I think fear is what holds people back from speaking out or taking action to change something that they believe is unjust or unfair. Many people are afraid to question authority or to stand up to the powers that be. So they become apathetic or they just try to ignore what's bad if it doesn't affect them personally. I think this is part of the reason why we have so much corruption and bad behavior in our society, because not enough people speak out against it, not enough people act to demand change.Our newspaper reports on what its editors decide is newsworthy. As concerned citizens, we can write letters to the editor, but the editor can change our words so they fit in with what his/her agenda is. The editor can even decide what subject matter is allowed and what is not. We can write comments at an on-line forum but the editors can delete whatever comments don't fit in with their view of what is newsworthy. This is not right. So, frustrated people with a voice write blogs. They have taken action and it is working. They won't tolerate being force fed the viewpoint of a select few. Neither will their readers. People are taking action against being edited and muzzled.
It's just plain cruel for the newspaper to not acknowledge Bill Villa, a grieving father who has legitimate questions regarding a justice system that is supposed to be fair to all, regardless of one's social status or connections. Bill has been banned, blocked, deleted, and muzzled by the Morning Call. Please take the time to read his story and the comments at Bernie O'Hare's blog. (See previous post for link). I believe Bill's hard work and persistence for the truth will pay off.
More people should be willing step up to the plate and swing for the fence.
Photo: Bill Villa, writer, musician, and activist-dad
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12 comments:
Thank you, LV Somebody, Sheena's family sincerely appreciates your support.
And to bring your readers up to speed, please allow me to re-post this comment from another blog that is supporting me ...
"i got the impression the morning call justifies its current refusal to meet with mr. villa, because they have in the past considered his grievances." -Molovinsky
That's right and they are smoke-screen lying like crazy about this.
Allow me to explain ...
There are three (3) vehicular crash death cases I want to discuss with The Morning Call Editorial Board:
* my daughter Sheena's 2006 crash death
* Zachary Mohney's 2006 crash death
* and Patrick Sinatore's 2003 crash death
In each case, I have compelling evidence of shamefully unenthusiastic prosecutions by DA Jim Martin and integrity-questionable coverage by The Morning Call news department.
None of these three cases were discussed at the July 18, 2007 meeting with Opinions Editor Glenn Kranzley that I attended.
As Bernie O'Hare points out, Kranzley granted this 7/18/07 meeting only on the condition that I not discuss anything having to do with my daughter Sheena's case because Kranzley wasn't interested in hearing anything about it.
I agreed to this jaw-droppingly callous restriction, at the time, only as a way of "getting in the door" at The Morning Call.
The fact is that I arranged this 7/18/07 meeting with Glenn Kranzley for blogger Chris Casey ...
... and the meeting's agenda was basically me sitting there silently as Casey outlined for Kranzley his concerns regarding DA Jim Martin's questionable handling of several things, including campaign contributions, real estate transactions involving DA Martin's former law firm, the Charles Cullen (Angel of Death Nurse) case, and the Officer Michael Kenderski case.
For Glenn Kranzley to claim, in March 2008, that the newspaper "already looked into my grievances" in July 2007 is a total crock of crap.
The Zach Mohney and Patrick Sinatore cases didn't even come to my attention until months after Kranzley's July '07 meeting with Chris Casey.
And the third case I want to discuss with The Morning Call Editorial Board, my daughter Sheena's case, I was prohibited from discussing at the July '07 meeting between Casey and Kranzley.
By the way, I thought Chris Casey raised issues at that 7/18/07 meeting which were highly worthy of The Morning Call looking into. Whether the newspaper did or not, I do not know.
But by refusing to meet with me, it's almost as if Glenn Kranzley is thinking, "well, we deemed that Chris Casey didn't have anyting on our good pal DA Jim Martin ... so ... Bill Villa probably doesn't have anything on Martin either."
And this kind of fallacy-flawed "thinking" is either ...
* just plain lazy
* just plain stupid
* or dumb like a colluding crony fox diabolical
I find it unusually cruel, and highly suspicious, that The Morning Call would make me an exception to its "Welcome Mat" policy-- a grieving father with "excellent questions that deserve to be answered" regarding a district attorney who has invited scrutiny with his reckless and arrogant cronyism the night before a trial.
This morning, I e-mailed my 75th request for a meeting with The Morning Call Editorial Board.
I request that they honor it, and my daughter Sheena, by booking a meeting with me.
Bill--If you want the Morning Call to investigate DA Martin, crash deaths, or anything else, you have to talk to the people in charge of the news side of the business. They would be Ardath Hilliard, Editor, and David Erdman, Managing Editor. Glenn Kranzley is only the opinion pages editor and has no decision-making power regarding news coverage.
Best of luck.
Joe,
Bill can respond better than me, but I believe he has tried over 70 times to contact the people you mentioned and they have not responded. Investigative reporter Tim Darragh has spoken at length with Bill and told him that he raises excellent questions, but Erdman is his boss, and that's where the story stopped. They do not think his story is newsworthy, which is very curious. I believe Erdman may have told Bill that through an e-mail. A high level elected official has told Bill that Martin "has friends at the Morning Call." And, the father of the guy who killed Sheena is a partner in the law firm that represents the Call. This may or may not not be a factor, but it does raise questions about special treatment, collusion, and protection. Those questions need to be answered because if corruption does indeed exist at our newspaper, then the entire community should be aware of this and outraged.
