Prisoners of Poor Journalism

[XLFD]

Modern journalism requires that the media outlet offer not only quality product in the medium of print, but also in the medium of their internet presences.  Earlier this year in March, then-senior-reporter Kevin Brasiczeski on direction of then-managing-editor Patti Klevorn of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) splashed the names and past offenses of a variety of registered sex offenders living legally in a building across from the Ludington Police Station/City Hall complex. 

There didn't seem to be any legitimate journalistic reason to do so, rather it seemed to be a politically motivated article by a company that had four registered sex offenders working for them in some capacity.  With the ensuing early retirements of the newspaper duo and the recent move by the COLDNews to coldheartedly axe delivery staff (and probably all of their RSO employees), one may think that the COLDNews may be able to put incarceration stories behind them.  

The print article may be more concise and precise but the e-article released this morning has a story where the reader is forced to wonder what is going on.  The fish story at 10:15 AM, 8-24-18 has an intriguing headline "Smoked Fish Seller Carries on After Prison", but then-- well, read for yourself and come to your own conclusions first:

Now until I hear otherwise, Jordan Rinkevicz is an honorable Scottville man, MCC class of 2009, repatriated down in Florida, and making an honest living as a tree service guy with his father, Wayne.  A casual reader of this electronic article however, might believe that Jordan is the former prisoner referred to in the headline as he is the only one whose name is in the article snippet, and the guy in the uncaptioned picture looks a bit like Jordan, shown below.  

Although, that would not be the case.  Jordan is a customer, and the reporter really doesn't make it very clear that he is a customer.   The author of the piece, Noah Hausmann, is a recent addition to the COLDNews, having been honored by getting on the Northern Michigan University Dean's list in June for having a 4.00 GPA for the winter term. 

That's a very good distinction, and it's unfortunate that whoever edited his article for the COLDNews E-edition would have determined that the fish seller/prisoner teased at in the headline is never referred to in the article by name or redemptive deed.  

[Willy]

I read the information and could not figure out exactly what the writer was trying to tell the readers. Was this about a reformed criminal, delicious fish, how to have a business with low overhead, what the hell was this about? Shame on the LDN for posting this terribly confusing article.

[XLFD]

The actual story was about six times longer in the print edition and was about George Schrink who was nabbed in a fish sting (https://upnorthlive.com/.../mason-county-man-sentenced...), and how he has come back to selling at Walter's Fishery, which he owns. While he only served a few months in prison, he was unable to attend his younger brother Geoffrey's funeral. That and the rather stiff penalty he received may have him seek some redress.

It's what I would call a reasonably written feature article with some pathos, inside information, and redemption.  Unfortunately, whoever posted this on their website did Noah Hausmann, George Schrink and Jordan Rinkevicz, a disservice by cutting off meaningful bits, forgetting that feature articles do not rely on the formulaic straight news article set-up, where the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a story are usually touched upon in the first paragraph and further developed later.

[AQUAMAN]

That article IS very confusing and deserves retraction for it's nasty taste, not the fish, Noah's poor taste in reporting. The part where he gives details on the business IS Okay, and accurate. That man Schrink was also set up by the DNR in a trap to get him to buy illegal fish, and his conviction was an injustice to a hard working American. But, we all know all too well how many, (Not All), Mason County Courthouse officials operate in their capacities for money and convicting local people. Sad reflection by the LDN, and for what reason? I just don't get it at all. Had Schrink appealed this case, it would have been thrown out and reversed in an unbiased and fair Court of Appeals.

[shinblind]

Noah "Scoop" Hausmann

Here is the new cub reporter's formula for constructing an article;

Who is responsible?

What do you think they were thinking?

When did you first feel this way?

Where does it hurt?

Why is Trump to blame?

How does that make you feel?

[XLFD]

Aquaman, I tend to agree that Schrink may have got the short end of the stick from the Feds, and received an oppressive fine of over of a quarter of a million dollars for a business that is lucky to bring in $10,000 a year.  But in an article on faulty reporting I must correct some of what you present as the record.  Schrink has been tried in our local district court for operating his wholesale business without a license and was fined $315 for the oversight.  

But Schrink appears to have been a penny-ante mark of a bigger sting operation made by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  It's likely he was coerced by government officials committing their own crimes and setting up people like Schrink to buy fish from them under false pretenses.  It always saddens me that our law enforcement branches cannot catch enough real criminals, so instead they set up opportunities like they did for Schrink to entrap what would otherwise be law-abiding fish-buyers.

It was the United States District Court in GR that set the unreasonable punishments for George, he would have had to go to the US Court of Appeals for any appellation.  I would also not be so hard on Noah, unless he was the person who downloaded his own feature article on the E-COLDNews.  He wrote a good article when it's presented in its entirety.  I do hope he learns from the experience, and puts enough stuff up front to support the story and headline.

[Dave]

Pretty much to the point where journalism as we use to know it is dead and pretty much buried. If only we could clone some of those old timers that actually knew what journalism really is.

[Barney Reinberg]

I did not find either article too misleading. I have to give the cub reporter a pass on this one.  If any of you are interested in an excellent read on just how ruthless and unscrupulous these Federal prosecutors are, I highly recommend "Licensed to Lie"by Sidney Powell.