It’s unusual for the daily newspaper to mention other media, but the PNJ editorial board went after popular TV anchor Sue Straughn in their Tuesday, March 1 editorial for serving on the panel that selected the eight finalists to be federal magistrate.
From the editorial:
“Straughn, as a journalist, should not double up as an arm of the government. And, particularly, without announcing to the public that she’s working behind the scenes on who sits on the bench. We’re left to wonder how WEAR-TV will handle it if Kahn makes another major misstep one he takes his federal job. Will Sue deliver the news? Will she add that, by the way, she helped pick this man?”
PNJ isn’t happy that Chuck Kahn got the job, but attacking someone for serving on the panel that helped narrow the field is more than a little over the top.
This is the same editorial board whose members played poker with the senior staff of City Hall and never told the public. The same newspaper whose star columnist just got back from a cruise with one of the highest paid city staffers. This game of pointing fingers and questioning another’s integrity can get uncomfortable quick for the PNJ brain trust.
Straughn can separate herself from her volunteer service on a panel and her job. We all can and do. I am glad that she served on the panel.
