Within the article were the usual quotes from a couple of people on opposite sides of the issue -- just to keep the readers on the edges of their seats -- including quotes fom Mayor Godfrey. One side says the other is wrong, and vice-versa, etc., etc., etc.
Buried halfway through the article is this, however:
"The report being circulated by CBCFOF indicates Fat Cats has a high-risk credit ranking and three tax liens in Utah County totaling about $18,810 and one tax lien in Salt Lake County for $1,141.
Two of the three liens in Utah County were dismissed, and one for $6,858 was released in 2004.
Clerks at the Utah County Recorder's Office, Utah County District Court and Salt Lake District Court said Wednesday there are currently no outstanding tax liens for Fat Cats listed.
David Rutter, co-owner of Fat Cats, said the information contained in the Experian report is inaccurate.
"We are always timely in paying our bills," he said. "We don't have problems."
That's the WHOLE STORY FOLKS! The information on the "naysayers'" internet-obtained "credit report" is totally bogus! Although the Std-Ex's "cub reporter" didn't explicitly spell it out, that's what the above-quoted paragraphs actually say.
If you ever tried to clear an erroneous credit "ding" from your own credit report you'll understand the problem. The big three credit reporting agencies are laws unto themselves; and sometimes it's practically impossible to clear errors from the reports of these data-collection behemoths. If you don't believe me on this, talk to your local Realtor about the problems that arise every day because of the sheer sloppiness of these giant credit reporting companies in everyday real estate transactions.
If the "cub reporter" for the Standard-Examiner has already "confirmed" that the "naysayers' claim is bogus, why did the Std-Ex set the story up in a he said/she said format article under that provocative headline in the first place?
He said/she said journalism is my answer to that question. The "unsolved mystery" style of journalism is all the journalistic rage these days, and definitely sells more papers. The days when newspapers simply reported the unadorned truth without some kind of "reader hook," are long gone, even in our small community. The Standard-Examiner's "journalism" is chorographed by the corporate types at the Carpetbagger Newspaper Ownership HQ in Sanduskey, of course, and we local readers ought to be hopping mad about the way our local news is so mendaciously reported.
Gawd do I miss the Glasman Family, and their local ownership of our hometown newpaper. If they were still running the Standard-Examiner, I doubt there would be such dissension and madness in local politics.
