Craig Fox’s “News of the Obvious” (December 1, 2009, ed.)

GENEVA, NY–Finger Lakes Times reporter Craig Fox reports that the snow that fell in upstate New York on Monday (November 30) won’t be the last of the coming winter:

According to 13-WHAM-TV chief meteorologist Glenn Johnson, it was the first time in 45 years that the region got its first taste of snow on the last day of November.

“It’s occurred pretty late for us,” Johnson said, noting that the first snow typically falls during the first week of November.

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It certainly won’t be the last they see. A coating fell over night and more is expected later this week.

We’ll get a mid-week break, but the white stuff may be back as soon as Thursday, and a chance of flurries is included in the weekend forecast as well…

In other breaking weather news that will surprise no one, Fox is expected to inform the Times readers that April showers bring May flowers, no two snowflakes are alike and that rain is wet.

Craig Fox’s “News of the Obvious” (November, 2009, ed.)

Actual article headline on November 26, 2009:Watch for deer, drivers told.

Reporter: Public Debate on Taxes “Needless” and “Trivial”

CANANDAIGUA, NY–Taxes have been a major topic in the news for the past several months, both nationally and locally.

Nationally, “Tea Party” protesters have expressed outrage over what they see as unfairly high taxes. In New York, rising state and local property taxes have been blamed for an exodus of residents to other states.

Given the very real question over whether New York’s state and local taxes are too high, one would think that an area newspaper would consider a discussion of property taxes by the county legislature to be an important issue. However, at least one reporter for the Finger Lakes Times seems to think that a debate in the Ontario County legislature over those taxes is nothing but a petty controversy.

Writing in the Wednesday (October 28) edition of the paper, reporter Craig Fox referred to a discussion of a proposed veterans’ tax exemption as merely a “fuss,” despite the fact that the exemption could result in increased taxes for some county residents while costing the county “between about $76,000 and $152,000 in revenue.”

Merriam-Webster defines a “fuss” in part as “needless bustle or excitement,” “a state of agitation …over a trivial matter. It also describes it as “an often petty controversy or quarrel.”

Many news organizations decry the perceived lack of public debate by our governments on issues. With that being the case, it’s odd that a reporter would consider an open discussion on an important issue nothing but “needless bustle,” especially when the result could cost his readers a six figure loss in tax revenue.

They Were Probably Asleep

CANANDAIGUA, NY–The vagaries of time and website maintenance continue to bedevil the staff at the Finger Lakes Times.

In an article about a controversial gasification pilot project at the Ontario County landfill, staff writer Craig Fox reported that he tried to get a comment from a local environmental group but couldn’t:

Members of Finger Lakes Zero Waste, an environmental group opposed to the gasification technology, couldn’t be reached for comment this morning.

However, according to the Times’ website the article was datelined “Sunday, August 23, 2009 12:10 AM CDT.” If that’s accurate, then “this morning” was sometime between midnight and 1:00 am and Fox was trying to get comments from a group during a time when people are typically home in bed.

Granted, the date stamp is probably an error of the web editors, not Fox, or a software glitch. However, it points out that, in time where a growing number of people get their news from the internet, a reporter can’t continue to write articles as if they are only published once a day in an afternoon paper and then discarded.

Who’s Their Legal Consultant? My Cousin Vinny?

CANANDAIGUA, NY–Someone in court during closing arguments in a murder trial on Thursday (August 13, 2009) didn’t know the difference between a plea and a verdict. The only question is whether it was the reporter covering the trial or the district attorney speaking at it.

In an article entitled “Garcia Trial UPDATE: Closing Statements,” Finger Lakes Times reporter Craig Fox wrote about the summation given by prosecutor R. Michael Tantillo during the murder trial of Frank Garcia:

Tantillo said he could not comprehend a case in the 150-year history of the court house where there was more incriminating evidence than in the murder trial of… Garcia.

Tantillo said that he could have gotten a guilty plea with just the eye witness accounts….

