A number of Muncie residents have recently complained to me about the lack of objectiveness in recent Star Press articles about the Mayor of Muncie, Sharon McShurley. While it is apparent that The Star Press (or, at least journalist Nick Werner) has taken a stand against the mayor recently, it is also obvious that they are covering her far too often. Several unnecessary articles even appeared while she was away in Japan, searching to bring jobs into the last notch in the Rust Belt: Muncie, Indiana. I have tried to remember how often the last mayor of Muncie received front page attention in the Star Press, and the answer is: rarely.
The coverage that the Star Press has given the Mayor has led to a political exhaustion of the citizens. Many of the residents are just tired of hearing about it. The Star Press has recently covered the troubles at Prairie Creek Reservoir extensively, as well as commenting on legal debt that resulted from a recount. Today, they published a good news / bad news article on Prairie Creek alongside the legal debt article. The good news article was about twenty words, the bad news … naturally, it got a ton of ink and space. It is time to have some responsible journalism, the different articles deserve equal space and equal ink.
This mayor has shaken up the city. She has worked extensively to clean the corruption that has existed for decades. She has made strong and bold statements that the City of Muncie is going to be a good steward of tax dollars. That is what a good city does. It spends the tax dollars on necessary public good. Prairie Creek reservoir is an inherited burden of corruption and deceit as Larry Riley pointed out in his recent editorial. It is time to privatize the reservoir. If it is Prairie Creek that sinks this administration, the fault lies in a gullible electorate. Prairie Creek is where progressive politics goes to die, and those that are willing to jump on the mayor on this one issue alone are the reason why Muncie is lagging behind the rest of the nation.
