Document Actions
Tues.: Timing is everything
posted at 2008-08-06 01:45 | Last modified 2008-08-06 08:59
So I’m back from the beach, a day later than planned, but also considerably browner and more rested. (I’d apologize, except that you wouldn’t buy it, nor should you.) Let’s just say the older I get, the happier I am to be reminded that the political world manages to function whether or not I’m there to supervise.
On the upside, I had morning coffee with dolphins, checked in on a sea turtle hospital, and disturbed dozens of ghost crabs with a cheapo flashlight. Good stuff. I’m hoping it’ll pay off with some stories later – assuming, of course, that I can convince the station powers-that-be to send me back.
Rush Hour
It’s one thing when various groups schedule over each other during session - that’s pretty much unavoidable, really. But it’s much tougher to account for triple-bookings in the news wasteland between session and Labor Day.
Nonetheless, news pileups happen, and Wed’s a great example. On the agenda:
- 10:00 am – the NAACP holds a presser on the failure of the Racial Justice Act.
- 11:30 am – Gov Easley speaks to NC School Sups about Learn and Earn.
- 12:15 pm – McCrory talks to the Cary Rotary.
- 1:30 pm – National RNC Chair Mike Duncan holds a Media Q&A in Raleigh.
Come on, people – each of you could’ve owned the news cycle for a day if you’d planned this right. But as it stands, the same three or four reporters will cover all four events, which means one or two of the latter are headed for AP Newsbrief land. Sorry, folks. Next time... oh, never mind.
Railroaded
The Local Government Commission approved hundreds of millions of dollars in debt issues and state government loans today – everything from a 14M parking garage in Raleigh to scads of millions for water and sewer all over the state. But as always, it’s the smaller line items that make the best stories.
Today’s best item had to be the Tweetsie Railroad project. It’s an NC landmark that’s probably been losing money since it opened back in the 1950s. Turns out Tweetsie Railroad doesn’t own all the land under its tracks. A couple of lots connected to the park are leased, and the two owners apparently decided they didn’t want to re-up.
After protracted negotiations, the lots’ owners convinced Watauga County to seek state help to buy the lots outright -- at 130% of their appraised value, no less -- and then lease them back to the park for a pittance, turning a nice profit for the owners while keeping Tweetsie running, solvency be darned, for at least one more generation of Western NC kids.
O Rly?
N&O Exec Ed John Drescher launched the latest salvo this weekend in the epic grudge match between his paper and Governor Mike Easley:
"When reports surfaced that [first lady Mary Easley] had received new responsibilities and an $80,000-a-year raise at N.C. State, she declined to talk with us. We had just revealed that she was among the state's delegation on two trips to Europe that cost taxpayers more than $109,000.
"She and her husband talked to WRAL-TV instead."
How dare they?
Here’s how, maybe:
- When Mary Easley got an $80K raise, it rated a headline in the N&O. But when two employees in Treasurer Moore’s office also rang up stealth $80K raises (amounting to 100% each, larger than Ms. Easley’s) in this year’s budget, it only just made it into the paper. (See last para.)
- When the Governor’s office doesn’t supply documentation, it turns into a public-records cage match. When the Treasurer’s office doesn’t, it barely rates serious coverage.
- When Easley’s people don’t provide time for questions at a public event, it’s a story. When the Treasurer’s staff tries to refuse press access to department officials at an open meeting, it’s not a story - maybe because the N&O wasn’t there.
My point here isn’t that the Governor’s staff is "good," or that the Treasurer’s office is "bad" -- they’re much the same, really. But if your coverage makes it look like you're picking your enemies, it’s a little disingenuous to complain if they pick you back. Just sayin'.
Comments? Drop me a line.
