Kudos to the Citizens' Voice, which broke the story this week of the prison official who put his trip to a Vegas nudie bar on a county debit card. Reporter Michael Buffer has been on the case from the beginning, and in Monday's editions writes about how another $2,700 in charges from the same guy - Sam Hyder - are also suspicious. The story has been on the state wires. It's been funny to read the CV lead the story, read Steve Corbett credit the Voice, and then read the TL credit Corbett.
21 comments:
LLLLLLET'S GET READY TO RRRRRRUMBLLLLLLLLL!!!!
Great job, Mike Buffer. Great job, Dave Janoski. This is solid investigative reporting about an important local story.
Why is Janoski being praised? His name isn't in the byline. Probably sleeping in his back office.
tHE vOICE has been all over this story in spectacular fashion, while the Leader has clearly dropped the ball. I especially enjoyed the kiss-kiss piece the Leader wrote the morning before the strip-club charge story broke. The Leader basically said how dare people question the spending choices of public officials on the county's dime. Rich is really greasing those palms, huh?
It's unbeleivable how the coverage of the county has turned. Several years ago, it would have been the TL all over it and the CV kissing up. The readers of NEPA want a watchdog not lapdog. Kudos to the CV
People have criticized Walzer, including myself, but this is where she is missed. Despite her HUGE lack of skill in interpersonal relationships, she would have been all over this story. The TL is nothing but a county PR release under Connor.
What have the TV stations been doing?
Bread and milk is in short supply!
It's official: The TL is the lapdog. If you want to spin a story, call the TL. Sam Hyder did. Hyder called his bitch Monday. Where are the tough questions?
Congrats to Buffer and his little research assistant, Davey Janoski. What's the scorecard now? TL: 300-plus county exclusives, CV 1. Let's not forget the John Doe story in the prothonotary's office, the first to break the story about the county deficit, big story about all of the bond issues, pushing for the juvenile detention center audit and the LA gang trip. You keep plugging away, TL, because every day you come out with at least one or two important stories out of the county.
Wah! Keep crying with your phony tears of success, you lapdog bitch!
About the county vehicles, especially the one Hyder drives, here is the difference in journalism at the two WB papers.
CV: Urban complains about county vehicle use. Hyder and Guesto could not be reached for comment Monday.
TL: Goes to Hyder's house, photographs his Tahoe, pushes him on it until he talks about.
You be the judge.
Is Buffer still bitter that the TL wouldn't hire him back when he came crawling back into town last year?
Buffer's Dad is a millionaire. He didn't come crawling back to work in WB.
True about his father but just ask anyone. He asked the TL to take him back.
Interesting reading in the two papers today:
CV:
Checks out the trips. Finds one person who said that the training wasn't done. Finds another who says some training was done, but it wasn't the type claimed. And the training includes free meals and overnight accommodations. (County got a bill of almost $2,700 for "expenses.)
TL:
Publishes puff piece about Hyder's denial with no supporting evidence whatsoever. Only interviews are with his buddies.
The two papers have most certainly changed places in terms of who's doing a better job covering government and, therefore, which is the better newspaper.
As an aside, why did folks at the Times Leader get into journalism if not to cover the hell out of juicy story like this one.
Why didn't the TL bring Buffer back? Their loss. Holeva's gain. Buffer and Andes and both good reporters, maybe the two best in WB.
Love to read the CV people jerking themselves off because they scooped the TL on ONE story.
Man, times have changed in W-B. Just a year ago it would have been the TL getting this story and the CV doing nothing about it. Just more evidence of the Connor regime. Ironic that two people involved in this story, Janoski and Buffer, are both former TL reporters. I would have been more impressed if the CV actually had a home grown reporter break it.
to be fair, Buffer was at the TL for about four minutes.
he had been one of the aces in Easton before meandering around a while.
If you know Mike, he's more of a Voice kind of guy than a TL type.
"Lets get ready to rumble...."
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