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If A Sheriff’s Office Expose Falls In The Woods, And No One Sees It…
The St. Pete Times, on Aug. 31, ran a huge, mulitmedia investigation and story concerning the 2002 East Polk car crash that killed 16-year-old Miles White; left Adam Jacoby, son of state representative Marty Bowen, facing criminal charges; and led to the arrest of Deputy Scott Lawson on a variety of sex charges not related to the crash.
You can read the piece yourself. I recommend it. It alleges that Lawson likely caused the crash by ramming the car Jacoby was driving during a dubious early morning pursuit in his unmarked police vehicle. It further suggests the sheriff’s office sought to avoid liability in the case by doing a slipshod investigation. The sheriff’s office denies that and says Lawson did not ram the car.
Here’s the Times’ piece tagline:
“Two teenage boys are in a car chase with a reckless, sexually perverted Polk County sheriff’s deputy. The boys crash, killing Miles White, 16. But the sheriff’s office does not investigate its deputy’s involvement. Why?”
The reporter is Meg Laughlin, who has made something of a specialty beat out of critical examinations of Polk law enforcement behavior in specific cases. She’s dissected one murder trial and looked hard at the resignation of Arlie Smith, a former high-ranking State Attorney’s Office. She’s done far more work on this case, and reviewed far more documents, than anybody else I know of. I’m not in a position to dispute or echo her conclusions, and I’m not going to do that here. Rather, I think this piece - and who chose to run it or talkabout it or cooperate in its production - says quite a bit about the state of complex investigative journalism and the challenges it faces in an era when media consumers increasingly use it to form and reinforce quick, simple, visceral perceptions.
Here are some thoughts, in no particular order:
1) Media organizations are newsmakers. They should be treated as such: As far as I can tell, The Ledger hasn’t run this piece. That’s interesting because The Ledger has a longstanding agreement to exchange stories with St. Pete. When I was night editor there, each evening I would call and ask what they had and offer up our stuff. Over the last few months, I’ve seen St. Pete Times stories blanket the A-front and local front of The Ledger on any number of days. There’s a St. Pete story on B5 Sunday.
In the story, Laughlin takes a bit of an implied dig at The Ledger, writing: He was [at first] painted as a hero. The Lakeland Ledger reported: “Sheriff’s Col. Gary Hester said Lawson was resting at home Saturday and under heavy medication for injuries he sustained when he pulled Jacoby from the burning car.” Brackets mine.
I have no idea whether that caused The Ledger not to run the Laughlin piece. I have no idea if the critical focus on Sheriff Grady Judd and the sheriff’s office brass has given anybody pause. It’s entirely likely that the story is simply too long to run in the shrunken Ledger, or that editors are saving it for a day when they have space.
What I do know is that someone had to refer me to this story. I’m a pretty savvy media watcher, and I missed it. I found out about it only last week. This shows how, in many ways, what media organizations choose to emphasize or ignore is more important than what the actually produce. CSX was a classic example of this. Lookat the difference in the way The Tribune, The Sentinel, The Ledger, and even The St. Pete Times approached it. Same facts, same characters being written about; radically different approaches and results. [Obviusly, I think The Tribune's work was light years better than the others. But I'm biased, of course.] In this world, media orgs, including non-MSM outlets, make news by what they choose to emphasize or ignore. They should engage each other accordingly. Hence my “Bitterest Woman In Orlando” posts from a few weeks ago.
2) Time and resources matter: The person who referred me to the story said Laughlin asked him why The Ledger had never done this level of investigation itself. The tempting answer for cynics goes something like this: Grady Judd is Polk County’s daddy, a bulletproof political figure and Central Florida media star. Newspapers and television depend on his office for a huge percentage of their breaking news, and it delivers. So they are not going to challenge him and risk losing the rather remarkable access he provides. Judd intimidates through his openness and popularity. Meg Laughlin doesn’t have to deal with Judd on a daily basis, so she’s free to rake him without consequences.
