ABSTRACT: While Editor & Publisher Paul Miller of The Carmel Pine Cone editorialized that “there’s still only one place to find out what’s going on at Carmel City Hall, the police station or the school board. And that’s in the pages of this newspaper,” The Carmel Pine Cone’s news reporting and editorial commentary, due to incompetence or bias, ignorance or censorship, has failed to timely inform Carmelites of all the facts on numerous issues and items, including 3 recent specific areas of coverage, namely News Reporting and Editorial Commentary of the Mayoral and City Council Candidates for the April 8, 2008 election, the Carmel Hospital Redevelopment project and the Forest Theater Foundation’s "Neighborhood Meeting" on their “pre-design” for the Forest Theatre. COMMENTS are made regarding the coverage of each of the 3 recent areas of coverage. And FINAL COMMENTS are made regarding The Carmel Pine Cone and the principles of journalism.
”And while revenues at small-town papers such as The Pine Cone are also declining, there is a bright light at the end of our particular tunnel. Because for all the explosive growth in information on the Internet, there’s still only one place to find out what’s going on at Carmel City Hall, the police station or the school board. And that’s in the pages of this newspaper.”
(Source: Editorial, Bad news for newspapers, The Carmel Pine Cone, January 25, 2008)
Apparently Editor & Publisher Paul Miller believes “there’s still only one place to find out what’s going on at Carmel City Hall, the police station or the school board. And that’s in the pages of this newspaper.”
Yet, The Carmel Pine Cone’s news reporting and editorial commentary, due to incompetence or bias, ignorance or censorship, has failed to timely inform Carmelites of all the facts on numerous issues and items, including 3 recent specific areas of coverage, as follows:
I. News Reporting and Editorial Commentary of the Mayoral and City Council Candidates for the April 8, 2008 election:
As of Friday, February 1, 2008, news reporting and editorial commentary about the mayoral and city council candidates for the April 8, 2008 election included 3 articles and one editorial, as follows:
City council challenger touts experience, fairness, MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, January 25, 2008: Of a total 19 paragraphs, 14 paragraphs were devoted to City Council challenger Michael LePage, including 7 quotes, whereas only 5 paragraphs were devoted to mayoral challenger Dogman McBill, including 2 quotes. The article appeared on the front page, below the fold, and continued on page 21A.
MCCLOUD RUNS FOR FIFTH TERM ■ Would become city’s longest-serving mayor, MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, December 14, 2007: Of a total of 20 paragraphs, there were 9 quotes attributed to Mayor Sue McCloud. The article appeared on the front page, above the fold, and continued on page 11A, conspicuously next to the article, Eastwood brings his deft touch to a heart-wrenching drama, by Paul Miller.
Editorial A race with no challengers? The Carmel Pine Cone, December 14, 2007. A telling selected excerpt, as follows:
“...we don’t think the race should attract anyone who hasn’t lived in town at least a decade and served on a city board or commission for several years. Being a city council member isn’t easy, and the decisions it requires aren’t for rookies. On the other hand, having one’s name inscribed in Carmel’s history books is an honor, and so is the opportunity to help protect and preserve one of the finest small cities in the world.”
Talmage, Sharp enter council race, MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, December 7, 2007: Of a total 22 paragraphs, 9 paragraphs were devoted to City Council Member Karen Sharp, including 6 quotes and 10 paragraphs were devoted to City Council Member Ken Talmage, including 6 quotes. The article appeared on the front page, above the fold, and continued on pages 11A and 29A.
COMMENTS:
• On coverage of candidates:
While a brief biography of the candidates and their campaign message of “why voters should elect me” are interesting, it is no substitute for an interview where the reporter challenges each candidate on the significant issues facing the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Moreover, reporters should not only provide context, but reporters should critically analyze responses and inform the public of inaccurate and misleading statements.
The meager coverage on the mayoral challenger, Dogman McBill, is a classic example of subjective opinion overwhelming objective news reporting. All of the candidates should be challenged on the issues with the goal of informing and empowering Carmelites to make intelligent and informed electoral decisions.
The issue of a lack of timely news reporting is evident; while The Carmel Pine Cone published articles on the incumbents on December 7, 2007 and December 14, 2007, The Carmel Pine Cone published an article on the challengers on January 25, 2008, 14 days after the close of the filing period.
II. Hospital annexation withdrawn, MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, November 9, 2007.
COMMENTS:
• On the Carmel Hospital Redevelopment project:
The issue of a lack of timely news reporting is evident; while the article was published in the November 6, 2007 edition of The Carmel Pine Cone, developer Robert Leidig informed Mayor Sue McCloud of his intention to withdraw his application 15 days earlier in his October 22, 2007 letter to Mayor Sue McCloud. Moreover, reporting on Mayor Sue McCloud’s role in this matter, including her not placing Robert Leidig’s proposal on a City Council agenda for a final public resolution, was absent.
