Furst Draft

More on conflicts of interest

More feedback on my editorial page column regarding conflicts of interest:

Jay -

I applaud you for asking your readers for their views. Here are my two cents.

For example 1, I think the issue is avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest, balanced against the opportunity for Post-Bulletin employees to fully participate in public activities as private citizens. Thus I think the best course of action would have been to identify Jeff Lansing as a P-B employee, while indicating he attended as a private citizen. Omitting his connection with the paper would only seem appropriate to me if every person who spoke at the meeting was quoted in the article. Editing out Jeff's contribution to the meeting just because he is an employee would unduly deny him full community participation.

For example 2, I agree it's appropriate for campaign spending details to be reported. Spending for ads in the local paper for a city council race should certainly be included. In fact, omitting such information would clearly raise questions of a conflict of interest, particularly when the editorial staff has endorsed one of the candidates.

Paul Godtland
Rochester

Regarding No. 1, I suppose another angle on this (and this is another example of ethical extremes) is that maybe we should identify everyone's employer...for all I know, a few of the other speakers at the meeting represented real estate interests, environmental groups, etc., and had oxen to gore...

But generally, it's not practical (or I'd argue necessary) to take every story to this minute degree of reporting.

Here's another:

Example 2:  Interesting example because when I read the discosure of Peters' spending money on printing, not advertising, at P-B and Blenker spending nothing it reminded me that P-B had endorsed Peters.  Personally I do not think the two are related but it gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.  If it had been advertising, I think you are obligated to print all candidates paid ads, and you cannot be blamed for reading your own paper and so would know who did and who did not add to P-B's revenue.

However, editors have no reason to know who pays to have brochures printed.  Perhaps you should have a firewall between the editors and the business department so you would not know of money from candidates to ancilliary business with P-B.  Why create a situation where you are suspected of favoring a condidate because of money spent at your paper?

Bill Plummer
Rochester

There's a firewall in place; it's our job to persuade readers that it's real. Nonetheless, I doubt more than a few people in town believe $3,000 buys an endorsement.

You'll see another ethical issue on Page 1A Monday, related to politics. Take a look and I'll address it.

Today's You Asked

Today's masterpiece from the Answer Man:

When we left a movie at the Chateau Theater the other night, I noticed an employee pulling jumbo-size popcorn tubs out of the garbage. What do they do with them? You can sign me — a non-popcorn eater.

The implication seems to be that the Chateau freshens up those buttery tubs and reuses them, to which Chateau administrative manager Wendy Hollingshead says, “Yuck, no.”

Employees at the jumbo multiplex on North Broadway at 37th Street fish the big tubs out of the garbage because they’re too bulky. They get stacked up and disposed of separately, she says.

Please tell me the dates that the Green Parrot restaurant was in business. Thank you. — Fred Ableitner

The Green Parrot, a popular downtown spot for about half a century, apparently opened in the mid-1940s and closed 19 years ago, and I’ll just assume it was at 23 Second St. S.W. for all those years — if I’m wrong, tell me. That L-shaped storefront is now home to Eagle Drug.

The Parrot, which was beloved by generations of clinic visitors and locals alike, was owned for most of its history by Ed and Mildred Klopp. They sold it in 1982, and it closed in November 1986, when owner Angelo Psomas decided not to make changes ordered by county health officials.

Psomas also owned Richard’s Roost, another popular downtown joint that closed a year earlier after about 60 years in business. The Roost was at 13 First St. S.W., smack-dab where the Galleria Mall now stands.

As we dug through the files for this one, it was amazing how many references there were to the Green Parrot in obituaries. The March 2002 obit for Violet Hart of Dover, for example, noted that she was a Parrot employee for many years.

Must have been quite a place. If you have favorite Parrot parables to share, pass them along.

Dear Answer Man, could you refresh our memories? Whatever became of the Parrish Brothers, the long-time Hollywood Bar band? What were their names? Any information would be appreciated.

The brothers Parrish were Floyd, Curtis, Odell and Foy. They were big names on the local music scene for at least 30 years, first playing in Rochester in 1961. The Hollywood Bar on South Broadway was their home six nights a week in the mid-1960s, and they later hosted a weekly show on what was then KROC-TV.