As anyone who’s watched even an occasional episode of “Perry Mason,” “Law and Order” or even “Night Court” knows, there’s a fundamental difference between a guilty plea, where an accused admits guilt and waives a trial, and a guilty verdict, where the case goes to trial and a jury decides if the defendant committed a crime. If, as the article states, the District Attorney could have “gotten a guilty plea” with the evidence, why did he have to take the case to trial?

Obviously, either Tantillo misspoke or the reporter got the attorney’s statement wrong.

At this point, it’s impossible to know who made the mistake. However, it seems unlikely that a career prosecutor wouldn’t know the difference between two simple legal terms. Maybe someone at the Times needs to stay home and watch a few more episodes of “Matlock” before the paper covers any more high profile court cases?

The Foot Bone’s Connected to the Ankle Bone…

SENECA NY–Most people don’t need to be a doctor to know that a foot and a leg are two separate body parts… Apparently Finger Lakes Times reporter Craig Fox isn’t most people…

In an article entitled BREAKING NEWS!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!, Fox reports that a human foot was found in the Ontario County landfill:::

Casella Waste Management Workers found it while sorting through recyclables about 9 p.m. yesterday. Officials this morning initially referred to it as a suspicious material, but Sheriff Phil Povero announced at a 10 a.m. press conference that it was a decomposing foot.

Later in the article Fox reports what most people reading the article would have understood from the description of the appendage, namely, that a leg wasn’t attached:::

The body part, which included little of the leg, was sent to the Monroe County Medical Examiners Office.

It’s possible that Fox really meant to write “the body part… included a little of the leg.” But if that’s the case, why not describe it as the “ankle”??? Or, better yet, proofread his “BREAKING NEWS!!!” before posting it???

As Opposed to “Intentionally Forgot”?

In the Monday (July 13, 2009) Finger Lakes Times article about a Town of Geneva housing project, staff writer Craig Fox reported that “the town’s engineering consultant inadvertently forgot to complete a test…”

Craig Fox’s News of the Obvious

Actual article headline on July 12, 2009: Mosquito numbers expected to rise with warm weather

Predicting the News Instead of Reporting It?

Maybe this is a matter of poor drafting but it appears from an editor’s note on the Finger Lakes Times’ website, that at least some of the “news” stories written by reporter Craig Fox appearing in the paper are actually printed before the events depicted in them occur.

The Times’ website has an article by Fox, posted Sunday (June 7), about a vote of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors that occurred Thursday night. At the bottom of the story is a disclaimer which reads: “Editor’s Note: A story in today’s Sunday Times on Page 2C was printed before Thursday’s vote.”

More Recycled Stories, More Gratuitous Palin Attacks

AUBURN, NY–Back before the 2008 election, we posted a piece on how Finger Lakes Times reporter Craig Fox had recycled a story from a rival paper and added little to the story but a chance for a Democrat to attack Sarah Palin.

He’s at it again.

In the Thursday (June 4 2009) Finger Lakes Times, Fox reports on a story that other local papers have reported on for weeks, namely, an upcoming visit by the former Republican Vice Presidential candidate (and current Alaska governor) to the city of Auburn, New York:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be coming to this Cayuga County city Saturday to pay homage to its long connection with her state.

Palin — Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate last year — will travel to Auburn for Founders Day, which this year will celebrate 50 years of Alaska statehood.

Organizers have been working on the visit for months and got final confirmation just weeks ago that Palin would come to the city of 28,000.

However, unlike other local news organizations, Fox didn’t just report on the excitement caused by the visit of a national figure to the city. Instead, he made sure to include comments attacking the Alaska Governor:

not everyone is happy with the visit. Palin proved a polarizing figure, attracting ridicule as well as admiration during the presidential campaign.

While Fox’s observation is essentially true, the same could be said about any prominent politician, especially at the national level.

However, when reporting on stories about Democrats, such as President Barack Obama and even wildly unpopular New York Governor David Paterson, Fox never seems to include similar attacks.

It’s hard to understand why, in an era of declining newspaper revenue, the Times seems intent on letting at least one of its reporters display open bias (and risk offending at least half its readership). Who knows? Maybe the paper’s corporate owners are angling for some stimulus money.