Sunday, May 21, 2006

A second look at the Globe's Nodler series

Now that some time has elapsed, it is time to look back on the Joplin Globe's recent series, "Spheres of Influence," which examined the money behind Sen. Gary Nodler.
I have no problem with the series itself. Max McCoy, as usual, did a thorough job detailing who is putting money into Gary Nodler's campaign and into the so-called leadership PAC, which bears Nodler's name.
Unfortunately, while McCoy was doing his steadfast best to expose the machinations of the powers-that-be on the local political scene, the powers-that-be at his own newspaper were leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Where was the Joplin Globe Editorial Board during all of this? Certainly, a major series of this kind should have sparked some kind of editorial about the evils of the campaign finance system, and how they have stripped the voters of any real choice in many elections.
Where was Globe Editor Ed Simpson? As many readers jumped all over Max McCoy and accused him of having an ax to grind against the senator, Simpson did not use his Sunday bully pulpit to explain the reasons why the series was done and to explain that McCoy was just doing his job. McCoy's tough enough to take criticism; he has been doing this kind of expose' for years, but it would have been nice if his editor had used the same kind of fervor he displayed during the recent Joplin Police problems.
By not following up on the Nodler series, the Globe is taking the same approach it did last year when it ran an article on lobbyists' influence on our area legislators. The story ran, listing amounts received by legislators, but there was no backup to the reporter, no one to explain why the story was important. Then it vanished as if it had never existed. No further mention was made of lobbying. If The Globe had stuck with that story, it would have been ahead of the curve, since lobbying has become a cause celebre this year.
Most likely the same thing will happen with the Nodler investigation. No one can ever say the Globe did not look into Nodler's campaign contributions; no one can ever say it didn't examine the Nodler Leadership PAC. Odds are, no one will ever mention it again.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If this series is not mentioned again it will be because it contained no news. This series didn't expose anything; all of the information is available to anyone online at the Missouri Ethics Commission. It is obvious that Nodler is very popular and very effective. His large campaign fund comes from the leaders of the Joplin area business community, a large number of individuals and companies from our area and PACs that represent area interests. What was missing from the reports was the reason for the support. Less than 30 days after being sworn into office Nodler succeeded in passing the Missouri Southern name change that the community had pursued for a decade and a half. That bill also granted the school the authority to offer graduate degrees in co-operation with other schools. I found it interesting that the same week as this series, the Joplin Globe ran a front page story on the first Masters graduates from MSSU and failed to credit Nodler with both conceiving and achieving this program. It was after Senator Nodler demonstrated this legislative skill that the money started pouring into his committee. He was elected to the third ranking position in the Senate in the middle of his first term demonstrating the huge respect his colleagues hold for him. He has been a leader in education legislation writing the bill that reformed the MAP test and most recently passing a bill to follow up on local effort responsibility under the new foundation formula. He obtained funding for the alternative energy program at Crowder that had been authorized but unfunded for 14 year and he also got Missouri Southern an increased share of the Higher Ed budget. Support from MSSC and Crowder officials followed rather than preceding these accomplishments. He led the successful fight to get MODOT to finish Highway 71 to the State Line. When Jessica Mann and her grandfather were killed by a repeat offender the family called for stiffer penalties, Nodler responded to that call and got the law changed. The Senator led the fight for mental health parity in the budget that is why Paula Baker and the folks at the Ozark Center support him. There has never been a complaint filed against the Nodler election committee for any campaign violations and the two matters mentioned in the article do not qualify as violations. In order for a violation to occur, there has to be a willful act. The law requires campaigns to request employer information when soliciting funds and to report that information when available. The Nodler campaign has always complied with those good faith efforts and only 9% of the contributions lack that employer information although all report the identity and address of the contributor. In addition the expenditures on KODE and KOAM appear to be clerical errors properly reported in October. There are no violations at all, just and attempt by McCoy to sling mud. The Nodler critics will just have to face the fact that they are vastly outnumbered by those that recognize that Nodler is the most effective state legislator in our area since the death of Dick Webster.

Anonymous said...

The point of the Nodler series was to reveal just how deep into the pockets of the rich and powerful he is. Also, the series reported much that is not available through the Ethics Commission, including the men behind Nodler's Leadership PAC. Also, the info on the MEC website is simply quarterly reports -- what the Globe did was to go through all of those reports for several years and come up with the totals of who has given Nodler the most. As to the campaign violations, such as the late reporting on television advertising and the failure to report employer or occupation information for a significant number of contributors, those are things the MEC has busted other politicans for in the past. Willful doesn't enter it, and even if it did, we'll never know since Nodler refused to respond to the questions put to him -- in writing, no less. This is not the kind of behavior one expects of a leader. But then, Nodler has revealed his character before, in his meltdown over the disabled adults at the cinema last year. The most damning thing about the Globe series was not what was reported, but Nodler's own silence.

Anonymous said...

Randy you have it wrong again. Nodler never had a meltdown at the theater. No disabled person has ever accused him of any such thing, that’s right, not one disabled person has ever made any accusation. The 20 year old care giver never accused him of a meltdown, she accused him of saying to his brother "those people shouldn't be here". He denied saying anything like that, his brother confirmed his account and he passed a lie detector test indicating that he was truthful. The young woman refused to take a lie detector on the issue of whether she was being truthful. The preponderance evidence, clear and convincing to any thinking and unbiased person is that there was no incident. You have invested so much of your energy in trying to perpetuate this myth that you hang on to it in the face of overwhelming evidence. You have had a pattern of attacking Nodler, Just here, your response to the previous comment ignored the points about Nodler's legislative record because it doesn't fit your agenda, the fact is you are just dishonest yourself. You stand condemned by your own words

Anonymous said...

First of all if Nodler said "those people shouldn't be here” that would be an indication of insensitivity not a "meltdown". Secondly what it was, was an unconfirmed, uncorroborated accusation that Nodler denied, nothing more. A legitimate reporter or newspaper would never have printed the non-story in the first place!

Anonymous said...

Why is anyone worried about Nodler? He's a lame duck senator. So who's going to be next? How about Seth Jackson, he always has the right answers.

Anonymous said...

McCoy won't do much without our approval. His stroy on Nodler was just a screen to make it look as if the Globe cares abut what happens in Joplin. We usually leave McCoy style of reporting to once or twice a year.In the real news blogosphere, this blog doesn't get much attention, in fact its not even mentioned on the KC buzzblog or even on the SNL new editors blog. We control most everything that involves money, power and news.