I've just sent the following letter:
April 24, 2009
Fred Schuster
President, board of trustees
Village of Weston
5500 Schofield Ave.
Weston, WI 54476
Via dzuleger@westonwisconsin.org
Mr. Schuster:
Pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.31-19.39 (2003), also known as the Open Records Law, I am seeking access to all public documents concerning [XXXX XXXX], a private citizen of Wisconsin.
My request includes but is not limited to any public documents about correspondence about and among [XXXX XXXX]; Dean Zuleger, administrator of the Village of Weston; acting police Chief Scott Sleeter, and Michael Beck, publisher of the Wausau Daily Herald. Finally, my request also includes all public documents concerning Zuleger's employee personnel records.
I look forward to your reply.
Jim Hopkins
Saturday, April 25, 2009
8 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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As I read this letter, a song popped into my head: Beer for my Horses."
ReplyDeleteNow that's what real reporters do.
ReplyDeleteAre there any real reporters left who haven't been bought out or laid off?
Good job, Jim.
Good luck with this. You will surely need it.
ReplyDeleteI fear what has been left at the gate is the whole idea of "ethics" and the supposed-Gannett "ethics policy" that Gannett rode a high horse on for so long.
I wonder what Clark and Dew-Bow and the departed Currie would think of a newspaper outing a confidential source to a public official??
In effect, that is what happened here.
Where's your (blank blank) ethics policy that everyobe has to sign NOW Gannett Corp????
Where is the nasty phone calls and letters to the group publishers NOW Gannett?
10:24 AM wrote: "I wonder what Clark and Dew-Bow and the departed Currie would think of a newspaper outing a confidential source to a public official??
ReplyDelete"In effect, that is what happened here."
Um ... no, not really.
A nutjob posting on a forum calling the town supervisor a fat slob is not a "confidential source."
Sounds like someone who never learned any manners.
The issue isn't what the person had to say. Or even if the person is rude, unpleasant, a nutjob or anything.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is a newspaper providing to a public official the name of someone who posted an anonymous comment to the paper. The newspaper has an ethical oblication to protect the anonimity of that person - just like an unnamed source in a story!
Gannett has bashed managers far worse for far, far less!!
1:43 PM wrote: "The issue is a newspaper providing to a public official the name of someone who posted an anonymous comment to the paper. The newspaper has an ethical oblication to protect the anonimity of that person - just like an unnamed source in a story!"
ReplyDeleteI'm curious ... do you actually work for the news side of the operation?
Because you seem confused about the difference between an unnamed source for a story and a lame-ass story chat comment made by some anonymous doofus.
And anyway, Gannett swore off unnamed sources years ago - or were supposed to.
1:22 PM, the supervisor IS slovenly fat. Look at his picture. How can you justify outing an anonymous opinion contribution -- in a forum that guards everyone else's anonymity -- for stating a truthful observation?
ReplyDeleteI see your point about the difference in the definition, but in this case, I think it is much more akin to outing a confidential source than just, as you say, teaching a "nutjob" some "manners."
Also, the AP sure didn't abandon the use of unsourced "facts" and unnamed sources, and Gannett papers run a lot of AP ... and most of the public doesn't distinguish the difference. If Gannett ever had been sincere about this supposed integrity, it would have edited AP copy to comply.
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ReplyDelete