OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2015
For journalists, 2014 was
the worst and best of times
By JOHN S. PERRY
EO Media Group
T
he year just concluded was
not good to journalism.
Consider:
At least 60 members of our
profession were killed in the
line of duty. Seventeen died
covering the
Syria. Five
in Iraq and
Ukraine.
Four in Gaza.
Three each
in Somalia,
John
Afghanistan,
Perry
Pakistan and
Paraguay. Many were targeted
for murder. Most died in combat,
while covering war or civil
unrest. Two suffered a horrible
public death, beheaded by Islamic
radicals. The new year got off to
AP Photo/Francois Mori
shooting at a French newspaper.
Other journalists were jailed
or exiled. A dozen reporters and
photographers were arrested and
jailed while covering the riots in
Ferguson, Mo. Three journalists
have been locked up in Egypt for
a year on trumped-up terrorism
charges. Seven are jailed in
Turkey. Forty-two have been
exiled, one-third from Syria.
Law enforcement targeted
us. New York Times reporter
James Risen was threatened
with jail time for refusing to
testify about sources he used for
stories on Iraq’s nuclear weapons
program. Fox News reporter
James Rosen was named a “co-
conspirator” in another national
security leak case. Meanwhile,
the FBI was forced to admit it had
planted a fake story in the Seattle
Times as part of a sting operation.
And we did it to ourselves.
Rolling
Stone
magazine
published a gripping story
about a violent gang rape at the
University of Virginia. The story
A girl kneels besides candles before the start of the solidarity demonstration in Paris, Thursday, mourning 12 people slain at a Paris newspaper.
of mentally ill people behind bars.
Reporters also kept a sharp focus
problems at the Port of Astoria,
breaking news of efforts to wrest
control of the commission from
voters to the governor.
No stroll in this park. The
Chinook Observer gave its
readers an unvarnished look
behind the scenes at a problematic
Long Beach trailer park. Reporter
Natalie St. John interviewed
residents and scoured title
documents and reports by police
The deadly VA.
truly shock Americans anymore.
Yet, there was an audible shudder
when CNN reported that at least
40 veterans died while waiting
for care at Veterans Health
Administration facilities in
Arizona. The CNN investigation
revealed widespread delays
in treatment throughout the
Willamette Week blew the lid off
administrators who covered it up.
The revelations trigged a series of
investigations — some criminal
— and prodded Congress and the
president into action.
rules to accommodate her. More
revelations are coming in 2015.
Mentally ill behind bars. The
Daily Astorian examined how
our criminal justice system tries
to cope with the growing number
What emerged was a portrait of
a netherworld of decaying cabins
and dubious management. Like
any good piece of investigative
journalism, it triggered a rather
unkind response from one of
the subjects: “Please know that I
think you are a bunch of idiots!”
Bridging the divide. The
Capital Press published “Rural
Oregon, meet Portland” Reporter
Eric Mortenson explained why
what Portlanders think matters to
farmers and ranchers across the
state. The article also dispelled
misconceptions
Portlanders
have about Oregon agriculture.
Finding solutions. The
South County Community
Food Bank had to move and
estimates approached $100,000.
Nancy McCarthy, editor of the
Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette, suggested that
that they should be here than in, say,
Warrenton. Alas.
I think all or most development that
may occur in lower Uniontown should
be in keeping with existing iconic
structures there, such as the old Finn-
ish Meat Market building, the sauna
and even Mary Todd’s Workers Bar &
Grill, Suomi Hall and the Triangle Tav-
ern, too.
Much of the rest of the area along
Marine Drive and Bond Street (budget
motels, the warehouses, fast food out-
lets and repurposed homes and retail
fronts that want for loving care) is ne-
glected or unimaginatively maintained.
I think the impact of this for people ar-
riving in Astoria from the south is that
of an eyesore.
As a property owner in the area, I
would like very much to see improve-
ments and new development aimed at
upgrading the appearance, the livabil-
ity and, very importantly in my view,
the real property value of the area.
Property values in the area took a
AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka
about a culture of rape at colleges
and fraternities. However, the
Washington Post found several
problems with the alleged claims
and Rolling Stone later admitted
it did not perform basic fact-
checking. Not to be outdone,
New York Magazine gave us a
17-year-old who amassed $72
million by playing the stock
market. The entire story is untrue.
• • •
gainst that backdrop,
however,
there
were
excellent examples in 2014 of
what journalists do best: uncover
that which is hidden from the
public and promote change.
Some national, state and local
examples:
Cylvia Hayes, fiancée of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, speaks at a
news conference in Portland Oct. 9.
A
how Cylvia Hayes used her
notoriety and government access
for personal gain. As other
newspapers and our Capital
Bureau joined the investigation,
we learned about her hidden
marriage, an alleged marijuana-
growing operation and how
the school district donate two
portable schoolrooms. It did and
then volunteers stepped forward
to move the buildings. The food
bank reopened this month.
• • •
roducing
stories
like
these is expensive and
time-consuming. It requires
P
newspapers should be operated
as civic institutions devoted to the
community. And it takes editors,
reporters and photographers
with natural curiosity, talent and
fearlessness.
Our company — its 11
newspapers, 20 websites and 200
employees — enters the new year
determined to provide our readers
with more journalism, not less.
While other papers are decreasing
we will provide more — using our
printed newspapers, websites and
other forms of communication.
We’ve also joined forces with
another family-owned newspaper
company, Pamplin Media, to
create a three-person Capitol
Bureau to keep you informed
about the Legislature and state
government agencies.
EO Media Group can only be
as successful as the communities
we serve. So, here’s wishing all of
you a safe, happy and prosperous
new year.
John S. Perry is chief
Group, parent company of The
Daily Astorian. While he is
responsible for companywide
business operations, Perry spent
half of his 40-year career as
a reporter and editor. He still
considers himself a journalist at
heart.
Open forum
Livability
W
hile I agree with the reported
expressions of skepticism on
the part of some who attended the
public forum Jan. 6 at the Holiday
Inn Express, where the topic was the
Bridge Vista phase of the city of As-
toria Riverfront Vision Plan (“It’s all
about the view,” The Daily Astorian,
Jan. 7), I urge caution against knee-
jerk opposition to changing the status
quo.
I would not want to see the river
and I would consider almost any fur-
would favor having some compara-
tively recent impairments, such as Co-
lumbia House, removed. I’d like the
warehouses to relocate, too; there is no
commercial need for them to be along-
side the river, where they are a severe
impairment of our valuable and mar-
ketable river view. I suspect, however,
that they play an important role in our
local economy, so, perhaps it is better
T HE
D AILY A STORIAN
Founded in 1873
huge hit in the Great Recession and
they have yet to recover. I would hope
that improving the appearance and
livability of my neighborhood would
have a positive impact on our quality
of life and our quality of investment,
while maintaining both the river view,
at no less than it is now, and some of
the gritty reality that has long distin-
guished, so to speak, this part of dear
old Astoria.
PAUL HAIST
Astoria
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
• CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
• DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager