Why this? Why now?

By D. REED ECKHARDT

The straw that broke the camel’s back landed on the morning of Sunday, April 7.

After a week in which the Cheyenne community had been rocked by learning that its LGBT-plus and black students had been bullied by peers who waved Confederate flags, spoke and distributed hate-filled messages and threatened their personal safety, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle published a weak-kneed editorial calling for leadership in Laramie County School District 1.

This community needs a bulldog for truth. This blog is it.

Such irony, that this once-great newspaper, which at one time spoke boldly and took its role of community leadership seriously, was calling on others while ignoring its own constitutionally provided role, to guide this community. It was heartbreaking. The paper did not call for the suspension of the school’s principal, or for the school board to take its superintendent to task for not doing his job, or for the immediate reinstatement of a teacher whose only crime had been to rip the mask off the face of the right-wing bullying culture at the school.

No, the WTE’s tone one was of caution and suggestion. Calm down, everyone. Let’s first get the facts from the school’s self-investigation (really?). Then maybe some action will be needed. This was fear -- of reader pushback, of loss of subscriptions, of a dip in profits -- disguised as reasonableness. And it showed this once great entity for what it has become: a newspaper without a heart. 

There was a time when the WTE could be relied upon to present on its editorial page a wide diversity of opinions designed to challenge its readers and create vibrant community discussion. No more. The paper serves up Pablum for fear of angering conservative readers and losing subscribers. Its editor will tell you – if he is willing to be honest – that he withholds challenging liberal opinions because he doesn’t want to have to deal with conservative reader complaints. 

But it’s not just the liberals who have been silenced. Bradley Harrington, one of the founders of this blog, was cast off the WTE’s editorial pages because he dared to challenge the Chamber of Commerce and other community leaders. He was voted off the island by an editorial board that caters to the money men and women of Cheyenne who do not want to be challenged as they try to steer this community in ways that first benefit them and their friends.

The WTE no longer speaks truth to power. Wayward elected officials and self-appointed leaders now operate with impunity when, at a time not so long ago, they feared to have their self-motivated actions called into question. A paper that used to publish more than 300 editorials a year now settles for 52 and wastes many of those opportunities on such non-threatening subjects as Day of Giving. No doubt, that is an important event, but it is not worth 1,000 words on a Sunday when, for example, LCSD1 is trying to hide from the public the report on its self-probe on the bullying that runs rampant not only at McCormick but throughout the district.

Let me take a moment to respond to one criticism that is bound to arise here: that this blog is about retaliation for my firing three years ago after 17 years as editor of the WTE. Am I angry? Yes, but not about my layoff. I am angry that the Adams Publishing Group has shrunken the newsroom to the point that good journalism is in short supply. And that the owners are so fearful of offending readers and losing advertising that they produce a product designed to pacify, not challenge, their readers. And that APG is unwilling to lead for fear of pushback from community leaders and money men and women who could threaten its bottom line. 

Am I angry? Damn right. But only because a once great small daily newspaper and a once bold community leader is now a shell of its former self. 

Since the WTE no longer is willing to assume the mantle of opinion leader, and it is even less willing to let writers speak out about the questionable actions and decisions of community and state leaders, Mr. Harrington and I are launching this blog-site, Truth to Power.

We invite all who are willing to join us. We have personally invited some writers, and there no doubt will be others who will choose to join on their own. But this community needs a place that is fearless and challenges residents to think. 

This is not about right or left, conservative or liberal. Opinions of all sorts will appear here. Our only requirement is that they be well-written and be supported not only by emotions or beliefs but also by research and facts.

We intend to speak Truth to Power with each and every column that appears here. Because if we don’t do it, no one else will.

D. REED ECKHARDT is the former editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.