July 10, 2009 | Ink By the Byte

“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel” – newspaper adage

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“Questions to answer: About the most expensive high school ever”

COMMENT: The editorial writer questions the Fayetteville School District as to why they need a $113 million millage increase. Is it a municipal form of ‘Keeping up with (and trying to totally surpass) the Jones’? The writer provides a cost per student analysis of the proposed Fayetteville renovation compared with other school renovations in neighboring towns that raises deep questions. A quote near the bottom of the editorial sums up the writer’s perception pretty plainly:

But the goal of each system is-or should be-the education of its students, not to see who can erect the more imposing status symbol. Is Fayetteville falling victim to an edifice complex? And in order to satisfy it, is it appealing to an electorate full of voters who have to be concerned about their own needs in these times?

“Quote of the day: The truth will out, frankly”

COMMENT: This editorial takes a quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about abortion and beats her with it. The quote will appear in this Sunday in The New York Times Sunday Magazine in an article titled “The Place of Women in the Court.”

Ginsburg is quoted as saying:

Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. [The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's editorial writer ends the quote here, but it continues] So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.

The editorial blames Ginsburg of falling into the worst sort of eugenic thinking against the ‘lower orders’ in society.

Judge the judge for yourself.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas

“Attack draws attention to police dogs”

COMMENT: A police dog mauled a young boy at Gravette’s Fourth of July celebration. The writer says blame for that attack lay both with the police department, who need stricter policies in place, and with citizens, who need to better educate their kids that police dogs are not pets, but animals trained to attack.

The Northwest Arkansas Times

“The collector’s error: Why is Ruff blaming the press for his own mistakes”

COMMENT: The Northwest Arkansas Times takes Washington County Collector David Ruff to task again for his recent hiring, then sudden firing, of friend Johnny Tittle as the chief deputy tax collector. It was a poor decision for Ruff to hire him in the first place, and, as you might remember from a previous Ink By the Byte, I agreed wholeheartedly with the Northwest Arkansas Times stance on the topic.

The editorial writer seems to be most offended that Ruff blamed the press for the dustup in a previous article. It’s a poor tactic when a public official blames the press for doing its job.

Mr. Ruff, it is our reason for being to cover public officials’ actions and to provide fair and accurate information about them. It’s like blaming the rain for making things wet. It’s what we do.

The editorial writer says:

So we were somewhat surprised (though not shocked) to discover that Tittle was fired from his new job on Monday. Similarly, we were saddened (again, not shocked) to see the person responsible for the debacle blame the press for stirring up “some distraction in the office.” Ruff, after blaming the press, went onto explain that he fired Tittle because he “displayed an annoyance” at being asked to learn how to type well and use a 10-key calculator. That Ruff hired a No. 2 who lacked such basic skills raises its own set of questions.

Good luck in the private sector, Mr. Tittle.

Ink by the Byte is an ‘almost daily’ media criticism and editorial roundup column focused on three newspapers in Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas Times. All comments reflect the opinion of Christopher Spencer, publisher of Ozarks Unbound.

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• Tuesday, July 14, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 9:27 am on July 14, 2009
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