Voice For Liberty

Tag: Wichita news media

  • Wichita Child Advocacy Center still in business, despite headline

    A headline in the Thursday August 6, 2009 Wichita Eagle is a little bit misleading: “Sedgwick County budget saves pavilions, denies site for abused kids.”

    Recognizing that the reporter who wrote the story probably didn’t write the headline, the fact is that the Sedgwick County Commission didn’t deny a site for the Child Advocacy Center. This Center is still operating. What happened at the meeting is that the county commission declined to grant a last-minute request for funding that would improve the Center’s office quarters.

    The request for funding was sprung on the commission at the last moment, with Wednesday’s meeting being the first time the commission received a formal request. Commissioner Karl Peterjohn told me that representatives from the Center didn’t attend public workshops or hearings, or participate in the budget process. They did have private discussions with some commissioners, including Peterjohn, but these discussions, in Peterjohn’s case, were general in nature and did not contain a specific request.

    Peterjohn pointed out that in light of the recent problems with Rainbows United and their bankruptcy filing, it is only prudent for the county to expect a business plan with specific details. That was not presented to the county commissioners.

    It’s important to note, Peterjohn said, that the Center’s current location is provided at no cost from state of Kansas, in the state office building downtown. The state even pays utilities.

    Testimony by Diana Schunn, Child Advocacy Center executive director, revealed that sometimes victims of crimes and perpetrators of crimes might have to use the same waiting room, which I can understand might be uncomfortable. But the center schedules cases so that victims and offenders in the same case aren’t there together.

    Schunn also mentioned that parking is a problem at the state office building. Questioning by Peterjohn revealed that people don’t want to pay a fee to park in a garage adjacent to the state office building. (That garage charges a flat rate of $3.00 to park all day.) While there is a visitors’ parking lot a block away, people don’t like to use it.

    The action the county commission took — or rather didn’t take — is far removed from denying a site for abused kids, as might be concluded if all one did was to read the Wichita Eagle headline. The Center is functioning, although in conditions that might be less than ideal.

    Related to this issue is the consideration that the county funded a pavilion used for, among other things, horse and dog shows. Some have asked: aren’t children more important?

    Yes, they are. That’s why I would have voted to let the horse and dog show people fully pay for their pavilions.

  • Wichita July 4 tea party coverage

    There’s some coverage of the Wichita, Kansas tea party on television. Click on Wichita tea party coverage on KSN TV to view coverage from KSN Television.

    Susan Estes, Western Kansas Field Director for AFP-Kansas does a great job explaining the spirit behind the tea parties.

    Jason Kravarik, the reporter for KSN Television, as part of the story consulted a Wichita State University professor who expressed doubt about the ability of the tea party movement to generate broad appeal. That’s a problem that those who advocate for freedom face. Many people have a stake in the government continuing to dish out goodies. Those who simply want to be left alone to pursue their lives and happiness in freedom are a distinct minority.

    By the way, KSN reporter Kravarik is benefiting from government in a way that you and I probably can’t. He lives in a downtown condominium building that is seeking to extend Wichita’s facade improvement program in ways it hasn’t been applied. In order for Kravarik’s building to benefit — and he did sign the petition that pleads for this special treatment — the city will have to waive two standards that buildings have previously had to meet in order to qualify for special assessment financing. See In Wichita, special assessment financing gone wild for details.

  • Wichita Eagle reporter to speak to Pachyderms

    This Friday, Wichita Eagle investigative and special reporter Dion Lefler will speak to the Wichita Pachyderm Club. Here’s information about Lefler supplied by the Pachyderm Club:

    Dion Lefler is an investigative reporter for the Wichita Eagle, specializing in government and politics.

    Dion has been at the Eagle for 11 years. Before that, he was a reporter and editor with several papers in the Los Angeles area, including the Los Angeles Daily News and the Pasadena Star-News. Dion has a journalism degree from California State University, Northridge, and has been covering politics across the spectrum since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign.

    Recently, he received two Heart of America awards, for online coverage of the Democratic National Convention and a package of stories that halted a city of Wichita plan to provide $11 million in incentives to a developer with a history of lawsuits, bad debts and bounced checks.

    All are welcome to attend Pachyderm meetings. Lunch is $10, or you may attend the meeting only for $3.

