Over the past several months, one thing has become certain- if there is a public relations problem for the Joplin R-8 School District, the Joplin Globe will come riding to the rescue.
When students and parents began circulating a petition to enable patrons to have better access to the Board of Education agenda, the Globe took the extraordinary step of making C. J. Huff's argument that, in fact, the people have plenty of access to the board and look at all of these area school districts that have similar approaches (though I would bet that all of them make every attempt to allow people to address the board). Even worse, the Globe made it appear that the accusation that the Joplin Board does not offer access to citizens was something that was just being made by students. Globe reporters attended a meeting in which the subject was addressed and interviewed parents who were at the meeting, and who were participating in the meeting, but did not offer one single quote from the parents, leaving the idea that this was just some misguided high school kids (and perhaps even the false idea that these are misguided high school kids who have been brainwashed by the evil Randy Turner, another idea that C. J. Huff has tried to push).
When district officials have been criticized for their excessive travel, the Globe took it on itself to conduct a "thorough" investigation which simply consisted of looking through credit card receipts. Note to Globe- you are not going to find most of those travel expenses on the district credit cards.
And how about the almost non-existent coverage of the Joplin R-8 School District's abysmal APR score? Only one school district in the area, Sarcoxie, had a lower score, yet for some reason the Globe bought into the nonsense expressed by Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer that the scores did not mean anything and that average people (people unlike her) cannot really understand them.
The Joplin Globe felt it was important to editorialize about the collapse of Anthony Weiner's political career this week, but has kept a hands off approach to anything regarding the Joplin R-8 School District.
And now, the Globe is keeping another important piece of information from its readers.
On Wednesday, the Turner Report and Inside Joplin revealed that Ronny Justin Myers, 35, the former Joplin Schools Technology Department employee who pleaded guilty to child sex charges, admitted to investigators that he had pornographic photos of 10 Joplin students on his laptop, four of whom have been subsequently identified.
This information was included in a sentencing memorandum filed in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri- a public document.
It was also apparent from reading that document that Myers' admission was made approximately seven months ago- and this is the first we have heard about it.
The district issued a statement on Feb. 15, the day Myers was arrested, reassuring patrons that Myers worked in the administration building and had no access to children. Apparently, that depends on the definition of access.
What Myers did have access to was the laptops that are issued to every high school student. That appears to be how he obtained the pornographic photos of students. And that raises all kinds of questions, none of which are being asked by the Joplin Globe.
In the four days since the Turner Report broke the story, not a solitary word has been written about the revelation in the Globe, which is either an indictment of its reporting or an indictment of its idea of what a newspaper's job is.
The Globe did have a page-one story about the school district Saturday, in which education beat reporter Emily Younker thoroughly examined the efforts to come up with a mission statement for Joplin High School and Franklin Tech, obviously the most important story about education going on at this moment.
Interestingly, the current Joplin High School mission statement includes the following:
Joplin High School students, staff, parents and community work together to provide a safe and academically challenging environment
A safe environment. Those who are familiar with Ronny Justin Myers' statement- in other words, those who get their information about the school district from sources other than the Joplin Globe- have to wonder about whether the school district is succeeding in that part of its mission.
18 comments:
The administration building is the perfect place for Myers. Not a decent or honest person in there, at least above the clerical level. A more dishonest, conniving, corrupt bunch of people never existed in education. That they did not tell parents that this sexual predator could have been spying on their kids through webcam is a reflection of their lack of morality and absence of decency. They, too, have ignored this subject since you brought it to light. But they know about it--and have since the day of the arrest. And yet, they are all still safely employed, which is a reflection of the local and state governing bodies.
Please keep in mind that CJ Huff, Klista Rader, Lisa Orem, Jason Cravens, and Angie Besendorfer KNEW that Joplin children had been exposed to the pedophile AT THE SAME TIME THEY WERE PROSECUTING RANDY TURNER FOR A CRIME HE NEVER COMMITTED! No child was ever hurt by Mr. Turner, but children definitely were hurt by the district. How do ANY of them sleep at night? Including the Board who is so JOINED AT THE HIP that they allow perjury, perversion, misappropriation of funds, cronyism, fraud, extortion, and harassment to go unchecked? Do you all understand now the depth of depravity of your school system? That no one denies the charges implies complicity. Failure to report a crime is aiding and abetting the criminal. They are all guilty, therefore, and should all be held accountable. Let's hope that happens.
Is there a place on the application for JSAB jobs where you mark that you're willing to sell your soul? It would appear to be that way. I wonder how many of these people were in their place of worship today, all polished and pious and plotting revenge on those who dare to expose them. Such conflicted souls they must be. How incredibly sad. Just think what they might have accomplished had they let common sense, good will, and reasoning prevail over avarice, ambition, and pride.
No news is good news!
They say confession and atonement are good for the soul.
Didn't Dante tell us the lowest ring of hell is reserved for corrupt public officials? It's been a long time since I was in a high school English class, but as memory serves me, that is correct. Corrupt officials lead the entire community astray.
There is no honor amongst the thieves.
The Globe is as big a failure as the miserable people they're trying to protect and promote. Failures all. No honor. No professional ethics. In it for easy money. I wonder how much they got to turn a blind eye?
So if the Board voted 7-0 to fire Mr. Turner on the supposed violations that even McGoo could see through, then how do they not fire, on the spot, their leadership team for the pedophile debacle? How is it they have not extended an apology and a contract to Mr. Turner, now that their leadership team has been exposed for the liars they are? I'd think this mess proves beyond a doubt that not one word they utter can be trusted. How is the Globe not doing an at-length exposé on this situation? Because they are protecting the liars.
10:28 is such a good comment. Mine isn't very substantive as a result, except to say how powerful and true those words are. The reference to Dante in a later comment is very good, too. There is indeed something archetypal in the corruption of Huff, Besendorfer, & Co., these all-too-human flaws of corrupt public officials blind to their own hypocrisy, plain as day to everyone else. The front of piety behind which lies pettiness, jealousy, paranoia, and as 10:28 says, "avarice, ambition, and pride".
Stark, too, who so values entry and acceptance into the world of influence that she fails to see the same vanity and pettiness in herself that she sees in others, pretending to be above it. The fondness for human interest stories belies her true nature (human interest stories are usually seen as pandering and manipulative, emotional rather than factual and so contrary to the impulses of most journalists, a.k.a. "low-hanging fruit").
The followers of the criminal minds behind the downfall of the district need to remember that they will be found just as guilty. They have chosen to stay with the leadership group, follow them, and carry out their orders. Not conceiving of the plan or ordering the plan does not excuse one for participating in or failing to point out a crime. All will pay, and all will have their careers destroyed to feed the vain ambitions of two people. They have sold out the students and patrons of the district, and they have sold out their families and those who might have respected them otherwise. I hope it was worth it to them. If I were one of those who had played follow-the-leader, I would stop doing so and try to repair the damage I had caused. But, that would take courage, and that is sadly lacking here.
There is nothing I want so much that I would destroy the career of an innocent man, force people into retirment or resignation, damage the academic future of thousands of students, or waste the hard earned dollars of the tax payers and donors to the district. Absolutely nothing. None of them are desperate for money. This is sheer vanity. They've covered nearly all of the deadly sins--or maybe they've got them all--who knows what else we have to learn about this sordid group.
Stark wasn't always this way. She is finally getting to play with the Kool Kids, even if she did have to buy her way into the group. She will never relinquish that social position now.
What a pathetic ending for what could have been yet another good career. Assuming, of course, that she is ever held responsible for her ineptness at the helm. Perhaps her publisher is the media version of the district's board. If so, she has nothing to worry about.
Dear Huff, Besendorfer, and Co.,
I would write this through the Globe, but then it would never be publicized,so I will use Mr. Turner's blog, which is by far a better source of news than anything else in the area, short of Inside Joplin. I'm writing to tell you that you no longer frighten me or intimidate me. You are empty shells. Your official titles may still be the same, but you do not represent me, my children, my school family, or my community. You represent no one but yourselves and a seemingly powerless school board.
For some time you have intimidated all of us. You have threatened us with our jobs, made our children your potential targets if we didn't comply, spied on us with your lackeys, looked for problems where there were none and created problems that needn't have existed. You allowed our children to potentially be exposed to a pedophile, and you destroyed the high quality of education that they used to receive. Yes, I was scared. But no more. I will keep my identity covered until I can get away, as I need income as much as the next person, but when I see you now you will not make me feel shaky. You simply cannot. I will no longer give you that power.
You cannot make me feel shaky because you are now exposed for what you truly are, a pack of greedy, lying, cheating, vengeful social climbers who have no values in common with me. I am here for the community and my family. I am here to make a positive difference. But why are you here? Only to further yourselves. But you see, now you cannot even do that. Anyone considering any of you for a job would only have to Google your names to find out what your "accomplishments" truly are, and who you really are. No one will want you, and you are finished here, at least to the rest of us, if not the Board. You have ruined yourselves as well as the district. But the difference is, we can rebuild after you're gone, but you must carry your reputations and actions with you no matter where you go. So I am no longer scared. I am biding my time. I will rebuild my career whether I am here or in any part of the country, because I have no marks against me. You are without hope anywhere you go. And that may be the ultimate justice.
