BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for July 16, 2009

Head-scratcher of the day: columnist-turned-cub reporter John McCann's two-parter (#1, #2) on the demise of the Families First program, a grant-funded effort that has employed the Rev. Pebbles Lindsay-Lucas for 11 years, during which time she's helped "more than 100 parents, mostly women, and between 400 and 500 children" through congregational faith-based teams.

McCann takes on the subject of the program's elimination in two articles, one of which focuses on County Commissioner Joe Bowser's anger over the program's demise due to what the county claims are budget cuts, and Bowser's call for changes in how social services are overseen.

But -- unless I'm misreading this -- there really isn't an effort here to get a full explanation to answer Bowser's complaint that "there must be some sort of riff here between [assistant director Rhonda] Stevens and Lindsay-Lucas," and the article reads as one of the least objective, least informative, and most opinionated things I've seen in the H-S in some time.

Is this a news piece; one of McCann's columns; or advocacy journalism? Seriously -- I can't tell from the online edition of the Herald-Sun. Help out a fishwrapper here.

In other news:

• Chester Jenkins, elected in 1989 as Durham's mayor -- the first African-American to hold that post -- died Tuesday night at the age of 71. According to the H=S' nice remembrance, Jenkins was an early advocate for replacing the DAP, helping to spur downtown's redevelopment, and helped the municipality take over DATA and build the I.R. Holmes rec center. (H-S)
• DPS saw a very strong year on EOY test scores, with 44 out of 47 schools seeing their marks improve. District leaders credit more analytical, data-driven collaboration among teachers who share lesson plans, and a change to focus funding away from summer school and onto in-year remedial efforts. The H-S notes, though, that this is the first year when the state will count the first re-test of those students who didn't pass EOY tests the first time around. We'll need to wait for the release of data state-wide later this week to really see how much scores have improved relative to peer districts. (H-S #1, #2)
• Donald Hughes kicked off his Ward 1 candidacy for City Council with a press conference in East Durham yesterday, formally announcing his run for the seat held by Cora Cole-McFadden since 2001. (H-S)
• Duke University Hospital again ranks among the ten-best in the U.S., the only hospital in the state -- or the entire southeast US -- to so be named. (Press Release)
  

Comments

[serena]

DPS might have improved schools, but 16 of them still couldn't pass 50 percent of their kids. The N&O story is shorter and less detailed, but there is more context.

[Joseph]

John McCann, what a poor example of a journalist. His columns have been bad enough with his constant evangelizing and related homophobia. And now his “reporting.” In his first stabs as a court reporter he found it relevant somehow to mention a lawyer’s “French cuffs” in relation to nothing and it’s always a defendant’s “mama” and similar cute language. And his latest on the quarterback, McNair, who was shot by his girlfriend? He turned that into a blame the victim argument for why people shouldn’t live together who are not married. By that logic, since most domestic violence involves married couples, therefore marriage causes such violence.
Objectivism, journalistic standards, clear writing, none of these are standards that he tries in any fashion to meet. Why the HS keeps him on while firing so many other better journalists is a mystery to me. He is the main reason I stopped my subscription some years ago.

[Jonathan Jones]

Kevin, I think it's unfair to refer to McCann as a "cub reporter." He is neither young, nor inexperienced.

He may or may not be a particularly good reporter -- I haven't read enough of his news reports to pass judgment and gave up on his column long ago -- but he is not a cub.

[Michael Bacon]

John McCann writes bad article filled with bad writing, biased reporting, and with a confusing, pointless narrative. In other news, rain in the afternoon in July, I ate too much at the Indian buffet, and the state budget is overdue.

To put it succinctly, how does that guy still have a gig?

[Captain Avondale]

Let's be clear; the H-S has smacked of desperation of late, both behind the scenes and b/w the lines. In truth the circle from which they report is getting narrower and narrower... they dredge up chicken-scratch much like a cub-reporter hanging around a county court house looking for pan drippings.

[Lee]

amen joseph!

[carolyn]

Wow. It was one thing that when the HS published McCann's specious claims and thoughts in the form of oped or personal narrative. But to try to pass this off as thoughtful or investigative reporting? That is really almost too much to be believed.

[Erica]

Lately I'll be reading the paper, get about 3 sentences into an article and wonder, why does this read like a K12 my-summer-vacation essay? Oh, I see John McCann's byline. Why is it necessary to insert so much of his "voice" into the articles? I could understand it being a large part of his columns, but it should not be a part of typical reporting! Why aren't the editors feeding these articles through a shredder?

And to echo an above commenter, how has he survived round after round of layoffs while good journalists have gotten the axe?