Monday, December 29, 2008

Easley on newspaper 'hatchet job'

My colleague Mark Binker, capital correspondent at the Greensboro News-Record, interviewed Gov. Mike Easley the other day in an end-of-administration session that revealed, among other things, how the governor views the press -- particularly McClatchy Newspapers in Raleigh and Charlotte. It also showed the governor with a startling defense of his administration's poor management of the state's probation system. The News & Observer's series on the probation system -- focusing on 580 murders committed by poorly- or non-supervised probationers over the past eight years -- was nothing but a "hatchet job" on Secretary of Correction Theodis Beck, to whose department the probation system reports.

Leave it to the governor to totally miss the point of the N&O's thorough reporting on the probation system failure: Unsupervised probationers commit too many crimes and his administration did too little to correct the problem. Easley's problem is not that the newspaper did a hatchet job on one of his appointees; his problem is that he wasn't paying attention to what his appointees were doing -- or in this case, not doing -- and the newspaper found him out.

Look: The governor is a charming man, funny, witty, wise in many ways and one of the best woodworkers I know. But on some issues he's full of bull. This is one of them.


I missed the interview in the News-Record Sunday while out of town. Here's a link to Binker's blog, which also has links to audio excerpts from the interview. My friend Doug Clark also has some pithy comments about Easley's words.

Here's Dome's take on it today:

Gov. Mike Easley said the "24/7 press cycle" has led to criticism of him.
In an exit interview with Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record, Easley said that the increased demand for news online had led to "gotcha" journalism.

"There's a 24/7 press cycle now," he said. "People calling all night long. They want access to the governor all the time ... So that's created a lot of competition, especially on the print side the pressure has been downsizing and original content. Original content is gotcha stories."
Easley said the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer had been hardest on him of state media because his administration would not release e-mails relating to personnel matters and corporate recruiting.
He said a recent series on problems with the probation system was a "hatchet job" on Correction Secretary Theodis Beck, though he argued that probationers killings are better than they used to be said the death of Eve Carson was being unfairly blamed on the system.
"Some young lady gets brutally murdered by a couple of probationers ... it's now the probation officers fault," he said. "When are we going to start holding some of these people accountable and get some of these executions going again?"
Easley said he tries to be fair to the media for his part.
"I try to keep my side of the window clean," he said. "My job is to be nice to other people and their job is to be nice to me. Just 'cause they're not doing theirs, doesn't mean I shouldn't do mine."

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh puh-leeze. "Get some executions going again?" Neither of the guys charged with murdering Eve Carson (I still weep over this loss) was on probation for any capital offense , else they would not be on probation, would they?

Sometimes Gov. Easley makes me ashamed to be a Democrat. This is one of those times. The probation system in North Carolina is clearly broken and he will not accept responsibility for that.

If this had not been such a tumultuous year, with a stellar candidate heading the Presidential ticket for the Democrats, McCrory would have won and Bev Purdue would be a has-been. As it is, she barely won, anyway.

Good riddance, Gov Easley.

Anonymous said...

Good riddance, indeed- and how very sad that the party which flew so high on the wings of "Change" nationally had only more of the same, entrenched corruption to offer us in the race for NC Governor.

Anonymous said...

Gov. Easley is right. The press in general, and McClatchy's Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer in particular, have simply failed to give a complete, accurate picture of the overall course of political and developments in the state of North Carolina during the governor's eight years in office.

The N&O and The Observer will not be able to achieve a proper balance in their overall assessment of the Easley years in the reamining days of the governor's second term, but perhaps the newspapers can try to do a better job of providing the complete picture of life in the Old North State when Bev Perdue begins her term as governor in January.

Anonymous said...

Mike Easley is a disgrace. And this story reveals he has the mindset and maturity of a 13-year-old girl. The governor and his wife are crooks who shamed themselves, our state and he leaves the gov's mansion with blood on his hands as demonstrated in the N&O's "hatchet" piece. What a pathetic man.

Anonymous said...

Mike Easley was probably the worst governor NC has had. I do not expect anymore from Bev Purdue. In fact, I think NC government will get worse. If I am mistaken, I shall apologize in 4 years by voting for her.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Jack, but I agree with Mr. McKnight here.

