By: Joe Strupp The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer responded in an editorial today to complaints by outgoing North Carolina Governor Mike Easley of unfair coverage and ?gotcha? stories.
?Surely Governor Easley didn't mean it quite the way he said it,? the editorial began. ?Complaining the other day about press coverage, particularly in The N&O and The Charlotte Observer, Easley told the Greensboro News & Record that ?My job is to be nice to other people, and their job is to be nice to me. Just because they're not doing theirs doesn't mean I shouldn't do mine.?"
The editorial added, ?It was a jaw-dropping quote. Why? Because ?nice,? in this context, involves an elementary misconception of both the governor's duty and the press' job.?
?If Easley had opted for ?fair,? he'd have been close to the mark. There's an inevitable tension in the back-and-forth of governing, politics and, to be sure, newspapering. Facts are dug up and disputed. Sharp elbows get in their digs. Changes are called for, and made. The glue that keeps things civil -- and civil society together -- is a commitment to fairness.?
The editorial followed Easley?s comments to the News & Record of Greensboro, in which he complained about N&O stories such as those targeting the state?s probation and mental health systems.
?In audio posted on the Greensboro paper?s Web site, Easley also said the series on probation problems wasn?t fair to Correction Secretary Theodis Beck,? an Associated Press story said.
John Drescher, executive editor of The News & Observer, told AP the paper was doing its job by running tough stories.
?Gov. Easley might be the only person in North Carolina who thinks our probation system is working well and that the state is monitoring probationers as it should,? Drescher said. ?The correction secretary himself has acknowledged the state needs to do a better job.?
The governor also said he believed newspapers were critical of him because of a dispute over state employees deleting e-mail, AP reported, adding, ?After the mental health series was published in February, it became clear that e-mails were being deleted. Ten news organizations, including The Associated Press, sued the administration contending the deletion of e-mail violated state records law.?
Easley said keeping e-mail was costly and he thought the news organizations wanted to see messages that were confidential. Drescher said the parties in the lawsuit are in discussions and that all state government e-mail should be considered a public record, AP added.
The entire editorial can be found at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/
editorials/story/1350429.html
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