The lengths to which Erie Times-News editorialists will go to twist the truth and spin the facts in its all-out, unprincipled campaign for a proposed Erie County community college was graphically demonstrated in an editorial last week in which it launched an ad hominem attack at two county councilmen who oppose the college, one on groundsthat county taxpayers do not support using property tax levies for it, Joseph Giles; the other, on conflict of interest grounds, Kyle Foust.
For example, in a cheap attempt to discredit Foust, the editorial stated: “On Feb. 1, 2008, Foust wrote an Op-Ed column for the Meadville Tribune, saying that ‘there is no doubt that the long-term economic prospects for northwest Pennsylvania will be greatly enhanced by the creation of a community college.’ Foust, who works for Mercyhurst College, now claims that voting on the college represents a conflict of interest.”
The editorial falsely implies there’s a contradiction in the two positions attributed to Foust by the editorial when, in fact, there is none. One may laud prospects for a community college, but still justifiably vote against it on conflict of interest grounds, as Foust honorably and legally did.
As Foust has conclusively demonstrated, it would be a direct violation of state conflict of interest statutes for him to vote in favor of the government-subsidized non-profit community college while working for a competing for-profit higher educational institution, to wit, Mercyhurst College. Were he to do so, Foust could be prosecuted for official misfeasance and misconduct, notwithstanding a far-fetched and hysterical rebuttal in Sunday’s newspaper by its managing editor and columnist Pat Howard, the Times Publishing Co.’s chief lobbyist for the community college.
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2 comments:
What the editorial did was incredibly embarrassing to this region and all who read the paper.
I cannot believe someone looked at this article and said "Sure, let's run it" despite it seemingly written by a child who didn't get what they wanted.
The ETN has lost any journalistic integrity they claimed to ever have by running this editorial. The next time the tout how they have won any type of journalistic awards, I will be sure to forward this editorial to the governing body of the competition.
It makes one wonder what the financial gain the paper would have by supporting this community college. I mean, why else would they be so feral about it being created?
Stan - Thanks for your input. Direct financial incentive has little to do with the ETN's espousal of the proposed community college.It's more subtle than that. It's mainly an exercise in self-serving power broking and king-making, fueling the Times Publishing Co.'s insatiable thirst for influence over the area's political and financial establishment. Should a community college materialize, it would give the ETN an opportunity to carve out yet another potent sphere of influence to serve its own selfish ends, which are inconsistent with the broad public interest. Think of the massive galleys of lucrative classified and display advertising a full-blown community college would generate for the only newspaper in town.
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