Even in Mayberry, the Dec. 7 article on Mill Creek City Councilman Terry Ryan’s attendance record at city council meetings would be hard pressed to crack the back page of the Mayberry Gazette.
Instead, one of Western Washington’s leading newspapers, covering one of its largest, most populous regions, deems this “non-event” worthy of a two-page spread complete with color photos. I don’t get it.
The crux of the inquiry reveals that Mr. Ryan received “excused” absences from some city council meetings. The article adds that had they been “unexcused,” however, state law would have mandated his immediate ouster from council.
Excuse me, but this is not news! It’s a hypothetical abstraction!
This would be like the police “catching” John Q. Motorist stopping at a traffic light that’s turning red but reporting it in the “police blotter” anyway.
Furthermore, this matter is really only wrist slap, in-house stuff anyway.
So, to say that this “scoop” doesn’t reach the threshold for being newsworthy is an understatement.
At most, this Pulitzer Prize aspiring chronicle would rise to the level of a cheap shot. The sad reality, however, is that it skirts becoming irresponsible journalism mindlessly serving to tarnish the image of a respected public figure.
So, please Mr. Editor, spare your readers these overblown distortions of the trivial.
TONY MERKLEY
Lynnwood
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