They were often tagged as a country band, but they could play just about anything. They went on the road nationally but often returned to the Hollywood, at 306 S. Broadway, to keep local fans happy.

In the late ’80s, they returned to do regular gigs at the bar, but the Hollywood eventually fell on hard times, and the lights went out in 1992. It’s now Kathy’s Pub, home of one of the longest bars in southern Minnesota.

The boys were originally from Alabama. Floyd and Foy were twins and played guitar; Odell played bass, and Curtis was on the drums. Another brother, Junior, died previously.

Where are they now? I’m still trying to find them. If you know, drop me a line.

The Answer Man always knocks twice — Mondays and Thursdays in the Post-Bulletin. Send questions (no C.O.D. accepted) to P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55904, or e-mail to furst@postbulletin.com.

Are we dead yet?

Doug McGill's Local Man blog sums up the recent obits for the newspaper business. In a nutshell (and I like that choice of words), the conventional wisdom is this:

What they are talking about that is new is how to save journalism at a time when newspapers as society's main vehicle for journalism dies. The journalism author Philip Meyer has been asking the same question, and providing some possible answers, for a while now.

Rosen and Gillmor want to be sure that if newspapers die -- and to them, morphing into ad-laden shoppers stuffed with celebrity and tabloid "news" is as good as dead -- they want to be sure that somewhere in our culture, journalism goes on.

What gnaws at Rosen and Gillmor is the nightmare that if newspapers are shuttered or morphed as described above, that great public-spirited journalism itself may die.

As Dan Gillmor puts it:

If the newspaper business does turn out to be dying, we need to make sure that journalism does not. I apologize to my blogging friends for saying this, but the free for all in the blogging world, however valuable (and I love it), is not sufficient to replace what we'll be missing.

I added this comment:

Rosen, Gillmor and Malone all need to chill. Good journalism will always find a way out of notebooks and cameras and into people's hands, and the new kinds of journalism that newspapers are exploring are vastly more interesting than the endless gloomy chatter of academics and bloggers.

I tune out this type of handwringing when someone like Gillmor writes, "If the newspaper business does turn out to be dying, we need to make sure that journalism does not."

Well, we're all dying and yes, the newspaper business is, too. In the meantime, though, we're enjoying the trip and evolving into a new form, finding a new way to reach readers. Journalism will go on without the clarion call of bloggers saying "we need to make sure" that it happens.

Newspapers have some big hills to climb, like every other business venture on the planet. But we're doing the work and it'll get done.

RFD and medical calls

Here's a question I probably won't get to in You Asked...we probably need another news story on this one...it's been addressed frequently in the past, but a lot of people ask this question:

When 911 is called for a medical emergency, Gold Cross, Rochester police and
a Rochester fire crew are dispatched.  The Fire Dept. is worried about
staffing for overlapping calls.  Why not just send the response teams that
are needed?  The three days of reported fire calls for the 25th thru 27th in the
P-B show about two-thirds are for medical calls. Seems like resources might be
better utilized.

Thanks

Weird mail

From my Weird Mailbag -- I hesitate to even post this, but I believe the guy thinks he's looking out for the welfare of cats:

In your column in Monday, March 21, regarding what to do about stray cats, I can offer what I do: I set a live trap. When I catch a cat, I pour catsup, mustard, or honey on the cat. Sounds cruel, but it is harmless to the cat. Then let it go home.

Think about being ready to leave for work and you find your cat at the door covered in condiments. How late for work do you think you will be after bathing a cat?

You may think about this the next time you let your cat out for the night.

Anyone seen the Parrish Brothers?

I need some advance help with a You Asked item for Thursday...anyone have tips on where the beloved brothers are now?

Dear  Answer Man, could you refresh our memories ? Whatever became of the Parrish Brothers, the long-time Hollywood Bar band? What were their names? Any information would be appreciated.

