|
| |
10/16/06 Dallas Managed
News has an ethics code?
It was shocking when
The Dallas Managed News
endorsed Tracy Holmes over Judge Faith Johnson. It made no sense to endorse an
obscure White former Public Defender who lives in the Park Cities over a
respected African-American incumbent judge. See DallasArena.com's
DMN Endorses Carpetbagger and other unqualified candidates.
 |
Monday, September 25, 2006
|
|
363rd CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT
Tracy Holmes
Republican incumbent Faith Johnson has established herself as a community
leader. But her conduct in the courtroom raises questions about her
temperament and judgment. Last year, Judge Johnson, 55, of DeSoto received a
public admonition from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for throwing
a party in her courtroom to celebrate a fugitive's recapture. The Dallas Bar
Association's poll also raises concerns about her demeanor and knowledge of
the law.
Tracy Holmes, a 51-year-old Democrat
from University Park, has more than two decades of experience in criminal
law and has worked both sides of the courtroom. While she is untested on the
bench, we think a change is needed in this court, and we recommend Ms.
Holmes. |
The
DMN
Editorial Board met with Holmes and Judge Johnson on August 30, 2006 for their
recommendation. That same day, Rhonda Gibbons made a $90
contribution to Holmes' campaign.
A $90 contribution is pretty odd. People usually make contributions in $25
increments: $25, $50, $75, $100, then $250, $500, $1000. Ms. Gibbons
must have thought the cutoff amount for campaign reporting is $100, not $50.
If you make a contribution to a candidate of $50 or less, they don't have to
itemize your name. That's why the $90 looks like a mistake on Gibbons'
part. I doubt Rhonda Gibbons wanted her name listed on Tracy Holmes'
campaign financial report, much less the name of Gibbons' employer.
Do you know why Rhonda Gibbons would not want her name or her employer's name on
a political contributions report? I do!
Ms. Gibbons lists her job title as "Assistant News Editor". Do you know
where she works as an "Assistant News Editor"? Of course, you do!
Rhonda Gibbons listed The
Dallas Managed News as her employer.
Isn't that wonderful?
Everyone has noticed The
Dallas Managed News has taken a
definite leaning this year to Democrat candidates. A Democrat friend
(sometimes a contributor to DallasArena.com) e-mailed me that he and other
Democrats had also noticed the surprising number of Democrat endorsements by
DMN
this campaign season, but he wished the
DMN
endorsements were based on principle, not quotas. |
|
|
10/16 Kent Fischer:
FYI -- I'm pretty sure Ronda Gibbons
is not an assistant news editor at the DMN -- think she's a
writer in the promotions
department at WFAA. Don't know how/why that
job title got listed on the campaign report, but it's
wrong. In fact, three weeks ago,
Gibbons was nominated for a Lone Star Emmy for her work on the
promo campaign for WFFA's "Daybreak" show.
Maybe she got promoted
since then, but nobody here in the newsroom has heard
of her.
Her campaign contribution
(if, in fact, she really
made it) was a nice catch on your part, but I'm not sure
how ethics standards apply to Channel
8 promo writers.
Just thought you should know.
|
|
| |
Boyd's response:
It's the title she used on the
donation form. If I remember right, the DMN
ethics code applied to all DMN employees. |
| |
Kent Fisher:
Except she's NOT a DMN employee. She works for WFAA.
She's no more an DMN employee than you are. Should the DMN ethics rules
apply to you?
Your post called for her to lose her
job, saying, "Contributing to political campaigns is just not done --
well, it is not done by ethical journalists. But then, we're talking
about The Dallas Managed News." She's not a journalist, Sharon. She
writes promotional copy for TV commercials! For WFAA! As such, she
certainly would not be bound by a code of DMN ethics written some 10
years ago.
Did you confirm that she's the one who
provided the job title on the form? Donors don't fill out those campaign
forms, the campaign treasurers do. Isn't it possible that the
treasurer got it wrong? Did you contact Gibbons to see if the info was
correct? I find it amazing that, in the same post, you also chided some
DMN reporters for lazy journalism. Seems to me you were pretty lazy on
this one.
I mean no offense, but it needed to be said. |
| |
Boyd Response:
I am not and have never represented myself as a reporter. I am a
commentator. This article is a commentary about data that appears
on a sworn statement/financial report filed by a judicial candidate with
the Secretary of State. If the data is wrong, Ms. Gibbons should
take it up with Tracy Holmes. If Tracy Holmes files an amended
report with the Secretary State, I will be glad to post another
commentary with the new information. |
Apparently, principle has been replaced with inside politics at the
DMN.
This is page 4 of 11 pages of Tracy Holmes's financial report for 7/01-9/28/06:
Pretty damning stuff, don't you
think? Wonder what Assistant News Editor Gibbons' boss is going to say to her since
DallasArena.com has exposed her electioneering? Her
contribution to Holmes' campaign clearly violates the
DMN's
own ethics code.
You say you didn't know
The Dallas Managed News
had an ethics code?
A DMN
ethics code is something of an oxymoron, but they actually have one.
To
read the entire "News Department Guidelines", see
Ethics Code.
Here's a portion of the Guidelines that Rhonda Gibbons must have skipped in her
job training:
|
Ethics code: The Dallas
Morning News
Published: January 28, 1999
Last Updated: February 17,
1999
The
Dallas Morning News
NEWS DEPARTMENT
GUIDELINES
The news department has
guidelines to supplement the
company's employee handbook.
