News-Record.com

"The only responsible action for the newspaper was to publish."

And by not attaching an object to that sentence, you skirt one of the important critisizms directed at the N&R in the blogosphere on this issue.

You published only those parts you wished us to know about, instead of publishing the report in it's entirety so we could evaluate the evidence ourselves.
Where's the responsibility in that?

Yes, I know. Do we need to keep having this discussion? Nothing is stopping anyone else from getting a copy of the report and doing whatever they want with it. However, we made a commitment to a source. Your insistence that we not honor that commitment is interesting, but not persuasive. There are also details in the report that could be considered defamatory. To me, publishing that without significant legal review is irresponsible.

Do we need to keep having this discussion? Well, d'uh, John, you were the one who wrote a column about it.

Nothing is stopping anybody from getting a copy of the report? Great. I'll call you on Monday to arrange to come by and pick one up. Thanks for the offer.

Your suggestion that "anyone else" can get this report is ludicrous and disengenuous.
I'm glad you acknowledge that some details might be defamatory...did it occur to you that might be the reason the City Council has not released it yet? And that your unauthorized receipt of this stolen report might be libelous because of the defamatory portions?
You don't want to publish it because of legal reasons, but you have no problem taking it from someone who distributed it to you illegally?
Your spin on "legalities" would be laughable if it didn't sadly define the state of journalism today.
Note to JR: You're not Woodward and Bernstein.

My earlier postings evolved into a newspaper column for those few newspaper readers who don't read this blog and might wonder a bit more about our response to the story we published in the paper on Tuesday. I promise you that I know where many of you stand on our publishing the actual report.

No, John can defame them behind their backs and get away with it.

"We serve the citizens."

"Part of our responsibility is to moniter power."

"We like to put out what we know when we know it."

Not from my vantage point.

It seems your biggest problem as blogger "king" is that not all of us are April fools.

John, it's amazing to me that you actually believe your own B.S. You said you didn't want to sound "holier than thou", but then you go on and try to insult our intelligence. You need to get out of that bubble of elitism you are living in and realize we aren't all as stupid as you think we are.

You can't dodge the fact that by selectively deciding what to publish under the guise that you don't want to libel anyone, your news division was presenting a one sided picture. The reason you keep trying to explain yourself is because the internet has made it much for difficult to slant the news, and a lot of us out here are calling you on it.

Perhaps you should also explain exactly how the quote from "The Elements of Journalism" that the purpose of journalism is "to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-governing" applies to this story. It seems pretty generic to me, and I don't see how it justifies your position. Maybe you figured that if you keep quoting that book, we'll realize just how right you are.

Sorry, but you guys have not been intellectually honest at all about this whole matter. But I guess the ends do justify the means, don't they?

I'll be looking for your papers endorsement soon for my campaign, because I know you all are big fans.

Love & Mercy

John,

If the leaker is unveiled by the Rhino Times and waives his/her prior limiting assurances given to the source by the N & R would you then publish the report ? Sorta of stited

If the SBI Project Homestead report is dropped over your transom would you publish it?

I could be wrong but there may me a NC General Statute that makes it a crime to disclose the contents of an SBI reoprt other than to those authorized to have access in the performance of their official duties. I am sure Roy Cooper has the answer

You have different missions...but the same attorneys....I am pretty sure I know who leaked it....U got it from the pulpit forum..they got it from council person bellamy-small...if u were truly reporting all the way across the baord u would hold all city depts accountable..and u dont...bias has stunuted many a dept...it is just David Wray who is punished...i loved your comment abour carmany..u must not have seen my lil bitty post on property not appraised.

Interesting point, Ben. For clarification, John, what law firms/lawyers represent (1) the City of Greensboro, (2) the News & Record and (3) David Wray in these matters?

Mary, please don't lump our comments into your opinions. I'm not comfortable with that and others may not be as well, though they can certainly speak for themselves, as it can lead other readers into feeling that we all share the same opinions.

Inferring that law firms are responsible is nothing but speculation and seems somewhat defamatory in itself. I don't agree that John is not monitoring power. He's reporting on internal affairs within the police department. However, to release parts of an official report, rather than all of it may not be fair to anyone.

Jaycee writes that the “unauthorized receipt of this stolen report might be libelous because of the defamatory portions". There is no telling what is spoken in the newsroom between those who have seen the report; the opportunity for defaming others behind their backs is certainly present.

Reading through this dialouge I got the impression that poster Marion Wormer might be with Project Homestead. That seemed reasonable. Then re-reading, I wonderered again about it/her/him. So I googled the name and it came up as a character from Animal House. Hmmmm. Ok, this appears to be a ruse.

I found where someone observed in a former discussion about the David Wray & Others affair that Marion Wormer and Eddie Felson appeared to be the same person, due to writing styles. Called information and asked for listings for both Marion Wormer and Eddie Felson in GSO and the surrounding areas. Not supprisingly, at this point, no one was listed.

Then, I go back to Google and enter in Eddie Felson, who turns out to be the hustler in the movie The Hustler. So whomever this person is, and I'll bet, based again on his choice of characters, that it is a man, he's one who doesn't have the guts or integrity to post under his own name, but rather likes to flame annoymously.

