This has been a strange week and it just got even stranger.
Anyone remember M.K. Guzda? You may recall, in her brief stint at The Sun, she ushered in an effort by the paper to expand outreach (meaning revenue) into new, newer, newest media. For most of us, that means The Sun staff popped up on our Facebook pages. Honestly, I’m glad of it. I don’t buy the dead tree version. Hell, I don’t buy any version. But, bits of it come to me, ever so conveniently, on my FB page.
So, as it were, our young man about town, the intrepid Lyle Moran, posted his version of the flailing over at the Pollard Library on his FB page. As me and Lyle are what FB calls “Friends,” it came to me. Sweet! It just so happens that I have an opinion on the matter, so I slapped my digits against a keyboard and poof! It’s kinda like Topix, but with less zipperheads. I left a comment:
Note: Remember the date references are relative to the time I made the copy.
Thursday at 10:44am John ‘Jack’ Mitchell
So, a Library employee gave the IM’s to the Sun, directly? Or,maybe to a City Councilor, who gave them to the Sun, directly? Somehow the proper “conflict resolution” chain was skipped and the Sun was brought in. If the messages where not “hacked” out of a computer, they still went public.
Suffice to say, my comment was not arbitrary. I’m taunting the Sun and their sources. What’s going on in the library? I don’t really know. But, I deduced that someone on the inside is working the matter from the outside in. The Sun, it seems, is more than happy to oblige.
Lyle Moran offered his opinion:
Yesterday at 8:21am Lyle Moran
Hi Jack. Librarians have gone to their supervisors in the past and been told to keep quiet so the perception is that all is well at the library. They then went to the council and were then reprimanded for doing so. Since the library director can not bring peace to the facility, it is now up to the manager to do so.
Yes, it is his opinion. It might vault to the level of a theory, but his concept of the matter is certainly not a “fact.” Which is unfortunate, as reporters are sorta stuck with sticking to facts. Bear in mind, this conversation is not occuring on Lyle Moran’s personal FB page. This FB page is part of his work, so he is beholden to the mores and values shared by his peers. This fact, did not escape the City Manager, who took the opportunity to tell his version of things:
2 hours ago Bernard Lynch
I’ll admit that generally I only lurk on Facebook and am hesitant to post anything. In this case I will respond to Lyle’s two allegations. Simply stated they are unfounded and untrue. While I appreciate the notion of reporters using the “new” social media I am concerned that a reporter would use this media to advance non-factual information in a manner that clearly causes his/her coverage of this issue and perhaps others to be come suspect.All City employees are welcome to bring concerns to their supervisors or to the City Manager. And, in fact, the issues of Library security has been brought to me and I believe other City Managers by a small number of Library Assistants. This occurred for me back in 2007. Some ideas were accepted and others rejected. Beginning in 2008 these same members began going around the proper chain of command going directly to City Councilors.
2 hours ago Bernard Lynch
(shows how little I posts…hadn’t finished my comment, tried to skip down a line and ended up posting) Bottom line is that no one has ever been told to keep quiet. Likely, they have been told to handle any complaints in the proper manner…. An internal working group that included all Library employee groups developed and issued a report that found that the Library is certainly not unsafe. Efforts to say otherwise though feeding information to a newspaper reporter is damaging to the Library and the City. Again, bring legitimate concerns to supervisors or the City Manager but accept that sometimes certain requests are going to be rejected. That’s how every organization operates. I have explained this to Lyle in the past. I have also told him in no uncertain terms that no staff was reprimanded for going to the Council. Yet, he continues to state this as fact since 1-3 members say it to be true. A reprimand has certain legal meaning. The staff was informally told by the Director that there are better and more appropriate ways to handle concerns and that they should be using those appropriate methods in part to avoid damaging the perception of the Library (I would add since the reality of Library safety is different from what they are spreading). I’ll repeat my concerns about the improper coverage that this matter is receiving in the newspaper. Truly disturbing to me was a question put to me by Lyle for his story in which he asked “when I was going to show the Director the door….?” in a manner in which it was clear that he had taken the position that that was what should occur. Call me old fashioned but in my mind that isn’t reporting the news thats attempting to use the pen to advance a particular position.
My, my Mr. Lynch. That is a pretty vigorous finger wag you blurted up there.
All this back and forth makes for some great blogging, so I made a copy of the comments and pasted it into my gmail account. (Hint: gmail makes an awesome clip board. Save stuff as a DRAFT and it is there for you from wherever you log in.)
Later, I went back to the thread, to look for more comments and …… Manager Lynch’s comments were deleted.