I attended a meeting with Erdman and Hilliard about the Call's anti-Allentown bias: essentially, their playing up the bad news here, reminding their readers every chance they get that downtown Allentown is "unsafe," while giving Bethlehem a free pass. Mayor Pawlowski, Lee Butz, Mal Gross, Rev. Bob Stevens, and 25 other community leaders talked for and hour. We had examples of their coverage to show them...
Their response was boilerplate journalist-ese: "we don't have that policy...we have a duty to inform our readers", etc. Very smooth and professional, but a complete stonewall.
If what you say is true you won't get very far by asking them. My advice--try to build a solid case and hire a good attorney.
Re: "... you have to talk to the people in charge of the news side of the business. They would be Ardath Hilliard, Editor, and David Erdman, Managing Editor."
Thanks Joe, yes, I tried from September 2007 and through the first quarter of 2008 to get a meeting with Dave Erdman but Erdman refuses to meet with me or return my phone calls. And this was after Morning Call Investigations Editor Tim Darragh graciously granted me 3 lengthy phone conversations in which he deemed my questions regarding DA Jim Martin's questionable handling of the Zach Mohney DUI homicide case "excellent questions that deserve to be answered."
The reason I've been appealing to The Morning Call Editorial Board is because, as Bernie O'Hare pointed out in a post at his blog on 2/27/08, quoting from The Morning Call's web site:
"... the [Morning Call Editorial] board intends to be as open with readers as possible. It meets regularly -- a few times every week -- with people and groups about topics of public interest. The Lehigh Valley area is blessed to have public-spirited citizens who recognize that the newspaper is a corporate citizen that strives to be engaged in the debate on such issues, and that tries to offer leadership. The welcome mat always is out for those who want to be heard." -www.mcall.com
Opinions Editor and Morning Call Editorial Board member Glenn Kranzley told Bernie that The Morning Call's "Welcome Mat" policy "may not apply to managing editor Dave Erdman."
"May not."
We've never gotten confirmation, either way.
So I've been politely, albeit persistently, petitioning The Morning Call Editorial Board for a meeting.
To get caught up completely on this issue, read Bernie O'Hare's posts (and the many comments) from 2/27/08 and 3/28/08 ...
and thanks for your interest, Joe ...
"I attended a meeting with Erdman and Hilliard ... Their response was boilerplate journalist ... a complete stonewall ... hire a good attorney."
I've asked for a meeting with the 6 Morning Call Editorial Board Members, plus Dave Erdman, Tim Darragh, and Debbie Garlicki.
So it'll be 9 against 1.
But I get the impression they're concerned about being over-matched.
Retired ASD teacher here.
Right now, the Morning Call management is all about keeping its jobs.This is not the time for controversy.
These folks are damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Sam Zell will soon realize the Call's numbers are falling and heads will roll. Or,should Sam decide to sell the Call, those same heads will roll. Right now, the Call's management has its heads under their desks.
I have total disgust for the current Morning Call.
I pay my subscription to have pure NEWS delivered in print form. Right now, I feel I am receiving some sort of propaganda as part of the Call's effort to promote its private agenda. I resent that.
The Call will not acknowledge Bill Villa unless FORCED and/or EMBARRASSED to do so.
What's needed here is an investigation of the facts from someone other than the Call. Someone like Fox News, the Express Times, and anyone else who would relish seeing the Call challenged on its worthiness.
Asking the Call directly to discuss this issue will go nowhere.
"Someone like Fox News, the Express Times, and anyone else who would relish seeing the Call challenged on its worthiness."
Completely agree. You'd be better off taking your story to one of their competitors (do they have any?) Guess I'd start with the E-T.
Mr. Skrapits, I do not perceive an anti-Allentown bias in MC reporting. The paper has a duty to inform its readers about criminal activity. Too much about A-town is already being whitewashed.
Re: "Asking the Call directly to discuss this issue will go nowhere."
Oh i dunno, consider this:
1. We have a monopoly newspaper with a "Welcome Mat" policy whereby its "welcome mat always is out for those who want to be heard." -mcall.com
2. We have a grieving father who lost his only daughter to a drunk driver and who has been monitoring the DA for 2 years to see if his daughter's killer was the only homicidal drunk driver this DA seemed hell-bent on going as easy as possible on ... and damn if this grieving dad doesn't discover not only a pattern of DA softness on homicidal drunk drivers but the DA actually fixing one of these cases in full view of the public, and the media, on 9/25/07.
3. Then we have a seemingly honest Investigations Editor at the monopoly newspaper take the time to hear the grieving dad out ... and damn if this Investigations Editor doesn't come to the conclusion that the questions being raised by the grieving dad about the 9/25/07 case fix are "excellent questions that deserve to be answered."
4. And then we have the monopoly newspaper denying the grieving dad with the excellent questions its "Welcome Mat" ... 75 times so far ... and counting.
Oh I believe this story's gonna go somewhere.
I also believe the story gets closer to lift-off every time The Morning Call denies me its "Welcome Mat."
Personally, I think the smartest thing The Morning Call could do would be to throw DA Jim Martin overboard before I sink them.
But then again ... we get too soon old and too late smart around here.
Try the Philly news outlets. They have the resources to dig into this matter and a constant need for human interest stories like yours.
Good luck to you.
Re: "Try the Philly news outlets."
(Thanks) FYI, every newspaper and TV station in nearly a 100 mile radius has been apprised of this story-- West to Harrisburg, North to Scranton, South to Philadelphia and beyond, and East deep into New Jersey and NYC. There's also a newspaper in Potter County PA and a newspaper chain in Vermont watching it. And I'm watching it and reporting on it. It'll be interesting to see which of us gets the Pulitzer Prize for blowing it open nationally ...
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