News-Record.com

I'm just curious John, is there ANY reason that folks in Asheboro and Randolph County (south of Greensboro) should keep paying for a subscription to the N&R?

You've made it fairly clear that you're just not interested in us - or our voices.

I thought that you said in an earlier comment that you DIDN'T subscribe. Sorry if I'm mistaken.

Do you shop in Guilford County? There will be ads from Randolph County businesses in The Record, too. Are you interested in reading about the region, the state and the world? If you want intensely local news of Randolph County, there is a local paper there.

There are abundant opportunities for Randolph County residents to have their voices heard both in our paper and on our Web site.

Good morning.

(1) It's abundantly clear you're not reading my posts (so much for being "heard" on the website). My Mom still does. She's reconsidering.

(2) Why yes, I DO shop in Guilford County. I'll check out your front page ads - courtesy of those in most economic favor. (P.S. I was born in Greensboro and went to UNC-G . . . do I "rate" now?).

(3) The Raleigh N&O is a actually a marginally better read on the region/state/world - and I can get that on the net.

(4) The N&R once sold itself as a "local" paper in Asheboro. Could you share with us why that is not true anymore?

(5) I believe this post was about what "new" in print.

(6) As for being "heard" on the website, "Blogger King" Robinson, when are you going to update your blogroll . . . and include some the bastard stepchildren (i.e. trolls) of Randolph County? Or is the Editor's Blog just about including (and listening to) the trees that lean your way?

Yes, I remember that you said you read your mother's copy. I assumed that meant you didn't subscribe. Sorry if I misunderstood.

The short answer to your question about our Randolph coverage is that we didn't get the advertising support and without that, the operation became too costly.

What's your url?

I don't subscribe. I did when I worked in Asheboro (doesn't make much sense to let them stack up in the driveway while I'm gone). But then I got run out of town for the being a Pediatrician who would not look the other way. Meanwhile, the local newspapers looked the other way.

My Mother, a teacher in Asheboro for thirty years, does subscribe (as I indicated, she's wavering on that). She does not take the other "local" newspaper you continuously turf me to (the one that does not want to open up the "can of worms") . . . because of the way the newspaper's publisher has treated her daughter . . . as he shamelessly panders to his big advertisers (that either run Randolph Hospital or serve on its Board of Directors).

Some of us understand all too well the dangers and pitfalls of the newsroom snuggling up too close to the ad directors. It does seem to me that the N&R has nothing to loose down here . . . and might have a lot of credibiliity to regain . . . if it would take a serious look at this story.

Of course, there IS the Randolph-Cone connection to consider. That pesky ad revenue again.

My url can be farily easily found by clicking my name. It's been that way for quite a while.

JR,

U could write your ideas and nes coverage with gold and diamonds and it would still be crap.

Mary,
I clicked your name and it opened an email.

Her url is http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/

John,

Why does her story that she tells at her blog not hold interest for your paper? It sounds like change is needed if half of her opinion is correct.

thanks
meblogin

John,

That is way too funny!!!! You show ---Dr. Mary Johnson as one of your links of interest...smile.

John,

...no answers...why?

thanks

Sorry, I got occupied with other things.

I'm not saying there's not some story there. But we consider several things before deciding whether to pursue such a story. In this case, they include:

* Is it local? We do serve Randolph County, but we don't have a reporter stationed there right now.
* What is its pedigree? The story has been out there for awhile. It has been adjudicated.
* Could we get what we need? We don't have subpoena powers and it doesn't appear as if the hospital will give us anything beyond court documents.

In the end, we have limited resources. When we see a story that will be hard to get and will probably tie up a reporter for sometime, we weigh that investment with what we think our readership wants. While I know Dr. Johnson and, perhaps others, thinks it's a dereliction of our duty, we've decided that our staff can be used in other, more useful ways to help and inform readers.

John,

Thanks for your reply. It made good sense and helped me to understand why a local paper would pass .

I have one more question for you and others--- that if one considers it a given that Dr. Mary has legitimate legal issues (claims of fraud and perjury on the part of others) and it is not particularly newsworthy....what would you recommend that she do in order to promote her cause? She certainly blogs the topic with passion. What would you do if something similar happened to you? (asking the question to all readers)

thanks

MeBlogin, as far as I can tell, the link has not been there very long. John asked me for my url to put it up. When I click my name, it redirects to my blog.

