Rank: Administration
Groups: Administrator
, Member
Joined: 1/11/2008
Posts: 256
Location: Bellingham, WA
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Tracy Ellis dropped the ball recently, and it resulted in an errant report on KGMI radio. Where many would just shrug it off and move on, or post a small font retraction on page B-13. Tracy did not, but rather came front and center with the issue on his blog. First rate, class act. Tracy, I salute you. Tracy's BlogAs the blog grows, that post will get pushed off the page. Therefore I'm posting the contents here. Quote:I scewed up - here's what happened By Tracy Ellis On KGMI'S Bonner and Brooks show recently Brett apologized to the Bellingham School District for the portion of a talk show that was inspired by a line I wrote in a story. Brett took the district to task for not doing interviews on school board agenda items prior to board meetings. It turns out that is no longer the case. In his apology, Brett said they thought due diligence had been done, but it hadn't - meaning I didn't do the work that should have been done. This is my fault and I take full responsibility, but I would like to explain what happened. On several occasions over the last five years I had been told by District Communications Director Tanya Rowe that the superintendent would not comment on agenda items before the meeting. I figured this was district policy, so after a while I stopped seeking comment on agenda items. In a number of stories I wrote – district officials do not comment on agenda items before meetings. A story that ran recently contained that line – prompting the talk show topic. I did something I hardly ever do in actually calling into the talk show to discuss, what I believed to be, the district policy on agenda items. However, I never claimed that I attempted to contact the district for the story in question because I hadn't. After the show, Rowe told me that the district does now discuss agenda items before meetings. She said not talking was never a policy, but a preferred practice of former Superintendent Dr. Dale Kinsley. She said first year Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Vedra doesn't share the same philosophy. That was the first time I had ever been told that. After several phone discussions and emails, Rowe and I pledged to work together to improve communication between the district and the station. I should have attempted to contact Rowe or Vedra before writing the story and going on the talk show to make sure the policy or practice of not granting interviews on agenda items before meetings was still in place. Because I did not do that, both the district and the talk show were embarrassed – and for that I'm very sorry. **** If you would like to respond to this blog, send me an email at tracy@kgmi.com and I may choose to post your comments online.
Mark Twain wrote:
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on.
Mark Twain
Baron Miller wrote:
Grace ruins the idea that you are fully in charge.
Baron Miller
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