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I keep searching for local bloggers, and I'm wondering if I should start start a blogroll when I find them. Here are a few: Foothill Cities, written by a local resident, and another one by Amanda Wray, a Web designer and writer, has Living in Monrovia. I got to Wray's site a few weeks back because of Jay Rosen at Pressthink and his blogging about placeblogger.com . I remembered it today when I saw it on Foothill cities.
As I have said before, sometimes our letters section is a great source for potential stories. One last week caught my eye.
Brooks A. Pangburn, of Duarte wrote about our public records audit and his own wranglings with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and concealed weapon permits. The applications are public record, except for where and when an individual is vulnerable and mental health information - everything else is public. But apparently Pangburn is getting the runaround and not getting the information. I had my own experience with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The irony is the 1985 case that gives the legal precedent forced disclosure of -- the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Interesting story about an investigation into a jail house interview with Michael Devlin. He is accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Ben Ownby just after the boy got off a school bus Jan. 8 in Missouri. Police found Ben and Shawn Hornbeck at Devlin's apartment on Jan. 12. Shawn, now 15, had been missing since 2002.
Apparently, no media was allowed to interview him. But a reporter, who did the story for the NY Post, slipped in, signing herself in as a friend, according to Devlin's lawyer and police. I was interested in the 'expert's' opinion that the reporter damaged the credibility of journalism by the subterfuge.
I did one jail house interview. And I tried to go the media designated route, but they kept sending me to a line where you could only sign up as friend or family. After a few hours arguing, the woman who arranged the times for the county jail put me down as friend. I immediately identified myself as a journalist to the inmate before I talked to him, so I believe I was on the right side of the ethical standard.
We are not bound by what lawyers or police say when we pursue a story as long as we don't break any laws. As I said about our public records audit, there are rare times when not identifying yourself is the only way you can get information. But I'm not as quick to condemn this reporter. This story is of great public interest, partially by the families own hand after the fact. I don't know the protocal in Missouri. But if the reporter identified herself to Devlin as a reporter, before she interviewed, good job, I say.
My cousin Marshall Tracy sent me a note about this the other day, but this was the first time I had a chance to look at it.
It's intended to stop corruption and *had a section that would have made hash of that little known First Amendment:
"political bloggers who make or spend $25,000 per quarter and who encourage readers to contact their elected representatives would be forced to register as lobbyists--or face up to 10 years in prison."
* - This is what happens when you're late to catch up. It appears that the section was deleted late Thursday.
Nope. But we could have done some cooler stuff online for our public record audit of law enforcement agencies. The Sacramento Bee had an interactive map. My only complaint: they should have allowed users to just rollover the dots for information.
Apparently Jorge Garcia, the suspect in the killing of LA County's sheriff's Deputy David March has been transferred to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County. He was in Orange County. It may be one among many moves since Sheriff Lee Baca has said he won't be held in LAC.
We tried once again to get a photographer into the arraignment of Jorge Garcia who is accused of killing sheriff's Deputy David March scheduled for Jan. 25. We had previously been denied, but with a new judge we thought we might get in. Today we found at we were denied. The judge gave no reason, and since it's at his discretion, we don't have recourse unless we attempt to go to court. Once again, I'm hard pressed to find a reason why we were denied, considering that politicians, law enforcement and the District Attorney has made this such a cause celebre.
Art Buchwald, celebrated humorist, died Wednesday. He was 81 and sick for a the past few months. In a video interview, he starts of saying "hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just died." That's an interesting way to go in our appetite for news.
Californians Aware hopes to revive a bill that makes it tougher for state and local agencies to stop people from gaining access to clearly public records. We'll be working on a story about in the next several days. I've heard from several people that our public records audit was important work. I expect to hear otherwise soon.
You have a right to know what your government is doing.
That right includes having access to public records, so you can verify how, and how wisely, your tax dollars are being spent.
And a part of our mission as a newspaper is to protect that right.
That’s why joining a landmark public records audit of law enforcement agencies that was released last week was so important.
