Solid Work

Some good stories in Friday's edition....the Eells house, the Sam's Club project, and a delightful Friday File. Nothing spectacular, just the kind of solid, day-to-day work that makes for good small city journalism.

But seriously......Is the Eells house "one of the nation's most significant sites on the Underground Railroad"? My Hype-o-Meter is flashing yellow.

The Wack or the Hack?

The Whig's endorsement of Andrea Zinga for Congress comes as no surprise.....it's a choice much more in the H-W's comfort zone. Neither candidate is impressive.

Another missed story

Too bad the Herald-Whig didn't cover this report from the Better Government Association on the dismal performance of local officials in complying with their Freedom of Information obligations. Adams, Brown, Pike, Hancock, McDonough.....pick your county. Overall fewer than half of the officials contacted fulfilled their duties under the law.

Why no story? Perhaps because it involves "out of towners" who are making our local officials look bad? The Whig and all other local media should have been all over this. If they don't make a fuss about freedom of information, who will?

A surprise from the Whig

Blagoevich for governor! Now that's a surprise, give the H-W's track record of endorsing conservative Republicans. The logic of the editorial is, more or less, he's brought the pork to Western Illinois, so let's keep the pork coming.

Personally, I think the better comment on the gubernatorial race is here.

Missed Story

The October 23 issue of People magazine has a well-done story about the Heartland Christian Academy and its various freaky activities. Tossed into the final page is the tidbit that a class action suit was filed against the academy last November alleging repeated sexual abuse. Last November! Almost a year ago! Why did this story not make it into any of the local media?

Taking a Stand

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Sunday, October 16

At last, the comparison between Zinga and Hare not based on who happens to have showed up in Quincy. I would have liked it to have been longer, but oh well, at least it was an attempt. Still largely driven by the candidates, though. I am still holding out for my side-by-side comparison of stands on issues, responding to questions that the candidates themselves don't generate. I suppose one could say that if you want to see something like that, you should watch the debates, but we know what silly pieces of theatre those things are.

Zinga vs. Hare, part 5

Another 21 inches of Zinga coverage. Zinga tours a factory and makes a few remarks. At least we're getting a few policy positions: she wants to repeal the estate tax (no indication of how she would want to make up the lost government revenue from that, or perhaps she doesn't mind increasing the deficit). She also apparently wants to repeal a state tax, although that position is not entirely clear from the story, and it's not clear how someone in the federal legislature could do that.

Score to date: Zinga 58 inches, three photos; Hare 16 inches, one photo. (Debate coverage not counted in these totals.)

Insensitivity

Good comment here by Rodney Hart about the coverage on the Bud Weitholder case. Some vigorous but respectful media criticism is a good thing, not a violation of the "Eleventh Commandment."

Politics as usual

Unfortunately......the reporting of the second debate between Hare and Zinga was just as candidate-driven as the first. To be expected......modern "debates" are more punch-line swaps than actual exchanges of points and counter-points.

Pray, let us pray, for an issue of the H-W between now and November 7 that identifies say, ten important issues of interest to this district and publishes a side-by-side comparison of each candidate's position on those issues. For once, let us not allow the candidates to pick their own topics. And wouldn't it be nice to see something similar for Street and Tracy? In neither case have we been given a shred of information about these candidates beyond what they choose to share with us.

catching up

Sorry for the pause between posts.....darn work gets in the way at the most inconvenient times!

Monday's top headline: A study conducted by a Baptist university finds that 89.2 percent of Americans believe in a "higher power." Third paragraph: "These figures . . . cast U.S. religious faith in a much different position of strength than similar studies in recent years."

Well......no. A Harris poll in December of last year returned 82 percent, so no big difference there. Besides which, since when did religious belief become a question of "majority rules" anyway? Basically, the story is just another chance to evangelize.

And in case you didn't get enough of a dose of religious promotion on Page One, you can go to Page One of the City/County section for what looks like about 60 column inches of it....two photos and a story. Or Page One of Tuesday's City/County, where we learn that another preacher went on vacation. Oh golly gee.