Sincerely,
An Honorable Public Servant
A serendipitous post from today on Carol Stark's facebook page, (publicly available post as of right now) wherein she expresses her commitment to human interest stories in the most explicit manner possible:
"Carol Stark
9 hours ago via mobile
"Just finished reviewing a letter from an elderly couple thanking their town's fire chief and police chief for helping them dig the grave for their 155 pound Saint Bernard, Sebastian. Some of you might think I do what I do for the big stories. Nope, I do it to make sure these stories make it into the paper. Wow. Loving my job, even on a Sunday."
6:49 is correct. The credibility of Joplin's upper administration is shot. Not informing parents that their children may have been exposed to a pedophile is as low as administrators can go. To destroy a man's professional reputation two months later on the grounds that he might possibly have exposed children to an allegedly pornographic book, even though no such child was ever found, is the ultimate in hypocrisy and perjury. Karma.
The big stories? No one would ever accuse her of being in the business for the "big stories" because she does none. What a joke. She's as delusional about who she is as her friends in R8 administration and the infamous Speck!
I'd laugh if her ineptness wasn't hurting so many people.
It really does tell you where the Globe is at, the level of a Hallmark card or an inspirational poster. Like the person above said, it's kind of obvious that she's not into doing "big stories," but she also appears oblivious to the irony of her comment. Her attraction to emotional stories points to the absence of journalistic sensibilities, despite the occasional jargonistic editorials to the contrary.
I recall how quick her organization was to jump on Ron Erwin, literally "breaking news" plastered everywhere, that particular story followed in great detail. Erwin had to contact the Globe with his attorney in order to get them to write a story about how his name was cleared, and despite providing police documentation that he was not considered a viable suspect, the headline read "Joplin man says he's been cleared of suspicion in serial murders", as if this were merely his claim and not truth. Hmm... a man who is not in a position of political influence having their reputation and livelihood irrevocably smeared... have I heard this story before?
Erwin's comments about not being able to get work or do things that we take for granted because of the nature of the stories about him remind me very much of Turner's recently when he released the transcripts of his proceedings:
http://tinyurl.com/q4oalbo
Early on in the Erwin coverage, people were critical. Stark wrote an editorial titled "Coverage not always popular" basically saying, "Hey, the news is news! We may not always like it but we have to report the facts!" She explained the way the events unfolded, how it started with noticing a commotion outside, and the extent to which some of her reporters went in finding out information on the case:
http://tinyurl.com/plqm7c7
When you contrast this description of methodology with the lack of potentially damaging coverage on MSSU or R-VIII, or even local institutions like Freeman where the morale has been in steady decline these past few years, it too is striking. There has been the proverbial "commotion" about the troubles in these places. When Speck was finally let go, it was clear that there was a story there. Had her reporters noticed the commotion and then went to the same extent to uncover the facts of the matter, it would have demonstrated consistency in reporting, and would have lent veracity to the claim that "Coverage is not always popular". What she means is, coverage is not always popular with you, the layperson. It does have to be popular with people of local political and financial influence, however.
What we learn is that there are different rules for different people and different subjects. If the police had been looking at C.J. Huff's house, do you think the story would have broken immediately? Is it not clear that Speck and MSSU were given a great deal of leeway, and that a politically damaging story was not reported until well after the deeds were done?
I highlight the editorial about Irwin to underscore the hypocrisy. It makes the comments about her devotion to stories about elderly couple's dogs all the more pointed, because those stories (and those of favored mentee Andra Bryan Stefanoni) are inconsistent with her previously stated devotion to "coverage" that is "not always popular". In fact, popularity is exactly what is sought by these pandering tales of heartwarming sadness and maudlin tragedy that take center-stage. The only time she is willing to go to news that is unpopular is when there will be no significant political fallback, as in the instances of Ron Erwin or even Randy Turner (who is so despised as to barely be mentioned at all, except with nose held high and with private glee by devoted underlings such as Scott Meeker).
We who live on the other side of the garden she so loves find that our sense of smell is not obscured by its perfume. We recognize the distinct bouquet of bovine excrement.
To 12:52 -
The Joplin Globe isn't just protecting the school district, it's protecting the community. After all, who wants to move to a city with a school district in such chaos? I am not expressing an opinion, rather simple logic. The question of an ethical nature is, should that be what a community newspaper does?
The Globe should tell the truth. Let the public know about the schools so they can be cleaned up and make progress again. That's only fair to the students and patrons. As it is, people are leaving which translates Into fewer homes and businesses to share the burden of paying for those new schools. Clean it up and the people will come back. Stark had too many breakfasts with Besendorfer and Speck to be considered unbiased. Hardly my choice of company on a Saturday morning.
Post a Comment