[Fundamental: A polygamist community member in southern Texas]
One of Gannett's smaller papers, The Spectrum in St. George, Utah, is near the epicenter of the growing scandal over 416 children seized from a polygamist sect in southern Texas. With 68,000 residents, St. George is home to one such fundamentalist community: Last September, polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs was found guilty there of being an accomplice to rape for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.
But my quick search this morning of the Spectrum's website for the term "polygamy" didn't turn up any staff-produced stuff. I found an Associated Press story about a court hearing today in the case in Eldorado, Texas. And, oddly, the search also turned up an advertisement for St. Georges' Seven Wives Inn! (I often have trouble searching Gannett sites, using their built-in search tools; anyone know why?)
A Gannett paper since 2000, Spectrum's circulation is 22,755 daily, 24,151 on Sunday. Writing about Mormons is dicey business, because of the understandable desire to respect readers' religious choices. That was the case at the Idaho Statesman in Boise, where I worked in 1991-96; Idaho has one of the nation's biggest Mormon populations.
The Statesman didn't only publish fluff, however: I co-wrote a series about a prominent Mormon doctor in eastern Idaho, caught molesting scores of female patients. It had been going on for decades. Our investigation found that his Mormon community's wary-of-outsiders culture prevented victims from winning justice until long after they'd begun reporting his misdeeds. (I wish I could link to that series, but it's in the abyss known as PIE -- or Pre-Internet Era.)
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Your thoughts, in the comments section, below. Use this link to e-mail feedback, tips, snarky letters, etc. See Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteYou won't find any hard hitting stories on the subject because the publisher there is a devout Mormon. In fact, he was placed there by Gannett for that very reason...
This blog is getting so boring. I am not coming back. how boring. you have nothing new Jim.
ReplyDeleteWow! So, they ignore the biggest story happening in their own backyard because the publisher has his own agenda? What about the people who live in that community who want to know what's going on? What about hometown papers having an "insiders" track into their communities?
ReplyDeleteSee, this is why people aren't reading newspapers anymore! Anytime a company "claims" to be focused on hyper local coverage and then turns around and ignores what is essentially a global story right in their neighborhood, well, I'm just speechless. I mean, come on! How much sense does that make? Especially when it's splattered all over CNN?? How many different ways can you spell S-T-U-P-I-D? -
Oh, that's right - G-A-N-N-E-T-T.
jim,
ReplyDeleteI used to work at the Spectrum. The polygamous community you refer to is the border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., about an hour away. It is nearly impossible to get anyone in that community to speak to the press. So if something happens in Texas, a reporter would drive to Colorado City and watch the tumbleweeds blow around. I know firsthand. People run away from outsiders.
There are ways to establish better sources in that community, but it would take a lot of time and a reporter that would stick around more than a year before moving on to bigger papers. In fact, high reporter turnover is probably the biggest problem with establishing depth in local reporting.
I'm not surprised to hear that. Thanks for stopping by, and please keep coming back!
ReplyDelete