The "Happy Talk" election

sniffles5's picture

Today, June 30th, 2008, the Fayette County Republican party served notice on publisher Cal Beverly and The Citizen. Effective immediately, "happy talk" becomes coin of the realm. Tough questions will not be tolerated by Republican candidates for public office.

Accountability? Forget about it.

We're being asked to believe that the Sheriff candidates decided all by themselves on Monday morning not to answer the Citizen's questions, and that the majority of the Board of Education candidates decided Monday afternoon to also not answer the Citizen's questions. This is disingenious at best and ignorant at worst.

What this is, is nothing less than a naked power play by the local Republican power structure to get Cal and the Citizen to "tow the mark".

The Citizen stands now at a crossroads.

Will it stand by idly and let the petty fiefdoms of Fayette county (the Sheriff's dept and the Board of Education) continue to avoid public scrutiny?

Will the Sheriff's department continue their questionable travel policies and sketchy co-mingled "drug fund" expenditures?

Will the Board of Education continue to rename their meeting agendas as "recaps" and thumb their collective noses at Georgia Open Meeting law minutes?

Will the Citizen morph into a rah-rah sycophantic paper like the Fayette Daily News?

Folks, we live in interesting times.

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From http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:46am.

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.

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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:54am.

Be Accountable
Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.

— Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over journalistic conduct.
— Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.
— Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
— Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.
— Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

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Citizen Blogger
Submitted by buckstopshere on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 10:50am.

This one gets me...

Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

This from you? What a joke! I've watched you for quite some time trash people in writing day after day on these here blogs. I know who you are. What high standards have you set for yourself?

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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:53am.

Minimize Harm
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.

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Journalists should
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:51am.

Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.

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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:50am.

Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.

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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:49am.

Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.

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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:49am.

Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
— Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information.

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Sniffles, Sniffles, Sniffles......
Git Real's picture
Submitted by Git Real on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 11:52pm.

Will the Citizen morph into a rah-rah sycophantic paper like the Fayette Daily News?

Come on guy! Cal is a 'real' newspaper man and he knows how to run a 'real' newspaper. Just look at all the adds he's selling. Eye-wink Credit him for asking the tough questions. It speaks volumes about those that look down on the questioning and concerned community (the little people like you and I).

________

"That man was Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard".

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY


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Journalists should:
Submitted by CitizenBlogger on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 8:47am.

Seek Truth and Report It
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

— Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.

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sniffles: The Politicians
Submitted by skyspy on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 11:27pm.

No public servant is above questioning.

Let's get this straight: YOU WORK FOR US!!!

I used to be very complacent when it came to politicans(criminals) and politics. I am appalled at what I have found in some of my research. You may not have trouble from the first 104,000. people of Fayette County, but this citizen the 105,000 citizen is going to be asking a lot of questions.

I don't know which one of all of you town clowns is going to win; I just hope that the citizens of Fayette County will win for a change.

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Cal's no Tim Russert that's for sure
Submitted by pinkslip on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 7:14am.

Somehow Tim could ask a tough question without degrading someone, Cal thrives on degredation. Oh and I don't think these folks are sidestepping any issue. There have been two public forums and there's two more scheduled for July 7th and 8th. They've all attended except Mary Kay Bacallo who wasn't at either of them. I think that if you want to know what's going on you can go to the forum. Oh but then, you'd have to identify yourself when you ask a question......and we wouldn't want anyone knowing who we are, now would we? We just want to take pot shots at candidates anonymously!!

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No Pinkslip...Cal is not Tim Russert...
Submitted by TyroneTerror on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 9:00am.

but he is a journalist and he asks questions we all want to know the answers to.

And as for your I think that if you want to know what's going on you can go to the forum, that's hogwash. These candidates want MY vote, they should be overflowing with information, in any format they can, so that the public can make an informed decision.

Cal is offering them a chance to be heard, yet they choose to be silent!

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