Keeping the public informed is our job
Journalists are such pesky folks.
Take the folks at the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey. They had the temerity last year to report that the new Rutgers University athletic director, Julie Hermann, did not have the best history for cleaning up a troubled program. Besides being sued twice for sex discrimination, Hermann had faced a rebellion of her volleyball players, who categorized her as a verbally abusive coach.
The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press editorialized last week: "The search committee that found Hermann for Rutgers didn't know any of that. Hermann didn't come clean herself. It was the Star-Ledger that first reported those facts."
As happens too often, whether in Oregon or in New Jersey, Hermann attacked the messenger instead of accepting responsibility. A few weeks ago, while speaking to a Rutgers journalism class in media law and ethics, Hermann said it would be great if the Star-Ledger newspaper folded.
Ironies abound. Yes, she said this in an ethics class. And if the newspaper disappeared, so would its extensive coverage of Rutgers athletics. Maybe no other aspect of U.S. life gets as much free publicity from newspapers as prep, college and professional sports.
Journalists are not public-relations agents. We have a responsibility to report the good, the bad and the in-between.
When my daughter played on the same fast-pitch softball team with the daughter of then-Marion County Sheriff Raul Ramirez, he and I spent a lot of time watching softball together or driving each other's kids to games. But it was as if we had a tacit understanding: He was always a cop; I was always a journalist. If appropriate, neither of us would shirk from going after the other professionally.
That's the way it should be.
In contrast, consider Hermann's reaction to public scrutiny. Star-Ledger columnist Steve Politi wrote last week: "Hermann has been a human P.R. nightmare since taking the job, and the response from Rutgers officials has been to dig in deeper in their support (of her).
"Maybe that's why Hermann is rooting for reporters and editorial writers to lose their jobs — they are the only ones who seem to be holding her accountable."
Indeed, last week 167 employees of the Star-Ledger did lose their jobs. Those layoffs are sad news, not only for the employees and their families but also for readers who appreciate news coverage and editorial comment that put subjects under the spotlight.
In New Jersey, the Star-Ledger uncovered information about Hermann that apparently was overlooked or dismissed during her hiring. The public deserved to know that.
In Oregon, the Statesman Journal and other newspapers have uncovered reference checks that were poorly done by consultants or others in the hiring of local, school or state officials. The public deserved to know about those phony résumés and spotty backgrounds.
Last week, we reported that the state ethics commission is examining allegations of nepotism involving the deputy director of the Oregon Department of Corrections. The public deserves to know about such investigations.
Also last week, the Willamette Education Service District — which, like Rutgers' athletic director, is the journalistic gift that keeps on giving — returned to the hot seat, this time for violating Oregon's open meetings laws. The ethics commission contends that the WESD board broke the law 42 times last year in hiring a new superintendent. The district's lawyer took the fall, saying he failed to properly advise the board.
But it is the board members' sacred duty — and, I dare say, that of school administrators and other public executives — to understand and uphold the principle that the public's business should be conducted in public.
Yes, journalists are pesky and the public can be a pain. I understand that life would be so much easier for public officials without having the public, via the press, watching over their shoulders.
But if that were the case, we wouldn't be living in a democracy.
Dick Hughes, who believes openness should be the default position for every government meeting in America, is editorial page editor of the Statesman Journal. Contact him at dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com; P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309; or (503) 399-6727.
Editorial: Rutgers athletic director is a PR nightmare
Rutgers Athletic Director Julie Hermann recently told a Rutgers journalism class that she's hoping for the death of the Star-Ledger, which recently laid off 167 staffers.
Why? Because the newspaper dares to hold her accountable for her actions as the athletic director of a public university. She would prefer that all the scrutiny just go away.
But she has only herself to blame. Hermann may be a competent administrator — although the jury is out on that one. But the AD of a major public university, especially at a place like Rutgers that aspires to the big time in college sports, is one of the most visible faces of the school. Hermann is woefully miscast in that role.
Rutgers is at a significant transition point in its history as it enters the Big Ten. The competitive challenges will be daunting. If university officials don't want Rutgers to become a laughingstock in the process, they should jettison Hermann. Her credibility was already shot. Now we can throw a jolt of heartlessness into the mix.
Hermann was hired in the aftermath of the Mike Rice scandal. Rice, the head basketball coach, was fired for abusing his players, verbally and physically. Rutgers didn't sufficiently act on the abuse until video of Rice's practices went public, which also cost athletic director Tim Pernetti his job.
When Hermann arrived, however, a checkered history emerged that included allegations of her own abusive tactics as a Tennessee volleyball coach in the 1990s — which she at first denied, then said made her particularly qualified for the Rutgers job. A former Tennessee assistant coach had also won a lawsuit claiming she was fired by Hermann because of her pregnancy. That case involved an incriminating wedding video, the existence of which Hermann denied. She also said she didn't even remember being a part of the wedding.
The search committee that found Hermann for Rutgers didn't know any of that. Hermann didn't come clean herself. It was the Star-Ledger that first reported those facts. Truth, in Hermann's world, is apparently an evil thing.
Hermann has also embarrassed herself on the Rutgers job with her bungling of bullying accusations by a former Rutgers football player against an assistant coach.
The incident itself predated Hermann's arrival, but her subsequent investigation of the charges included a claim that she had twice spoken to the father of the player, Jevon Tyree, by phone, even though Tyree's parents vehemently denied it.
Hermann eventually amended her tale with the highly dubious explanation that she must have spoken to an imposter father.
Now Hermann is rooting for countless people she doesn't even know to lose their jobs because reporting of the truth has been "hurtful" to her.
Is that the public face of Rutgers that university officials want to show?
— Asbury Park Press, N.J., April 8, 2014