I had an interesting phone call yesterday. It was from a person who wanted to complain about something in the paper.
That’s not what made it interesting. I field those just about every day.
What made this one different is who was calling.
A confession here upfront: I like Pat Meehan.
The newly minted 7th District Congressman called me yesterday to complain about the way he was treated in Tuesday's paper. As complaints go, it was about as nice as you could get. There was no yelling or screaming, that’s not Meehan’s style.
He had no problem with our lead story, in which longtime Upper Darby GOP operative Paul Summers entered a guilty plea to charges of falsifying signatures on petitions for Meehan and others, as well as forgeries. He was sentenced to probation and fined. Meehan did not face any charges in the case.
Instead, Meehan didn’t like the way he was treated on yesterday’s front page. We had taken a photo of Summers, as well as a file pic of one of Meehan’s campaign posters, and placed them both on Page One.
The congressman made the point – very nicely – that he believed it was a cheap shot. He stressed that Summers had actually been doing petitions for several candidates, but that he was singled out. He also said it made too close of a tie between himself and Summers, when in fact he was the one who blew the whistle on his own campaign when he realized what Summers had done.
All of which is true. But I told him that he was the congressman, so he was going to get the focus, both good and bad, when stories break. But I also told him that I believed the context of the story supported the use of the campaign sign. The issue of petition problems - for both Meehan and his opponent former state Rep. Bryan Lentz - was a huge issue in the campaign.
It was a very civil discussion.
Now I’d like to hear from you, readers. What do you think? Did we cheap shot the congressman? Or was it fair game? I’d like to know what you think.
Post a comment on this blog, or e-mail me at editor@delcotimes.com. I’ll post some of your comments in tomorrow’s blog.
Have you always wanted to be a newspaper editor? This is your chance.
That’s not what made it interesting. I field those just about every day.
What made this one different is who was calling.
A confession here upfront: I like Pat Meehan.
The newly minted 7th District Congressman called me yesterday to complain about the way he was treated in Tuesday's paper. As complaints go, it was about as nice as you could get. There was no yelling or screaming, that’s not Meehan’s style.
He had no problem with our lead story, in which longtime Upper Darby GOP operative Paul Summers entered a guilty plea to charges of falsifying signatures on petitions for Meehan and others, as well as forgeries. He was sentenced to probation and fined. Meehan did not face any charges in the case.
Instead, Meehan didn’t like the way he was treated on yesterday’s front page. We had taken a photo of Summers, as well as a file pic of one of Meehan’s campaign posters, and placed them both on Page One.
The congressman made the point – very nicely – that he believed it was a cheap shot. He stressed that Summers had actually been doing petitions for several candidates, but that he was singled out. He also said it made too close of a tie between himself and Summers, when in fact he was the one who blew the whistle on his own campaign when he realized what Summers had done.
All of which is true. But I told him that he was the congressman, so he was going to get the focus, both good and bad, when stories break. But I also told him that I believed the context of the story supported the use of the campaign sign. The issue of petition problems - for both Meehan and his opponent former state Rep. Bryan Lentz - was a huge issue in the campaign.
It was a very civil discussion.
Now I’d like to hear from you, readers. What do you think? Did we cheap shot the congressman? Or was it fair game? I’d like to know what you think.
Post a comment on this blog, or e-mail me at editor@delcotimes.com. I’ll post some of your comments in tomorrow’s blog.
Have you always wanted to be a newspaper editor? This is your chance.
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