Editorial: Anatomy of a Whitewash
So get this straight. Dr. Wright gets some heat from the media over some no-bid contracts given out to her cronies (and usually behind closed doors) and runs to her friendly Mississippi Today reporter. Said reporter once worked for The Parents’ Campaign. The reporter publishes a story that gets basic facts wrong while omitting other key facts. A reader must question at some point whether this was indeed a serious attempt at reporting a story or if it was indeed a whitewash.
Ms. Royals is a competent reporter. She busted JPS for awarding a fishy multi-million dollar consulting contract nearly a year ago. However, she is no longer working at the Clarion-Ledger but is working for an online newspaper owned by Jim Barksdale and Dickie Scruggs. The same Jim Barksdale who funds the Parents’ Campaign. Stories such as this one are what some feared when the debut of Mississippi Today was announced. The thought of Dickie Scruggs controlling journalism in Mississippi is troubling as well. Shades of Gail Wynand.
One can only question why Ms. Royals got the final amount of a contract wrong, failed to report that an employee of Dr. Porter received consulting contracts, the employee’s wife also received a consulting contract, and the contracts were all structured in ways that appear they were designed to avoid scrutiny.
It is clear after reading this story that there will be no objective reporting on education at MT. This story was nothing but a whitewash of something that would raise serious questions at any other government agency. Did anyone forget Chris Epps? Notice that the story does not link any reported stories from the CL or JJ. JJ tries to link such stories whenever they are reported on this website. JJ trusts the readers to read all the information they desire and form their own opinion. It is called trusting the readers. What a concept.
Jackson Jambalaya
6/21/16
Magnolia Tribune