The brothers Parrish were Floyd, Curtis, Odell and Foy. They were big names on the local music scene for at least 30 years, first playing in Rochester in 1961. The Hollywood Bar on South Broadway was their home six nights a week in the mid-1960s, and they later hosted a weekly show on what was then KROC-TV. The country band went on the road nationally but often returned to the Hollywood, at 306 South Broadway, to keep local fans happy.

In the late ‘80s, they returned to do regular gigs at the bar, but the Hollywood fell on hard times and closed in 1992. It’s now Kathy’s Pub, home of one of the longest bars in southern Minnesota.

The boys were originally from Alabama. Floyd and Foy were twins and played guitar; Odell played bass and Curis was on the drums. Another brother, Junior, died previously.

Where are they now? I’m still trying to find them. If you know, drop me a line.

Payoff for endorsement?

Here's a comment from a reader regarding my op-ed page column yesterday, posted here:

Jay,

You raise an interesting topic concerning reporting integrity and the relationship of P-B staff members to the news being reported.  I think one point you missed with regard to the campaign spending example is that the P-B editorial page earlier endorsed the candiate who, as it turns out, happened to spend significant advertsing dollars with the PB or one of its entities.  I think it is that point which may be of concern to people in the community as they form their opinion.

Fair comment. The conflict is implicit in my comments about everything we do -- for example, Bon's Buffet has run ads in our newspaper, but we obviously write news stories about Bon's. The Chateau Theaters run ads in our paper every week and I'll have an item on the Chateau in tomorrow's You Asked column. There's no avoiding the crossing of interests.

There was no way to mention the Peters endorsement in the original news story without inferring a connection that's untrue.

I'd like to hear from other editors on this one.

Thanks for the comment.

Manson, Dahmer and Schiavo

P-B reporter Jeff Pieters passes this along -- unbelievable what you see on cable news these days:

Just saw one of the more outrageous things I have seen on cable TV news for a while.

MSNBC was interviewing James Dobson on the Schiavo case. As Dobson is speaking -- I'm watching this in the newsroom, so the sound is off and I'm not exactly sure what is being said -- the screen cuts from Dobson to Charles Manson's photograph with the caption "Charles Manson, fed by government."

It fades to a photo of Jeffrey Dahmer. "Fed by government."

Another serial killer I didn't recognize. "Fed by government."

Now fade to Terry Schiavo. "Not fed by government."

It strikes me as an awful, cynical leap to suggest that obviously our society values the lives of serial killers more than Terry Schiavo. But it is even more horrid that MSNBC would be in cahoots with Dobson in preparing these images to illustrate his rhetorical points.

Incidentally, Jeffrey Dahmer is not "fed by government." Not lately, anyway.

ABC's turn

Bloggers think they've found a new scandal in the Terri Schiavo-GOP memo case, according to Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post:

"Fake but Accurate Again?" says the Weekly Standard headline on an article by John Hinderaker, an attorney and conservative blogger who had challenged the CBS documents.

While there is no hard evidence that the memo is fake, there are several strange things about it, including the basic fact that no one seems to know who wrote it and that the noncontroversial part of it is lifted from a Republican senator's press release.

ABC and The Post say their reports on the Schiavo memo were accurate and carefully worded...

In his Weekly Standard article, Hinderaker, who writes for the blog Powerline, pointed out some of the memo's other oddities. It contained several typographical errors, such as misspelling Schiavo's first name as "Teri," and identified the Senate measure by the wrong bill number. The typos somehow vanished in a copy of the memo leaked to the liberal Web site Raw Story, whose editor said he posted the version obtained by the site.

"The content of the memo tells me it wasn't prepared to benefit the Republican Party, it was prepared to benefit the Democratic Party," Hinderaker said.

If the memo turns out to be a fake, will Peter Jennings' head roll? Post publisher Len Downie's?

I'll get more agitated about this when people less virulently partisan than Hinderaker and magazines less GOP than the Weekly Standard start piling on.

More on Westfire and Bon's fire

Look for a lot of dish on the federal investigation into Rochester businessman Eric Guo in today's paper -- and then listen to how Rochester TV and radio report the story tonight. Tell me whether they credit the Post-Bulletin for the story, because I can guarantee you they won't have someone in Minneapolis federal court this afternoon looking at the documents.