The Joplin Globe's cozy relationship with Missouri Southern

Nearly two years have passed since the Joplin Globe received second place in the investigative reporting category in the Missouri Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest for its hard-hitting coverage of the ongoing problems at Missouri Southern State University. Even at the time the honor was received, the type of journalism that earned it was no longer being practiced at our regional newspaper of record. Greg Grisolano, whose dogged reporting had irritated University President Bruce Speck to no end, had already been pulled off the beat and reassigned to cover Newton and McDonald counties. Freedom of information requests that Grisolano filed, which would likely have shed light on some of the practices that are beginning to make MSSU a target of ridicule, were quietly shelved, a move that no one would have ever known about had it not been for the only newspaper that was really digging into the university scandals at the time- The Chart. A freedom of information request filed by the Chart editor Brennan Stebbins, now sports editor at The Carthage Press, uncovered the new ultra-cozy relationship between Speck and Joplin Globe Publisher Michael Beatty. Now the only newspaper that was left to challenge the status quo at MSSU has effectively been spayed and neutered by Speck with nary a word from the Joplin Globe. In most other communities where the independence of college and university media has been challenged, it has had a steadfast supporter in the community newspaper. That has not happened in Joplin because in this city the university is not a beat, informing the taxpayers is not the primary goal, and a better business relationship between the university and the newspaper, providing cash for the newspaper and mostly favorable publicity for the university is the ultimate goal. I printed the information the Chart uncovered about the Globe's relationship with Speck in the May 12, 2010, Turner Report, and considering that hundreds of thousands are being spent on consultants, while human beings are about to be put out on the street by the Speck Administration, it seems to be an opportune time to reprint it:

An e-mail sent from newly-minted Globe Publisher Michael Beatty to Missouri Southern State University April 6 shows that the Globe dropped attempts to dig deeper into the troubled situation at the university, offered to bring Editor Carol Stark to meet with President Bruce Speck to give him "examples of positive stories" the Globe wanted to run about MSSU, and offered Speck advice on how to manage the news. The e-mail, which was released through a freedom of information request by the one newspaper that has actually been pursuing the truth behind the controversies at the university, The Chart, also indicates that the get-tough approach of Globe reporter Greg Grisolano to the MSSU story may be the reason why other reporters are now covering the university. It was Grisolano's Freedom of Information requests that Beatty stopped, in an apparent effort to curry favor with Speck, MSSU Board of Governors member Dwight Douglas, and most likely, the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce leadership, which has steadfastly stood behind Speck, Douglas, and the doomed effort to bring a medical school to Joplin. Beatty's love letter to Speck included the following passage: "We wanted to do an arboretum story for Arbor Day, a story on the mansions (sic) renovation, a story on the Science Fair, of course, the Prairie Issue, and lastly on how you saved money for the university on the hiring of the two new VP's." Beatty opens the e-mail by giving Speck the good news that the critical investigation into his presidency is apparently a thing of the past: "You will hear that we are withdrawing our requests for your schedule, Rod's schedule, and your expenses." After that opening, Beatty asks for the meeting with him, Carol Stark, and Speck. It looks as if access is the most important thing as far as Beatty is concerned: "As I thought more about the issue of a spokesperson, I will share with you what I experienced in Baltimore. I was used to the spokesperson to be more of a facilitator of the organization on how the message should be controlled. Examples would be call to Rod (Surber) about a story, he knows how you want the story played out so he picks the spokesperson. This gives him/you appropriate individual time to develop the message. The process is really about controlling the message when working with the press and keeping transparency to the taxpayers." "I think we can find a middle ground so that all will be satisfied with the process."