If I stick to the facts, I’ll tell you the comments are gone. I don’t know definitely who deleted them, but it is unlikely that the CM deleted his own comments. He put them there to make his case. His point question’s the journalistic timber of The Sun’s reporter. If I was guessing, I’d say either the reporter did this on his own or he was directed to. When I copied the comments, my plan was to discuss the issues surrounding the Pollard Library. Frankly, folks; those issue are miniscule in comparison to the notion that the 5th 4th Estate in our fair city is sinking. It becomes increasingly incumbent upon blogs, and local cable shows to keep the dialogue edging towards the truth.
Make no mistake, I am no journalist. I blog. If that is anything, it is more like writing editorials or TV punditry. But, I grew up knowing journalism in a higher form. I have the highest regard for what I consider a co-equal branch in our democracy. America is harmed if we lose a free press. Lowell is harmed if her press is bigoted and prone to shaping the conversation.
July 23rd, 2011 at 9:26 pm
It is becoming obvious to me as I watch this from a distance that Mr. Moran’s coverage of City Hall is:
- based upon his own significant distrust of Lynch,
- based upon his own idea that he’s trying to bust open the next watergate in Lowell, or
- based upon some sort of significant influence from a certain unnamed leadership at the Sun
This is unfortunate. In case after case (especially Livingston Ave, and this library situation) the format of his articles has fanned the flames on these issues, turning them into major issues without any basis in realty. Many of these articles are reading more and more like advocacy than journalism. This isn’t high-minded investigative journalism. It’s a ‘got-ya’ game.
I don’t know who deleted those comments (one of two people can delete facebook comments, so it was either the manager or Lyle) but I can understand Bernie’s continued frustration with the reporting coming out of the City Hall bureau these days.
It is particularly frustrating when compared against the work of Mike LaFleur and Jenn Meyers who both were very effective and inquisitive city hall reporters who also asked good questions and were interested into digging into the facts of complicated cases. This is what separates good reporters from not so good reporters. Lyle is still young, and I hope he gets better at this. But, it helps to get lots of background, cultivate relationships with lots of background discussions and really understand the personalities and the issues in City Hall before diving right into a situation and writing an article that just stirs up controversy. Each one of these stories is far more complicated than it may appear, and a reporter needs to understand all that is going on. There is more informed discourse in the blogs than there is in these articles. The Sun has an obligation to send a reporter to the council meetings who actually is able to take the time to understand the multiple levels of all of the issues going on in city hall so that these issues can be put into perspective and make some sense. Lately I get the feeling that the sun coverage is suffering because reporters either don’t know what is going on, or don’t care.
July 24th, 2011 at 12:23 am
Mr. Moran may have underestimated the level of intimacy that he has with the City Manager. Maybe, Maybe not. Perhaps a better question would have been “Would you consider terminating the Library Director?”
Why split hairs? Since the City Manager is perplexed by the Library issue, and the count is growing of people who are also befuddled, perhaps a more direct question would be “Would you consider closing the Library?”
Mr. Moran appears to have a handle on the story. It’s certainly one that the people of Lowell deserve to hear in detail without the shroud of secrecy.
If in the process of doing his job, Mr. Moran decides to develop a bit of a “Howie Carr” style or influence … so be it. This is the perfect story for it.
July 24th, 2011 at 5:41 am
After all these years I still miss Mike LaFleur’s reporting. Now that was a journalist who did his homework.
July 24th, 2011 at 5:59 am
George:
I am not sure what you mean when you say a shroud of secrecy. For the past 4 years, not 2 but 4, we have had dozens if not more, sub-committee meetings on issues pertaining to the library. And I am sure that we will have another one.
I do not agree with you that Moran has a handle on the story; he has his views of the story but this is just another opportunity to bash the CM. O.K., we got it, Campy and Moran do not like the CM, but now can we get some in depth reporting.
And as far as “terminating the Library Director,” so we got rid of Dora and now we want to get rid of Victoria. Is that it? Why don’t we all work towards changing the culture in that building? I know that you are a library patron as I am. My biggest problem with the Library is the lack of customer service sensitivity on the part of some on the staff, who have little or no respect for the chain of authority.
I do not want to paint the staff with a wide brush because many of them loved what they do and are more than willing to help. But it appears that some of them do not want to be there and make us patron feel like we are intruding on them. I would not want to be their manager, that’s for sure.
And by the way, those who want to get involved and help bring about positive changes, you can become a “Friend of the Library,” or apply to become a Library Trustee or even join the Library Foundation.
And better yet, ask the City Council to restore funding for the Library. Ask them to put our money where their mouth are.