There may be some element of truth in this. But I actually don’t think Juddfilia - or phobia - keeps The Ledger from investigating his office. In fact, the paper has had any number of run-ins over the years.
My best explanation is less conspiratorial and far more troubling longterm. It’s a simple matter of time and resources. I was an editor with The Ledger back when this happened. I don’t remember the specifics of our coverage, but I don’t recall any deference. The general perception among reporters and editors was that Lawson’s role in the crash was highly fishy, and I think that got reported.
What we didn’t do, at some point, was assign someone to wade through all the documents. I’m not clear when they became available, so I’m not sure when the best time would have been. But between 2002 and the time I left in 2006, we had two outstanding, dedicated court reporters - Jeff Scullin and Jason Geary - who wrote any number of hard-hitting pieces. Just not about this case. They did that while chronicling the daily wheels of justice.
When I started at The Trib, I had relatively wide freedom to investigate big, complex stories. But that freedom, otherwise known as time, shrunk day-by-day as we retooled to emphasize daily breaking news.
Doing what Meg Laughlin did in this case takes time and expertise. I’d love to hear from her how long it took her to produce this and what her other assignments were. As news organizations shed reporters and emphasize online breaking news - and as fewer smart, dedicated people find this an attractive industry - these types of reports are going to dwindle. I know this is no great insight, but it doesn’t make it less sad.
3) Police agencies have enormous power to drive news: It is striking to read Laughlin’s piece and see how all these people with the sheriff’s office who I know as incredibly open and friendly to daily crime reporting have very little to say about this case.
They’ve had even less to say in the aftermath of the story. In fact, agency policy seems to be to ignore it. That’s smart, from the sheriff’s office point of view. The news cycle starts fresh each day. Hell, almost each hour now. And the nature of it provides almost limitless opportunity for Grady Judd and his folks to get on television, say something charmingly forceful about criminals, and win the day. I don’t say this as a criticism of the sheriff’s office. It’s just the skillful recognition and exploitation of the world as it is. I’d do the same thing in their place. There’s no price to pay for ignoring a critical report if no one else chooses to emphasize it. And if it’s complicated, no one’s going to pick it up.
It’s the visceral stuff - dumping somebody out a wheelchair on camera, some sexual matter, or getting caught driving drunk - that has legs. Abuse of power, because it’s almost always complicated, doesn’t.
This appears very near the end of Laughlin’s story:
Hank B. Campbell, attorney for Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, recently wrote the Times a letter: “The accusations you are apparently making that this accident was not fully investigated, that the allegations regarding Scott Lawson were not fully investigated, or that there has been some cover up … are false and without factual basis.”
Should the newspaper persist with its “deeply troubling campaign of misinformation,” Campbell wrote, his law firm would recommend that the sheriff take action “to properly communicate the truth.”
Believe me, Hank. There’s no need.
Remember When Republican Politicians Used To Say Lying Was Bad?
Ah, such quaint, quaint times those were.
She (and he) lied about the Bridge to Nowhere.
They lied about requesting earmarks. Even on The View.
They lied about the size of their crowds.
These are just the ones I can track down. Wait till Monday, and they’ll lie about something else. What will we tell the children, Dr. Dobson? Talk about selling your souls for a mess of pottage.
And here I thought there was a commandment not to bear false witness. You would have thought placing the giant commandment rock in county administration building would have reminded us all of our Biblical moral obligations. Again, how quaint.
It’s instructive - and helpful - to learn that some large percentage of conservative political Christians consider a child licking a baby’s hair as a get out of remotely-telling-the-truth-about-anything card for their parent or presidential godfather. I have a 5-year-old. I’m sure I can scare up a baby somewhere, whose hair he can lick. It’ll be a license to lie. You guys will understand, right. Speak up.
Oh, and by the way, here’s the specific book she wanted to ban and then backed off because of heat: “Daddy’s Roommate.” Why am I not shocked?
Take a read of this whole piece, if any of you care. A profile that lays out what she does, not who she claims to be. This is what we’ll get.
