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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Alternative Press as Default Fact-Checkers for The Cincinnati Enquirer?

One function of an independent and alternative press is to give voices to those who would otherwise be silenced by corporate interests. Another is to put pressure on other media outlets to do the right thing in terms of their coverage. But this week, it seems a new function has been effectively exercised: performing basic fact checking for The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Yesterday, we posted this article concerning an apparent mistake published about John Pepper and the so-called Freedom Center. According to the Enquirer, Pepper had no knowledge of anyone at the Center ever saying they would seek no further public funding.

We found a series of letters between Tom Brinkman and John Pepper, where Brinkman notices that Pepper simply ignored statements about such a promise being made. That public exchange of letters itself is proof that this is a topic with which Pepper should be familiar.

At the end of yesterday’s piece, I asked readers to pursue further documentation about this alleged promise not to seek further public funds.

Commenter “funnelcake” found a 2006 Enquirer article by Kimball Perry and Jon Craig entitled “Freedom center, stadium priorities.” (You can find the article for free by accessing NewsBank with your Public Library card.) The story includes this:

In March, Yates warned that the Freedom Center supporters “need to have a clear understanding of where the center is going, what its financial health was, what its financial future is.”

Yates made those earlier comments, he said, because the Freedom Center officials said they would seek no more public money after getting $41 million in public money toward its $110 million construction costs. Hamilton County built the $15 million platform and garage on which the center stands.

After extensive lobbying by Freedom Center President Spencer Crew and CEO John Pepper, Yates thinks the center should get the requested $2.85 million - as well as $10 million over the next five years. Yates will push to pay for the center’s daily operations.

I think the last paragraph is significant: Yates supports the so-called Freedom Center, but he seems very aware of this alleged “promise.”

Then, Kevin Osborne at the CityBeat blog posted another article yesterday about this same topic, locating yet another entry from the public record about this “promise.” He found a 2004 article by Dan Horn entitled “It’s built; will they come?”

Spencer Crew, the center’s executive director, says finances are on solid ground and should continue to improve once the center opens and shows private donors and the ticket-buying public how much it has to offer.

Although some other institutions, including the Cincinnati Museum Center, have turned to taxpayers for help with annual expenses, Crew says he doesn’t expect that to happen with the Freedom Center.

“We see ourselves as raising the necessary money,” he says. “I’m not going to say it’s a piece of cake, but I think it’s doable.”

Osborne follows up on that excerpt with some insights of his own:

As a reporter for The Cincinnati Post at the time, I also remember Crew making the claim. Moreover, Freedom Center staffers are also aware Crew made the statements because, privately, they concede that he was never authorized to make such statements at the time and the fallout has caused them headaches. Certainly The Enquirer’s editors could’ve looked to see if such claims were ever published before letting Pepper’s statement go unchallenged in today’s article.

And that is the point of this particular entry in this conversation: The Enquirer’s editors should have looked through their own archives before allowing Pepper’s claims to get printed without challenge. The public record shows that Pepper should have been very aware of such claims, and to think otherwise is unbelievable.

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