Standard-Examiner: Outlet Stores in Downtown Ogden?

The real puzzle is why the SE permits itself to be played like a violin

By Curmudgeon

This morning's Standard-Examiner has another painful example of Ogden's home town paper's inability to distinguish between news and campaign-driven speculations by Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey:

• Outlet stores in downtown Ogden? Mayor says deal could be announced in November

From the story:

The city expects to announce an agreement next month with one or more companies to establish retail outlet operations in three vacant buildings on the east side of Washington Boulevard, says Mayor Matthew Godfrey. Godfrey declined to identify the companies the city is negotiating with.... A terraced parking structure could eventually be built behind the outlet operation depending on customer demand, said Godfrey, who hopes other retail businesses will also open along the east side of Washington Boulevard.

And he expects to make the announcement in November. Isn't there an election coming in November? Why, it seems there is! Imagine that.

Could it be the purpose of announcing the Mayor's intention to announce, probably after the election, that three un-named companies, or maybe one, may sign leases to locate on Washington is to boost the election chances of the Mayor's candidates for Council seats? Is it possible that didn't occur to the SE's editors?

Since Hizzonah has so often announced things were going to happen that never did, it's hard to figure why he'd not wait until he had leases in hand from companies he could name before going public --- unless the goal all along was to influence the election if he could in favor of his pet Council candidates.

The real puzzle is why the SE permits itself to be played like a violin by the Administration over and over and over again.

Back in the days when the SE had a newsroom instead of a Content Center and editors who made it a point of pride not to permit themselves to be played by politicos, here's what would have happened with Hizzonah's latest press release reached the SE newsroom. The News Editor would have called Mr. Schwebke over and said:

"Scott, call the Mayor's office and tell them if they won't name the companies they say they're close to signing, so we can check the story out, we're not going with this. Without the names, this is not news we can verify, and we're not running it two weeks before the Council election. Tell him when he can give us a date certain on which a company he can name is going to sign a lease, to call us back and we'll print it. That the Mayor hopes business on Washington will pick up isn't news. We're not that desperate for copy. I'll print a lost dog story first."

Sadly, that's not what happened.