During August, two readers of The Star questioned the impact of a political contribution on the newspaper’s reporting.
In an e-mail, Dr. Lori Owens, associate professor of political science at Jacksonville State University, referred to Star Editor at Large John Fleming’s column about money in the 3rd District congressional race (Aug. 12, 1A). Owens wrote, “I am a little curious as to how The Star can talk about the larger amount of money from PACs given to Rogers when Josephine Ayers has donated $2,000 to the Segall campaign. How can (The Star) claim any objectivity in this race if the chairman/publisher’s wife is making contributions to one of the candidates?”
Owens is often quoted in Star articles as an expert on local and state politics. She is an active Republican.
In a letter to Speak Out (Aug. 25, 8A), Lisa Hatz, of Oxford, made the same point: “Fleming failed to mention that Star Publisher H. Brandt Ayers’ wife contributed $2,000 to Segall. Should that donation not bring into question every article The Star writes about this race?”
In his latest column (Aug 26, 11A), Fleming wrote, “I regret the omission” of the Ayers contribution from his earlier column. Nine Anniston residents made donations of $200 or more to Segall, according to Federal Election Commission records. Fleming named only four in the Aug. 12 article. He listed only three local contributors to U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers. He did not include the amount of any contribution. It matters whether someone gives $250, or $2,300.
Does a political contribution from a member of the ownership family compromise the newspaper’s “objectivity” in news coverage? The publisher sits on the editorial board, which will endorse a candidate for Congress. The Star’s editorial page will run editorials supporting the board’s selection, but news coverage is another matter.
The news staff operates separately from the opinion pages. That separation is an important part of newspaper ethics. The Star’s publisher is not involved in day-to-day news coverage. He has made it clear that the news staff should report on politics in a fair and balanced way. Mrs. Ayers’ donation may cause a perception problem, but it will not affect the way news reporters cover the campaign. (Full disclosure: I am an active Democrat, and I gave $50 to the Segall campaign.)
Solid report on election
With many communities and candidates involved, and little time between the counting of the votes and The Star’s press deadline, the newspaper produced a solid report on area elections on Aug. 27. The front-page summary of winners in nine local elections, along with their photos, was an effective layout. There were complete box tallies for Anniston, Oxford, Jacksonville and Piedmont.
There were 23 pre-election stories during the month. Five candidate forums were well covered, although one, sponsored by the Historic Anniston Downtown Business Association, was not reported until a week after it happened.
More information needed
Three stories about the role of money in local elections gave figures on money raised and spent, but few specifics about donors. A total of six contributors to mayoral candidates in Oxford and Anniston were named, with amounts given.
Two political action committees were named as giving to Oxford Mayor Leon Smith, Group PAC and AL Group PAC. Who are they? It means little to name PACs without identifying who they represent (Aug. 6, 1A). Asked why more complete data from candidates’ campaign finance reports were not published, Star Managing Editor Anthony Cook said, “We noted the more significant contributions and we told readers to go online for the complete reports.” He said the reports were posted on the Star’s Web site. However, the stories did not refer readers to the Web site.
Project good, but had gaps
The anniversary series, spanning four Sundays and one Monday (July 27-Aug. 18), was an impressive project. Covering the first 125 years of Anniston’s history, the tabloid-size sections provided historic photos, interesting articles and an effective design by Tosha Jupiter. Bill Edwards contributed two unusual features, a timeline across the top of the pages and “generational kudzu,” tracing the ties between early Anniston residents and current Annistonians.
There were some gaps, inevitably. The Korean Presbyterian Church was not included in an article about the diversity of the city’s religious life, by Brett Buckner. The narrative of the black community was incomplete. There was a generational sketch of Dr. Gordon Rogers, a story about “Anniston’s music man,” William Levi Dawson, by Megan Nichols, and several black leaders also were noted during discussion of the civil rights strife. But there was little information about the size of the black population in different eras, where they worked and how they lived.
