Oshkosh Northwestern Coverage of Oshkosh Area
School District: Is the District under the microscope or under the sledgehammer?
OASD Food Service: Northwestern Eats Crow
by Tony Palmeri
December 14, 2002
In a defensive December 8 column, Oshkosh Northwestern Executive Editor Stew Rieckman denied that the newspaper treats the Oshkosh Area School District any harsher or differently than other layers of local government. Wrote Rieckman, "We’re in the business getting answers for our readers, and that is why the school district has been under our journalistic microscope."
Some, such as Oshkosh Area School District Superintendent Ron Heilman and Commentary pundit Dan Rylance, argue that the school district is under the Northwestern's journalistic sledgehammer. They and others claim that the paper in its coverage and editorializing about the School District display a persistent pattern of unfair, inaccurate, and "gotcha" journalism.
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Oshkosh Northwestern Coverage of Oshkosh Area
School District: Is the District under the microscope or under the sledgehammer?
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Those charging the newspaper with ill motives in its coverage of the School District gained some new ammunition this week with the paper's sloppy attempt to explain the issue of food service privatization. First, Eric Bradley's reporting on this issue stated inaccurately that the District food service employs 80 union workers. Then, the paper editorialized inaccurately that the food service costs the district $1.9 million. The paper today printed a guest column on the editorial page from the Oshkosh North High School Food Service Staff. The information in the guest column about the actual status of the food service reveals, sadly, that the Northwestern had no interest in learning the facts before (a) advocating for privatization and (b) suggesting that Heilmann and Finance Director Brad Cauffman are too slow to recognize potential cost savings to the District. Today the editorial writers stubbornly persisted in arguing that privatization ought to be pursued even though the guest column completely debunked the paper's original justification for such a move.
The Northwestern must be given some credit for correcting Bradley's original inaccurate reporting and the editorial page errors, just as the Gannett Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms says they should:
Correcting the food service story and editorial errors immediately is a big improvement over the way the paper (mis)handled correcting another cheap shot taken at the district earlier this year, as I reported in April.
Improvement notwithstanding, the food service story should not have reached the point where any corrections were necessary. As with its coverage of Winnebago County government, the newspaper approaches the School District with an axe to grind mentality that makes it easier to ignore or not even seek out information that would refute preconceived notions.
The school district, like all layers of government, needs to be covered critically but not carelessly. Careless coverage and editorializing only makes it more difficult for readers to accept the valid criticisms that do make it into print.