July 24th, 2011 at 7:40 am
“O.K., we got it, Campy and Moran do not like the CM, but now can we get some in depth reporting.”
I want to make it clear that I’m a supporter of the City Manager, and I generally support the way he’s handling this situation. But its not going away.
But I also support the press in their need for transparency so that they can do their jobs and get information to the people; so they don’t get dragged into the abyss, and, so their children will be protected from exposure to degenerate activity. The people need those assurances and they’re not forthcoming.
Mr. Moran’s July 17 article “Chat spat leads to calls for change at library” captures the situation perfectly.
This isn’t about the poor City Manager being victimized, this is about an out of control situation at the Pollard Memorial Library which, as a patron myself, became so intolerable that after enduring several months of mistreatment, my “resolution” was to simply stop going after having a discussion with an employee who was forthcoming about the situation.
When Lyle Moran approached the Director for her side of the story, she hung up on him. That’s the “shroud of secrecy” that I’m referring to. The people of Lowell need and deserve transparency and accountability in this matter. The problem is apparently at the top. After her “every patron is a suspect” campaign, I think she should be given the choice to resign or be fired.
Unfortunately, there’s no damage control that’s going to stop the onslought, now that its clear that people’s children are at risk when they enter the building.
According to Mr. Moran: “The public-safety subcommittee may discuss some of the issues at the library more in the coming weeks, but my sense from the councilors is that they feel they have done all they can do and are hoping Manager Lynch takes action to improve employee behavior and morale at the library.”
The City Manager acknowledges that the situation is the most difficult of his career. More drastic measures are needed at this point, and the City Manager is in the unfortunate position of having to do the impossible or make changes. I have confidence in his judgment, and feel that he’ll do the right thing.
This has gone on long enough. It’s time for the Library Director to also do the right thing by the people she serves.
July 24th, 2011 at 8:10 am
Unfortunately there’s a step 2 recommendation:
Once the Director is terminated, the staff should be permanently laid off and the library closed indefinately, perhaps for 6 months while the new Director assembles new staff, and, sets up standard policies and procedures for the proper decorum and behavior of library employees prior to advertising for new librarian employees, aides, assistants and a full time janitor.
It seems the Pollard Memorial Library needs a complete reset.
July 24th, 2011 at 9:40 am
Where do the Library Trustees fit into this?
To treat this as solely the City Manger’s problem is to suggest that the Trustees{who are confirmed by the City Council} have no role to play except as rubber stamps for the Manager .
July 24th, 2011 at 9:54 am
George,
Do you live in the real world? You had “a discussion with an employee who was forthcoming about the situation.” Did it ever dawn on you that maybe that person was part of the problem? I bring my children to the library all the time with no problems other than the often surly staff at the circulation desk and I’m guessing they are the vaunted Library Assistant that are Moran’s source. And the Manager mentions the committee of employees that looked at the issue and found no problems. So we have one or two loudmouth trouble makers intent on getting rid of their boss and you fall right in line. They did the same thing to the prior Director as Mimi points out, and I think the one before her. Unfortunately, you and the Sun reporter have fallen for their stunt. How about exercising some work thinking the thing through?
Plus, I think you are missing the real purpose of this post. If Lyle Moron is so interested in transparency why did he delete the CM’s comments? Hmmm, maybe he doesn’t want any facts getting in the way of his biased reporting. And as we see with the whole Murdoch thing, the fish rots from the head.
July 24th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
I agree with sd, Mimi and Faustus on this issue. Many journalists, and for that matter myriad corporations, use Facebook as a means to inspire discussion about issues and to disseminate information. For a journalist, of all people, to delete someone’s Facebook comment - which was apparently posted to correct misinformation in the story - shows that Mr. Moran is not a journalist and does not understand the duty of a journalist. A journalist’s job is to report accurate information to the public. It is not to report misinformation, biased information or only part of the story. Editorials and columns are designed to share opinion, not news stories.
Again, I agree with Mimi in that I miss former reporter Mike LaFleur’s reporting. He based his stories on facts, not opinions. There was never any editorializing in his reporting. He understood the city and the city’s government, which Mr. Moran clearly does not. Someone just out of college should be covering a small town while learning how to be a government reporter, not a city. If Mr. Moran were a real journalist, he would believe in freedom of speech for all, including the city manager. After decades of reading The Sun, I have to agree that we are getting the worst coverage of Lowell that I’ve ever seen.
