wrong guy.

AWB

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Frank Nicastro – (D), who represents Connecticut’s 79th assembly district, is asking the state government to do something to salvage The Bristol Press, a paper that may fold within days, along with The Herald. The papers’ publisher, Journal Register, is in danger of being crushed under millions of dollars in debt, and can’t afford to keep them open.

Then let them close. Let them die a miserable death. The local newspapers are not even worth buying anymore. The News Sentinel is a shadow of its former self, and the Journal Gazette is heading in the same direction. If the Journal Register is being crushed from millions of dollars worth of debt, a handout will only delay the inevitable

“The media is a vitally important part of America,” Nicastro said, particularly local papers that cover news ignored by big papers and television and radio stations.

Is that right? Why then does the local “old” media constantly check the blogs for stories, sometimes even claiming they have an exclusive when in fact a local blogger did? They (Journal Gazette/News Sentinel) won’t even give attribution to local blogs when they cite them.

But, relying on the government has raised ethical questions for the press, whose role has been to operate without government influence and media experts predict that 2009 will be the year that newspapers will “die” in wake of the financial meltdown.

This has nothing to do with the “financial meltdown”. Newspapers are old hat, and they know it. Dwindling readership, falling subscriptions and advertisers moving towards new media are all part of the problem.

Former Miami Herald Editor Tom Fiedler says that a democracy has an obligation to preserve a free press. More here.

That is unless you’re a conservative talk show. Then the democrats want to silence you.

AWB

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