John the allegations I have made have most certainly NOT been adjusdicated. That's just a lie. They have not even been properly investigated.

The lawsuits were settled in 2001 . . . based on false information and bad faith. The case NOW is the perjury and contempt upon which that fraud was worked. In this case, court and legal/discovery documents are ALL you need to make this case.

So, you are misrepresenting what is going on. And you've been "occupied with other things" for quite a while.

The story has also NOT been reported (by local papers anyway) since I brought it to your attention - so except for the limited number of people in the regular local blogosphere, it really has not been "out there".

The Courier Tribune (Asheboro's "local" paper), is in bed with the Chamber of Commerce AND every businessman who sits on the hospital's Board of Directors (fine, upstanding members of the "community" who might be embarassed by the "small town values" they let their administrators fracture).

So you wanna tell me again that ad revenues don't matter?

The N&R may not have a reporter down here (since Ethan Fiensilver worked his magic), but you still could send one. Again, I wonder about the "Cone-Randolph" connection. Becasue what started this mess eight years ago does not reflect very well on Cone.

Here are the facts: When I discovered that I had been defrauded at settlement by perjury and contempt (money I might have been able to use to get a practice back up off the ground), I took the matter to my lawyer (the one who originally missed it). He squirmed and hemmed and hawed and said he would discuss it with the Randolph County DA (that would be Garland Yates). A whole lot of nothing happened.

I consulted with other lawyers who told me that (1) perjury is a CRIME and I shouldn't need a lawyer to pursue a criminal case, and (2) the matter, because it involves a "non-profit" hospital playing fast and loose with an MD in public service, deserved an INDEPENDENT investigation by the SBI.

When my lawyer did not move for months, I delivered a complaint I drafted myself to the DA's office (for the record, I did not go to medical school to practice law).

More nothing. I found out a month or so later (by contacting the SBI directly) that Garland Yates had killed the investigation before it could happen. Citizens cannot request investigations - such things have to be initiated by law enforcement.

On another front, Randolph Hospital's fancy-pants lawyers (being "experts" on "non-profits" and all that) should have KNOWN that the answers they were filing on behalf of CEO Bob Morrison and VP Steven Eblins (answers sworn under Oath) were false. It was suggested I file a State Bar Complaint. So I did - one the hospital's lawyers, and one my own (for negligence).

But filing a complaint with the Bar is akin to filing one the Medical Board. The complaint was dismissed. No one from the Bar ever even interviewed me.

I eventually wrote the Governer and the Attorney General . . . given that everyone these days is so concerned about "ethics" in government. More nothing. The NC Attorney General's office (which incidentally would have to defend any negligence claim I might bring against the state/Office of Rural Health . . . for failing to enforce site agreements/contracts/the law) says it cannot do anything to move the case forward . . . because Mr. Yates has "absolute prosecutorial discretion".

I wonder if the answer would be the same if the press got invovled?

I've contacted every member of the NC General Assembly. I got one (sympathetic) response. Why IS is that local and state politicians never answer their mail?

And God knows, John Edwards was NO HELP when he was in office.

I redrafted the criminal complaint in legalize (now posted on my website) and sent it in again. Mr. Yates office will not even MEET with me to discuss it. His office staff have treated me like garbage (but, as I have discussed on my blog, that's nothing new).

In January, I wrote every member of the Randolph Hospital active medical staff . . . the Board of Directors . . . local, state & federal politicians . . . begging for someone to do the right thing and call for an investigation. Silence.

The Feds have also ignored the case. Never mind that if the government had enforced the terms of the NHSC site agreement to start with . . . or done ANYTHING substantial to help me after I filed my complain with Secretary Shalala (the one I got unsuccesfully sued for "libel" over), I would be in practice in Asheboro today . . . the lawsuit would never have been necessary. But the sage advice coming out of Washington and Atlanta (to me and to others) was, "We know there are problems but just don't get fired".

Too late for me.

I've been bounced from jusrisdiction to jurisdiction for years, and am now talking to the IRS (since the financial information I requested in discovery . . . the information that spoke to the value of my practice and the true magnitude of my losses . . . . the information was supposedly "confidential" was, in fact, contained in IRS 990 returns . . . and was public record).

