Thelma Manley was fired by the state as the community liaison for Front Porch yesterday. The daily’s dogged pursuit on Manley is coming to an end. Over the past six weeks, Manley has made the front page of the paper numerous times – and so did her biggest supporter, Hugh King, after he was arrested for allegedly carrying a small amount of cocaine.
Meanwhile it has been a month since we, WEAR TV and WUWF radio reported on issues inside the fire departments in Escambia County. Not a word in the daily.
The most often heard excuse is that the daily just doesn’t have the staff. I can sympathize because with our small staff and free lancers there are about half a dozen stories I want us to do, but we just can’t get to them. However, the daily is the daily. It’s revenues dwarf most companies (except WalMart) in this area. It’s part of one the largest media empires in the U.S.
Yet its focuses on problems in a relatively minor agency and ignores an essential county service – fire protection.
And even the articles on Front Porch fail to really address the major issues surrounding this faith-based program that was a big initiative of Jeb Bush when he was first elected in 1998. Why didn’t the daily interview Jeb or members of his administration? Why was the program set up with an underfunded director that the local council didn’t control? Why was the audit not done until seven years after the program started? Why did the county and city fund a program with no (or weak) financial controls? Why was Johnny Crawford the original director removed from Front Porch?
Their focus has been on a black woman and a black pastor….when bigger questions should have been asked….and there is more to the story. We hope to do some more digging on Front Porch.
Still larger county issues go unreported.