Apparently, Globe Editor Carol Stark waits until C. J. Huff has had time to create his spin, or more likely have spin created for him by his taxpayer-financed public relations staff.
In a story on page one of today's edition, co-written by education reporter Emily Younker and veteran government reporter Debby Woodin, the Globe which had not even written a story about the Humphreys effort before this time, chose to devote the first seven paragraphs to Huff's supposedly noble effort to call for an audit on his own and then, of course, to start the same argument that comes up every time concerned taxpayers call for a petition audit, that it will cost too much money.
Forgetting about the irony of C. J. Huff, he of the $8 million "might as well" list being concerned about something costing too much money, the Globe article is so heavily slanted in Huff's direction that David Humphreys' reasons for calling for an audit, which should have been the focal point of the story, are not provided until the eighth paragraph and by that time the reader has already had to move from page one to page 10, something that many readers do not do.
The worst part of the Globe's blatant effort to maintain the image of C. J. Huff as a noble hero was its casting of Humphreys as the villain.
This was done in a graphic that accompanied the article and was labeled Bio Tidbits:
David Humphreys is a regular contributor to the campaign funds of Republican candidates; he gave state auditor Tom Schweich $120,000 in the last election cycle, according to records maintained by the Missouri Ethics Commission. Humphreys also is one of the founders of the private Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School in Joplin.
Every bit of that is true and perhaps we should be grateful that the Globe did not provide Bio Tidbits about C. J. Huff:
C. J. Huff was the hero of the Joplin Tornado and was the main reason this community survived it. He has been superintendent of the Joplin School District since 2008. He loves puppies, children, and crying during long walks on the beach.
What was most egregious about the Globe's Bio Tidbits about David Humphreys were the facts that it failed to mention.
1. David Humphreys is a taxpayer in the Joplin R-8 School District and pays a lot of taxes.
2. David Humphreys contributed $500,000 to the Joplin R-8 School District in its time of greatest need.
Of course, mentioning either of those to Bio Tidbits would have lessened the impact that Carol Stark was wanting- C. J. Huff is the hero; David Humphreys is the villain.
Printed below is a news release issued by the Joplin R-8 School District June 2, 2011, less than two weeks after the tornado:
This afternoon, Joplin Schools announced that Joplin residents David and Debra Humphreys contributed a personal gift of $250,000 to Joplin Schools for their tornado rebuilding and recovery efforts. The announcement was made at a press conference at Joplin School’s Administration Building.
“As we work to rebuild and reunite our Joplin Schools family, days like today continue to give us hope,” said Joplin Superintendent C.J. Huff. “The damage to our school community has been devastating, but we are so grateful to the Humphreys for their generosity and commitment to joining us as we rebuild our Joplin Schools family.”
The Humphreys also issued a Matching Challenge Grant that brings with it the potential of an additional $250,000 in donations, for a total of up to $500,000 from the Humphreys. Starting today, any business, organization or individual can participate in the challenge by indicating “Matching Challenge Grant” on any donation sent to Joplin Schools Tornado Relief Fund.
“We’re doing this to support the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the school system which is vital to our community,” said David Humphreys, president and CEO of Joplin-based TAMKO Building Products, Inc.,one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of building products. He added, “We would also like to encourageother individuals and businesses to give to Joplin Schools’ efforts to support the rebuilding of Joplin. In addition, this gift is made in memory of my grandfather John E. Humphreys who served for 50 years as the superintendent of schools in Ashland, Kansas and who always emphasized the importance of a good education.”
“The future of our community depends on the education of our children,” said Debra Humphreys, who also serves as the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School board chair. “We want to support efforts that will rebuild our community and enable its future growth and success.”
Joplin Schools Board President Ashley Micklethwaite recognized the Humphreys for their support of the Joplin community that has spanned many years. “On behalf of Joplin School and the Board of Education thank you so much for this contribution and initiating this challenge to help rebuild our schools,” said Micklenthwaite.
Any business, organization or individual can participate in the challenge by indicating “Matching Challenge Grant” on any donation sent to:
Joplin Schools Tornado Relief Fund
Joplin Schools, Attn Kim Vann
102 N. Gray Ave. / Joplin, MO 64801
Press Conference Remarks from Superintendent C. J. Huff
Thank you for coming out this afternoon. As we work to rebuild and reunite our Joplin schools family, it’s days like today that continue to give us hope. The damage to our school community has been devastating …yet we work to overcome. Our administration building, the nerve center of our school district, sits inoperable behind me … Yet we continue to operate, albeit from an emergency operations center at North Middle School. Our lives were turned completely upside down 11 days ago … yet we will start summer school in just 11 days, on June 13.