Subjective opinion slanting news reporting is evident whenever critical omissions are present. Specifically, omissions included the City contracting with Pacific Municipal Consultants for “PROFESSIONAL PLANNING SERVICES CARMELHOSPITAL ANNEXATION SITE,” the content of the professional services rendered and the $10,527.60 cost to taxpayers.
And even though the article ended with “Since the area is in its sphere of influence, McCloud said the city will likely keep an eye on the proposal,” The Carmel Pine Cone has failed to follow-up with a timely report on the CARMEL HIGHLANDS/UNINCORPORATED LAND USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE meeting of January 22 and the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, February 19, 2008.
III. Forest Theater redo: Better sound from the stage, less noise from the bathrooms, MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, November 23, 2007.
COMMENTS:
• On the Forest Theater Foundation’s "Neighborhood Meeting" on their “pre-design” for the Forest Theatre:
Again, the issue is a lack of timely news reporting; while the article was published in the November 23 edition of The Carmel Pine Cone, the Forest Theater Foundation’s “Neighborhood Meeting” on R.F. McCann & Company Architects, Inc.’s “pre-design” was actually held on October 30, 2007, three weeks earlier.
And although Mayor Sue McCloud may have intended it to be a meeting “simply intended to solicit input from those who would be most affected by changes at the theater before taking the issue to the larger community,” Mary Brownfield failed to inform readers that only a small fraction of the audience members were from the immediate neighborhood.
Failures to provide context are evident whenever omissions of relevant content are present. Specifically, the omission of City Administrator Rich Guillen’s statement at the meeting that the preliminary finding of the historical consultant hired to complete a historic evaluation of the Forest Theatre was that the site was historic, but not any of the structures. Moreover, The Carmel Pine Cone has since failed to follow-up with more explicit details of JRP Historical Consulting’s historic evaluation, as the City paid them $7,411.58 on December 18, 2007 for their professional services.
FINAL COMMENTS:
• Whenever there is a blur between news coverage and editorial commentary, subjection opinion overwhelming objective news reporting and omission of critical facts, readers accurately perceive journalism as stenography and propaganda. Specifically, news coverage and editorial commentary in The Carmel Pine Cone are uncritical of the mayor and city hall sources and reports only what the “City” chooses to impart to reporters.
• When reading The Carmel Pine Cone, readers would be wise to ask themselves if the news reporting and editorial commentary meet the standards set forth in the principles of journalism, as follows:
1. JOURNALISM'S FIRST OBLIGATION IS TO THE TRUTH
2. ITS FIRST LOYALTY IS TO CITIZENS
3. ITS ESSENCE IS A DISCIPLINE OF VERIFICATION
4. ITS PRACTITIONERS MUST MAINTAIN AN INDEPENDENCE FROM THOSE THEY COVER
5. IT MUST SERVE AS AN INDEPENDENT MONITOR OF POWER
6. IT MUST PROVIDE A FORUM FOR PUBLIC CRITICISM AND COMPROMISE
7. IT MUST STRIVE TO MAKE THE SIGNIFICANT INTERESTING AND RELEVANT
8. IT MUST KEEP THE NEWS COMPREHENSIVE AND PROPORTIONAL
9. ITS PRACTITIONERS MUST BE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE THEIR PERSONAL CONSCIENCE
In conclusion and most importantly, if the news reporters and editorial writer of The Carmel Pine Cone fail to understand their first loyalty is to citizens, not Mayor Sue McCloud and her administration and they must serve as an independent monitor of power, not as a City Hall propaganda purveyors, then they are failing in their responsibility to inform, and thus empower, Carmelites to make intelligent decisions regarding our village.
4 comments:
Paul Miller, the owner/editor of the Pine Cone runs the weekly not as a newspaper but as a bully pulpit to present his views as unbiased news. The weekly seems to have less and less hard news about Carmel but plenty of articles that pretend to be news but are actually disguised editorializing. There's no problem with Miller using his editorial page to express his personal views, often on subjects of little interest to others, which he does often. He owns the paper and is entitled to use its editorials however he likes as long as it's clear he is editorializing. The letters to the editor is another matter. If he is going to print any he should print all sides of any issue people write about. He denies it but again and again letters that he doesn't like fail to get printed. He also should not slant his "news" articles by omitting news he doesn't like or facts that are in conflict with his prejudices while including information that supports his personal world view. Yet he does this frequently.
Paul Miller sees the Pine Cone as his ticket to local celebrityhood! Not as a medium to inform and empower people. That’s why he cozies up to the likes of Sue and Clint. That’s why he thinks he can decide what Carmelites should be told, giving people all the facts and letting them decide for themselves is not in Paul Miller’s repertoire.
Paul Miller, like Sue McCloud, thinks he is the greatest. He, like she, has erected an echo chamber bubble where sounds of "I am the greatest" reverberate. In his mind, he is the greatest and can do anything he wants and desires because of who he is, not for what he does or the quality of his product.
Like CNN in Iraq, Paul Miller and the Pine Cone trades truth-seeking for access to sources every day of the week, 24/7. That's just the way it is.
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