The results show most of the local, county and state agencies we contacted did poorly. We asked for simple documents, such as police reports and statements of economic interests.
Coordinated by Californians Aware, an open-government advocacy group, our reporters were instructed not to identify themselves as journalists. It’s a tactic rarely used in journalism, but the only way for us to see how you, the public, would be treated. No one lied. If they were pressed, they had to answer who they were.
Of course, agencies have no right to ask for your name, identification or why you want the public information. You want it because you’re the taxpayer, and they work for you. That is enough.
Local police officials said they have always been helpful and open to our paper, and they have been for the most part. One also said the audit was designed to have them fail.
Californians Aware took off points on an agency’s final score if a clerk sent an auditor to City Hall next door. We put that in our story to reflect those concerns.
But this was about the public’s treatment, not ours. This was not about the men and women who risk their lives every day to protect our communities; this was about a bureaucracy that failed to be as transparent as it should be.
This audit is just the first of many that this paper will be doing. We intend to audit school and water districts as well as cities, and down the road we may return to law enforcement.
We are not seeking bad news; we’re looking for our agencies to follow the law.
--
Reader responses
My last column asked readers their opinions on how to improve our paper. Here are just some of the responses:
Ernest Norsworthy from Rowland Heights said we need to greatly expand our letters-to-the-editor section to get more points of view about a subject.
Ernie C. Black from Valinda said we should write stories about those who have overcame great obstacles to graduate high school or college.
- Below are the full responses:
Ernie Norsworthy, of Rowland Heighs:
"Your plea is plaintive, your reasons rational and your plight is plenty bad. (Was that too much alliteration?) But calling attention to the fact that others are in the same sinking boat is no solace to them.
Or you could say “Houston, (or a thousand newspaper places) “we’ve got a problem.�
In my opinion, newspapers in general snub their readers and print what their mostly liberal editors want to put out for their own edification.
In my subscription cancellation letter to the Los Angeles Times I had some suggestions to improve that paper’s once fine reputation. Mainly, it was to look at the Chandler era and try and emulate its mostly conservative viewpoints. Could that same kind of suggestion apply to your paper?
As a frequent writer to your paper I have noticed your slant to the left. In a world of right-handedness it is hard to understand why lefthanders see things quite differently. And the same is true of left-leaning publications. Whatever its worth, here is my two-cents worth of suggestions:
Greatly expand your “letters� to a full page; get as many points of view about a subject as possible. For example, there could have been a much greater expansion of views about the Wal-Mart site approval and its subsequent opening.
If your publication rules are so tight as to squelch some letters, review your policies on this.
The OC Register is experiencing the same kinds of problems as yours but there is something about the “feel� of that paper that is compelling. For one thing, they have a separate squib on each community in the county (a la USA Today with states.)
I have traveled through many small communities in America and have read many small-town papers. They seem to thrive despite the mercurial changes in “bigmedia.� I believe those small-town papers provide the sense of community many people long for.
It is not news that newspaper readership has been declining for decades. Is it because of increasing national illiteracy? Or maybe papers do not fill the needs of their readers as much anymore.
The answers are somewhere between the internet (speed) and relevance. I do not believe newspapers will escape their relevancy since Guttenberg unless they consciously try.
Ten years from now print media will be very different from now. It is up to some smarter people than me to figure out ways for newspapers to remain relevant while making a profit.
And the answers to the questions in your column likely will not come from the general readership but from the ingenuity of people able to look at the mélange of disparate pieces and to come up with workable solutions."
-Ernie C. Black, of Valinda:
"Your column in todays Tribune is interesting. I wonder why some
companys make the wrong choices, trying to guess what the customers want
and what they need. But they never ask why we no longer buy their product
or why we went somewhere else to shop. They never want to hear what is
wrong. Instead they come up with an incentive trying to attract new
customers and keep the old ones without trying to change what they
already have. I cancelled TV guide because it became larger is size and
became an entertainment magazine instead of a TV guide. I am constantly
receiving offers to renew the subscription but they never ask why I
dropped them in the first place. Then your newspaper decided to "grow"
it's included TV listings with your Sunday Edition. So now instead of a
neat little TV guide, I have to keep this unsightly section of
"newspaper" laying around.
