The Lackadaisical Daily News

[XLFD]

The recent abduction of Baby Kate has shown the limited ability of our local newspaper of record.  Reduced to having its stories either delivered to them by the local officials, with the inherent slant they add, or through the wire services, its journalists have grown lazy and primarily motivated by a desire to not offend the sources of their toothless stories. 

To whit, the paper dutifully reports what officials are telling it, and then runs with it, with little analysis or further investigation into what is going on.  To do so might make their inside sources upset, and not alert them to news in the future, one may presume. 

Do I say this because the paper has accepted two slanderous reports from City Manager John Shay about me in November and March, and went with them without even consulting me?  That helps; but just read the local paper since the abduction (http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/ search "kate")and then check out WOOD TVs coverage of the story.  :

1) WOODTV from Grand Rapids did a FOIA on the 911 call and printed the results 911 Call Baby Kate

2) That same news organization broke the story about the crucial delays of the Amber Alert by LPD Chief Mark Barnett.

3) Consistently, they have supplied more information, and have not just provided fluff and a bunch of coverage about the school forest searches, which really should have been accomplished a lot quicker than one and a half weeks after Baby Kate went missing if it has any likelihood of being the place she is (which no evidence made public seems to point to).  It seems to me more like Chief Barnett and other civic leaders are utilizing that search more to save the image of Ludington in the national spotlight.  But maybe that's just my cynical interpretation.

Here is just a sample of more of their (WOOD) news articles; they along with other outlets like Mlive,the Muskegon Chronicle, TV 9&10, local radio, and WZZM have been the ones to turn to for the latest information on this story.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/Blood-droplets-found-n...

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/Phillips-friend-Doesnt... 

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/Kates-alleged-kidnappe...

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/Where-is-Kate-Baby-van...

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/Wendy's-worker%3APhill...

 

Bland news with no journalistic substance, with only an occasional flair of style that wins them newspaper awards from modern-day journalists more attuned to style without substance.  That's what daily passes for newsprint in Ludington.

 

[easymoney]

Welcome to living in a small community, there are no hidden secrets for minions

[XLFD]

Another interesting shortcoming I uncovered about the LDN today, while doing some research on other things, was that they dutifully reported a missing life ring back on Tuesday June 14th, but didn't report on the subsequent life ring shenanigans two days after, unlike, you guessed it, WOOD TV reported. 

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_mich/life-rings-stolen-in-L...

Apparently, three other life rings came up missing, with two of them washing ashore the next day.  Maybe the LDN figured their original story inspired it, but they got scooped by this Grand Rapids station once again.  Either way, I'm putting WOOD TV on my favorites so that I can read about what's happening here.

 

[Dave]

It is sad when you pretty much have to rely on a TV station 90 minutes away from Ludington to get your 'local' news. I know a lot of 'local' newspapers will have some sort of a slant to them but the LDN is starting to get a bit on the ridiculous side of things.

[AQUAMAN]

It's rather ridiculous to own a newspaper and not manage it's functions and personnel too, even if you are only here a few months a year. Cell phones and faxes can bridge that gap easily. Stepping up to the plate to oversee the operation seems to be a mundane effort for the publisher, until that is cured, nothing will change for the better unfortunately. Laziness and inept reporting will be routine.

[XLFD]

Aquaman, your post reminded me of an anecdote that happened early this last weekend.  An associate of mine called me on the phone, to relate to me that he had just seen a Ludington police wagon pull over a guy who was benignly rolling down the street with his motor scooter.  He noted that the police were shaking down anything on two wheels to uncover where Baby Kate was.

When I related this story to others, I accidentally called the 'Ludington Police Department' the 'Ludington Daily Police' without really thinking about it.  It seems to be getting harder to separate these entities for me.

[Dave]

Its to bad there wasn't a rich person in the area that could buy LDN and turn it back into a legitimate newspaper again. Have real reporters that don't do hatchet pieces, that actually research stories, heck, be nice if they even wrote their own stories more so then what they do.

[XLFD]

That would be nice, but barring such a new news mogul we can always hope that with the retirement of Paul S Peterson from the City Council at the end of this year, that once again the fourth estate will divorce itself from City Hall.  But this would also require some other severances to occur between the City and the LDN, such as Julie Payment's dual roll as Circulation Manager for the paper and as a vibrant DDA member, to mention but one.  Does anyone expect the LDN to say anything critical about any DDA activity when such alliances exist?

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

I would like to think the torch is acting somewhat in the capacity of a zine your speaking about. We don't always get it 100% right but we don't mind looking up facts and debating either side of an issue I don't think. This is the first time I have seen you post ..welcome and I hope we see you and your ideas more. RDR Guido

[AQUAMAN]

Roger that Eastwick and Guido, I do believe we are the only ones willing to debate the issues plainly uncovered in fair and equal fashion. Just unveiling the questionable actions of many in the city, and making FOIA requests to prove it, has made the timbers shake right down to the ground for some watching from the sidelines, how come?