Op-Ed Columns

A class project of the Knight Community Journalism Fellows helped The Star focus attention in April on the local issues of concern to the people of northeast Alabama. The effort involved public meetings in Anniston and Oxford and interviews with 193 area residents. The Fellows are graduate students who are learning their trade at The Star.

The students conducted the meetings, in Anniston April 15 and Oxford April 17, and their reports were carried in The Star's Sunday Insight sections. The Anniston article appeared April 20, with residents' comments included in short editorials about leadership, education, parks and recreation and economic potential. The report was by Jeremy Cox, with contributions from three of his classmates. It was an interesting mix of citizen views with ideas from the students.

The article on the Oxford meeting, April 27, reported on an upbeat discussion. Those attending were generally pleased with their community. There were concerns about the conflict between Oxford Mayor Leon Smith and City Council members. The story was written by Cassandra Mickens and three other students.

Interviewing 193 people from 14 communities and blending their views into one article is a formidable challenge. All eight Fellows and one of their University of Alabama professors, Ed Mullins, contributed to "Pieces of us," by Laura Tutor (April 20, Page 1A). The story was well written, distinguishing the opinions of city residents from people living in more rural areas. There also was a table showing the strengths and weaknesses of northeast Alabama life as seen by its people. The content analysis behind the table is not well explained, making it hard for readers to understand the results.

The story was impressive, but it needed more discussion about the process. How were the interviews obtained? How were those interviewed distributed among the communities? How about factors like age, gender and race?

On the road with Meehan

The Star is covering an important story about Jacksonville State President Bill Meehan, who is under consideration for the presidency of Valdosta State University in Georiga. There were articles, April 18 and 19, by Dan Whisenhunt, who traveled to Valdosta to cover Meehan's interview there and wrote stories April 29 and 30 and May 1.

In the first article (April 18, 1A), there were four paragraphs referring to the "plagiarism allegations" raised by The Star last August about Meehan's columns in Piedmont and Jacksonville newspapers. The story said that Meehan was asked if the issue "might hurt his chances." Why was the matter raised? It seemed out of place in a story about a job possibility — unless The Star was going to look at every aspect of Meehan's service. However, the May 1 story reported that the Valdosta State student newspaper had brought up the issue there.

The interview stories gave readers a comparison between Valdosta and JSU and a description of the Valdosta campus. What The Star has not yet told readers of its print editions: Who are the other candidates for the position? How many candidates have been interviewed so far? (A candidates' list and a link to the Valdosta State Web site did appear with The Star's initial Internet report about Meehan's candidacy.)

Public business in Anniston

An allegation that a resident has been assaulted by a police officer is a serious matter. When such a charge was made against an off-duty Anniston officer (April 9, 4A), The Star was denied access to the police report, even though such reports are normally provided routinely and are considered open records under state law. According to the article, by Nick Cenegy, Anniston Police chief Johnny Dryden said it was department policy to withhold complaints involving officers until after an internal investigation. The Star could not verify the identity of the officer, who was named by the complainant.

A day later, when the internal investigation was completed, the record was made public (April 10, 2B). City Manager George Monk said he had held a private hearing and that the officer had been suspended without pay "for an undisclosed amount of time," with "other conditions" on his employment (April 24, 1B).

Why are the terms of the suspension kept secret? This is very much the public's business. Is The Star taking any steps to find out? The April 24 story, by Cenegy, left out the details of the complaint. You can never assume that readers have seen, or will remember, a story published weeks earlier. Each story must stand on its own. The story did not include the time and date of the alleged assault, only that the incident occurred "earlier this month."

Story needs more explanation

A front-page story in the May 1 Star reported that, "A disaffected coach took a swing at a little league umpire after his team lost a game Tuesday night." The story, by Cenegy, states the incident as fact, not as a claim or allegation. The second paragraph does use the word "reportedly." The umpire was named and quoted, but the supposed assailant was not named. Why? Presumably whatever happened was seen by many people. The coach's identity is known. Why leave it out of the story? If there is a reason, the newspaper should have given it.