July 24th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Did anyone watch the December meeting of the Public Safety subcommittee concerning the library? The assistants made it plain that they had tried working out the issues with management and were ignored, hence the going public. Those Assistants were indeed called into an office and screamed at 2 days later. As a taxpaper in this city I personally object to the 8 or more slashed chairs that were at stacked in the back hall last winter. I object to not being able to sit down and read a newspaper because some guy had his shoes and socks off and smelly feet on a second chair, and I really object to being told that it’s okay for a Level 3 sex offender to be on the children’s floor and in the bathroom on that floor. I object to a man viewing porn in front my child, I object to a couple of librarians trashing someone on a im message system for all to see. The whole thing could be solved if the Manager would sit down with the Assistants, note their concerns and make sure they are really dealt with in a fair manner and make the results of those public. .
July 24th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Please read this article:
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_18495584
For the most part, I think the manager’s on the right track in the house cleaning department. I’m not sure he’ll get it all done on his watch, but he’s doing fine.
The next phase will be to endeavor to get the entire City staff, commissions and the City Council to reflect the demographics of the City. This movement is already underway and could be complete within the next 3 years.
The Library will be the perfect place to start. The make-up of the new staff should be qualified professionals with customer service training, and, who reflect the demographics of the City.
The new Director will assemble a set of proven policies and procedures that all employees will be required to follow and comply with from the start … just like in the business world. If you’re insubordinate once that’s one strike. 3 strikes and your out.
The IM FaceBook scandal was a fireable offense. There was nothing funny about it. If you have time to IM on FaceBook, you have time to straighten stacks, clean tables and organize library materials. For that matter, search out a patron that may need some assistance. Be sure to say “May I help you?” “Please” and “Thank you” throughout the day.
Faustus, if your child walked by a computer station in the library that desplayed two adults engaged in intercourse would that be ok with you?
July 24th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Personally - I do not think the Director of the library needs to go. I think she is being undermined by a very small number of her professional staff who simply ignore her rules and do it their way ( Including the im’s in question) I still believe that the Manager can solve this mess by talking to people and really adressing their issues. You don’t ignore a whole group of staff people because you don’t like one of them.
July 24th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
I have a feeling that it may not be all Lyle Moran’s fault here. He acts too much like a puppet being controlled from behind the scenes; someone who is trying to please his superiors at all costs. Whether he himself made the decision to delete these corrections made by the City Manager or was ordered to do so by a third party is immaterial. The real issue is that the Facebook post under the name of Mr Moran in his OFFICIAL capacity as a reporter for the Sun (note his posts always show the subhead of “The Lowell Sun”) is not fair or responsive to the issue. It is at best editorializing without admitting so and refusing to allow opposing views and with the implication that it is factual. Irresponsible and unethical under any standards of journalism that *I* am aware of. The Sun (and Mr Moran) reports. You decide!
July 24th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Fourth Estate, not 5th.
July 24th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Thank you, ER.
July 24th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I’m not sure what the issue is with deleting posts on your FB wall. Posts get deleted all the time on the blogs and no one seems to protest. Seems like a double standard.
July 24th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Lyle Moran, Erin Smith, Chris Scott, Jim Campanini, Ken Wallace, is anyone surprised that with this line up reporting is slanted. The good reporters leave, the ones with little talent and even less integrity stay on in Lowell. Remember Frank Phillips, Christine McConeville, Mark Arsenault,and the list goes on and on.
July 24th, 2011 at 9:08 pm
George,
Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t necessarily want my child seeing two adults engaged in intercourse at a computer station in the Library. And during our 2-3 visits a week we’ve never seen it. Have you? My un derstanding is that such use is not allowed at Pollard and like every other Library it might occasionally happen and require corrective action. Are you saying that there’s pornography just going on everywhere over there? Is the place some modern day Sodom and Gomorrah? Please!!!!! During my 100+ visits a year I haven’t seen it. Plus, I watched the replay of the City Council meeting where this issue was discussed and I recognized the Library Assistants. They are the rude ones that you seem to be talking about. One of them started screaming at my son for touching the wall.
On the matter of deleting posts? I think its alright for you to delete or me to delete. But a Lowell Sun reporter’s official, not personal, page? That strikes me as a bit antithetical to the idea behind having the pages to start with and the notion of freedom of speech. To that I will echo others. Moran is a bad writer, bad journalist, inexperienced and immature.
July 24th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Cliff Krieger over at Right-Side-of-Lowell posts a kindred story to this.
A commenter drives right to the point:
July 24th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
“Are you saying that there’s pornography just going on everywhere over there?”
Yes, in clear sight at computer stations in the library. Others have complained about it as well.
“On the matter of deleting posts? I think its alright for you to delete or me to delete. But a Lowell Sun reporter’s official, not personal, page?”
