Here's a copy of my column from Monday's print edition.
It focuses on the belief by many that we have it in for some schools and that our coverage often carries an anti-Catholic bias.
Post a comment if you agree or disagree. In fact, I want you to post comments every day. This should be a dialog, not just me preaching to the readers. I don't claim to be right, just opinionated. Add yours.
There they were, young people once again splashed all over the front page of this newspaper.
And that’s not all. Inside, there were three full pages devoted to what these high school kids were doing.They weren’t under arrest. They weren’t involved in a car crash in which drugs or alcohol was involved. They weren’t being hauled out of school because of still another Columbine-style plot or other threat.
They were members of their school bands. That was not an accident.
There are several reasons why we decided to focus on these kids as they prepare for the start of school and the annual high school band competitions.The first one we’ve already touched on.
Some people are convinced the only way for young people to get their names in the paper is to do something wrong.
Not so.
Second, there are also devoted readers of the paper who notice how much time and effort we spend detailing the efforts of high school kids and their prowess on athletic fields. You know, those stories that appear on the back page of the paper.
They often call me and ask: “Where is the coverage of kids who are just as involved in other school activities, but are not athletes?” Sometimes they ask me across the dinner table. My wife is among them.There is also the sheer numbers involved in these bands. Aside from sports, it may be the largest activity kids take part in during their high school years. They are every bit as devoted to their craft as the kids preparing for football, soccer and other fall sports. They even take part in summer camp, just as their athletic counterparts do.
That’s where we caught up with many of them.There is something else I hope readers noticed about that story.
We focused on kids from two particular schools — Sun Valley and Cardinal O’Hara. That also was not by accident.
Sun Valley is the high school in the Penn-Delco School District.
Gee, Penn-Delco and O’Hara. What do they have in common? One’s public; one’s parochial. And both have been gracing the front page of this newspaper with some regularity in recent months.
That also has not gone unnoticed by some readers. There are those who believe we have it in for the Penn-Delco School District; that the conflagration involving the school board has overshadowed the good things happening in the district. They say we ignore those stories.
Then there are all our fans involved with Cardinal O’Hara. Their problem with us is simple. They believe we are anti-Catholic. They believe we delight in any opportunity to publicize the school in a negative way.
Exhibit A in their argument is the controversy surrounding one of their graduates. Tim Donaghy has not walked the halls of O’Hara in years. A couple of weeks ago, he walked into a federal courtroom in New York and pleaded guilty to charges that as an NBA ref, he gave information on games he was working, as well as other “inside” information, to gamblers.
The scandal shook the National Basketball Association to its core.We are the local newspaper. Donaghy was a local guy. He grew up in Havertown. Graduated from O’Hara, then Villanova. Some of his buddies involved in the betting operation also were O’Hara grads. For us, that’s an integral part of the story. It would be the same if Donaghy had attended Penncrest, Sun Valley or Monsignor Bonner. That’s part of what makes it a local story.Those who disagree don’t see it that way.
They insist we do not flaunt a person’s school affiliation when it does not suit our “Catholic-bashing” agenda. Their opinions have been liberally sprinkled in Sound Off and our letters to the editor pages.I do not believe in censorship. If someone wants to make that point, that they believe we are anti-Catholic, they are free to do so.But that does not mean I agree with them. I don’t.
They might want to check with the people at Penncrest or Sun Valley in terms of whether or not we play favorites.Those who insist we splash the church all over the front page when it comes to priests involved in sexual abuse, but stick it inside the paper when it involves another denomination, might want to talk to some people at First Presbyterian Church in Springfield. One of their former pastors has graced our front page several times recently on charges of assaulting several female members of the congregation years ago.
It was not on the front page because it involved any specific church or denomination. It was on the front page because it was news.Just as those band kids were.By the way, we again are looking to keep track of band competitions with a roundup each week this fall.
I look forward to getting the results from Cardinal O’Hara.
Philip E. Heron is editor of the Daily Times. Call him at (610) 622-8818. E-mail him at editor@delcotimes.com. To visit his daily blog, the Heron’s Nest, go to www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/philh/blog.html.