    At Pachyderm meetings, there’s usually plenty of time for the speaker to take questions from the audience. The meeting starts at noon, although those wishing to order lunch are encouraged to arrive by 11:45. The location is Whiskey Creek Steakhouse at 233 N. Mosley in Old Town. You can view a map of this location by clicking on Google map of 233 N. Mosley.

  • Former Wichita Eagle editor addresses journalism, democracy

    On Friday, former Wichita Eagle editor W. Davis “Buzz” Merritt Jr. spoke to members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club.

    He retired as editor of the Eagle in 1999. He is the author of the book Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism Is Putting Democracy at Risk.

    Merritt said there are two things to think about today. One is that journalism must somehow survive if democracy is to survive. The two are interdependent. One can’t exist without the other.

    The second is that democracy can’t survive on opinions alone. “The plasma of democracy is shared information,” he said. People need a way to discuss the implications of that shared information, forming the mechanism of democracy.

    Merritt sees a notion, becoming more reinforced, that opinions are more important that information. Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone has good information. With everyone having a megaphone, there’s no check on irresponsibility.

    We’re entitled to free speech, but we’re not entitled to our own facts, he said. Journalism has been the provider of this shared information that makes democracy possible.

    Changes in the information environment have been wonderful, he said. “The problem is the rutabaga man can vote.” He may be interested only in rutabagas, and that’s all he searches for on his computer, but there’s information and facts he needs to know in order to participate in democracy.

    It’s clear that newspapers are in trouble, Merritt says. We don’t necessarily need newspapers, but we need the type of journalism that newspapers have traditionally provided. A concern is that the infrastructure that supports journalism will go away before the transfer is made to online delivery of journalism.

    How did newspapers get in such trouble? The key event is the shift from family ownership to institutional ownership of newspapers. The search for ever-increasing profits by the new owners lead to cost-cutting measures that have snowballed. (If you read “Knightfall” you’ll learn that one of the things the Wichita Eagle did to cut costs was to stop delivery to western Kansas.)

    If journalism like that which newspapers provide goes away, democracy is in terrible trouble. “No shared information, no place to discuss the implications of that information, no place for politics, government, and public life to work.” Replacing this with under-informed opinion is a cause for concern for our democracy.

    A questioner asked why doesn’t the press aggressively report about ACORN? Merritt replied “How do you know about ACORN?” The point is that newspapers have reported on ACORN.

    Another question asked how much ideology has contributed to the problems of newspapers, the premise being that newspapers are out of touch with their readers. Merritt replied that newspapers do have an ideology — on their editorial pages. That’s where a newspaper expresses its opinion. There may be surveys that show that journalists identify more with liberal than conservative thought, but Merritt doesn’t believe that to be that case, in his experience. People who want to see things change are often attracted to journalism as a career.

    In a response to a question, Merritt recommended contacting the newspaper with specific examples of bias, if readers sense it in the news reporting.

    A question that I asked is whether the declining resources of the Wichita Eagle might create the danger that local government officials feel they can act under less scrutiny, or is this already happening? Merritt replied that this has been going on for some time. “The watchdog job of journalism is incredibly important and is terribly threatened.” When all resources go to cover what must be covered — police, accidents, etc. — there isn’t anything left over to cover what should be covered. There are many important stories that aren’t being covered because the “boots aren’t on the street anymore,” he said.

    In response to another question, Merritt said that the “contradictions are too enormous” for government to use public money to support journalism. There may be conflicts of interest, too, in foundation ownership of newspapers. These may have to be tolerated in order to preserve journalism.

  • Wichita tea party covered in East Wichita News

    Cathy Feemster, Managing Editor of East Wichita News, has some great coverage of the Wichita tea party protest on tax day. Click on 2,000 ‘Tea Party’ at Grass Roots Protest for the story.

  • Tillman story may leave wrong impression of Wichita tea party

    The Wichita Eagle news story Democrat Tillman enters race for 4th District seat may give its readers an incorrect impression of the Wichita tea party protest held on tax day.

    In the story, the reporter quotes Robert Tillman as saying “Confederate flags (were) flown at the Republican tea party.”

    The first half of this statement is true, but hardly indicative of the sentiment of tea party protesters.

    I have about 360 photographs that I took at the tea party. Looking at them, I saw one confederate flag.

