Several readers have contacted me to ask The Star to send a reporter to the Mexican border to cover the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps on patrol. This was prompted at least in part by local radio talk-show host Darla Jaye (whose show I appeared on last Wednesday). Obviously, La Raza's recent decision to move its convention out of Kansas City has stirred a lot of voices, both approving and disdainful.
Sending a reporter would allow that person to ask questions that pertain specifically to Kansas Citians. But as other stories in the paper have pointed out, many illegal immigrants don't actually sneak over the border in the first place, but instead arrive on credentials that they allow to expire. Would the resources spent on a trip be better spent on beefing up the considerable local coverage the paper's already given to the subject? I don't know that there's a single clear answer.
icky
who cares what la grasa thinks?
Cost of reporting
I do believe the Minutemen are too confrontational in their tactics, and too many of their members are clearly extremists. Therefore, I think Kansas City would have been better off if Frances Semler had resigned. But, I also think it would be a good idea for the Star to send a reporter down to the border. And frankly, I am not buying the argument that it was a matter of expense. Any paper that can send four reporters (Whitlock, Posnanski, Teicher, and Covitz) to cover the Chiefs in Indianapolis can easily afford to send a single reporter to the border for a few days.
Re: Cost of reporting
Fair comment, VOR. I'll relate it to the editors for you.