We know that asking The Clarion-Ledger not to cover the upcoming primary like it was going to be held in Louisiana Downs is like asking a Palmetto bug to stay off the porch on a warm, rainy Mississippi night. But we have to try.
A recent piece by The Clarion-Ledger proves we’ll have an uphill battle. On Monday, July 9, 2007, the Ledger ran a front-page story called “Melton’s Shadow Looms Over Hinds County DA Race,” which oddly, starts with a series of unanswered questions.
The first: “Is Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson’s office or the Jackson Police Department under Melton’s administration responsible for the spike in crime?”
This is a stupid question. By definition, criminals are responsible for the spike in crime. Public officials are responsible for their responses to crime, and comparing the police and a district attorney is apples and oranges. They have different responsibilities. That’s why they’re in separate half-hours on “Law and Order”.
Second: “Is Peterson’s unsuccessful prosecution of Melton and his two bodyguards on criminal charges over allegedly taking a sledgehammer to a Jackson duplex going to hurt her?” That’s what polls are for, Ledge. Take one.
Like a high school theme paper started at 2 a.m., those questions were apparently designed to fill up the required word count, because the only question the story actually pretends to answer is the third one: “Did Melton put her challengers up to run against her?”
This is a question worth exploring. And there are interesting, journalistic ways The Clarion-Ledger could do that, such as comparing donor records, checking out staff resumes, interviewing insiders and, well, reporting.
The Clarion-Ledger, of course, opts to for “he said, she said” stenography—Peterson says yes, Smith and Purvis deny. Big shock there.
Rumor-mongering on the front page doesn’t bode well for this election cycle. What voters need from their news sources is help in answering the big questions the Ledger didn’t even bother to pretend to ask—Is the D.A. doing her job well? Will one of these candidates do it better? How?
A newspaper can help us get that information by digging in and doing some reporting. What is the actual caseload handled by the Hinds District Attorney? What has the evidence looked like in cases that have been lost? What sorts of jail terms are being meted out? Is she, in effect, doing a good job? And if there are mitigating circumstances, what are they?
The Clarion-Ledger has the resources to do a better job this summer than they have in recent years. Our unanswered question is this: Do they have the leadership? Step up, Ledge.
