For the month of October, politics was the dominant continuing story in The Star. There were 10 articles about the congressional race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Josh Segall. Six stories by Star Editor at Large John Fleming covered the newspaper’s Editorial Board interviews with the candidates and their financial reports. Coverage also included articles by both candidates on the financial crisis (Oct. 3, Op Ed page, 9A), and a question-and-answer article (Oct. 19, 1E).
The Star’s coverage was substantial and balanced. If anything, it may have favored Rogers. An Oct. 1 story gave Rogers’ reasons for his vote for the financial rescue package; Segall’s views on the issue were not mentioned until the last three paragraphs of the 22-paragraph article. A story from the Opelika-Auburn News told about Rogers’ meeting with that paper’s Editorial Board (Oct. 18, 2A). There was no story about Segall’s meeting with the News.
The Star’s reporting could have been more complete. There was no analysis of Rogers’ six-year voting record, although the ratings of some organizations were given. There was little examination of Segall’s background. Readers didn’t learn about his days as a student in college and law school or much about his life since. One story said he was a “clerk with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Middle District of Alabama.” There is no such court. The Middle District has a U.S. District Court; there is a U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. There was no examination of the mostly negative TV ads of the candidates.
There was a useful article by Fleming about late contributions to the candidates. Amounts were given and PAC committee donations were listed (Oct. 28, 1A). The story discussed Rogers’ quarterly pre-election report, but it didn’t mention any “48-hour reports” required for large donations after Oct. 16. Segall’s 48-hour reports are cited.
Covering local races
The results of runoff elections for nonpartisan local elections in nine area towns and cities were reported Oct. 8. There were tabulations on Page 1A and stories inside. Results from Piedmont led the Page 1A tabulation, but the figures were reversed for mayor, giving losing candidate Mayor Charlie Fagan the winning percentage. Brian Young was correctly checked as the winner.
The lead paragraph of the story about the runoff for a place on the Anniston Board of Education, by Michael Bell (Oct. 8, 6A), read: “A former Anniston City Schools teacher and administrator on Tuesday defeated an 89-year-old businessman” The implication was that his age was the most important identification of incumbent board member Robert Etnire. Winner Richard Hooks was identified professionally. His age was not given.
An interesting story about Randolph County’s wet-dry referendum, by Mike Faulk, reflected good field interviews (Oct. 15, 1A). The article reported that Randolph County received substantial revenue from the Tennessee Valley Authority “for being a dry county.” This required explanation. On the face of it, the practice noted seems incredible. The Star followed up with another story by Faulk explaining the arrangement (Oct. 27, 1A).
The definitive analysis of the strange history of how Alabama regulates alcohol, by Hardy Jackson, was fascinating (Oct. 26, Insight, 1E).
“Local officials offer advice to new voters” provided readers with practical step-by-step information about the voting process and how to navigate it, by Faulk (Oct. 28, 1A).
Dateline confusion
The Star seems to be changing traditional journalistic practice about datelines. The dateline is the place listed in capital letters that precedes stories written outside Anniston. The Oct. 15 story about the alcohol referendum in Randolph County was datelined “RANDOLPH COUNTY.” Stories on Oct. 16 were datelined “CLEBURNE COUNTY,” and “ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT” (1B). Datelines have always been cities and towns, not areas like states or counties, or installations like the depot. It’s called a dateline because it used to include the date the story was written.
Who are they?
The names of many new news and sports writers are seen in The Star these days, new in that they have not been introduced to readers. Readers like to match names and faces. Introductory stories are good public relations and a friendly practice for a community newspaper.
Worth noting
Some other good work that brightened The Star’s pages in October:
“Whatever it takes,” a poignant, sensitive story about a courageous little boy fighting for a normal life despite a rare skin disease, by Brett Buckner, with a photo by Kevin Qualls that says it all (Oct. 19, 1B).
“Perrilloux’s biggest fan,” about a special child from Louisiana who traveled to Jacksonville to reunite with his hero, by Christa Turner, with fine pictures by Stephen Gross (Oct. 19, 1A).
