20
Jul
2004
"Fixing Problem Properties" (written by Jeff Ignatius) is one of the worst cover stories I can remember in the Reader. (See Issue 485, July 14-20, 2004.) The title alone suggests that it would deal with bad-looking properties, perhaps tenant problems, or even a well-balanced approach to the issue of landlords who appear to be blowing off their properties and not fixing them.
Instead, it was nothing of the sort. It was not hard-hitting, it did not have any quotes from actual tenants in dispute (and it would have been rather easy to get them, as they are public record), it did not have any quotes from any landlords in dispute. Instead it only had quotes from basically three people: Greg Champagne, director of Rock Island's Community & Economic Development project (which is trying to start a building inspection program), Mike Farris, program manager for Davenport's Neighborhood Enforcement office, and Mike Steen, president of the Quad Cities Rental Property Association. Mr. Champagne and Mr. Farris are public servants who can't talk about some issues because of confidentiality, and Mr. Steen is a self-serving landlord who's obviously trying to glorify how great the landlords in the QC area are.
Granted, Mr. Ignatius is talking about building inspections only, which is not the way the cover looks, I might add; still, he could have easily gone to the Davenport City Hall or the Rock Island City Hall (as these are the two communities he picked to talk about) and actually see who is complaining, and how many landlords have repeated violations. That wouldn't have been difficult to do and would have made the article much better.
I realize Mr. Ignatius normally writes rock and general music reviews or previews, and I'm sure he does a lot of layout and editing. But as a freelance writer and as a former newspaper reporter and columnist, I am ashamed to have read this article. It is horrible; it is not journalism, and is instead what appears to be an excuse to glorify the Quad Cities Rental Property Association. The only thing Mr. Ignatius did right was this paragraph, the third in the article: "Because renters fear retaliation, often they won't report their landlords for code violations in a complaint-based system."
The paragraph goes on to state why building inspections are important; that's the only paragraph in this whole, entire article that made any sense and was not self-serving for the community leaders, government officials, and landlords. But Mr. Ignatius could have and should have followed up this good paragraph with some examples; he didn't have to reveal names, and if he was too tired or overworked to go to the various city halls and building departments, he could have just gone down to Brady Street on any Thursday in the last month and talked to some of the runners down there. That's what I would have done in his place; some of those people are renters. Some of those renters have had problems. I'm sure they'd have talked with him if he had only tried.
It seems to me that your newspaper is in need of a writer who can actually write and report the story rather than just writing puff pieces. Mr. Ignatius may be working far too much, but even if he isn't, he is the wrong person to be doing cover stories. Even his musical previews and reviews are more along the line of public relations than actual features (and yes, I've written features, too, and have a master's degree in music so I do know what I'm talking about), but they are at least competent. His cover stories aren't. They are deplorable.
If you do nothing else, please keep him from writing any more of those and just let him write rock stuff. He gets that right, at least, and seems to understand what the singer and the songs he's talking about (and the classic blues musicians, too, for that matter - he did a good job on that article for the Blues Festival a couple weeks ago) mean.
This cover story could have and should have been much better. I once again urge you to do two things: One, never let Mr. Ignatius write another cover story unless it's an interview with a rock star or something (if that's worthy of the cover), and two, hire me. I have worked at several small papers in the past, I have sold nonfiction articles, short stories, and poems (and have a novel under consideration as well), and I will do a far better job than Mr. Ignatius with these sorts of stories if you only give me a chance and keep him away from them, as he is incompetent.
Barb Caffrey
Davenport
Instead, it was nothing of the sort. It was not hard-hitting, it did not have any quotes from actual tenants in dispute (and it would have been rather easy to get them, as they are public record), it did not have any quotes from any landlords in dispute. Instead it only had quotes from basically three people: Greg Champagne, director of Rock Island's Community & Economic Development project (which is trying to start a building inspection program), Mike Farris, program manager for Davenport's Neighborhood Enforcement office, and Mike Steen, president of the Quad Cities Rental Property Association. Mr. Champagne and Mr. Farris are public servants who can't talk about some issues because of confidentiality, and Mr. Steen is a self-serving landlord who's obviously trying to glorify how great the landlords in the QC area are.
Granted, Mr. Ignatius is talking about building inspections only, which is not the way the cover looks, I might add; still, he could have easily gone to the Davenport City Hall or the Rock Island City Hall (as these are the two communities he picked to talk about) and actually see who is complaining, and how many landlords have repeated violations. That wouldn't have been difficult to do and would have made the article much better.
I realize Mr. Ignatius normally writes rock and general music reviews or previews, and I'm sure he does a lot of layout and editing. But as a freelance writer and as a former newspaper reporter and columnist, I am ashamed to have read this article. It is horrible; it is not journalism, and is instead what appears to be an excuse to glorify the Quad Cities Rental Property Association. The only thing Mr. Ignatius did right was this paragraph, the third in the article: "Because renters fear retaliation, often they won't report their landlords for code violations in a complaint-based system."
The paragraph goes on to state why building inspections are important; that's the only paragraph in this whole, entire article that made any sense and was not self-serving for the community leaders, government officials, and landlords. But Mr. Ignatius could have and should have followed up this good paragraph with some examples; he didn't have to reveal names, and if he was too tired or overworked to go to the various city halls and building departments, he could have just gone down to Brady Street on any Thursday in the last month and talked to some of the runners down there. That's what I would have done in his place; some of those people are renters. Some of those renters have had problems. I'm sure they'd have talked with him if he had only tried.
It seems to me that your newspaper is in need of a writer who can actually write and report the story rather than just writing puff pieces. Mr. Ignatius may be working far too much, but even if he isn't, he is the wrong person to be doing cover stories. Even his musical previews and reviews are more along the line of public relations than actual features (and yes, I've written features, too, and have a master's degree in music so I do know what I'm talking about), but they are at least competent. His cover stories aren't. They are deplorable.
If you do nothing else, please keep him from writing any more of those and just let him write rock stuff. He gets that right, at least, and seems to understand what the singer and the songs he's talking about (and the classic blues musicians, too, for that matter - he did a good job on that article for the Blues Festival a couple weeks ago) mean.
This cover story could have and should have been much better. I once again urge you to do two things: One, never let Mr. Ignatius write another cover story unless it's an interview with a rock star or something (if that's worthy of the cover), and two, hire me. I have worked at several small papers in the past, I have sold nonfiction articles, short stories, and poems (and have a novel under consideration as well), and I will do a far better job than Mr. Ignatius with these sorts of stories if you only give me a chance and keep him away from them, as he is incompetent.
Barb Caffrey
Davenport