Exercise Your Responsibility
Special to Lakeland Local by community activist Al Whittle
Democracy is like good health: use it or lose it! Our system only works if the majority of us stay abreast of what’s going on; participate knowledgeably in our government; vote for the candidates best able to serve the community; and demand accountability.
Polk County just completed an important primary election where only 16% bothered to vote – the most basic of citizen responsibilities in a democracy — a privilege beyond the grasp of most people on this planet! And, voting is incredibly easy today. One email to the Supervisor of Elections will deliver every ballot for the year to your mailbox. No time off from work is required; no inconvenient trip to the nearest precinct. How much easier can it get? And where were the other 84% of you on election day?
Think about it. Bob English wasn’t elected by 44%. He was elected by 44% of the 16% who actually voted. So, 7% of us determined who will govern us for the next four years! Likewise Sam Johnson was sent to the general election by less than 9% of us. This isn’t about who got elected – or didn’t. It’s about our loss of democracy because most of us refuse to take part in our government. Yet, we all want to gripe about how it works—or doesn’t.
For all who think supporting the troops and honoring veterans means plastering stickers on your cars and flying tattered faded flags that you obviously haven’t looked at since 9/11/01, this combat vet says: “Stop it!” You’re not honoring anyone; you’re insulting us and demeaning 232 years of honorable service and sacrifice.
Flying flags and displaying stickers are fine – unless you think that’s all there is to it. The best way to support our troops and honor veterans is to exercise your responsibility as a citizen and the freedoms we bought you.
Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines will never surrender our republic. But we are giving it away slowly through citizen apathy. No amount of battlefield heroism can turn that around.
Right now Polk County is not operating as a democracy. We are governed by a very small group that actually participates in the process – in many cases behind the scenes. Gosh, an outsider might see some similarities with Cuba, Iran, and other places where most folks have no voice. The difference is that we’re giving away our freedom by not caring enough to even perform the minimum obligations of citizenship.
The 84% who don’t even care enough to vote need to pull up their socks and start acting like real Americans. Otherwise, this wonderful, but fragile, system of government will fail from the bottom up.
Please get involved now and cast an informed vote on November 4th.
If this aging warrior seems angry, it’s because I am. We simply have no right to fritter away what all of those who rest in Arlington and lie wounded in Walter Reed have given since 1776 just because we’re too lazy or uninterested to do our part.
photo credit: Bill.Roehl
A Commercial for JD Alexander
I was watching a little ESPN when this ran:
Aw, shucks, his family loves him. But, it wasn’t the narration I liked the best. It was the text at the bottom:
• ‘The Ironman’ - Legislator of the Year 2008 by the Florida Professional Firefighters Assn.
I couldn’t find notice of the award, but I find it interesting Alexander got an award from a group opposing Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. Strange bedfellows, indeed.
• ‘Jobs mean more than prisons & landfills’ - JD Alexander
What? There are no jobs in prisons and landfills?
&bull: “Education: The reason I ran for Office.” - JD Alexander
Whose? I’m serious. What does he mean? He was a one issue candidate?
• “Lower taxes, Less waste” - JD Alexander
The least meaningful phrase in all politics. Right up there with “We gotta play ‘em one day at a time.” in baseball.
• “Alexander kept his word” - The Ledger 4/11/08
Now that was easy to find. It was in a Ledger article, Colt Creek Money Replaced, written by Bill Rufty. Here you go:
“Alexander said the missing money was just an oversight forgetting to put it in, but some Senate colleagues said the missing funds for four state parks, which had been recommended by officials in the parks division of the had Department of Environmental Protection, were purposefully removed
Alexander kept his word to get the Polk money back in.”
$3 million to be exact.
I also liked the last frame “Senator JD Alexander” and below that “Call JD Alexander.”
They neglected to inform voters what to call him, or supply a number. I have it for you: 800-444-9747.
In case you missed it, the advertisement was paid for by The Florida Chamber of Commerce Alliance, Inc..
