As I wrote last week, readers think The Star has under-covered the sting videos an independent filmmaker has made revealing employees with ACORN counseling a fake pimp and his prostitute on how to hide income and bring prostitutes into the country. If you want to catch up, BigGovernment.com is ACORN sting-vid central.
The chorus hasn't stopped. This is a perfect example that shows the difference between a nationwide-oriented source like Fox News Network or BigGovernment.com and what regional newspapers like The Star have turned to as their primary focus in 2009.
Today, regional papers and their Web sites put the majority of their resources into stories dealing with their communities. Readers sometimes like that, and sometimes they don't.
The networks and nationwide-oriented Web news don't have a local constituency. Same can be said of USA Today, for that matter. They expend no energy on the bread and butter of a local paper -- things like crime reports or City Hall. So they turn to things they think will appeal to a common ground. And everyone cares about things like the federal government, for example.
ACORN doesn't have much of a presence in Kansas City, and as far as I know, the James O'Keefe videos haven't included any stings in this area. That doesn't mean an editor at The Star couldn't assign a reporter to it -- but the current hot spots such as Baltimore, New York and Florida aren't in The Star's normal coverage area. And readers are often critical of seeing wire service coverage in the paper.
Clearly, some readers contacting me think the story is much more important than news in print so far. Others disagree, arguing it's more politics than real concern about government funds going to the agency.
Myself, I think it's curious that not a single reader has brought up what I find a much more interesting part of the ACORN puzzle: former ACORN board members Marcel Reid and Karen Inman, who were fired last year after being appointed to investigate whether the brother of one of the group's founders embezzled almost $1 million from the organization.
I think it would be great for The Star to conduct an investigation of ACORN, and I've passed all the feedback along to the newsroom, underlining the vehemence I'm sensing.
Do I think it's the biggest story in the U.S. right now? No, I don't, because I think some of the talking heads are exaggerating the size and influence of the group.
I'd think those on the left side of the aisle would want to know if ACORN is achieving its goals through unethical or possibly illegal means, too. I've always thought anyone who feels strongly about an ideology should want to reveal malfeasance in institutions purporting to pursue that goal.
ACORN's influence and importance
Two aspects of ACORN overshadow the sensational and disturbing videos. One is its very close relationship to Barack Obama. His campaign employed ACORN. He was their lawyer for some period of time. There were filmed instances in which ACORN, publicly funded, endorsed Obama's candidacy.
The other is its pivotal role in crashing our economy through pushing loans to unqualified buyers with government financing enticing them into defaulting. ACORN was a facilitating arm of the Community Re-Investment policy which had the stated goal of 'affordable housing'. That sounds noble, but its actual effect was to put people into loans which they had no hope of fulfilling. In many cases fraud was a part of the picture, too. ACORN's role in this is highlighted by the fact that some of their funding came through HUD, with ACORN getting a rake-off from every loan which was initiated.
A1 Story
The A1 story said it was investigating the people who submitted names...this is not ACORN "achieving its goals through unethical or possibly illegal means".
a full tally please
'I'd think those on the left side of the aisle would want to know if ACORN is achieving its goals through unethical or possibly illegal means, too.'
So, now there are investigations into whether ACORN is registering voters through unethical or possibly illegal means?
Regardless, I would be very interested in how much taxpayer money has been thrown at investigations into ACORN and what the results have been. Make sure to differentiate between the fraudulent registrations that ACORN itself reported, and the additional incidents of fraud that have been established. It would also be interesting to know what legal expenses have been incurred by ACORN defending itself. We already have reports that US Attorneys were fired because they refused to bring what they considered fraudulent cases against ACORN. That angle, since it implies abuse of governmental power is at least as important as plastering 'ACORN' on a headline associated with possible criminal charges against an individual. Of course, if, as ACORN alleges, the tapes turn out to be "doctored", that'll be news as well.
There was an A-1 story last
There was an A-1 story last fall about the FBI opening a probe into ACORN's voter registrations, and there were indications it involved the KC office (which is a small one). I don't think they've made any arrests or announced any results, but I plan to call and ask tomorrow. The reporter who covered it is out of the office next week, but I'll also put that before him and his editor.
I've yet to see the Star
I've yet to see the Star back away from a scandal. Why was the Van Jones saga and the ongoing case against ACORN concerning voter fraud in Missouri, stimulus package funding and the latest series of tax evasion schemes shown on tape left on the cutting room floor?
By the way, the 2008 content was so grossly overburdened with Obama-themed campaign support and in-depth coverage of his every speech that your argument that local papers cover local news holds little water.
I wrote about the paper
I wrote about the paper being late to Van Jones Sunday in my column. The charges against ACORN were in the paper last year, including on A-1 several times, especially when the FBI launched its investigation that included the KC office. You might have missed it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't in the paper. This is why I need specific examples.