Lack of Local Reporting is the Leading Cause of Apathy

Happy Go Lucky Coverage Lulls Public to Sleep

- Naked Conch - Posted by Matt Gardi -  August 27, 2012

In a recent editorial, the Key West Citizen reviewed the most recent election results and pondered rhetorically...

Do these results indicate that the electorate disagrees with the prosecution of the former superintendent or the board's subsequent actions? Maybe, maybe not. With only 30 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot, it certainly doesn't indicate a mandate, but is certainly cause for pause.

The battle between laughing and crying I experienced as a result of the Citizen's thought provoking editorial was painful.  Maybe if our local daily newspaper actually served up a healthy dish of actual reporting the Keys might have a better informed electorate, and voters might be inspired to show up at the polls.  But when coverage is limited to the latest finger pointing, lacks any detail whatsoever, and is rife with inaccuracies and omissions, it's no wonder the voting public is lulled into apathy.

Case in point.  The issue of clearance rates in the race for State Attorney.  Citizen coverage was limited to Vogel's generic claim that it was the worst in the State and Ward was to blame, which was countered only by Ward's comments that it was the defense bar that supported Vogel that was delaying the cases.  Did the Citizen ever actually give detailed coverage of the actual issue, and what may be the factual cause?  No.  That might have actually taken some effort.

It would be nice if the public knew that clearance rates are actually a measure of a Judge's performance.  There is a measure of validity to both Vogel's and Ward's claims, however it is truly the Judges that have the power to move the cases along.  But far be it for a local reporter to expose this fact and possible turn a critical eye on an esteemed local Judge.  Could a Judge be motivated to pandering to defense attorneys so no one gets upset enough to challenge them?  Hence we are left with uncontested Judicial elections and a backlogged Court system, while local attorneys jockey into position to run once someone retires.  Who in their right mind would want to run against a sitting Judge that is worshiped in the press and merely has to show up to Rotary to retain their seat for life?  Go back to sleep public, nothing to see here.

Then there was the race for Clerk of Courts.  In the first story by Tim O'Hara covering the four candidates running for the office for the first time in thirty years, the entire front page and most of the article was devoted to worshiping outgoing Clerk Danny Kolhage, versus covering the details of the candidates actually seeking the office.  The next bit of coverage did not exist at all.  You see, at one of the first in depth Clerk forums hosted by Hometown PAC, crack reporter Gwen Filosa chose only to write about the State Attorney debate, completely omitting any coverage whatsoever of the Clerk's forum.  It was the first forum where candidates were actually challenged on important issues by a great panel and had plenty of time to respond.  It was also a forum that one candidate, the ultimate winner, chose not to participate in.  Go figure..at least we had a slew of political signs along US 1 to help us glean the winning candidate's positions.

The Citizen editorial also remarked on Andy Griffith's substantial showing, inferring that the public is still supportive of him after his twenty years of service.  But has the Citizen ever run an in depth analysis of the causal relationship between twenty years of decisions Griffiths has made, and the ultimate outcome?  Will they challenge him to pursue ideas he put forth during the primary such as combining Kinneer's and Gentile's positions, or will they simply let his campaign pledges slide into obscurity?  If the Citizen's past performance is any indication, I think the answers to those questions are self evident.

Then there is just plain wrong.  Sean Kinney of the Keynoter stated completely erroneous information regarding the potential for two Republican Clerk candidates to move on to the general election should no one receive over 50% of the vote in the primary.  He was informed of his error, then went on to write the exact same thing again.   The Keynoter never issued a correction.  Talk about confusing the voting public.  (I will leave alone the fact that Kinney also mis-attributed quotes to me as a candidate and failed to correct those as well.)

Thank goodness for the advent of the Internet, local blogs and other alternative media sources.  While a few weekly newspapers such as Key West the Newspaper, and the News Barometer still strive to enlighten the public in their own way, the big boys continue to disappoint.  Being such a huge component of our community, that is committing a tremendous disservice as they ponder away in their thought provoking editorials.