Bankers probably should stick to banking

In his pump-up of Newark Schools and Keith Richards, Dan DeLawder took special pains to offer a kick in the pants to the Advocate. It appeared today in the letters column.

DeLawder, a banker by trade, offered this journalistic critique:

"I was happy to see your paper provide such positive coverage, especially since I have been gravely concerned with your publishing focus that too often fails to report good news and accomplishments but is quick with glaring headlines that point out deficiencies and areas for improvement. I assure you I am not alone in that assessment."

I suspect that he and other community boosters would indeed prefer the time not many months ago when the Advocate editorial department was no more than an arm of the Chamber of Commerce and a mouthpiece for government officials.

It was that kind of crappy journalism that infuriated me and anyone else who understands what a newspaper should be. In those days it was people like me who were crabbing about worthless newsprint coming off the local presses.

The favored class of Licking County can't bear to look at itself honestly and have public problems discussed in public. But this is not new; it's a tradition in Newark that I have personally experienced, one for which there is no education.

But as a journalist I can report here that DeLawder's comment is off the wall. Today's Advocate is better editorially than it's been for many years, which is why I rarely go gunning for it myself.