July 5, 2009 | Ink By the Byte

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

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“Life’s a beach: Lu Hardin moves on”

COMMENT: Apparently (almost) all is forgiven at the Demozette newsroom for former University of Central Arkansas president Lu Hardin’s past transgressions. The writer offers kind words on Hardin’s recent hire as president at the private Christian school, Palm Beach Atlantic University.

The editorial says:

We come today not to bury Lu Hardin, but to wish him well at his new gig down in Florida … As somebody out in the newsroom said when he heard the news, Good for Lu! Failure happens. It needn’t be forever.

I don’t think failure is the issue here, is it? Unless we’re talking about his failure to hide from public scrutiny extra money he was receiving in violation of state limits on pay. It’s not the sort of ‘pick yourself up and try again’ spirit we are lauding, but a deliberate effort to mislead the public.

I like Lu. He’s an incredibly charming guy. I was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Conway bureau reporter when Lu was ushered in as a liberator at UCA in 2002, trying to sooth the antagonistic relationship between his predecessor Win Thompson and much of the college faculty. I enjoyed covering that transition. His years of success there before the hard, fatal fall at the end were laudable. But they are now completely undershadowed.

It is no doubt that it was his amazing charm that helped garner an unanimous decision to select him as Palm Beach Atlantic University’s next president. I hope that choice pans out well for them.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas

“Prisons should close doors, open discourse” (Link not available)

COMMENT: The Morning News offers a watchdog editorial today about the hearing last week regarding the state of the state’s prison system. The writer chastises Arkansas Department of Correction director Larry Norris for speaking one-on-one to his board members so that the state’s Freedom of Information Act is not triggered and the process won’t be public. The writer also acknowledges that things are better now than they were decades ago in the state’s prisons. The editorial closes by hoping the legislature will force a little light on the board’s activities. I agree.

The Northwest Arkansas Times

“Misdirected finger-pointing: Blame for a young woman’s death is easy to pinpoint”

COMMENT: The person responsible for Jill Ulmer’s death is the person who stabbed her, not the police who, in an effort to save the 26-year-old woman, accidentally shot her in the head, this editorial argues. I agree. This isn’t a situation like the one where Taylor Breeden was killed by Fayetteville police in 2007. It’s tragic that an officer’s bullet struck the victim, but would have been even more tragic if the police had never arrived.

Ink by the Byte is an infrequent 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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• July 4, 2009 (‘Happy Birthday, America’ edition) | Ink By the Byte at 12:34 PM on July 4, 2009
• Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 3:26 PM on July 15, 2009
• July 9, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 12:34 PM on July 9, 2009
• July 6, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 11:50 AM on July 6, 2009
• Sunday, July 26, 2009 | Ink By the Byte at 10:30 PM on July 26, 2009