On Tuesday, when Ed Pawlowski was remanded to prison, it marked 13 years since the Morning Call endorsed Pawlowski for mayor. Before their formal endorsement, their reporter distorted public opinion in Pawlowski's favor. When Pawlowski gave a press conference heralding a house for sale on Liberty Street, Daryl Nerl, their election reporter, wrote a glowing article. The next week when I documented that in reality the house was remodeled at public expense three times with two defaults, the paper didn't print one word. That pattern continued for the next decade, with Pawlowski getting credit for other people's accomplishments, and being excused for his faults.
On Tuesday, the paper was still crediting Pawlowski for the revitalization of center city. First of all he wasn't responsible, and secondly, it's still a dead zone.
The same reporter, although no longer on staff, was writing copy for Pawlowski's campaign manager Mike Fleck, when the FBI raided city hall.
He remains good friends with Bill White, and was assigned freelance assignments at the paper so far this month on October 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, and 17th. Don't expect much change at The Morning Call.
Morning Call photo of Pawlowski misleading council, with this blogger over his left shoulder listening to his distortions
Ironically Michael 12 years ago Scot Krause of the morning call was asked not to quote the following " Palowski is Napoleon he wants more power" Palowski then ran for governor and senate. Well Napoleon has met his Waterloo
ReplyDeleteI saw Bill White's column on the "The Tragic Tale of Two Ed Pawlowski's". White's premise was that Pawlowski was both the corrupt politician that was sentenced yesterday, as well as a caring man of faith with a genuine heart for justice.
ReplyDeleteWhite couldn't be more wrong.
If there were two Ed Pawlowski's, they are the corrupt politician that was sentenced yesterday, and the lie propagated by the Morning Call in a decade of glowing accounts of Pawlowski as some sort of savior. Far from a savior, Pawlowski was a troll on the city's bridge to possible success, charging illegal tolls to everyone he could.
Instead of continuing with puff pieces that falsely credit Pawlowski for any progress in Allentown, maybe the Morning Call should look inward and write about its involvement in the whole affair. For instance, how about stories about:
1) How the Morning Call missed (until an FBI raid made it impossible to ignore) the biggest municipal corruption scandal in the region's history, despite the scandal occurring less than two blocks from the newspaper's headquarters;
2) How a newspaper (and columnist) that routinely rails against gerrymandered voting districts stayed silent on City Hall corruption while its offices were gerrymandered into the tax-advantaged Neighborhood Improvement Zone; and how the Morning Call received a sweetheart deal on locating a multi-million dollar parking deck across from its offices;
3) How one-party rule has led to corruption and disfunction in City government, and how politically-biased reporting has contributed to that.
4) How so little has changed in Allentown City Hall despite an FBI raid and conviction of the city's former mayor. No meaningful reforms have been proposed or adopted that would deter a future Mayor from doing the same things to the residents of Allentown.
Any of those stories would be worthy of weeks, if not months, of stories and investigation. But Morning Call readers will see none of them.
Enjoyed your very well written post today. This is certainly a sad chapter of history. Thanks
ReplyDeletep.s. did you have a garage full of pawlowski signs from your run for mayor? sounds like nothstein has a garage full of wild signs in his garage. lol .Thanks again
There is no joy in Mudville, mighty Casey has struck out.....
ReplyDeleteThe question yet to be answered is, "Is Allentown a better place because of Ed Pawlowski ?"
unknown@8:32, you pretty much pre-empted my post for tomorrow, although I did write it before reading your comment. agree completely about the Morning Call.
ReplyDeleteMM -
ReplyDeleteUnknown @ 8:32 here.
Sorry for jumping to the front of the line, but please don't let it pre-empt your post.
The Morning Call's hypocrisy and complicity needs to be pointed out over-and-over, until more people understand their involvement.
There is a short memory in this town, and the Morning Call is very good at distracting people from the stories they don't want to cover.
This isn’t the end of the story, only the end of one chapter. The saga, like the corruption, continues, slowed but unabated.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote yesterday, Ed Pawlowski would not be going to jail, the downtown would not look like Omaha Nebraska, The city would look more like Bethlehem, and the school district would not be distressed, and stressed beyond repair. All of this could have been avoided if the Morning Call did it's job of routine reporting and basic investigative reporting. We know they can do investigative reports, but apparently they only investigate Republicans. Don't get me started on Bill White.