The Star Gives Republican Ryan Silvey A Free Pass to Lie
Jason Noble of the Kansas City Star proved today that he is a stenographer, not a journalist.
Back in the day, journalists had a higher duty than simply copying down whatever lies a favored politician offered up. Instead, they would ask follow-up questions to expose the lie, or even put a sentence in their article explaining that what the politician said was false.
But, at the Kansas City Star, if the lie you are spouting is an attack on our Mayor, you face no such hostility or defense of the truth.
Today, Republican Ryan Silvey pulled a shallow publicity stunt, threatening to harm Kansas City because he wants our city to take tax dollars from basic services and donate it to the County for the stadiums. So far, so good - I understand that Ryan Silvey is part of a minority of people who think that we should not fully fund our police department but we should fully fund stadiums for suburbanites. We disagree, but he's entitled to his own positions.
Ryan Silvey is not entitled to make up his own facts, though. In defending his publicity stunt, Silvey claimed, "Pulling the money breaches the city's contract with the Chiefs and Royals . . .".
Folks, that's a lie. A big, fat whopper of a lie that no serious observer of the stadium drama could fail to recognize. There is no contract between the city and the teams.
Did Jason Noble challenge the falsehood? Did Jason Noble point out in his article that there is no contract between the city and the teams? Did Jason Noble ask a follow-up question to clarify the point?
No.
(Update: A commenter below points out that the Kansas City Business Journal has the journalistic integrity and tenacity to look at the contracts and acknowledge that there is no legal agreement binding the city to any payment.)
Labels: journalism, kansas city, KC Star, lies, republicans, stadiums
posted by Dan at 2/17/2010 08:30:00 PM
12 Comments:
You and the co-mayors from Hell are living in a dream world if you cannot recognize the City's contractual obligations.
I disagree with the use of public funds for this purpose, but it would be immature and negligent to simply stomp my feet and insist that up is down and down is up – like the terrible trio of Squitiro, Funkhouser and Ryan have done again and again. The terrible trio’s behavior has cost the people of Kansas City millions of dollars in court settlements, legal fees, damages and lost revenue.
Dreams, delusions and negotiated settlements have really come to define the Orange Revolution.
It is time to stop this nonsense Dan before you and your deranged friends cost us more money.
Go back to your beer and whatever else you do.
Defending Funk is a sickness. Seek help Dan.
Dan I would rather read your views on beer than on politics.
Wow Dan. In all seriousness, you are so in the tank for your friend Funk that you are starting to lose a grip on reality. Are you honestly arguing that if the 2 mil is pulled the leases aren't breached? Seriously dude. Now maybe your argument is someone else can save the day and cure the breach Funk created, but that is another point and denying the reality of what your friend is trying to do. Final point, is the voters spoke and have now given the teams over 500 mil. Should we be happy if your friend decides to flush all that down the toilet so that he can score some PR stunt points and save 2 mil? Save 2 mil, lose 500 mil. I am not the auditor, but that is not good math. Fortunately, the Funk does not speak for reponsible city government.
The KC Biz Journal figured it out: http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/blog/2010/02/kc_stadium_a_complex_issue.html
Most of the five comments above are perfect examples of the ignorance that the Star has chosen to breed, rather than abolish.
Folks, there is no contract. None. Truly. Go to the Jackson County Sports Authority and read the contracts yourself, and you'll see that Kansas City is not a party to the contract, and that the contracts anticipate that the City might choose to change what it is donating.
Anonymous 10:46 - Thank you for pointing out that the KCBJ has done the work that the Star has failed to do. I've been pointing out that there is no contract for at least a year now.
Dan if you want to knock Republicans why don't you start with Jeff Roe and Mark Siettmann, who by now must be your best friends. It is Roe and Siettmann who are misleading the people of Kansas City,and now I guess you want to rejoin those ignoble ranks.
Dan, Where is the contract for the State to contribute $2 Million a year to subsidize Bartle Hall and the hotel industry? If the State wants to shift $2 Million to the Sports Complex, so be it. Maybe we can change the name to the Missouri Chiefs. Funkhouser never considers the consequences of his impetuous actions...he only thinks about what will play to the shallow and ignorant.
But, at the Kansas City Star, if the lie you are spouting is an attack on our Mayor, you face no such hostility or defense of the truth.
If only it were just the Star and the Funk; but "stenographer for liar" seems to be the job description for most of the press these days. And, as your anonymice demonstrate, it works because lots of people would prefer to have their lies and prejudices supported, than deal with reality. Democracy, meet shitter.
Dan,
What was your position on when the "no billionare left behind" tax was on the ballot?
Anonymous 8:28 - They could probably do that; I haven't checked out whether they are contractually obligated or not. Regardless, Silvey told a lie and the Star didn't call him on it. That's stenography, not journalism. If I claimed the state was legally bound and it wasn't, I trust someone would point out my lie.
Craig - Honestly, I have no memory of the stadium tax, or what position I took. I think I voted against it, because I remember my brother disagreeing with me and telling me he never would have moved here if it weren't for the Chiefs.
Craig - you piqued my curiosity about the stadium tax, so I went back into the archives to check. I opposed it for several excellent reasons: http://www.gonemild.com/2006/04/no-on-stadium-taxes.html.
That's one of the oddities of having maintained a blog for more than half a decade; you have a record of almost everything!
Post a Comment
<< Home