I’ve alway wondered how many voters decide who to vote for based on these 30-second commercials. The way the commercials proliferate, I guess quite a few.
HER dresses are coming! See what the Princess wore.
Diana’s Dresses - Dress For Humanity II display will be at The Lakeland Center Monday, Sept. 15 to December 26 (but not Thanksgiving or Christmas Day). The Lakeland Center has more information including time and price (this display “generates funds to assist the less fortunate” with The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc.)
Lakeland Homes Sold August 2008 - New Map Debut
Today marks a return to map making at Lakeland Local. We’re adding two maps we think will be of interest to current and prospective Lakeland residents. Once-a-month we’ll publish a map of Lakeland homes sold and weekly we’ll have a map of homes new to the market.
Now, I know real estate as well as I know law enforcement, so I’ll again need help with the maps. This time I’m working with Lakeland Realtor Petra Norris. I’ve read her detailed explanation of the information for months. I finally got in contact with her and we’ve worked a method to get the data I need to put together the maps.
Petra will run the maps and her summation on her blog. She’ll also contribute to Lakeland Local. Here’s her introduction:
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Folks interested in Lakeland Florida’s real estate market have read my detailed monthly posts comparing homes sold the previous month to those sold the year before.
The charts are by ZIP code. For those living in this beautiful growing city of Lakeland, ZIP codes such as 33803, 33811, and 33813 are located on in South Lakeland; ZIP codes with 33809 and 33810 are located in North Lakeland.
Did you ever wonder:
• Where in Lakeland were the most homes sold in one month?
• What are the addresses of the homes sold?
• How much did your neighbor’s home sell for and when did it sell?
• What is the difference in List price vs. Sales price?
Then look no further, the maps we’ll publish will give you all those answers as well as when the home was built, square footage, and the number of bedrooms and baths. You can even zoom in to get detailed street names and facilities, such as the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, a local Golf Course community, or Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
What about the folks that are interested in relocating to Lakeland? Recently, I had a conversation with Chuck Welch, a fellow blogger on Lakeland Local, about his recent move to Lakeland. He expressed that he wished there was way to map homes currently for sale. Then those in another state could easily see homes for sale in Lakeland. The maps would give a home buyer the edge to see what is located nearby and what are the price ranges.
Now with well over 2000 homes for sale in Lakeland, it would be a total chaos to map all homes. With his expertise in creating maps and me providing the necessary information, we will weekly incorporate the information you need to find homes that are new to the market.
What information will you be able to access?
• Address of the home
• List price
• Size of the home
• Number of bedrooms and baths
Petra Norris has two Lakeland-centric blogs at Petra’s Lakeland Florida Blog, and Localism
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Homes Sold in Lakeland, Florida, August 2008
CommunityWalk Map - August 2008 Lakeland Homes Sold
Disclaimer: The data for the maps is obtained from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS. It is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
$5 Fridays at Cypress Gardens
I hear that Cypress Gardens is offering guests admission for only $5 on Fridays in September. If you are a passport holder you can bring 2 guests in for free. Friday’s operating hours currently are 10am-6pm.
Make Your Mark
These brave few, and a few others, will be your facilitators when you help Lakeland Vision map a future for Lakeland.
Over the next two weeks, in six Idea Gathering meetings, you and a few other Lakelanders will meet in small groups. Lakeland Vision wants to tap your experience and creativity to develop ideas to guide Lakeland.
All the input from these six meetings will be the framework for the next four steps in the process.
For more information about Lakeland Vision and future “Make Your Mark” events, go to www.lakelandvision.org. Here’s a map of the six meeting locations and their date info:
photo credit: Shannon Lanier
Lemon Street Closed Saturday Night
This just in from the Downtown Lakeland Partnership: The Polk Theatre is having a fundraiser Saturday night. For logistical reasons they’ve asked for a street closing. On Saturday from 5:30 pm to 11 pm Lemon Street is to be closed from South Florida Avenue to Missouri Avenue.
Contact Ashley Fore at 944-1432 if you have any questions.
