Jackson Free Press

Well, the Clarion-Ledger edit-boyz have finally come so full circle on their ridiculous support of Melton and their horrendous reporting on him during the campaign and over the years. Today they published a dramatic editorial starting out:

Mayor Frank Melton was elected to do something about the No. 1 issue in Jackson - crime. But it is apparent that Jackson's No. 1 problem has become Frank Melton.

Y'think?!? Ledger, we don't know how to break this to you, but Frank Melton was one of Jackson's, and Mississippi's, top problem before he was elected and when y'all enthusiastically endorsed him, even as you knew that he was lying under oath to a Meridian judge. From your own archives, you should have been able to tell that he was "bringing in" young men without authority and endangering the evidence against them.

Can we say moronic? I sure can.

A reader responded underneath, calling them out in a starkly accurate way (in a post that I expect to be deleted). So here it is for posterity:

Crime was Jackson's number one issue because you guys decided to make it the number one issue. There was so much more at stake; but, you guys took the low road and printed the lies of the Melton camp. You lied about the lawsuit involving your paper, the mayor, and the MBN agents. Which should have told you right there that Melton doesn't care about the officers, only his own grandstanding!

At the time of his election, Jackson's crime was the lowest it had been in years! It was going down - steadily! Livability reports showed we were improving on all fronts. But, your paper ignored that report because it was contrary to the message you wanted to put out for Melton - that crime was out of control!

Well, one thing is for sure... Crime is out of control now! Thanks Clarion Ledger for the help you gave Melton in getting us to this point!

We've said the same thing for years: Crime was *never* the "number 1" issue. The Ledger and TV sensationalized it into being, when it was always a symptom of other issues. But the media were anti-intellectual and sensationalistic enough to push it as the top issue in order to sell papers and up ratings—and that, friends, is the bottom line on how Frank Melton became mayor. They created a situation, a PERCEPTION, where he could proclaim that he was the only way out of a city out of control.

Now, thanks to the media and to Melton, the city is out of control and coming apart at the seams. Good job, edit-boyz. Good job. Move back to Virginia or somewhere already. We're sick of you here in Jackson.

Previous Comments

ID

115780

Comment

Have I mentioned that I'm really sick of The Clarion-Ledger's ineptness? ;-) It did dawn on me why they didn't read their own archives on Melton, though: Maybe they're all shredded and pushed under the Metro desk.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T10:41:01-06:00

ID

115781

Comment

Thank you Ladd for "wading through the B.S. passed off as local news, so we, the general public, don't have to." (That should be your new slogan!) Melton has never fooled me. I thank the JFP for reporting real local news and not just titilating headlines. I wish we had more local outlets like yours. But the lack of substance and relevance in local and national news is a national problem. I just read somewhere that people in Seattle took to the streets to demand better, independent and less monopilized news. I read alternet.com and the huffington post daily for my news, as well as JFP. On another note --- While in Taiwan this summer I was floored by the depth of reporting on CNN international as opposed to the CNN in the US on US and international issues. If you don't have ADHD before you start watching CNN in the US, you'll have it when you finish, with constant scrolls, thirty second news bites, a screen inside the main screen on another story, and the new text message with a story on the latest on Britnays custody battle...

Author

dd39203

Date

2007-11-15T13:10:31-06:00

ID

115782

Comment

ladd, they didn't shred them...they tore them up with their bare hands! lol

Author

eyerah

Date

2007-11-15T18:43:20-06:00

ID

115783

Comment

Surprisingly, they don't delete the bloggers posts as far as I can tell. I pretty much just read what's under the articles when they are there. I find it amusing when you see the same "Story Chat" logo and format under articles in other Goliath owned papers.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-11-15T19:19:06-06:00