Why does mainstream press ignore key races?

by Jeff Melcher

LANCASTER — I voted in the Dallas County School Board (DCS) races. I notice the Dallas Morning News voter guide webpage fails to even acknowledge there is a race there.

This makes Pegasus News' page on the DCS all the more welcome.

It's an interesting omission that the Morning News ALSO ignores the Lancaster ISD school trustees races along with DCS. Other ISD races are covered, but not ours. Kathy Goolsby is no longer at the DMN and now coverage has dried up. That is odd given the run up to this election It's no secret that half the candidates in the hotly contested Lancaster ISD school board race -- for which early voting began yesterday -- truly hate the Dallas Morning News. The years long series of articles about lagging test scores, financial shenanigans, inflated attendence statistics, and unpopular bond propositions have led a faction of candidates to directly blame the DMN for all the district's woes. The faction finds articles by Josh Benton, Karen Ayers and Goolsby unfair, unkind, and unwarranted.

Not, necessarily, untruthful, however.

However, listening to candidates' speeches one might conclude that no bigger problem faces the district than the (factual) DMN exposure of district performance to the voting and taxpaying public.

So, the DMN succeeded in getting Larry Lewis terminated, but it appears that the powers-that-be in Lancaster have succeeded in getting various reporters (not just Goolsby -- but Brian Allen, Herb Booth, and Steve Synder) to shut up and go away, also.

I think they'd like to get me fired, for that matter. Can't fire a guy who ain't getting paid!

So, watch this space for a write up of my take on the LISD board candidates. No promises to be well-researched or fair, mind you. But it'll be no worse than I did for (some might say, to) the Dallas County Schools bunch.

I'm only doing this messy job because nobody else will. Anybody who thinks they can do better is welcome to try.

This story was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community. Jeff has regularly covered the Lancaster ISD and Dallas County School Board.