Monday, June 23, 2008

How fast can they deep-six the jail story?

When I was in college, journalism students got in trouble for writing one-source stories. So seeing the top story on Kentucky.com, The Lexington Herald Leader's website, only get around to interviewing one person today was a little disappointing.

And it was just a defense attorney:
"Defense attorney Brian Butler of Louisville, who is representing Estep, said his client has served in law enforcement and in the military and adamantly denies the charges against him.
“This is a terrible situation for him to serve his country for many, many years then be accused of a crime,” Butler said."


Blah, blah, blah.

Fortunately, the investigation doesn't depend on the story to be told in the newspapers. But I can't help wondering how the coverage might be different in Lexington if the politicians involved represented a different political persuasion. The Herald Leader does little good for its credibility with the way it has handled the jail fiasco.