The Joplin Globe's attempt to catch up with the electronic media on the resignation of a Joplin police officer following a jailhouse beating fell woefully short.
KOAM and the Nexstar stations, KSNF and KODE, had the information on air and on their websites close to five and a half hours before Greg Grisolano's story appeared on the Globe website.
Grisolano had the odds stacked against him from the beginning, so don't let all of the blame fall on his shoulders. My guess is this was one of those days I dreaded when I was at The Press. Each day, I flipped on the news at 6 p.m. to make sure we had not been beaten on some major story. Most of the time I had nothing to worry about, but on those few times when we were beaten on a story, I had to get the staff into catchup mode immediately.
It appears this story caught the Globe offguard and Grisolano was sent in to try to get what he could. Unfortunately for him, he was dealing with a police department which has had numerous run-ins with Globe editors over the years.
And also, he probably was unable to locate the people who normally would have been available during the daytime to answer his questions. The old days when sources were cultivated in government and law enforcement are a thing of the past. And this is no knock at Grisolano, but in the past his newspaper has made a habit of whining when it does not receive cooperation, and making the obstacle to the information the story instead of trying to work around the obstacle to get the story. (I am in favor of access to government documents and working to get it, but the most important thing is getting the story any way you can get it.)
This telling passage was included in Grisolano's story:
(Cpl. Chuck) Niess said he could not release the identity of the victim, who is also a suspect in a criminal matter.
Niess declined to release the names of the other two officers who were disciplined, calling the matter an “internal personnel issue.” He also declined to specify the nature of the disciplinary measures, whether the officers received suspensions or some other form of reprimand.
Perhaps the Joplin Globe was not able to get this information, but it is available to anyone who checks KOAM's website, where it was posted shortly after 5 p.m. KOAM not only had the name of the man who was allegedly beaten, David Neal, but also had photos of him taken after the incident, one of which accompanies this post. Reporter Lisa Olliges viewed videotapes of the incident and quoted Chief Lane Roberts.
Neal, as the Globe story noted, was charged with assaulting a police officer. His next hearing in the case is scheduled at 9 a.m. Aug. 14 before Judge Richard Copeland. Neal has been convicted of two felonies, according to court records.
On Nov. 4, 2002, he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, was given a suspended sentence and placed on five years of supervised probation. The probation was revoked after his arrest the following year on a weapons charge. Neal pleaded guilty to that charge May 20, 2003, and was sentenced to prison.
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