Meblogin, re: "What would you do if it happened to you", I've asked that question already. The fact is that if this had happened to JR or Ed Cone or any of the other blogger royalty - it would be a topic of conversation at Converge South. As long as they can go home every night to their own beds and families, it does not matter if I can't.

For reasons we have already discussed, I don't rate. It's easier to call me a "whack job" or a "troll".

Here's why I'm angry: I was fired after defying the instructions of arrogant/clueless Randolph Hospital administrators . . . to intervene in a "bad baby" case and save the child's life. It was a decision I made in a split second in the middle of the night. I refused to cover what happened up and filed a complaint with medical peer review. And I paid dearly for it.

As a physician in public service (indeed as a physician period), I NEVER should have been put in that position . . . forced to choose between a dying patient and my job. I NEVER should have been fired after daring to criticize the actions of the baby's attending physician (who worked for a Cone affiliate). I NEVER should have been sued (for reporting what happened in CONFIDENCE and at the NHSC's request, to the government I served). And I damned sure NEVER should have been lied to and defrauded at settlement.

I don't care who these people are . . . how connected they are or how much money they have. They went too far. Again I ask, WHERE is the press . . . our supposedly last line of defense against public corruption?

This whole mess is just a disgrace . . . for medicine, law, government AND journalism.

I see that Dr. Johnson shared many aspects and opinions.

John and others,

What should she do?

thanks

I can't advise you on that, meblogin.

Meblogin, it's NOTHING I have not shared before. John completely misrepresented what is going on in his previous post.

He has dimissed my story on it's merits/relevance/perceived public interest/whatever, yet it's crystal clear that the people who make those decisions have not bothered to understand the bare nuts & bolts of the story.

I think MANY people would not like it if they knew over-paid "non-profit" hospital administrators had brazenly lied in a court proceding . . . to finish the hatchet-job they did on a home-grown doctor (hosed for doing the right thing).

The ONLY way for the masses to know about this is PRESS COVERAGE. It's a "local" story . . . in an area where my Mom still buys his newspaper.

There aren't any good explanations - just sorry excuses.

The fact is that the N&R is so busy trying to "frame" or "package" the news . . . to tell people what the newspaper thinks is "relevant" . . . that it has forgotten how to just report it and let readers decide.

Newspapers make judgments every day about what stories to write. Those decision invariably disappoint people who want coverage. Dr. Johnson has made it clear that she doesn't like our judgment on her story. I doubt that judgment will change. I also can't say why she insists that we write her story as opposed to the dozen or so other media outlets that serve Randolph County.

John, once again, you IGNORE the points I have raised about the Courier Tribune (our "local" newspaper) and mis-represent the journalistic environment down here (we have one daily and one weekly). It's an environment that YOUR newspaper, in fact, contributed to . . . when a few years back, the N&R (1) made a whole bunch of promises it did not keep, (2) allowed a reporter to come down here and wreck havoc (at the approximate same time these lawsuits were raging), and (3) NEVER owned up to it.

You-all virtually ignored a good story, and stood by a bad one. It was left to Jerry Bledsoe to set the record straight. If credibility and a lack of advertising support is a problem for the N&R, in Randolph County, the paper has no one to blame but itself.

As I have said before, I have contacted outside/national news "outlets" (sounds like they're selling something doesn't it?). They all opine that the story is indeed "local", and someone HERE should be telling it. Baring an act of God or Congress, the Courier Tribune isn't going to do it (for all of the reasons I have outlined above). The Guide has a limited sphere of influence. That leaves the N&R.

Now with the blogosphere, you've done it all over again (at least where I am concerned). You ASKED for people to contact you - so you can tell our stories. One voice matters, you say. But that's NOT true. It's only the voices that agree with or serve the N&R's agenda . . . or do not pose a problem for your advertisers (like Randolph, like Cone).

If the blogosphere is a kind of fresh start, you're already stale.

The N&R's "judgement" about whether or not to tell this story is based on a lie. A post or so ago, you COMPLETELY mis-stated what is going on . . . and what I am asking you to bring to the general public's attention. After all, the public paid for the party . . . and are continuing to pay the hefty salaries of "non-profit" hospital officials in Asheboro . . . officials who acted illegally to cover their tracks and avoid accountability for their actions.

A doctor trying to do the right thing by a tiny patient got caught in the crossfire of corporate arrogance and greed. I'm most certainly not the only doctor who has faced this kind of thing in recent years - as medicine sold out to HMO's and corporations. Patients are ultimately the ones who lose. But that's not "relevant" in comparison to the thirty and fifty-year-old stories you have been telling.

