Credit where credit is due

If you're not reading Left on Lanier, you should be. It's a good local progressive political blog, covering events in the Hall County area.

So, the fellas up there have a little story on their hands about Rep. Nathan "Sweetheart" Deal. Seems that Deal has been caught red-handed by the AJC using his influence to make his own business thrive. As the good folks at Left on Lanier point out, the story broke on Saturday, August 22, and since then, it's been covered by the AJC, Creative Loafing, and even the Duluth Weekly. But the two major news outlets up there, the Gainesville Times and Access North GA didn't use a drop of ink (digital or otherwise) on it until yesterday.

To me, this is part of what citizen journalism ought to be about - holding your journalists accountable. Left on Lanier did just that, in spades. They contacted the Times, and posted both their original email and the (somewhat shady) response from the newspaper.

Once the story got some semblence of coverage, the fellas at LoL (sorry, I know), are doing exactly what they should do - being highly skeptical about the tone. Looks like the Congressman's hometown news orgs are giving him a pass.

One thing that the fellas were perhaps too polite to mention, but I will. According to multiple newspaper citations, Harris Blackwood, until very recently the political reporter for the Times, is Deal's spokesman. As the church lady would say, "how conveeeeeeeeenient!"