How can your headline on the Feb. 1 front page be “A defiant Ryan tries to skirt scandal?” Gov. George Ryan makes a worthy State of the State speech including ovations and applause of magnitude by a diverse group.
He lists the important actions he has taken and it’s all relegated to the back page in formal coverage of the speech.
In the headline, the choice of the adjective “defiant” is judgmental, accusatory and subjective.
The governor did not even mention his trouble about the license scandal.
How could your editors come up with such a headline on Page 1?
The part of the headline that reads “tries to skirt scandal” is, again, judgmental. The governor has faced the scandal and presently is not linked to it judicially.
Is he not entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty?
Or are all politicians dirty and untruthful in the eyes of prejudicial reporters and editors and, thus, the public?
God forgive us if we destroy our country’s leadership by jumping to editorial conclusions. This was obnoxious and utterly disrespectful to a man who sincerely and actively serves the state.