It focuses on the belief by many that we have it in for some schools and that our coverage often carries an anti-Catholic bias.
Post a comment if you agree or disagree. In fact, I want you to post comments every day. This should be a dialog, not just me preaching to the readers. I don't claim to be right, just opinionated. Add yours.
There they were, young people once again splashed all over the front page of this newspaper.
And that’s not all. Inside, there were three full pages devoted to what these high school kids were doing.They weren’t under arrest. They weren’t involved in a car crash in which drugs or alcohol was involved. They weren’t being hauled out of school because of still another Columbine-style plot or other threat.
They were members of their school bands. That was not an accident.
There are several reasons why we decided to focus on these kids as they prepare for the start of school and the annual high school band competitions.The first one we’ve already touched on.
Some people are convinced the only way for young people to get their names in the paper is to do something wrong.
Not so.
Second, there are also devoted readers of the paper who notice how much time and effort we spend detailing the efforts of high school kids and their prowess on athletic fields. You know, those stories that appear on the back page of the paper.
They often call me and ask: “Where is the coverage of kids who are just as involved in other school activities, but are not athletes?” Sometimes they ask me across the dinner table. My wife is among them.There is also the sheer numbers involved in these bands. Aside from sports, it may be the largest activity kids take part in during their high school years. They are every bit as devoted to their craft as the kids preparing for football, soccer and other fall sports. They even take part in summer camp, just as their athletic counterparts do.
That’s where we caught up with many of them.There is something else I hope readers noticed about that story.
We focused on kids from two particular schools — Sun Valley and Cardinal O’Hara. That also was not by accident.
Sun Valley is the high school in the Penn-Delco School District.
Gee, Penn-Delco and O’Hara. What do they have in common? One’s public; one’s parochial. And both have been gracing the front page of this newspaper with some regularity in recent months.
That also has not gone unnoticed by some readers. There are those who believe we have it in for the Penn-Delco School District; that the conflagration involving the school board has overshadowed the good things happening in the district. They say we ignore those stories.
Then there are all our fans involved with Cardinal O’Hara. Their problem with us is simple. They believe we are anti-Catholic. They believe we delight in any opportunity to publicize the school in a negative way.
Exhibit A in their argument is the controversy surrounding one of their graduates. Tim Donaghy has not walked the halls of O’Hara in years. A couple of weeks ago, he walked into a federal courtroom in New York and pleaded guilty to charges that as an NBA ref, he gave information on games he was working, as well as other “inside” information, to gamblers.
The scandal shook the National Basketball Association to its core.We are the local newspaper. Donaghy was a local guy. He grew up in Havertown. Graduated from O’Hara, then Villanova. Some of his buddies involved in the betting operation also were O’Hara grads. For us, that’s an integral part of the story. It would be the same if Donaghy had attended Penncrest, Sun Valley or Monsignor Bonner. That’s part of what makes it a local story.Those who disagree don’t see it that way.
They insist we do not flaunt a person’s school affiliation when it does not suit our “Catholic-bashing” agenda. Their opinions have been liberally sprinkled in Sound Off and our letters to the editor pages.I do not believe in censorship. If someone wants to make that point, that they believe we are anti-Catholic, they are free to do so.But that does not mean I agree with them. I don’t.
They might want to check with the people at Penncrest or Sun Valley in terms of whether or not we play favorites.Those who insist we splash the church all over the front page when it comes to priests involved in sexual abuse, but stick it inside the paper when it involves another denomination, might want to talk to some people at First Presbyterian Church in Springfield. One of their former pastors has graced our front page several times recently on charges of assaulting several female members of the congregation years ago.
It was not on the front page because it involved any specific church or denomination. It was on the front page because it was news.Just as those band kids were.By the way, we again are looking to keep track of band competitions with a roundup each week this fall.
I look forward to getting the results from Cardinal O’Hara.
Philip E. Heron is editor of the Daily Times. Call him at (610) 622-8818. E-mail him at editor@delcotimes.com. To visit his daily blog, the Heron’s Nest, go to www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/philh/blog.html.
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