12th Jan 2012 at 16:52 | By Brian Sikma
Reporter Covers Fitzgerald Recall, Supports Recall Effort
By: Brian Sikma
As the clock runs out on the initiative to recall Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), organizers are urging volunteers to continue to collect as many signatures as possible. The more signatures they have, the better it is for their effort because inevitably a number of signatures will be found invalid. Building a so-called “buffer” is a smart strategy.
On the official Facebook page of the Recall Fitzgerald campaign an update was placed, most likely by Lori Compas, the recall organizer, asking volunteers to continue to sign up for signature gathering shifts and providing volunteers with a few key details for the final push. Fascinatingly, the first comment left on the post was from a man named Ryan Whisner who said, “You can do it Lori!”
Whisner is a reporter for the Jefferson County Daily Union, a newspaper based in Ft. Atkinson, squarely inside of Sen. Fitzgerald’s district. The owners of the paper are considered by some to be conservative.
Whisner has written articles covering the recall Fitzgerald effort. His most recent story ran in the paper the day before he left his pro-recall Facebook comment.
Certainly reporters are entitled to their own political opinions, but it would seem that a reporter whose beat includes covering the recall effort should not be publicly picking sides one way or the other. Perhaps it is this kind of bias that has caused the public to lose confidence in so-called impartial, unbiased reporting.
Whisner and other reporters would do well to fully disclose any general predispositions they have when it comes to the news that they cover. But then disclosing those biases would need to mean that the stories reporters produce and the publications they produce them for be no longer viewed as impartial arbiters of fact. What is needed in media is not the masquerade of impartial journalism, what is needed is a healthy dose of honesty and reality that does not mislead the public into thinking that reporters and editors are the ultimate guardians of an informed citizenry.
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Discussion | 9 Comments on "Reporter Covers Fitzgerald Recall, Supports Recall Effort"
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William Casey said
Jan 13, 2012 at 6:42 PM
“lose confidence”, not “loose confidence”. There are a lot of grammar Nazis on the left, and they’ll see any misspelling or typo as airtight proof that you’re dumb.
(there seem to be a lot of actual Nazis on the left, too, but I admit that’s just mere speculation)
Niel Wright said
Jan 27, 2012 at 9:43 PM
Leftist Nazis? Maybe that’s why the correct title is “National Socialist”!
R K Jossart said
Jan 17, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Since when does a lib worry about what is fair and honest? Asking them for fairness and honesty is a waste of time. Libs relish the times when they can cheat and lie. Wisconsin has to suffer because of them and their way of doing business! Sad!!
Nita said
Jan 18, 2012 at 9:49 PM
“In this world of sin and sorrow there is always
something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice
that I am not a Republican.” — H. L. Mencken
Leon said
Jan 21, 2012 at 6:02 PM
@Nita
Is that the same Mencken who was elitist, racist, and not a believer of representative democracy?
“. .the negro, no matter how much he is educated, must remain, as a race, in a condition of subservience; that he must remain the inferior of the stronger and more intelligent white man so long as he retains racial differentiation.”-H.L. Mencken
chet said
Mar 3, 2012 at 5:59 AM
Seems the second quote pretty much explains the first one. Yes, I know, Nita. Counter-intutive. Go read post-civil war history. You’ll be amazed. That the racist Lyndon Johnson managed to flip African-Americans into thinking the Democrats were on their side is a very sad page of history.