The Hustler~ what a great choice of names for this person. And given the comments they've made, I'd also bet they are in law enforcement, or are close friends or a relative of someone who is.

And John, if you want to take me to task for revealing this, and state that it's ok to post annoymously, that's fine with me also. But it seems to me in a discussion this serious that he does a great diservice.

Is there a relationship between Chief Bellamy and Councilwoman Bellamy-Small?

Ginger, please. I asked a question. A valid question. The issue of "libel" or "defamtory comments" keeps coming up as an excuse for the N&R not to release the RMA report. If the N&R releases the report, then it is reporting on the report - there is no "libel" there. If what is contained in the report is "libelous" - towards Chief Wray or anyone else, then that deserves scrutiny.

Then there are the "pending criminal investigation" and "it's a confidential personnel matter" excuses. I've heard IT ALL before. And it's just a load of hooey.

Lawyers are all over this . . . from the so-called "investigations", to the "strategy" of players publicly commenting or not, to the contemplated lawsuits. I'm just asking JR to complete the cast of characters.

OF COURSE, reporting on the RMA document without releasing it (or showing it to the subject of the report) is NOT FAIR. That's THE POINT a lot of people (anonymous and not) have made here.

The N&R got its hands on BOTH the RMA report and David Wray's "confidential" response. If there is indeed a "criminal investigation" pending, then part of the story is HOW the release of these "confidential" documents happened.

As for "monitering power", the N&R got these documents from someone on the inside - most likely someone in "power" . . . someone who clearly had no business releasing the documents . . . someone who had some kind of agenda.

It's too close for comfort. To quote Marion Wormer (the Dean's wife) to the Mayor . . . "You can take your thumb out of my a** any time now, Carmine."

re Samuel's
> "by selectively deciding what to publish under the guise that you don't want to libel anyone, your news division was presenting a one sided picture."

with the caveat that I'm far from this -
It sure sounds like JR did the right thing.
Libelous material isn't part of "the information [people] need to be free and self-governing".

Thanks John.
(and if you ever get fed up with Greensboro, keep in mind that we in California could use you...)

The N&R is concerned about reprinting libelous statements about everyone except Wray. Libel is about damaging one's reputation with falsehoods. They don't know if the statements about Wray are true either, but that didn't stop them. Hence, the libel argument is a weak and hypocritical cover.

I am not arguing that they should not have run the story, rather that it was unfair to selectively edit the RMA report to highlight the criticisms of Wray without giving Wray or the public the chance to review the material and decide what is true and what isn't.

JR does not want to admit that his NEWS staff has an agenda. They always have. They sell more papers when they convince the rest of the country (which is who they are really writing for) that they are the sole beacon of light and truth in the cauldron of racism that is Guilford County. Read Jerry Bledsoe's book "The Death of Journalism" and monitor the paper more closely on your own and you will find this to be the case.

It's very tough to be "blue state" writers in a "red state". You end up with a feeling of moral superiority because the blue staters think we are all idiots anyway. They are here to save us all from our own ignorance. They see journalism as a crusade to make the world a better place instead of simply just reporting the facts and letting the reader decide.

I don't know if the stories about Wray are true or not. But the N&R decided early on that he was, and they are sticking to their story. It's more impressive when you attend the journalism awards to write about how you helped expose racism in the high ranks of a racist police department in a racist southern town filled with racists. It makes you look heroic and brave and all your blue state friends go "oooooh" and shake your hand for putting up the good fight while being surrounded by red state idiots.

Ala Ginger Bush, I did a quick google search to pull up a concise summary of the sad story of Jack Perdue.

I found a good link and followed all of the "Web Monkey" instructions to post it here for Anna Haynes' education (as it pertains to what has passed for journalism in days gone by). My efforts were to no avail . . . the link would not post (perhaps the N&R's website is "allergic" to Jack Perdue or Jerry Bledsoe links?). I decided to e-mail the link directly to Anna. I then clicked on Anna's name and discovered that Anna's e-mail address is ncfocus2003@yahoo.com???

Shouldn't that be californiafocus2006@yahoo.com?

Anna, while the season finale of "The West Wing" may now hinge on what California thinks, not so here in Randolph and Guilford counties.

I am quite certain that the family and friends of Jack Perdue would prefer that JR & company take their unique brand of journalism anywhere else but here.

And while my "issues" with the N&R's journalistic decisions are the exact opposite of both Jack Perdue's and David Wray's (but speak to the same problem), so would mine.

Ginger Bush,( or Rivers ..whatever)

I can help you satisfy your curiosity about Eddie Felson and Marion Wormer. Keep the cat inmind though.

They are not the same person but are living together in sin. That's why their writing styles are similar.

If you would like to learn more about them them carefully follow these instructions. No deviations ! On Friday April 7th at exactly 5:00PM go to the the NW corner of Elm-Eugene and Market Streets. Proceed across the Market St. cross walk when the traffic signal changes . Stop half way, put on a blindfold and then wait for me.