Complaints about fairness and accuracy generally are pretty straightforward.
But completeness? There are an almost unlimited number of stories that can be written and there are limits on staff and space.
Over the years, certain Jacksonville groups have continued to say they receive inadequate coverage. So that was the subject of a discussion May 17 at the Times-Union, a discussion sponsored by the national Associated Press Managing Editors group.
I invited guests to make their cases. The guests: Richard Danford, Urban League; retired engineer Robert Taylor, an African-American; Bobbi de Cordova-Hanks and Milanie Hatfield of the Women’s Center of Jacksonville; Mary Freeland of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission; Zann Williams, circuit director of the Guardian Ad Litem program; Glenn McKibbin, chief of the city Adult Services Division; and Jim Crooks, UNF professor and historian.
Here are some of the key points:
- The face of crime in the Times-Union is too often black, while the black middle class are less often seen in the newspaper. It’s a form of racial profiling. (Taylor).
- Too many front-page articles are superficially reported, leaving key questions unanswered. (Crooks)
- There ought to be a “community conscience page,” devoted to not just positive stories, but instructive and educational stories. Issue stories should be more solution-oriented. (Crooks)
- With over 100,000 senior citizens in this community, you can only get a few lines in the paper for senior activities. The monthly Senior Living section doesn’t have nearly enough local news. (McKibbin)
- News stories on children’s events sometimes are delayed so long that they lose their impact. (Freeland)
- Jacksonville has many excellent resources for women, which are not well-known. (Hatfield)
- The disparity in health care for women, minorities and the disabled is a huge story that is not covered. Hispanics too often are shown dancing rather than mainstreamed in regular coverage. (de Cordova-Hanks)
- The city’s 22 senior centers should be regularly covered in the community sections. (McKibbin)
- It shouldn’t be so difficult to get coverage for the needs of children. There is a severe shortage of foster parents and a growing gap between rich and poor. (Williams)
- The conservative editorial page needs to be balanced with guest columns from local readers, because it turns off many black readers from the newspaper. (Danford)
- Judging by space, Metro appears to be the least important section, when it should be the premier section of a local newspaper. (Danford)
Managing Editor Michael Richey responded: “It was a very informational meeting for me and others from our newsroom. We plan additional discussion among ourselves and we hope to meet again with members of the group. Certainly we will study all of the suggestions. We will implement changes in our coverage based on the same criteria we use in any coverage decisions, merit and appropriate use of our resources.”
Orange Park soccer title deserved mention
The list of notable achievements in high school sports last Wednesday missed the 4A state title in boys soccer for Orange Park High School, wrote Jim Meekins. They defeated Tampa Gaither, 1-0, in Tampa.
“The game was a thrilling and nerve-wracking affair that went into four overtime periods and a shootout,” Meekins said. “Tampa Gaither was the defending state champion, was playing at home and had the Florida high school player of the year on their team.”
My comment: Any high school team that won a state title deserved some mention. The Orange Park boys soccer team was ranked No. 4 in the nation.