Over the past year, many people have heard me speak about the needs of our students. One year ago, our Joplin Schools Family had students who had never slept on a mattress. Some of our students did not have meals between lunch on Friday and breakfast on Monday … Others had no shoes to wear to school. Our needs were significant then. They are monumental now. Roughly half of our students were in the path of an EF5 tornado.
We have a commitment to start school on August 17. However, our commitment isn’t just that our students start school. We aim to see that they finish school as well. As we rebuild our schools, we need to be mindful of the fact that schools aren’t just facilities … that we can’t rebuild just for our students … we must rebuild for our graduates.
It is now my privilege to introduce a family who have made their commitment to helping rebuild and reunite our Joplin school family … a family who’s actions continue to bring hope to our school community …
Please help me welcome David and Debra Humphreys.
Press Conference Remarks from Board President Ashley MicklethwaiteThank you David, and thank you to the Humphreys family. Your support of the Joplin community has spanned many years. On behalf of Joplin School and the Board of Education thank you so much for this contribution and initiating this challenge to help rebuild our schools. We too honor your grandfather in accepting this gift for the benefit of the Joplin Community.
As someone who contributed half a million dollars to the Joplin R-8 School District and encouraged others to give their money, David Humphreys has every right to make sure those dollars have been spent properly. While his statements about the reasons for asking for the petition audits were guarded, it is obvious he has some concern about what he has heard about the operation of both the school district and the city of Joplin.
Humphreys obviously thinks a state audit is necessary- especially since he knows the Globe is never going to investigate.
(Photo: David Humphreys announces his donation to the Joplin R-8 School District during a June 2, 2011, press conference.)
15 comments:
Isn't it a real pity that negative press like this can't stop a petition audit? There are no nay votes to be counted, only slightly less than 2,000 legitimate signatures required.
Which thanks to your reporting will soon include my parents and myself, plus no doubt others we inform.
Please proceed. Please proceed Superintendent Huff.
Please proceed. Please proceed Joplin Globe.
Here's the thing about picking sides the way Stark and Beatty are doing: you make enemies. If a journalist is fair, not everyone may like you but they will still respect you. Both sides of the political aisle went on Tim Russert's Meet the Press and he tried to grill them all evenly. No one is perfect, but you do the best you can.
Strangely, the people the Globe leaders are choosing to align with are also the ones who are on the way out. Speck? Gone. Rohr? Gone. Huff? Time will tell, but it looks like a pattern is starting to form. Two out of three ain't good. When the people Stark & Beatty support end up gone, who is left? The people they opposed.
She's not picking fights with nobodies, but people who have been part of this community a very long time. Rohr and Speck moved here and moved out, and she's still fighting for Rohr. Huff moved here from elsewhere not too long ago and isn't likely to stay after he's out of work. The type of work Stark's friends seek requires moving, but they also don't have the long-term multi-generational personal investment that is more likely to keep them here.
That doesn't necessarily make them right or wrong, I'm just trying to understand what the logic is of dividing the town and making enemies of the ones who are going to be here long after the dust settles. It seems very short-sighted. The ease with which her ego is flattered has rendered her blind to the increasing dissatisfaction with her in the community at large. More signs that she isn't that capable or competent, but rather has gotten by on personality and an ability to schmooze (a la Huff, Rohr, et al - birds of a feather).
Tamko isn't going anywhere. Neither is Rosenberg or Scearce. The Globe is not the little guy standing up to the big guy, they are aligning with powerful people against other powerful people. The difference is that the powerful people the Globe is choosing to align with also made life difficult for a lot of relatively powerless people in the community. Until people with influence stepped in, nothing was changing as far as Speck and Rohr. Now Huff as well.
Something else to emphasize is that her biased efforts point to what are emotional reactions rather than reasoned positions. She's just reacting based upon who she likes. It's passive-aggressive in that we all see the emotional reaction between the lines, but she doesn't own it publicly. Rather, she writes these high-minded editorials about not making the public the enemy or "we have to go where the news is" which only highlight the opposite behavior all the more. She is not self-aware enough to see this in herself, neither is Huff. Kind of like how Huff's lines about wanting an audit and saving the taxpayer's money are easily seen through as spin. He could have shut critics up a long time ago if that were the case.
These examples are a big part of the reason people don't like Huff or Stark, they pretend to be something they are not and they cling to that even when it couldn't be more obvious. It's why they fail professionally, because they can't just own up to mistakes and learn from them. They dig their heels in deeper, put their fingers in their ears, and yell "I am good at my job I am good at my job I can't hear you la la la la la shut up shut up shut up!"
When asked, Andra Stefanoni and Scott Meeker were heard to say: "You are the best, Carol! Don't you listen to them! Now let's go have lunch!"
