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The Inquirer's Casino Coverage
By Ed Goppelt
Monday, 05/22/06
(1148323427515)
500 Philadelphians turned out on Saturday to protest the introduction of a Las Vegas sized casino into one of Philadelphia's residential neighborhood. Although the demonstration against the proposed Foxwoods casino shut down traffic on Columbus Blvd. for the better part of an hour, you wouldn't know any of this if you read the Inquirer.
On its face, the failure of the Inquirer to cover a well-attended protest rally raises troubling questions about the paper's commitment to covering all sides of the casino story. Did the Inquirer have a good reason for not reporting the first large anti-casino demonstration? Judging from the protest signs, residents from all five casino impact zones attended.
PLEASE write the Inquirer *NOW* and ASK THE INKY'S TOP MANAGERS TO EXPLAIN THEMSELVES. I've set up this web page to make it easy.
Around the beginning of March, the Inquirer's Tina Moore started to do some serious reporting on the neighbors' side of the casino story. But Moore wrote only five stories, the last of which ran more than 6 weeks ago.
What is Moore reporting on now? Potholes. Instead of reporting on Saturday's protest rally, the Sunday Inquirer ran two stories in which Moore describes in exhausting detail the City's "Smooth Streets" program.
Since when are potholes more important than a protest rally attended by 500 people? Why doesn't the Inquirer put Moore back on the neighborhood casino beat? Doubtless potholes are important, but is this really the best assignment her editors could come up with?
Is the casino Foxwoods wants to put at Reed and Columbus too small and unimportant for the Inky to write about?
At full buildout, Foxwoods would be comparable in size and number of slot machines to the largest casino on the Las Vegas strip, the MGM Grand Las Vegas. See this page for a detailed comparison.
Could it be that a casino the size of four Wal*Marts COMBINED would affect only a handful of people? Nope. More than 50,000 residents of South Philadelphia live within the one mile impact zone of the Foxwoods' casino.
As readers, subscribers and advertisers who care about the Inquirer's coverage we deserve answers to these questions. But I doubt that any answers will be forthcoming unless YOU ADD YOUR VOICE to those asking the Inky's top managers to explain their paper's timid and superficial casino coverage.
PLEASE WRITE THE INQUIRER NOW! Ask them to explain why they have done so little to cover the neighborhood side of the casino story. In particular the Inquirer needs to explain its shameful failure to cover Saturday's rally. If WHYY and KYW considered the rally important enough to cover, why not the Inquirer?
Thank you for considering this request for your help. It is not just city agencies that require the guidance of active, informed citizens like yourself. When the people running our newspapers fail to report the news, incompetence, greed and laziness will flourish in our city.
Please ask your friends and family to write the Inquirer as well.
Sincerely,
Ed Goppelt
Webmaster @ hallwatch.org