A Higher Standard of Journalism

The call of duty for journalists and bloggers should be one of higher standards...

(First- a disclaimer. The Constitutional Reporter is not a shtick for Cleve Tidwell, and we do have other student stories soon to be published on the blogosphere. Promise)

Now, to address some recent blogosphere workings that we find to be rather unprofessional-

A blogger, Haners, heard from an unidentified source that some seemingly inappropriate activities were in the works at the recent Cleve Tidwell meet and greet event in Acacia Park, Colorado Springs. He posted his result to a blog site which was then re-posted to at least two other sites. That's what we call 'shoot first, ask questions later' journalism. Since we have met with Cleve and his staff and find them all to be upstanding, professional individuals, we had to dig deeper in the pursuit of truth and objective journalism.

So in the interest of "asking questions" after the shots have already been fired, here is how the blog coverage of Cleve Tidwell's official announcement should have been written up, from a professional, objective stance (the part Haners left out):

First- before publishing anything mind you- we asked some questions of those involved.

Bob Clark, who stands identified and accused by Haners and his source, had this to say:

"So we can confirm the person who 'gentleman wearing a tweed like trousers and a vest, sporting a black shirt and a blue tie" was James Cagle. James Cagle is a man of Jewish decent who has studied Martial Arts for over 20 years. So what you're saying is an Anonymous source, said an anonymous source saw me say 'Hey, did you know that the Star of David is really a swastika?' to a Jewish man, who has studied martial arts for over 20 years, and I survived? Do I even need to dignify that with a response?"

The Jewish man in question, James Cagle- another volunteer for the Tidwell campaign- responded with this:

"I did not hear anyone say that about the Star of David... That's just silly that someone could believe a comment of that sort be made to me, when everyone on the campaign knows me as the 'Jewish guy.' It's very much a part of me and people who know me, know that.
"As for the allegations that our staff is 'flirty?' Look, the BBQ was very professional- not some episode of Love Boat. And I definitely don't think Bob was hitting on me and I hope no one got that impression."

Both Bob Clark and James Cagle seemed offended by the post of Haners, but were willing to laugh it off and poke fun at the same time.

Bob Clark's official response can be seen here:
http://www.rockymountainright.com/?q=node/792

We did not ask Haners any questions because he was not at the actual BBQ event.