    I called Robert Tillman, the subject of the story and whose quote appears above, and asked him how many of these flags he saw. He said “at least two.”

    At least 2,000 people attended the Wichita tea party. So a rate of one confederate flag per 1,000 people, I’d venture to say, hardly supports the impression that readers may get from this story.

    By the way, an informal survey by a television reporter of 100 people at the tea party found 46 who identified themselves as Republicans. So the claim that it was a “Republican tea party” is not substantiated either.

  • Flint Hills Center adds investigative reporter

    The Flint Hills Center for Public Policy in Wichita announces the hiring of an investigative reporter. The press release is below.

    As newspapers, magazines, and television face tough economic times, it’s thought that one model that might emerge is journalism sponsored by non-profit institutions such as the Flint Hills Center.

    I believe that journalism is a vitally important institution in our country. It’s a necessary function in any democracy. With mounting layoffs at newspapers, many papers simply don’t have the manpower to produce the in-depth investigative reporting that keeps government, especially, in check. Wichitans and Kansans should welcome this innovative effort by the Flint Hills Center and wish Paul Souter good luck as he starts a new chapter in his career.

    Public Policy Center Adds Investigative Reporter

  • Articles of Interest

    Journalism, crime alerts, war on drugs, minimum wage, stimulus and education

    The State of the Fourth Estate (Jordan Ballor at the Acton Institute) What will happen to journalism in the digital age? The article describes its importance to a free society, with reflection from a Christian view.

    Alert system tells you when a crime occurs (Stan Finger in the Wichita Eagle) Receive email or text messages alerts concerning crime in your area by signing up at www.citizenobserver.com. Maybe criminals will start using Twitter to tweet about their escapes, making it easier for police to capture them. While email and text messages are fine, this is a good application for Twitter, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this service expanded to include Twitter.

    From the Trenches of the Drug War: A Street Cop’s Perspective (The Future of Freedom Foundation) Speaking of crime … what is the true cost of the war on drugs? Lessons from the front.

    Raising BC’s minimum wage: Good intentions, bad policy (The Frazer Institute) As we in Kansas appear ready to raise our state’s minimum wage — with good intentions (I wonder about that sometimes) — consider the well-known unintended consequences: “The most damaging consequence of minimum wage increases is that employers respond by reducing the number of workers they employ and/or the number of hours their employees work. In other words, minimum wage increases result in higher unemployment for low-skilled workers and young people. This unpleasant reality is well documented in the research.”

    Spec. Ed. Stimulus Money Raising Cautions (Education Week) Managing the use of stimulus money may be tricky: “Within the next few weeks, though, the federal tap will open up, releasing an extra $6.1 billion for districts to use for special education, with another $6.1 billion to come later this year. … Though grateful for the largess, school leaders face restrictions with that money. The rules governing the use of federal special education money mean that it’s unwise for districts to use the added funding to start new programs or hire new teachers. If they were to do so, districts would have to continue to pay for those costs in two years, when the federal infusion goes away, under a provision in the IDEA that requires districts to avoid making large cuts in programs from year to year.” What should the money be spent on? Professional development is one recommendation mentioned.

  • Wichita homeless schoolchildren count exaggerated

    When an institution needlessly exaggerates the severity of a situation, it diminishes the plight of the true problem.

    That’s the case with USD 259, the Wichita public school district, when it reports that 1,200 Wichita schoolchildren are homeless.

    As reported in the Wichita Eagle story 1,200 Wichita school kids are homeless, if you do a little arithmetic, the number of children that are in what any reasonable person would call a “homeless” situation is less than 500.

    Of the 1,200 that the Wichita school district claims as homeless, 700 live with another family. They’re not homeless, at least in any meaningful sense of the word. A comment left to the Eagle story got it just right:

    It is sad when children are in this situation, but I must protest the massive headline and small disclaimer above it. If you read the article, the true number of homeless kids is about 500. The feds and their counting guidelines … they’re all about creating victims and giving school districts another way to collect more federal funds for surrogate parenting. If a child stays with friends who have taken him/her in, that child is not homeless. It may not be ideal, but it may actually be a better situation than the one they’d be in with their real parent(s). As time passes and people forget the details in this article, all they will remember is the deceptive headline, and they will quote that number (1200) time and time again.

    The comment writer is correct. This needless victim-creating diminishes the problem of the true homeless.