All staffers are encouraged
to discuss them with any of
the senior editors at any
time. Each newsroom employee
is expected to be familiar
with these guidelines.
Any newspaper's reputation
rests on its credibility and
its readers' perception of
that credibility. Fairness
and accuracy are the
cornerstones of credibility.
The following should be
kept for reference and may
be updated. Violating some
guidelines could result in
disciplinary action or
termination.
...
14. Political Activity
Avoid any public political
activity, including
contributions that would be
on public records
and could be used in
endorsements without your
knowledge. Do not run for
office, speak, sign
political petitions or
campaign for any candidate
or in behalf of any issue
except in connection with
professional journalism
groups. This is not intended
to discourage exercising
your right to vote.
...
Finally, no guidelines or
codes can or should
anticipate every situation.
Individual cases require
individual discussion, so
feel free to contact the
appropriate editors any
time, day or night, if
problems arise. In summary,
always be guided by
fairness, accuracy and good
common sense.
Gilbert Bailon
Vice President and Executive
Editor
Stuart Wilk
Managing Editor
June 1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
This lapse of judgment would be
bad enough in any campaign, but it is particularly troublesome in a judicial
campaign for a candidate to accept a campaign dollars from an news editor of the only daily
newspaper in town. What does it say about Tracy Holmes' judgment?
It's not like she had a lot of contributions and just overlooked the $90 from
Rhonda Gibbons.
Someone might want to check into Tracy Holmes' tenure as a Dallas County Public
Defender and why she left that position.
When I heard about the Gibbons contribution to Holmes' political campaign, I
called several reporters asking if they had ever heard of a journalist
making a contribution to a political campaign. One prominent reporter said
"Never heard of such a thing." Another said "No publication I've ever
worked for would allow it."
Contributing to political campaigns is just not done -- well, it is not done by
ethical journalists. But then, we're talking about
The Dallas Managed News.
We know it is not the same paper it used to be. It's our only daily
newspaper, and we can't trust it and at least some of the people who work there.
That's why no one should have believed Gromer Jeffers over Pat Cotton. See
Dallas Managed
News - Lazy liars are still liars.
|
Ethics code: The Dallas
Morning News
Published: January 28, 1999
Last Updated: February 17,
1999
The
Dallas Morning News
NEWS DEPARTMENT
GUIDELINES
The news department has
guidelines to supplement the
company's employee handbook.
All staffers are encouraged
to discuss them with any of
the senior editors at any
time. Each newsroom employee
is expected to be familiar
with these guidelines.
Any newspaper's reputation
rests on its credibility and
its readers' perception of
that credibility. Fairness
and accuracy are the
cornerstones of credibility.
The following should be
kept for reference and may
be updated. Violating some
guidelines could result in
disciplinary action or
termination.
...
1. Fairness
All sides of an issue
should be included in every
report.
Every effort will be made to
obtain a prompt, complete
rebuttal where any
accusations are made against
an individual, company or
institution.
Similar play will be given
for initial accusations and
acquittal. Include rebuttals
in the main or deck portion
of a headline as well as in
the early paragraphs of a
story and definitely before
it jumps from the cover page
of a section front.
2. Corrections and
Clarifications
These will be published
promptly after their
accuracy is determined.
Memos from appropriate
staffers will explain how
the error occurred. Every
staffer is an ombudsman in
this sense, and we pursue
each complaint vigorously.
Every complaining party must
get a response, regardless
of whether we publish a
correction or a
clarification. The
explanatory memo is not
punitive, but seeks to
ensure we do not repeat
errors and to determine how
they happened.
...
4. Plagiarism,
Fabrication
This is a firing offense
and includes material from
Dallas Morning News stories
as well as other sources.
Plagiarism is lifting
identical material without
appropriate attribution or
citation and does not
preclude using specific
facts from research. Wire
service materials should be
attributed in the story text
or in the tagline.
Fabricating stories that
purport to be truthful also
is a firing offense.
...
Gilbert Bailon
Vice President and Executive
Editor
Stuart Wilk
Managing Editor
June 1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
They certainly did not follow
their own guidelines regarding Gromer Jeffers' big lie concerning his "virtual"
conversation with Pat Cotton about Mitch Rasansky. They would not even
allow Pat Cotton to print a letter to the editor denying Gromer's fabrication,
much less offer a retraction.
There's nothing fair or correct about the way Pat Cotton was treated.
There's nothing fair or correct when a
DMN
Assistant News Editor makes a campaign contribution to judicial candidate Tracy Holmes the
same day the DMN's
Editorial Board met with Judge Johnson and Holmes. The fix was
in from the beginning. They should have told Judge Johnson to just stay in
Court because they already were endorsing the Democrat. Why else
would DMN
Asst. News Editor Rhonda Gibbons feel free to violate a basic rule of journalism,
impartiality?
If you are a Democrat, you cannot be happy about this either. Next time,
it could be your candidate who walks into a stacked deck at the
The Dallas Managed News.
I cancelled my subscription after the arena sales tax campaign. More and
more of my friends are canceling their subscriptions, too. If your
neighborhood looks like mine, you have to walk several blocks to see a
DMN
paper in someone's yard.
The Dallas
Managed News owes apologies to both
Pat Cotton and Judge Faith Johnson. Of course, they won't apologize to
either.
Hopefully, Rhonda Gibbons will be looking for a job in another industry this
time next week.
sb
| |
|
