Siegelman and the Alabama Press

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Roger Shuler (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

For OpEdNews: Roger Shuler - Writer

Siegelman and the Alabama press

Tommy Stevenson, of the Tuscaloosa News, was surprised to read in the Huntsville Times yesterday that Don Siegelman has been keeping a low profile in his home state, denying interview requests from Alabama journalists.

No wonder Stevenson was surprised because last week he ran a major story on Siegelman, including video of the interview. In fact, Stevenson was the first Alabama print journalist to interview Siegelman since the former governor's release from federal prison pending appeal.

Guess that news hasn't made it to Huntsville.

But here's what is interesting. Stevenson, writing in his Time is Spherical, Not Linear blog, says the Associated Press did not pick up his story.

I've taken a journalism class or two in my time, and this one is hard to figure. The state's former governor gives his first major in-state interview since his release from prison and the AP's Montgomery bureau doesn't pick it up?

Stevenson checked with AP about why his original story was not picked up and also about why the wire service did not cover Tuesday night's event in Huntsville, featuring Harper's magazine's Scott Horton, plus an appearance by Siegelman, Jill Simpson, and other key figures in the Siegelman case. (Heck even "Bulldog" Eddie Curran was there.) AP's explanation? Well, they didn't really give Stevenson one--at least so far.

Here is what Stevenson has to say about that:

This is curious: both stories are sympathetic to Siegelman, yet they don't run the first one and then don't mention the second because, well, I guess as they say on South Park, "Nothing to see here, move along."

Stevenson notes that he has more coming on the Siegelman story in the next few days. Will AP pay attention?

Before we go, I owe an apology to bulldogs. I love bulldogs, and to compare them to Eddie Curran is uncalled for and unforgivable. So, bulldogs, please accept my apologies.

That means we need another nickname for Eddie Curran. How about "Gila Monster" Eddie Curran? Other ideas?

http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/

www.legalschnauzer.blogspot.com

I live in Birmingham, Alabama, and work in higher education. I became interested in justice-related issues after experiencing gross judicial corruption in Alabama state courts. This corruption has a strong political component. The corrupt judges are (more...)

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.