Slats Murphy
Sentinel continues to fail in its role as area's major news provider
By Slats Murphy, SCW Senior Columnist
Published Jun 12, 2005

Slats Murphy, Senior SCW columnist

With the change of just one vote last Monday, the Seminole County Commission would have approved raising the county's motor fuel tax by a penny.

Had they relied upon the Orlando Sentinel, residents of Seminole County would not have known about the increase until after the fact.  As it is, the Sentinel did not report the story until a week later, and even then, they did not get it correct.

Last Tuesday evening, the Seminole County School Board held a public hearing on proposed changes to its official policies.  Those policies have been at the center of several disputes this past year between the School Board and parents and families affected by School Board actions.

Had they relied upon the Orlando Sentinel, residents of Seminole County would not have known about the proposed changes until after the fact.  As it now stands, the Sentinel has still not reported on the changes, or what occurred at last week's first public hearing concerning them.

The citizens of Seminole deserve better from their only local daily newspaper.  Especially now, at a time when major issues are becoming increasingly critical to the future of the county and the direction it will take in meeting the ever-growing challenges we are facing.

Seminole County Watch has filled the void to a degree, with resources that obviously pale in comparison to those of the Sentinel and its corporate ownership.

The simple fact, however, is that the mainstream local daily newspaper remains a major source of local news for most people, and the Sentinel's performance in fulfilling that role has increasingly deteriorated.

Not only did the Sentinel ignore the proposed increase in the motor fuel tax, but the paper also got the story wrong when it finally reported six days later on the June 6 public hearing.  Here's how the Sentinel reported the results of the county commission's vote in its July 12 edition:

People who fuel up in Seminole County won't have to worry about shelling out an extra penny for a gallon of gasoline. Seminole County commissioners, who signaled earlier this year they would consider raising the local gas tax to help pay for transit services, backed off the idea last week. Under state law, four of the five commissioners would have had to support the tax increase for it to go through. But supporters couldn't muster even a simple majority.

The Sentinel's account raises the question as to whether they even had a reporter actually present at Monday's commission vote.  The paper's reporting has raised similar questions in the past, a recent example being the paper's misrepresentation of the actions of local municipalities regarding early voting opportunities.

The actual vote by the commission on the gas tax DID represent approval from a simple majority, contrary to the Sentinel's sloppy characterization.

The vote was 3-2 for the tax, with Commissioners Carlton Henley, Randy Morris and Bob Dallari in support, and Dick VanDerWeide and Brenda Carey opposed.  The vote required consent from four of the five commissioners due to a state statute imposing such conditions on actions by local commissions to raise taxes.

Complaints have arisen constantly and continually over the past year from persons discontent with the Sentinel's sloppy reporting of local issues within Seminole. 

Persons directly involved in the matters contend the Sentinel staff and reporters often fail to ferret out all angles and aspects of a story, and maintain the same slant in coverage of issues that is reflects the angle initially applied by the paper. 

Those complaints pertain to matters about which the paper actually reports.  There have also been complaints of major stories being wholly ignored, as evidenced by the paper's lack of reporting on the gas tax while it was a pending issue.

Some have voiced the opinion that the problem stems from a lackadaisical  approach by the Sentinel's Seminole staff that reflects personal laziness and apathy towards their jobs.  Others say it stems from a personal bias of those whose job it is to report for the Sentinel on Seminole proceedings.

Ultimately, the cause becomes irrelevant, yielding to the significance of the end result, which is the failure of Seminole County's major news provider to fulfill its role in an accurate and responsible manner, especially in regards to the actions of local government.

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