I’ve always wondered why the news media constantly fails to cover the happenings of Raleigh’s parks department and its board. Parks is a huge city department and Raleigh’s abundant parks are enjoyed by so many citizens that it’s easy to assume that a reporter would be present at the board meetings. Such is not the case. In the two years I’ve been on the board, the only reporter I’ve seen at a meeting is the Independent Weekly’s Bob Geary, who was there when the board discussed the Honeycutt Creek greenway route.
On Monday while I was smack in the middle of a day-long customer meeting, I got a call from Ray Martin of the N&O, wanting to interview me about the Parks board’s decision to ban smoking in parks. His reporting came ex post facto, naturally. By the time I connected with him in his office he had already written his story for the N&O’s Midtown edition but said he might write a bigger version for Sunday’s paper.
This morning I got a few calls (both missed) from Brian Schrader of WRAL, wanting an on-camera interview about the vote. I called him back within an hour but never heard back from him. Instead his story quoted my friend and fellow board member Shoshana Serxner (and misspelled her name, I might add).
As a boardmember, I’d appreciate it if the media would work a little harder to get ahead of the story. Perhaps they could then show that the decisions we make are not made in a vacuum, and are certainly not made in haste. There was a lot of debate on the smoking issue, and my fellow boardmembers and I took a hard look at all sides and solicited input from all corners. It was a serious discussion: one that took several years for the board to resolve as the board first began considering this issue long before I joined it. I was proud at how soberly my fellow boardmembers studied this issue.
Will that story be told? Who knows? I just don’t think it’s being honest to jump in after the fact, whip the masses into a frenzy, and then pretend this is breaking news when the discussion’s been going on for some time.