In other threads, you've been down right snotty as you acknowledged press coverage could help me . . . the N&R just won't do it.

I doubt my judgement is going to change about the N&R . . . unless it does something to back up all the high-minded journalistic hype with some good old-fashioned investigative reporting.

I KNOW I am not alone down here. We're disgusted. And now (as your original post makes crytal clear) we're out of luck for things changing anytime soon.

And you'll forgive me if I keep exercising that "one voice" - every time you lob a feedback softball.

The fact remains that we have no plans to pursue this story for the reasons stated here. The reader can decide what they'd like from this exchange and the others you refer to.

John,

It might make an interesting blog to print story...dunno..just thinking.

One thing is for sure...she certainly is not relying on her partnering skills to motivate your paper to investigate. (with that said...the story is the story)

If the high ranking executives of the non-profit hospital lied in court then... have they continued this idea over and over? If so, we as patients are getting literally buried as a result.

I don't know...but I wonder if there is a really big story out there. No one wants the good Doctor to look the other way while one crap Doc screws up and the patient dies due to the politics.

Hey Doc,
Do you know of other cases that the same execs were involved and might have lied under oath?

You being from around here....caught any bees with the vinegar you are using?

"No one wants the good Doctor to look the other way while one crap Doc screws up and the patient dies due to politics."

This particular patient did not die. She is alive and well and healthy. Her parents send me a Christmas card every year - actually it's not a card, it's a photograph of her (and I thank God for it because some years it has been the one thing that kept me going). If I had done what Bob Morrison and Steve Eblin would have had me do (i.e. hang up the phone when the nurses called - because I could not question the actions of other physicians without the approval of management), that might not be so.

And if she had not survived, my God that would have been a mess.

Alas, MeBlogin, you could not be more wrong (and I wish it were not so). Medicine is nothing if not politics now. If you were right, what happened to me would not have happened, there would have been no litigation, I would not be in the blogosphere, and I would not be on this blog (and my own) calling John and the N&R on its hypocrisy. I am what I've been made. For I have tried the "partnering" and the "sweet" cooperative thing (something I've spoken to on my blog). The point kinda is that doesn't work when the other side doesn't play fair . . . be it hospital administrators who lie under Oath, or "physician advocacy" groups who don't do individual advocacy, or "local" newspapers who do not report the news.

You're right. The story is the story. Rape victims have the right to be angry - yes? I am the victim of a professional rape. I don't like it. Look out for the vinegar.

John has not offered "reasons", he has dodged the issue with a misrepresentation of the facts and sorry excuses. There is NO excuse for not sending a reporter down here for one afternoon to look at the evidence. That would not break the bank, and it might actually save him some time here in the future. Every time I get dissed these days it just makes me madder and more determined.

"Non-profit" hospitals have been pulling the wool over people's eyes for a long time. "Disproportionate share" proved that. The NC taxpayer paid dearly. The story barely got a blurb. It's complicated. And the newspapers deem us too stupid to understand.

Just tonight I was watching Jon Stewart do a bit on CNN's bright new idea of "Ireport". Quoting Stewart, "CNN wants YOU to spare them from the most onerous part of what they do . . . reporting the news." Pause for big laughs (and I laughed).

But that is EXACTLY the theory behind one of the N&R's so-called "reasons" for not telling my story. Their version of "citizen journalism" is that I tell it myself in the blogs. They then decide if it's "relevant" . . . to take from the "echo chamber" to the masses.

I have seen a great deal on the road, MeBlogin. It would curl your hair. And I cannot divulge most of it - at least not when I'm blogging under my own name.

John,

It might make for an interesting local story with national significance. Alot of us get second opinions for two reasons...trust....and everyones human and makes mistakes. The trust element is one of the common threads in this story. What if there is this huge hole that she describes? She is not a patient....she is a Doc wanting to blow the whistle on what might be a whopper.

Why not invite her to the office for a couple of hours and find out? Maybe put on one of the reporters that really enjoys blogging as there is another thread to be found......Major story from blogging.....you guys are the experts...just rambling.

Thanks for your earlier responses,

That sounds like a good idea?

Doc....have you tried this idea?

Have either one of you ever sued anyone? Or been sued?