Shrinking Times

July 28, 2013

The El Paso Times has introduced a new format that in addition to being pleasant to look at has larger print.  I am really enjoying the larger print.

It is a shame that the content on the page is shrinking, thereby conveying less information to the readers.

The front page of the July 26, 2013 edition is an example.  Allowing for margins on the top and bottom and on the sides, my calculations show that there are about 210 square inches available for printing.

This front page had three news articles on it.  The rest of the space was occupied by advertising, headlines, pictures, and indexing information.  The actual written articles occupied about 41 square inches of the page.

20 percent

In other words only 20 percent of the front page contained reporting.  If they can get it up to 26 percent then they will achieve the same percentage as the loser in the last mayoral election.

Times are changing in the newspaper business.  Newspapers are struggling to find ways to preserve their existing circulation numbers and would certainly like to increase them.   They claim not to have enough money to spend on reporting.   The Times is not the only newspaper that has resorted to this technique.

I don’t envy the people who are struggling with this problem.  I can however tell them that this reader would like to see more unbiased, in-depth reporting instead of what we have been seeing lately.

I hope that the Times can find it’s way.

Muckraker

7 Comments | El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Muckraker

Has anything changed?

July 14, 2013

The headline article in the Wednesday, May 22, 2013 edition of the El Paso Times was about school district spending per student.

The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) is the largest school district in the area.  The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently stripped the district’s elected board of trustees of their power and appointed a board of managers  to run the district.  We are told that this action was mostly the result of a horrible cheating scandal (by the employees, not the students) and the trustees not taking action and  being transparent in their dealings.  The new board has been tasked with rebuilding public confidence.

The Times talked with local school districts about the spending per student issue.  What did EPISD have to say?  “Officials at the EPISD were not available to comment” according to the Times article.  So much for transparency.

The Times was able to talk with the president of the newly appointed board of managers.  He was, until the latest election, a Texas state representative.  While in office he voted to cut $5.4 billion from the state education budget.  The Times chose not to mention that.  So much for transparency.

The $5.4 billion dollar cut may have been the right thing to do.  EPISD wastes money like a drunken sailor.  They have people on their central office staff that hinder teaching instead of helping it.  Ask any classroom teacher, but be prepared for an ear full.

One of the members of the new board of managers was appointed by the TEA as the conservator of the school district in August of 2012.  She had the power to overrule the board of trustees.  Have we seen any new action as a result of her position?  What is the district doing differently since she has been in control?  So much for action.  So much for transparency.

Now it appears that the City of El Paso wants to kick the EPISD central offices off the airport property that the district leases.  We are being told that it will cost $40 million to build new facilities.  If they are telling us that it will be $40 million what will the number really be?

We have a TEA appointed board of managers.  So be it.  They need to get to work and fix the district.  They need to tell us what they are doing.  They need to fix public confidence.  They need to work with the city to avoid spending $40 million when what money they do have should be spent on educating the children.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty

Cato

2 Comments | City government, El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times, State Government, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Cato

Disregard for the facts

July 2, 2013

The El Paso Times reported on June 29, 2013 that city council will be asked to rob $4.5 million from the Montana Avenue bus project and use it to remodel two more floors on the old Luther Building.  The issue is not on the city council agenda yet.  I suspect that this is a trial balloon designed to see if the voting public is paying attention.

The report told us that other parts of the building were currently being remodeled for $8.9 million with a city spokesman saying that the total cost of the renovations would be $13.4 million.

The same Times reporter wrote on January 23, 2013 that city council had voted to issue a contract for $11.5 million to remodel the same building.

Please explain

I would think that the reporter would feel obligated to set the record straight.  My guess is that what is really happening is that city staff wants to spend another $2.4 million above the $11.5 million that they have already received approval for.  The $4.5 million just happens to be sitting over in a corner because the sequestration situation at the national government is going to delay or cut the federal portion of the bus project.

It seems that city staff thinks that feathering their own nests is more important than the transportation system.

Another problem

In another example where Times employees seem to spend more time writing then they do researching facts, the Sunday June 30, 2013 Times has a column written by their editorial page writer.  He suggests that the new mayor may put the question of city manager vs. strong mayor on the ballot in November.

The city charter can only be amended once every two years.  We did that in May of 2013 and cannot do it again until May of 2015.

Muckraker

1 Comment | City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Muckraker

Good reporting

June 29, 2013

I enjoyed this article in the El Paso Times the other day.  It was about the cut backs in the army and how they will affect Fort Bliss and thus El Paso.

The reporter explained that the net loss to Fort Bliss will be 750 soldiers instead of the 3,500 previously reported by others.

What I enjoyed most about the article is that the reporter figured out what people would want to know about the cut backs, researched to get answers and then wrote about them.

Many articles I read in the Times leave me with more questions than I had before I read the article.  This article was different in that it anticipated my questions and then answered them.  I saw no repetition or political bias as I often do in the Times.  The numbers made sense and even added up correctly.

I hope to see more reporting like this.

Muckraker

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Posted by Muckraker

Don’t believe all that you read

June 28, 2013

An article in the El Paso Times the other day  said “… the start of City Council meetings was moved up 30 minutes to 8:30 a.m. ”

The reporter was telling us about new rules that council is making about it’s meetings.

My recollection is that council meetings have been starting at 8:30 AM for years now.  I checked agendas back as far as January, 2012 and saw that the meetings have been scheduled to start at 8:30.

As far as I can tell, council did not move the meeting time up 30 minutes.  This may be a small point, but to me it points out that what is printed in the Times is not always factual.  That may be an understatement.

Some of you may say that I am being petty to comment about this.  I believe that the newspaper should be held to a high standard of accuracy.  The articles they publish should be fact checked.  Errors that slip though should be acknowledged and corrected in subsequent editions.

What the reporter might have meant to say is that since the portion of the meeting that allows the public to comment has been moved from the beginning of the meeting to 12:15 PM, the other business of council will now start at 8:30.

That would have been much more accurate.

Muckraker

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