Those people on KZRG talking crap on the audit are not helping their cause. If there's nothing wrong, you'll be good. Or you can call people stupid and make yourself look defensive.
Most of us will never have this opportunity, but if you donated $500,000 + to something would you at least feel like it was within your right to ask questions? I don't doubt that Humphreys has enough connections to ask questions in his own right and that he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think it would put some things to rest.
Let's let it happen and see where it goes. Someone will be vindicated, and if everyone believes in their cause there shouldn't be anything to be afraid of or call people names over.
I find it amusing that it is David Humphreys who is doing this. For the last several months, CJ has told anyone who would listen that David Humphreys has been pouring thousands of dollars into the Turner Report to keep it going. CJ always has to be the martyr. He reminds me of the old Charlie Brown song. "Why's everybody always picking on me?"
The administration machine is already pushing the thought that an audit is a waste of money and that the district is audited every year. This is not the same kind of audit and they expect us to buy their arguments. Even if there is nothing criminal going on and I find that hard to believe, the auditors are almost certain to take a dim view of many of the practices followed by the administration over the past few years, notably the travel. It is also about time we had someone qualified to examine the district's compliance with federal programs, especially Title I.
I am no fan of David Humphreys, but I am 100 percent behind him on this.
I have to agree with Anon at 2:36--I never thought I would see the day that I agreed with the Humphreys on anything, but this audit is needed even if CJ Huff is squeaky clean. Too much money from too many sources poured into the school system since the tornado--there should have been outside oversight in place from the first donation. I'll be signing.
Did you see how ridiculously biased the wording is on the Globe website poll question: "If a local petition drive is successful, a state audit of the Joplin School District’s finances will be held. Joplin taxpayers will foot the estimated $70,000 to $100,000 cost. Are you in favor of conducting the audit?" How dumb do you have to be to not see how they are trying to get you to answer. Why not word the question like this: If a petition drive is successful, a state audit of Joplin School District's finances will be held. Joplin taxpayers could potentially save vast amounts of money if administration mismanagement or corruption is discovered. Are you in favor of conducting an audit?
Thank you, David Humphreys for requesting this audit. Those of us who feel intimidated because we feel if we speak up, we may suffer the consequences of retaliation, appreciate that you are taking a stand against these bullies. Things are out of control in this city.
I'm not opposed to an audit, but here's an idea:
If the audit report contains no material finding of impropriety, David Humphries pays for it out of his own pocket.
Better yet, Mr. Humphries is able to and should offer to reimburse the City for the audit expense regardless of the outcome, if he cares so much.
Mr. Humphries, who tossed a comparative pittance JPS's way after the tornado in the warm afterglow of the moment, which had the convenient side effect of heading off accusations of indifference after spending (tens of?) millions to build a school to siphon off as many Joplin kids as there are wealthy, self-important parents willing to pay. Where has Mr. Humphries been the last couple of decades while Joplin's public schools struggled? Well, part of the time wasn't he spending money on big city lawyers fighting the City over his parking tickets?
He's a regular John Q., he is.
And now he appears from nowhere with an offer no one seems able to refuse but Joplin can't afford, and we're all supposed to thank him?
All you public education advocates who loiter on this site can swallow your pride and blow kisses, but not me.
Hypocrites. Would you think an audit proposal from Rex S. was a great idea too?
And don't forget to take advantage of the great new member offers at Millenium when you go by to sign!
Stark thinks she is carrying a big stick after taking on Scearce and surviving it but her last mistake will be taking on Humphreys. He can buy and sell her skanky little newspaper any time he wants-and she knows it. That's why she is making a thinly veiled attempt to straddle the fence instead of trying to openly smear Humphreys like she did Scearce.
P*ss off Humpreys and get a pink slip Carol.
6:34--you're right. Many of us can't say anything or we'll be destroyed. They don't just want to hurt, they want to destroy.
7:20--Mr. Humphreys can do whatever he wants with his money. There should be options for everyone that fit their needs. Some kids need to be in the kind of setting offered at TJ. Others need the setting offered at College Heights. Others need what is offered in public schools. Don't forget, as someone else pointed out, Mr. Humphreys pays taxes so he is someone who deserves to know what is happening with his money just like the rest of us. If anything, he probably has even more reason since he donated specifically for tornado relief.
We need things fixed so that teachers can teach, students can learn and no one needs to wonder what in the world has happened to common sense and ethics.
Really? Self-important parents and wealthy? You are obviously mis-informed. Almost 30% of kids at TJ are on some type of scholarship or financial assistance thanks to the generosity of the Humphreys and others and our children are consistently outperforming public school children. I would pay my last dollar to keep my kids there. With your obvious superior intelligence, you'd think you would do a little research before stating blatant falsehoods. . You're no better than the Globe with an agenda
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