Six years later: Chron comments on Wilson's NJ transit issues
THE CHRON'S JUNIOR METRO/STATE DIARIST LISA FALKENBERG surely surprised some readers (and perhaps some colleagues!) today with what was, so far as we can tell, the newspaper's first reference to the ethical cloud that current METRO chief Frank Wilson left behind in New Jersey as detailed nearly six years ago by that state's capable Commission of Investigation in E-ZPass: The Making of a Procurement Disaster.
Falkenberg went on to note that at the time of Wilson's hiring (before the damning report was released), her own newspaper was not very interested in accounts of Wilson's transgressions, dismissing them with a glowing quote from David Wolff about Wilson's greatness (interestingly, the same quote that appears in this 17 March 2010 blog post).
She did not add (but we will) that her own colleague, currently on the transit beat quoted Wolff in defense of Wilson just a few days ago, in a story of questionable balance. Old habits die hard at the newspaper, perhaps.
We're not quite sure if it's time to promote Falkenberg to Young Adult Columnist just yet -- today's column was just a rehash of very old material available on this and other blogs, after all, without even the addition of some quotes from the New Jersey Commission of Investigation or Frank Wilson himself (something that professional journalists are often expected to do and have time to do, unlike most hobby bloggers). Certainly, though, the sharpening, critical/skeptical perspective serves as confirmation that the establishment has soured on Wilson, and he's probably not going to be around much longer. That's welcome news, even if the Chron may shortly be in cheerleader mode* once more for whoever is hired to replace Wilson.
BLOGVERSATION: Harris County Almanac.
* In all fairness, the newspaper does cheerleading profile pieces very well.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/22/10 11:53 AM | Print |
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