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What on earth is going on over at Georges media? https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/the_latest/article_ed480074-3a74-11eb-8ba9-971dc708a11b.html
On the one hand, okay, we appreciate the apology. On the other hand. Think about the timing in this.
Gambit published its recommendation online on Nov 19. Basically at the same time that the Advocate, editorial board published this column recommending that people vote No These publications are under the same ownership. https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_6fa4992c-2a78-11eb-a1ff-0b3f41325f31.html
The Advocate cites BGR in its editorial whose report was published November 16. Before the Gambit recs appeared https://www.bgr.org/report-index/bgr-examines-december-5-new-orleans-property-tax-propositions/
Antigravity published its voter guide on the 21st. Technically after Gambit, but it is still striking how different they are given that at practically the same moment the universe of facts available to both was the same.
But what I really want to talk about here is Gambit's claim about The Lens. Not only did their reporting not appear "in the days following" Gambit's endorsement, they had been on the story for several months.
This is kind of quick and dirty searching from me right now but it will suffice to refer to this story from August 18 as an example of The Lens's coverage https://thelensnola.org/2020/08/18/library-to-see-40-percent-budget-cut-under-cantrell-property-tax-proposal/
Going further back there is this article where the Lens, did a far better job than any other outlet explaining what was going on with the creation of OBES, the department that would have benefited most from the millage passage https://thelensnola.org/2020/07/28/a-major-paradigm-shift-new-orleans-hires-former-short-term-rental-executive-to-lead-land-use-regulation-with-new-business-minded-approach/
If anything Gambit should be apologizing for failing to read The Lens
But honestly they could have just read the reporting in their sister publication. The Advocate was perfectly fine for getting the facts about what the millages did. And like we said, its editorial board came out against them. But I still have one question about that
After the Advocate editorial ran in the paper, it was also published to the website. But not the " http://NOLA.com " side. Instead it went to the "Baton Rouge" opinions. Why?
Similarly the Advocate published a letter from former Gambit editor Kevin Allman advocating for the library. That also went to the Baton Rouge page
Anyway I don't know how the site works and why all that stuff happens. But I do know that in the days leading up to the election, a http://NOLA.com user was far more likely to find the Gambit recs than the Advocate articles hidden in the Baton Rouge page.
As always, I urge everybody to read and support their local journalists. That includes all of the folks who do the good work at the Georges outlets. There's so much going on in this city and so few resources to cover it.
But especially I think those who are able to help ought to know where this button is https://thelensnola.org/donate-to-the-lens-today/
