Jackson Free Press

Clarion-Ledger Perspectives Editor David Hampton ends his navel-gazing (and defensive) column this week about why his paper is so bad, and so negative, this way:

A few years ago, former Washington Post columnist and Mississippian William Raspberry visited with our editorial board and asked us what was working well in our community. He challenged us to tell those stories. It's a good idea to do that periodically and, so, I ask your help. Send me your stories of what is working well in our communities. What "positive" news do you think needs to be told? What makes you proud of your community? What are we doing right? Let me know in an e-mail or letter of about 200 words.

We like the positive, too.

Previous Comments

ID

117009

Comment

My real problem with this column, though, is that I don't believe for a minute that the people I know in those organizations only complained about the Ledger's lack of "positive" reporting. And just so everyone knows, in the newspaper industry, journalists often disparage and dismiss the complaint that they don't do enough "positive" coverage, saying exactly what Hampton did: that their job is to report the news, without spin, blah, blah. Often that is true, especially when you're talking about people preferring superficial newspapers that only do booster-ish coverage without hardcore news included. But that's not the Ledger's issue, and I know people in those groups know it, and probably told them -- because many of them have complained about the CL to me, and in forums where I and CL staffers have been. The problem there is that the Ledger does a miserable mixture of dumping on Jackson without enough balancing positive news; it falls into the trap of stories that just repeat myths (like JPS dropout rates) without checking them out; and, worse, it just leaves out coverage that they think the majority of people (meaning big advertisers, probably) don't want to hear. Like the fact that Melton was lying to a judge in Meridian about leaking them a false document about MBN officers, to name one of many, many examples. So the problem, Mr. Hampton, is not that The Clarion-Ledger is not doing enough puffery; y'all got that one covered. The problem is that you're not doing enough real journalism. And the problem is that the paper has an institutional bias against Jackson that you boyz don't know how to overcome, and it sounds like you don't even know that it's there. The rest of us do, though. Including people in those groups you speak of. Nice try, though.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-07T12:55:46-06:00

ID

117010

Comment

Oh, and the Ledger folks really don't need to try to fool us into thinking that their reporters are "objective" when they report on the city. Come on. Even if objectivity were possible for a reporter—it's not, and they're lying when they say it is—this paper is so far from "objective" about this city that it's not even funny. Remember, the whole "non-existent nightlife" statement a reporter made in that bullsh!t "Changing Faces" package? Read Todd's column about that. (And I just noticed in the comments under Hampton's column that CL readers are saying the same thing: Try real reporting, Ledger.)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-07T13:01:33-06:00

ID

117011

Comment

This is odd. The Clarion-Ledger is suggesting topics for people to write letters about. Does this seem kinda, sorta desperate? upcoming topics We'd like to publish your views on these topics. Send 200 words or fewer (per topic) to [email][email protected][/email]: What are your thoughts on Super Tuesday? Have political parties lost relevance? Has George W. Bush been a good president? What should Gov. Haley Barbour's priorities be for the next four years? Legislature Should lawmakers approve education funding first? Should Medicaid recipients have to appear in person to receive assistance? Should remaining federal Katrina funds go to anything other than housing? Jackson Should the Police Department receive more money? Should Jackson make its smoking ban more restrictive? Should the state ban smoking in public? Should city/county governments be consolidated? Should bars close before 2 a.m.? To be published, letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-08T10:25:18-06:00

ID

117012

Comment

You just can't trust those folks. Selling papers is one thing but, at the cost of selling the City down the river? If Jackson goes down the tube, so will the rest of MS. I watched and read Eric Stringfellow for years. I could not believe some of his commentary. He had a love/hate relationship with Johnson and he helped others at the CL to defeat him. I don't know all that happened at the CL for Stringfellow to leave. For all of his negative work, he apparently was not rewarded. Used and abused: not payed or promoted.

Author

justjess

Date

2008-02-08T10:29:40-06:00

ID

117013

Comment

Stringfellow left????

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-08T10:38:31-06:00

ID

117014

Comment

Well, certainly, justjess, people with potential get beaten down over there by the corporate thing. You can just see it in the work they put out—it tends to be careless and lacks enthusiasm, as if the last thing they are going to do is work hard for the machine. I know some people there well, and I know what they go through without any kind of reward or infusions of passion by their superiors (who don't seem to have any, either, for journalism). I'm still reeling that they did nothing for their staff for Christmas time. If you're a newspaper and can't at least come up with gift certificates, you just don't give a damn about your people.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-08T10:38:35-06:00

ID

117015

Comment

You hadn't noticed that Stringfellow is gone, L.W.? That says something. ;-) Back to the passion issue—the problem with the stories can be distilled into one word: laziness. That doesn't mean all the people doing them are lazy by nature; it means lazy reporting and writing. It means e-mail interviews, and useless phone sound bites. It means lack of narrative detail. It means lack of context and taking time to do actual research (or even read archives). It means calling the same old sources for a quick quote. On the writing site, it means passives. It means cliches. It means flat sentences. It means boring quotes. This doesn't mean that there is not talent at the Ledger. It means that the editors do not know how to motivate their staff to do good work. Many of them probably came up through the same corporate mindset, here and elsewhere. It's a cycle that just feeds itself, and runs off the motivated talent that comes through the door. Occasionally, I see the work of a writer over there that I wish I could get my hands on because it wouldn't take much to turn him/her into an award-winner. (Like a Leah Rupp, who has a natural voice.) But I do often find that people who come from mediocre dailies can be the toughest to train, because they have such bad habits instilled by then. ("What's wrong with passives?" Sigh.) I remember when I brought Casey Parks in as an intern. The Clarion-Ledger heard about it and tried to "steal" her to write for the Weekend section. (Their fun little habit has been to take our free-lancers, pay a few dollars more and tell them they can't then write for us, which you're not supposed to do with free-lancers, but they clearly assume they don't know better in Mississippi.) Anyway, Casey decided to turn them down and intern for us. Then became assistant editor. And, most importantly, she put her all into it and dig some great stories (I'll never forget the months she spend chasing the characters int he pro-life movement story.) She won several awards in the relatively short time she was here. Then she won the Nick Kristof thing. Now she's a daily reporter at a good daily, The Oregonian. And no telling what she's going to do next. I was talking to the editor of a Northeast-based magazine that is about to publish a story about the JFP last week, and he asked me, "So what's Casey Parks doing now?" Make no mistake: Casey did this herself. She worked hard, she honed her writing and reporting skills, she believed in herself. Our role was to encourage and fan the flames of her passion for this business and for journalism. All young journalists deserve that, but too many don't get it, and it kills their passion. I find that very sad, and everyone suffers as a result.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-08T10:53:51-06:00

ID

117016

Comment

You hadn't noticed that Stringfellow is gone, L.W.? That says something. ;-) I don't read the C-L often, so, well, you know. Where is he now? Do you know?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-08T11:04:33-06:00

ID

117017

Comment

Teaching journalism at Tougaloo, I think. I heard at one point he had left there, before he left the Ledger. It seems like he was working two jobs for a while maybe. I don't really know.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-02-08T11:07:12-06:00

ID

117018

Comment

You hadn't noticed that Stringfellow is gone, L.W.? That says something. ;-) Heck, I didn't know either. But then again, if a tree that fell in the woods, does it make a sound?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-02-08T11:09:54-06:00