LOCAL DAILY SHOWS LACK OF JOURNALISTIC BASICS IN MAJOR OMISSION
It has been many a moon since one has observed anything resembling outstanding journalism at the Brownsville Herald. One would hate to estimate the number of its regular readers and subscribers, but if the present quality of articles and writing are brought into the equation, certainly those numbers would not approach those of the 1980's and 1990's.
In many ways, our local environment would be an ideal habitat for muckrakers. With so many local characters and politicos who like to walk on the seamy side of the street, there is much muck that could stand raking.
The hallmark of of good journalism is good research, which seems to be missing in our day and age. In both print and visual media, those called "journalists," who in reality are propagandizers, greatly outnumber those who "want the facts and nothing but the facts" and are willing to do the hard work of research.
Perhaps it is just slopiness, but local practitioners of the craft of the Fouth Estate give the impression of discarding vital details, thus obscuring a complete picture of the subject matter they are working with. A case in point occurred in last Sunday's edition of the Herald. In a section purporting to be a voter's guide to the 2022 primary election, the name of the leading Republican candidate for election to Congress was totally omitted. Whether this was by design or by accident, one cannot say. Nevertheless, it was a glaring breach of professional journalism.
The research involved in such a write-up should not be difficult. To ascertain who the persons are who appear on the ballot, a quick peek at the posting of all names of candidates may be viewed on the website of our county's election administrator, Remi Garza. Apparently, those responsible for producing the voter's guide did not even take the time to perform this elementary task. And, in shirking this responsibility, they slighted Mayra Flores, whose name is listed first on the sample ballot posted by our county's election administrators.
It would appear that the least the Herald could do would be to apologize for the omision and correct this mistake in a prominent portion the paper's pages.
For those wishing to reinforce this proposition, the telephone number of the Brownsville Herald is (956) 982-6628.
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