Loss never ended for Capital Gazette reporters, editors
Boards of elections flunk freedom of information test
The Front Page
Morning Update
Monday, January 17, 2022
By Ken Tingley
On September 28, Jarrod Ramos was sentenced to five life sentences without the chance for parole for killing five newspaper employees at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md.
For many of us it was more than just another shocking mass shooting. For me and my colleagues at The Post-Star, it struck close to home.
The Capital Gazette did a lot of the same type of work we did in Glens Falls: Community stories, local journalism that made a difference, features on local people doing something unique. We were the connective tissue in the community.
One of the editors murdered at the Capital Gazette was exactly my age, graduated from college the same year I did and had crafted a long career in community journalism. That stuck with me.
The day after the killing, I crafted a front page message to our readers titled, “You don’t hear about the harassment.”
I wanted to remind our readers of the work our reporters and editors did, and obstacles they often had to overcome to do their jobs. And now journalists were being killed in a suburban community. I reprinted the message in my recent book, “The Last American Editor.” I didn’t want people to forget this tragedy. I wanted them also to know about the people who worked at my newspaper.
The day of the killings, Capital Gazette Editor Jimmy DeButts tweeted out this message: “Just know @capgaznews reporters & editors give all they have every day. There are no 40-hour weeks, no big paydays - just a passion for telling stories from our community.”
In my message to our readers, I wrote “that’s not only us, but that is true of the vast majority of daily newspapers across the country.” I considered the work we did a higher calling.
I probably haven’t thought much about the survivors of the shooting since it happened. This past week, The Washington Post checked in with them to see how they were doing.
Newsrooms at their best provide a sanctuary, a camaraderie that allows the reporters and editors to do the hard work and be supportive of each other. They allow for outbursts of frustration, arguments over word choice and gentle support when the words won’t come and our questions aren’t answered. The Capital Gazette survivors came together after the shootings because of their common trauma. But the years that followed were often difficult.
“Some days they dreaded coming in because the sound of a doorbell or the bangs from outside construction sent them into panic,” The Washington Post reported. “Other days, survivors newly on edge and irritable turned on each other when someone was too loud on the phone.”
What may have been worse was that support system gradually was whittled away by the econonomic challenges that all newspapers are facing. The newspaper’s long-time local owner died and the paper was sold to the Baltimore Sun Media Group, a subsidiary of Tribune Newsrooms.
The newsroom of 30 began to shrink.
Some reporters started to question their career choice after the shooting. Some wondered if it was worth it.
On the third anniversary of the attack, Rick Hutzell, the former editor of the Gazette said, “If you care about journalism and truth and freedom of the press anywhere, subscribe to your local news organization. Because that’s the only way they will survive.”
The Tribune Company was sold to Alden, a venture capital firm known for making deep cuts to its newspapers.
By the the time the shooter was sentenced this past summer, almost every reporter and editor who had been employed by the Capital Gazette had left. Every time a reporter or editor would take a buyout, those left felt like they had suffered another loss.
The article told how photojournalist Paul Gillespie once found comfort in spending time with his colleagues, but he felt more and more alone as his colleagues departed.
“Not only did I lose my five Capital Gazette family members who were killed,” Gillespie told the Post. “But now I’ve lost everyone, basically, who worked there before the shooting.”
He said, most days, he fells like he is just waiting to die.
I understand that because I experienced that loss as our newsroom shrank as well. Newsrooms were places where we all worked together toward a common goal, where ideas flourished and we supported one another and the work we did. It is a unique working environment.
The article about the Capital Gazette reminded me all over again about the great work we did and the difference we made in our community. I hope it reminds you of the dedication of local reporters, and more importantly, that they can be trusted.
Redistricting
This is where the corruption starts in government - redistricting process. It is done every 10 years by the state Legislature and it always ends up being political. New York tried to solve that by having an independent commission do the work. But the 10-member commission is made up of Republicans and Democrats. This time, the Republicans and Democrats each submitted different versions of redistricting. The point was to come up with a fair redistricting for everyone.
The state Legislature rightly rejected both sets of plans and sent it back to the independent committee to take another shot. I like what local Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner had to say after voting against both proposals: “I really feel that the commission failed in their work.”
I agree.
Election boards flunk
The New York Coalition for Open Government contacted 19 county election boards last summer to see if they were adhering to Freedom of Information requests regarding state law.
They asked them four simple questions:
When do they meet?
Is the public notified?
Are the agendas posted for the public?
Are the minutes kept and posted online?
Each county was contacted by telephone and email. Nearly three out of four failed to respond within the required five days and 65 percent failed to respond at all. Several didn’t seem to know what the election law was about their meetings. That needs to change.
None of the local counties were chosen for the test.
Tweet of the Day
That was a tragic personal loss for those survivors but also for that Community in Maryland. It also puts a damper on all other reporters.
I do so value the job journalists do to get us the truth and the depth of what matters to many of us. I think young people are missing so much by not reading newspapers. Yes, they're busy, but so are we all and the fact others chip away at the base by claiming "fake news" isn't helping. Neither of my grown children read newspapers and I find that very sad indeed.