Fullerton Observer Sinks To New Low
UPDATE: According to an e-mail we received yesterday, our acquaintance “Tenant” reminded us that he did indeed have a follow up conversation with Ms. Kennedy about his situation. We apologize for that error. However the basic thrust of this post remains. You can’t be a reporter and an advocate for this or that specific cause or organization at the same time.
And just to remind our Friends: we are a blog – not a journalistic endeavor and we have never tried to get anybody to believe otherwise.
To those Fullerton Observer observers who still believe that Sharon Kennedy has an atom of journalist integrity, or any objective standards either, we present the most recent Observer edition as our evidence to the contrary.
Last week we posted a story about how Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services intended to expand their compound in the 500 block of West Amerige Avenue, and in the process how the current landlord had told his tenants to vacate the premises so he could close the deal.
What we didn’t share was the fact that one of the tenants had actually contacted Sharon Kennedy. According to this individual she evinced considerable interested in his plight; but the tenant never heard back from her.
In the Observer’s mid-September issue she gave an answer. Buried in the middle of an article about unrelated FIES issues the author tucked in a few lines about the FIES acquisition of property on Amerige. The article notes matter-of-factly that relocation help would be available for those tenants who need it. Check out left column halfway down page nine.
Of course there was no mention of the fact that previously none of the tenants had been notified that “assistance was available,” no mention of what the criteria for qualification are, and no mention of who at FIES told her that they were going to help anybody.
It sure looks to us like Sharon Kennedy was trying to help her pals at FIES cover up an embarrassing episode long after the fact. Wow! What a crusading reporter!
Well, at any rate, we are glad that someone may be getting something, sometime, somehow. We’ll check in to see what FIES is doing to make things right for the folks they are dislocating.
In the meantime a whole lotta irony is still goin’ on: several genuine, non-subsidized affordable housing units are taken out of the available housing stock and the property, soon to be owned by a non-profit, will be taken off the property tax rolls. Hooray!
Can’t say I’m surprised. FIES runs ads in the Observer all the time. Kennedy doesn’t have the guts to call one of her advertisers to the table.
Busted!
I like The Observer, it’s what we use to start our barbecue.
why don’t silly Pam and the Observer both take a one way bus ride to Chicago…
Does FEIS give out money and provide “nanny “services for adult citizens or remedy the problem. The giving of money will create a permanent constituency of those seeking a hand-out? “If you give a man a fish he eats today, if you teach him to fish he will eat everyday.” Perhaps the hard hitting Observer journalism could pioneer beyond the Giasone inspired junior high school reporting and seek the result of a policy or decision.
Thanks for the update Harpoon.
I’m used to this. The Observer and News Tribune (aka Barbara Giasone) just run interference for Fullerton’s various organizations – most notably City Hall.
Your point is well taken. How much embarrassing or awkward news gets passed over, hushed up, talked around, etc. by our “newspapers?”
Of course the Observer is free so you get what you pay for. But it’s a million miles away from the whole story.
The Observer’s mission statement on page 2 suggests it’s an “independent, non-partisan … community newspaper.” Hmmmm.
This is a mess of a reporting job at best and shady biz at worst.
However, The Observer does keep the Coyote Hills / Chevron issue at the forefront (much to the Council’s chagrin, no doubt), and it’s fair coverage not consistently found elsewhere. Same is often true of our water quality issues.
Sharon Kennedy has done right by this town more than a few times…and that’s exactly what makes this FIES article so disappointing.
friends for fullerton’s future may want to do a little investigative reporting and find out the artist, editor sharon kennedy’s bio. If people knew the facts on her, they would understand why the fullerton observer is not a newspaper