Your sister paper follows a now well-worn script when it comes to reporting on government issues.

First, identify a perceived problem.

Second, report repeatedly on the perceived problem quoting those who perceive the problem.

Third, do not mention any steps taken to adress the problem before the story runs.

Fourth, criticize government officials for not responding to the writers' view of the problem.

Fifth, minimize any effforts taken by the government, if such efforts are mentioned at all.

Sixth, write an editorial praising the writers and the story (as if no one in government could possibly be aware of the issue or working on the issue).

Seventh, call for action based on the articles (again as if the issue was "new").

Eighth, if action is taken, take credit for the action.

Ninth, repeat with new perceived problem.

Reading the artcles on probation, no reader would know that the rates of crime committed by probationers is down from eight years ago. Sure it is still too high but how is the crime correlated to the probation issues? We are left to assume there is a perfect correlation. That is doubtful. Complex problems are never solved simplisticly.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to get some gw gold and the GuildWars Gold is given by my close friend who tells me that the Guild Wars Gold is the basis to enter into the game. Therefore, I should GuildWars money with the spare money and I gain some cheap gw gold from other players.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to get some kal geons and the kal gold is given by my close friend who tells me that the kal online geons is the basis to enter into the game. Therefore, I should kal online gold with the spare money and I gain some kalonline Geons from other players.
It is the knight noah which makes me very happy these days, my brother says knight gold is his favorite games gold he likes, he usually knight online gold to start his game and most of the time he will win the knight online noah back and give me some cheap knight gold to play the game.

Anonymous said...

What do you know Sho Online Mun. And do you want to know? You can get Sho Mun here. And welcome to our website, here you can play games, and you will get Sho Online gold to play game. I know Sho gold, and it is very interesting. Do you want a try, come and view our website, and you will learn how to buy Sho Online gold. Come and join with us. We are waiting for your coming.

polol said...

Fila has some old school cool on the market just in time for the summer, this Fila Laverna knitted polo ralph lauren .
It's a classic look, not a million miles away from the Fred Perry knitted lacoste polo shirts, couple wit a striped black and white body and black collar and cuffs of burberry polos.
cheappolos should look crisp and neat, and not baggy," comments Haarbauer. "A bright color will work well in the office and can easily transition to the golf course." A polo fashion can be one of the best investment pieces in a guy's wardrobe since they are so versatile; whether worn alone or under a navy blazer. Purchasing two polo shirts in vogue is a great way to stretch the dollar for a small investment.

Anonymous said...

polo ralph lauren integrates two types of luxury and leisure style ralph lauren polo shirts, now more and more popular men’s burberry polos“thin” sense, most designers have sought to perfect the cut with “cutting” polo women clothing a bag of bones polo logo of the body. It is amazing that a tight lacoste polo shirts with pencil pants, full of retro style with a European aristocratic culture of leisure. Color of polo shirts in vogue, including white polo shirt, pink polo shirt, blue polo shirt , and yellow cheappolos , timely reflects the mainstream of men’s summer fashion colors polo fashion.
v

venus said...

Men's polo shirts was the shirt of choice for diverse groups of teenagers
Brightly coloured polo shirts can make you look like a Day-glo dirigible.
Wonderful!You can find the father who desire fashionable eg,uggs fashion,you can enjoy uggs online here, intellectual polo shirt simultaneously

Anonymous said...

uggs fashion
uggs online

Blogger.jinbo said...

chi straightener
cheap handbags
Lacoste polo shirts
chi flat iron
women's nike shoes

Blogger.jinbo said...

2009 nike shoes
new nike shoes
Women's max
Men's max 93
nike shox
Nike air force
Nike air max 2003
nike air max ltd
nike air max tn
Nike air rift
Nike air Yeezy
nike airmax
Nike air max 90
Nike air max 97
nike birds nest shoes
nike dunk
nike RT1 shoes
nike SB
nike shox shoes
Nike shox OZ shoes
Nike shox R2 shoes
Nike shox R3 shoes
Nike shox R4 shoes
Nike shox R5 shoes
Nike shox TL3
nike trainers lovers
cheap handbags
cheap bags
puma chaussures
chaussures puma
chaussure puma
tennis rackets
Wilson tennis rackets
HEAD tennis rackets
Babolat tennis rackets