You’re using a double standard.
The “official” blogs delete posts all the time. And yes, if someone has a FB site “official” Sun business or otherwise, they have the right to delete posts as they see fit without explanation.
“One of them (library employees) started screaming at my son for touching the wall”
I share your views about the deplorable service at the Library. Why did you let the library employee abuse your son like that? Another fireable offense.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:55 am
@ George
What do you mean by this?: The “official” blogs delete posts all the time.
I’m not sure if you mean LiL and the balance of the Lowell blog scene when you say, “official.” Also, please flesh out your assertion of “all the time.”
July 25th, 2011 at 9:59 am
LIL has opted not to post certain entries, as has RichardHowe.com. I’m not sure about Gerry’s policy. Most bloggers have their own policies about posting which they don’t usually post. This is my experience.
I have no complaint about it. if you run a blog, you can post what you want and delete what you don’t want to post. The same holds true for FaceBook, Twitter, etc., regardless of whether it’s an “official” site or not.
I’ll be resuming my blog again soon, and will determine my own policies in this area. In the meantime, my plan is to pull back from the local blogs as the subjective attack posts tend to overshadow objective attempts to provide content. This of course on top of the deletions.
Like I told you at the MLF meeting Jack, I don’t use posting for debating (sometimes you get baited into it though). it’s just not a practical means of engaging in a sincere mutual exchange of ideas. Anytime you’d like to sit down and have a discussion over coffee about helping to make Lowell a better place, please let me know. I thought your presentation at the meeting was constructive.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:35 am
I have to challenge this notion: if you run a blog, you can post what you want and delete what you don’t want to post.
I haven’t been an admin very long, but I can assure you that admins, way more often than not, allow comments that they would prefer not to. Personally, I have run one troll off this site because his input was hackneyed and polemic.
Yes, it is our right, but it is rarely invoked. The process works better if we play the cards, as they fall.
I’ll follow up via e-mail about that coffee.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
to say deleting comments on a blog article from a third party and deleting comments/rebuttal from one of the subjects of article itself is the same thing is quite the stretch.
July 25th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
I *have* seen occasional posts on LiL deleted for various reasons, but I Have *NEVER* heard of one deleted without a PUBLIC explanation ON THE BLOG explaining why it ws deleted. In the case of Mr Moran’s FB thread there was no indication that a deletion had been made never mind a reason why! And George you are right that a blog-owner can make whatever rules he or she pleases but a blog that indiscriminately deletes posts without even a mention that a post had been deleted soon becomes another piece of the Internet that no one will pay a bit of attention to–kinda like email spam!
July 25th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
“… a blog that indiscriminately deletes posts without even a mention that a post had been deleted soon becomes another piece of the Internet that no one will pay a bit of attention to–kinda like email spam!”
Not true Paul@01852 … but your hypothesis does apply to people who post without identifying themselves. I rarely take such posts seriously, and soon enough will stop responding to them altogether … as you say, like spam.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
You are all missing the major point here. A blogger is not the same as a journalist. There are ethics required of a journalist that go well beyond. For instance they are expected to have multiple sources confirming a fact before they publish. They are also required to print a retraction if they discover innacuracies in their reporting.
Unfortunately in Lowell, it’s been so long since we’ve had real quality journalism locally we’ve all forgotten what level we should be able to expect.
July 26th, 2011 at 4:30 am
Ummmm, Mill Girl? Last time I checked the original subject of this post by Jack was Lyle Moran, an ostensible *JOURNALIST* ! Duh!
July 26th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Paul,
Go easy. I think Mill Girl is agreeing with us that the “ostensible journalist” isn’t really one
(Jack’s Note: I highly encourage community “policing” of this forum. It helps make the blog yours.)
July 26th, 2011 at 9:20 am
So Paul. It was too much to expect for you to read my whole post before coming up with a snarky reply? Anyone who reads anything I have to say and concludes that I’m in support of the Lowell Sun isn’t paying attention.
Huh, thanks for the backup!
July 26th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Mill Girl - time for a blogger ethics panel then, methinks?
July 26th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
May I add something - having been in the Er most of yesterday missed some of the postings.. George - If the library is closed I believe that Lowell patrons will have no place to go. Lowell is part of a consortium and many moons ago, when Dracut closed , their readers were cut off from borrowing at all libraries in the consortium. I believe that Lowell could also be in a position to lose cloe to 200,000 thousand from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. ( Could be wrong on that one). Other than that - those 2 women are supposed to be professionals. and making comments like they did on a public im system is sort of “unprofessional”