Know Your Audience

Anyone who has ever spoken or performed in public or written any type of correspondence, including a high school term paper, understands one simple concept -- know your audience. It's a concept that the editor of the Everett Independent would do well to adopt.

Reading the editorial column in this week's paper (http://www.everettindependent.com -- click on the link for Editorials) in praise of one member of the Board of Aldermen, one question sprang to mind -- "how stupid does this guy think we are?" It is not the glowing review of this Alderman's political performance that is troubling -- although it is over the top -- it is the one sided brush with which the editor paints the political landscape that makes the reader squint, trying to see the picture clearly.

The first wildly inaccurate statement that catches the attention is the claim that this Alderman is "unaffiliated." It makes the reader wonder how long the editor has observed political life in Everett -- or anywhere, for that matter. To say that any politician is "unaffiliated" is naive at best but more likely, in this case, it is simply disingenuous. You cannot be involved in politics in Everett and not be affiliated in some way with someone or some cause, and this Alderman is no exception to that rule.

The editor also makes the statement that this Alderman stands up to the mayor "in a city where nearly everyone in government lines up like toy soldiers right behind him." Has this guy looked at the make up of the City Council lately? Of the 25 members of the City Council, by our observation, there is a firm 36% who can be counted on to support the Mayor, a firm 40% who are Ragucci antagonists, and 24% whose votes must be lobbied for every issue. This can hardly be considered the "lemming off the cliff" mentality portrayed in this editorial.

However, there is a broader issue at play in these edtorial musings. The editor of the Independent made a statement in that newspaper several weeks ago, in discussing the upcoming political season, that the paper would not endorse any candidate. In this editorial, he contradicts that statement by touting this Alderman as though he is the second coming of Harry Truman. It is going to be very difficult for the editor to now stand by his self-proclaimed policy of non-endorsement. Perhaps instead of espousing the integrity of some and questioning the motivation of others, he should engage in some introspection and see if he can rediscover some journalistic motivation and integrity of his own.