Op-Ed Columns

A community newspaper promotes local projects. It also covers them as news. There can be tension between these functions.

The Star gave strong support to the Music at McClellan series. There were many stories welcoming the series as good family recreation and cultural enrichment.

Did The Star cover the concert series as news? Yes and no. It was covered as art. It was covered as breaking news, with stories about each concert. It was not covered as economic news.

The finances of the series were not reported. How was the money raised? How much did it cost to bring the Alabama Symphony Orchestra to its "summer home?" Music at McClellan was an artistic and popular success. But was the budget balanced?

Filming at McClellan

Another McClellan story concerned hopes that film producers can be attracted to McClellan's historic sites. The story, by Megan Nichols, described a legislative bill that would offer tax and rebate incentives for film companies to come to Alabama (June 19, Page 1A).

The Star has carried several stories on this topic. The idea that economic development might involve the glamour of films is attractive. The recent article quoted Joint Powers Authority member Pete Conroy saying that the state has already missed film opportunities for the lack of an incentive package. He said the Lifetime television show Army Wives could have been filmed at McClellan, if the state offered incentives. Conroy is quoted directly, "That one project would have brought in nearly $90 million in on-the-ground spending to this area."

These statements are persuasive, if they can be substantiated. Did Army Wives producers talk to the JPA about coming here? How was the $90 million total figured? The story provided no specific information. There is no published indication that The Star asked for details.

A good series

Based on the first four parts, The Star's editorial series on "predatory lending" will be a significant contribution to public understanding of the short-term loan industry in Alabama. The editorials, well-written and displayed, show how the industry operates and the cost to the lives of real people. This is fine editorial research and advocacy.

The series continues through Sunday.

Judging Star's work

The Star did well this year in two newspaper competitions. In one, the Associated Press Managing Editors contest, The Star was judged with other midsized papers, those in Tuscaloosa, Dothan, Decatur, Florence and Gadsden. The Star won eight first places and 17 awards overall, second to The Tuscaloosa News, which took 22 awards, including 12 first places (The Star, April 30).

In the other contest, the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, the midsized dailies were judged in the same division with high-circulation newspapers in Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile. The Star placed fourth, winning 12 awards, including two first places (June 4, 1B).

In this contest, The Birmingham News was first in total awards, The Mobile Press-Register second, The Decatur Daily third.

Both contests judged material published in 2007.

Some fine work this month:

• Laura Tutor's article, "Tomorrow's leaders," interviewed women in Alabama and Calhoun County about their leadership positions and their efforts to encourage girls to aspire to leadership (June 15, 1E). You don't have to agree with the story's implication that females may be best qualified to lead to appreciate this interesting view of the roles of women tomorrow.

• "Taking it to the limit," by Nick Cenegy, made the issue of ending Anniston's police jurisdiction easy to understand (June 22, 1A). The story showed the risks to people living within the jurisdiction and the considerable increase in the responsibilities of the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office.

And some problems:

• "Judge races bucks trend in Alabama" suggested that the amount spent in the Republican primary for circuit court judge between incumbent Mannon Bankson and Ray Bryan was small, bucking a trend of high spending in judicial races for the state Supreme Court and and the state Court of Criminal Appeals, by Cenegy (June 11, 1A).

The comparison makes no sense. Local elections are always much less expensive than statewide races. The article failed to list contributors to the campaigns, saying that the figures are available on the Web site of the Alabama Secretary of State's office. Why didn't The Star provide the information as part of its coverage?

• "Gabba Gabba Radio," about a new rock FM station, was confusing. What does "Gabba Gabba" mean? What is "the recent 'Guitar Hero' phenomenon"? This may be a generation gap, but newspaper articles should be understood by a wide range of readers. Who owns the new station? Is it a new frequency or did an existing station change formats? The article provided lots of jargon, but was weak on facts, by Trace William Cowan (June 5, 1D).