The Examiner turns six months old today, just old enough to be heard ? a lot.
The Baltimore Sun tries not to listen. That?s how they reacted to the old News-American. I?ve read the Sun for 30 years. It?s a true institution with the size and backing that come with being part of the Tribune empire.
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The Sun is what we used to call “the paper of record.” If something important happened ? birth, weddings, death and everything in between ? the Sun covered it. Only Baltimore has grown and papers, including the Sun, lack the staff and space they once had to record everything.
The Sun?s 170 years give it a huge leg up on the competition ? us. Compared to that history, six months seems like child?s play. Only it?s not. In this information age, six months is an eternity.
Back in March, Tribune held a virtual monopoly on Baltimore print media. A monopoly lets one voice set the agenda, without interference from pesky customers. That?s the way news has been handled since most cities became one-newspaper markets.
If you followed both papers in those six months, you heard other voices. Need proof? We could analyze several stories, but let?s look at the unfortunate death of prominent Baltimore businessman Robert Lee Clay.
According to The Examiner, Clay was found dead ? shot in the back of the head in his east Baltimore office on May 16, 2005. The stories cite several inconsistencies with the official report and explained “famed pathologist Henry Lee has joined three other crime-scene experts, claiming there are problems with the quick ruling of suicide by the medical examiner?s office.”
The highly questionable death and subsequent community outcry have been the talk of the town ? everywhere except the Sun?s August pages. The story has been on The Examiner front page. It?s been on TV. Friends and families of the deceased have complained. Council Member Belinda Conaway asked policeto reopen the investigation at a recent council session. In the background, people held signs supporting Conaway. WJZ had video. Other news outlets covered it. The Examiner again put it on the front page.
And the Sun barely mentioned it at all. It was the first time they have done so. Over on Calvert Street, this story was worthy of just 99 words. I can sum up why in one word ? ego. News people hate to follow their competition. The business has always been that way. But sometimes news is too important and all media have an obligation to report it ? even if someone else broke the story.
The competition is just beginning. Baltimore is a two-paper town again, and it?s incumbent on the paper with 170 years of history to keep doing what?s best for the community. The Sun?s motto is “Light For All.” How about some light for Robert Lee Clay?
Dan Gainor is a career journalist, media commentator and The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center?s Business & Media Institute. He can be reached at [email protected].
