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AJ uses lies and half-truths to support it's favorite political candidates

Listener: Dick H.
Category: General
Date: 28 Feb 2008
Time: 11:46:44 -0700
Remote Name: 70.238.201.172

Comments

I fear that the Lubbock Avalanche Journal has lost sight of one of the guiding principles that the news media claims to follow in their quest for truth, justice and the American way. In past days the news media has staked a claim to the idea that they represented the common everyday man or woman and reported the truth and only the truth about governmental entities, governmental officials and other matters concerning the public.

Unfortunately, it appears the news media no longer concentrate on reporting only the truth and letting the public form their own opinions based on the facts. The news media have decided that they know what is best for the public and have started to slant their stories using questionable techniques and facts to make the public see public officials and governmental entities in the way that the news media view these official and governmental entities.

One of the big offenders locally, is the Avalanche Journal. The AJ has abandoned the principle of reporting the truth to the average citizen and has decided to slant their stories to favor local city and county government entities and government officials because the AJ has decided that the AJ knows what is best for citizens rather than letting citizens have the facts and make up their own minds. A few years ago Jay Harris (the editor of the AJ at that time) had the gall to publicly state the attitude that prevailed at the AJ at that time and still persists at the AJ. Mr. Harris stated, “there are only about a hundred people smart enough to run Lubbock.” Of course included in that “hundred people” would be Mr. Harris and a few others at the AJ. The average citizen is too “dumb” to have a say about how their government should be operated. Only a chosen few can make the decisions for local governmental entities because 99.99999% of us are not smart enough to vote on large projects or candidates for office.

When the AJ backs a particular political candidate it seems that that candidate’s picture appears at the top of every story remotely related to that candidate. Delwin Jones and Joe Heflin seem to get their pictures displayed more frequently than any of their opponents. I thought that the news media had to grant equal time to political candidates and parties to air their views. Delwin’s picture needs a little updating and every time I see Joe Heflin’s picture I think it is a picture of a Tip O’Neill in his younger days. Let’s hope that looks are the only thing that Joe Heflin and Tip O’Neill have in common. At any rate I am sick and tired of the AJ’s favorites getting free political advertising courtesy of the AJ.

Recently the AJ has gone to new lows printing lies and half-truths in support of candidates it wants to win. The AJ makes a big deal of Dr. Hnatek getting money from downstate PACs and fails to disclose that Delwin Jones got a lot more money than Dr. Hnatek from downstate sources. They never criticize Delwin Jones for voting with his liberal Democrat buddies to raise our taxes. Perhaps the AJ should be telling about Delwin napping of the floor of the Texas House of Representatives or his modern communication device (a bucket outside of his office door) for people to put messages to Delwin. Or how about Delwin’s trailer full of junk that he kept in the Capitol parking building until they finally made him move the trailer. Delwin, what was in this trailer and where did it come from? And in regard to your seniority in the House of Representatives you are truly regarded as the senior court jester and laughing stock of the House. What important committees do you serve on or chair? What important bills did you introduce? You have lots of bills that you have introduced commending persons residing in your district for various things. These commendations are for things such as honoring Johnny Jones for being “dog catcher of the month” in Idalou and are really important items in carrying out the business of the State of Texas. Delwin you have outlived your usefulness to this area by about 30 years so why don’t you go back to cotton farming and let somebody else with a fresh brain represent this area?
Are there other people there that resent the AJ trying to tell us who to vote for by telling half-truths and lies? I deeply resent this type of shoddy journalism. AJ, just who do the hell you think you are? When we are deprived of the truth we will eventually be deprived of our freedom.

Dick Hudgens
Lubbock