Inside the S.P. Times - A Freedom Magazine Special Report

EDITORIAL

To Tell the Truth

What happens when a newspaper fails to serve the community? After Freedom published its in-depth report on the St. Petersburg Times last summer, a number of journalists formerly associated with the Times came forward. They related incidents at the Times which revealed serious violations of journalism ethics.

When it was suggested to the Times that an internal investigation was in order, the paper’s attorneys declared the idea to be “preposterous.” The Times leadership apparently believes it is beyond the bounds of inspection—even from within its own ranks. 

Times Publishing Co., its publication Congressional Quarterly, and their owner, the Poynter Institute (Paul Tash is Chairman of Times Publishing and Poynter), face serious allegations of wrongdoing in an ongoing lawsuit. Federal News Service alleges that Robert Merry, former Times Publishing Co. board member and president of CQ, used “aggressive strong-arm tactics” and attempted bribery to take over Federal News Service.

Not only journalists think it’s time for a hard look at the Times. Freedom heard from readers and former readers who say it is obvious to them that the Times “goes after” individuals and organizations in the community—particularly those who work for community betterment.

Emerging from the reader response to our exposé on the Times is a clear picture of a community that sees the paper as out of touch at best, too often utterly disdainful of the community it ostensibly serves, and from whom it takes advertising and subscription dollars.

In exchange for those dollars and public trust, the Times is supposed to report the facts and provide a true picture of the community.  Readers say it is failing at both.

With Pew Research Center surveys showing that only 29 percent of Americans think news organizations get the facts straight, and with the St. Petersburg Times’ refusal to consider even some internal soul-searching, we have a true crisis.

The mission of journalism is truth.  Journalists carry the mandate to provide a “fair and comprehensive account of events and issues,” as the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists sets forth.

We all deserve a “fair and comprehensive” newspaper in Clearwater, but the Times refuses to bear that responsibility.  Because its leadership is unwilling to reform from within, we now turn the spotlight on them from outside.

For this and subsequent special editions, we retained experienced and independent professional journalists and asked them to go find the facts, the truth this community deserves. We welcome your comments.

—The Editors