By Joel Thurtell
[donation]
I don’t give a rat’s ass whether the governor of Michigan called a federal prosecutor.
But I’m sick and tired of the Detroit Free Press dumping on the world its daily tabloid-style rants dressed up as journalism.
What really galls me is the proliferation of the “sources said” stories.
Know what I mean?
As in, “Sources: Granholm asked feds about mayor’s dad.”
That was the huge head that led the Saturday, July 19, 2008 Detroit Free Press.
God, I’m sick of their anonymous hype.
Think I’m exaggerating? Check the July 25 Free Press, with another Page One double-deck headline — “Mayor faces new probe for run-in with officers.” What’s this one about? Seems hizzoner maybe roughed up a process server. Or maybe not. He denies it. It’s a pissing match, back and forth, but on the record. Toward the end of the story, apparently hoping to stack the deck against Kilpatrick, the Free Press unleashes one, two (how many is not clear) nameless sources who diss the mayor.Â
Who are these nameless chatterboxes? How credible are they? The Freepsters could tell us, but they don’t. Why are these people allowed to speak without attribution? Are they afraid for their jobs. Their lives? Or are they just every-day backstabbers running their mouths for the daily rag?
More and more, it seems, the Free Press can’t get stories without letting its chicken-hearted sources hide behind the “sources said” cloak. Remember the Sludgegate stories the Free Press recently broke about alleged bribe-taking by some of Detroit’s City Council members? That biggie was leaked, because federal court rules ban employees of the Justice Department handing out these off-the-record treasures. At least, that’s what the feds told me when I called for quotes. Hmmm. Maybe I should have bought somebody lunch. But it appears they are talking to the Free Press.
I have no evidence for this, no “sources said” to hide behind, but I believe the leaks are sanctioned from the top. More than likely the source was not a whistle-blower, but a federal foot soldier trying to tilt public opinion ahead of a trial. A policy leak. Taint the jury pool anyone? Did the newspaper let itself be used as a tool of “sources said”? Wouldn’t be the first time. But hey, makes a great headline.
The gist of the latest Free Press expose is that Gov. Granholm maybe tried to mess in an ongoing FBI investigation of Bernard Kilpatrick, father of Detroit’s embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The allegation is shaky as hell, and based entirely on “sources said.”
Granholm flat-out denies it.
I know, I know. Journalists never believe officials like Granholm. Remember what I.F. Stone said about considering all public officials liars, prima facie, until they prove otherwise? Sure, that goes for the governor. It also goes for inside sources at the federal building.
Oh well. Doesn’t stop the Free Press from forging ahead with a long story that assumes the allegations — from unnamed sources — are true.
And it follows, according to custom-made Free Press logic, that the guv must be lying because the paper’s buddies, presumably federal court insiders, must be telling the truth.
Course, the “sources” could be anyone. We have to trust the newspaper to be fair and honest.
Oh boy.
We just passed the 13th anniversary of July 13, 1995, the beginning of the longest newspaper strike in U.S. history.
Fair and honest was what the unions asked of the Detroit dailies. What they got was a lockout. Followed by a years-long attempt at breaking the unions. Nice bunch of guys, Gannett and Knight-Ridder.
How newspaper owners treat their workers is a fair measure, I believe, of how they treat their readers.
On July 13, 1995, the Detroit papers lost whatever credibility they still had after lying their way into the 1989 Joint Operating Agreement.
Now, nearly two decades later, they expect readers to bow down and believe every “sources said” diatribe they print.
Come on, Freepsters — give us some names. Let us be the judge your sources’ credibility — and of your own.
Contact me at joelthurtell(at)gmail.com
Remember the Young administration? Could be combination that the “punishment” for speaking out isn’t as great and that city workers are more upset.
The ghost of Coleman Young still haunts the city.