I commend you for reaching out and asking "what can we do?" Every
day we read stories of car chases, bank robberies, drive-by shootings,
etc. But we rarely hear what happened to those who got caught. You should
have a daily column called,"Today In Court" that would relay the outcome
of the trials for those individuals who are convicted of such crimes. You
already have the original story in your archives and the follow up is
public knowledge so there shouldn't be much research involved in "follow
up stories".
We always read about someone pulled out of a rushing canal during
a rainstorm, or a baby found in an alley, or some family left homeless by
a fire and they have now where to go. How about a follow up story on the
those who overcame great obstacles to graduate from High School or
College. A story is only as good as it's ending. And we should be able to
read about these endings in your newspaper.
You may think that nobody cares about the homeless guy, dumpster
diving for his next lunch. Most people pity him and some people help. And
nobody wants to end up like him. However, nobody knows how he got there.
I think it would be a service to everyone, especially our youth, if they
knew what led up to his dismal situation. Maybe someone will see them
self on this road and do something to avoid it. Once a week or so you
should pick out someone who is homeless and profile them. Find out where
they have been, would they have done anything different what advise do
they offer. What ever became of the people who made the news what it was
then.
The stories we read in the newspaper will only become history if
they include an ending."
Us.
- Why not? The Star Ledger in New Jersey has already started a station on the Web, akin to Youtube except specifically for the New Jersey area. The Garden State has to get their news from New York-based stations, which means it's NYC-centric. It's a smilar problem that we have here in the Valley. TV rarely covers stories out here, so there is a need. We already have a twice-daily Webcast that we hope to eventually use for breaking news as well.
The Star's Mission, "New Jersey needs a television station to call its own. Programmed by New Jerseyans, for New Jerseyans. TVJersey has no broadcast towers, no satellites. It doesn’t even have a studio. But it has you. And what you produce, we’ll promote. Just tag your videos on youtube with tvjersey, and we’ll find them. (We’re going to start using some other services soon.) We might find them even if you don’t. And you can always send us ideas and links at video [at] tvjersey dot com. Together, we’ll build the TV station we deserve."
Part of our mission as a paper is to constantly monitor how public agencies release information that the public has a right to know. That's why joining a landmark statewide audit of law enforcement agencies was so important. Most of the local, county and state agencies, we contacted did miserably. We asked for simple documents, such as police reports and statements of economic interests. Now our reporters were instructed not to represent themselves as reporters. A tactic rarely used in journalism but was the only way for us to see how the public would be treated. No one lied. If they had no other choice, they had to answer who they were. Of course, agencies have no right to ask your name or ask for identification or why you want the information. You want it because you're the taxpayer and they work for you. That is enough. Hopefully, the audit will prompt some agencies to do things differently. I hope in the future to do similar audits of other agencies.
Photo wasn't allowed, apparently, into court room for the arraignment of the man suspected of killing a LA County sheriff's deputy because the presiding judge said no, and they have full discretion. Could have fought it, and we still might. The arraignment was postponed until Jan. 25.
And Mary as far as the Pomona case, I'm unsure. But I will check.
Law enforcement agencies and politicians have played big the pursuit and extradition of Garcia, suspected in the death of a LA County sheriff's deputy. Garcia is expected to be arraigned Thursday at Pomona Superior Court. But for some odd reason, the DA is refusing to allow photo. Their refusal to allow certain media in an open courtroom truly has no good explanation.
Judge-Elect Lynn Diane Olson will be heading our way and will be presiding over cases in El Monte. Doesn't ring a bell? She owns a bagel shop in Manhattan Beach, was rated as "not qualified" by the LA County Bar Association and beat well regarded Judge Dzintra Janavs in a June election. Janavs was later appointed to an open seat by the governor (via LA Observed and heads up to Rod Leveque)