ST9302-CS 940913 Opinion ~
She's Back!
Murph is back and her unique for~ ofjonr-
nalism returns to flae pages of the CLqz. ens'
C'~' Advocate publisher Jcm Murph ~cok
a vacation dining thc smnmer to help cam-
paign for a relative in a Tennessee election.
During that time several critics of the Advo-
cate noticed that the writing had improved
and am the jonmalism was mo~ accume.
Upon Mmph's return, thc inaccurate jonmal-
ism immedimely ~ Re: August 19,
issue her fu-st story liflcd, n._~mg-T imc Resi-
dent Shot" was not InoIna'ly researched and
conlained two inaccuracies.
She wrote about a local resident that he was
"reportedly shot in the shoulder, hand, and
stomach," which is inaccurate.
She then conlradicts hen~ laterby using an
mtconfinned source that the citizen was "shot
in the shoulder, wrist, and groin," which is
also incorrect.
Thc facts are lhese: the citizen was shot in thc
shoulder, wrist, and leg.
A simple telephone call to the interim Chief
cf Police Tommie Buchanan would have been
very cooperative with the press during this
ordeal. The story had run in three other pa-
pers, so the information was readily avail-
able. Confnmation would have been easy.
Why do we keep crilici~in~ Murph's journal-
ism? Because it is poor. And it has bccn poor
for years. Thc new public's memo~ is short,
so our NEWSWATCH column is intended to
make sure Copper readers are getting accu-
rate information. · Jean Murph is a public
figure, and as such we have a right to criticize
her work in that capacity.
In her August editorial Murph, a resident of
Grapc~e, writes, ~I'he Advocate staff did a
superb job, and it's obvious I'm not needed
here!!"
We couldn't agrec more.
Misrepresentation - The photograPh that
ran on the front page of the August 26,
Advocate was misrepresentative of the type
of electric poles that may be installed in thc
median of the planned expansion of Sandy
Lake Road, according to a TU official.
The photograph showed a corner pole which,
according to the official, will not be used.
He said, "A more accurate description of the
pole could be found on Marsh Road at Bdfline
in Dallas although they are not landscaped
polesY
One alternative to the above ground _pole is
to bury the wires. However, the wives must be
encased in oil filled pipes in order for heat
from the wires to dissipate. Motors would be
needed to circulate the oil through the under-
ground pipes in order to cool the wires.
Almost one acre ~f dedicated land would be
area to ~e~ve as a mmsifion si~ Tolal cost of
~ alternhtive ~ may exceed $7 milliolx
Copl~ Planning ~ ~ Sieb told the
Journal that from a design aspect, he cannot
recommend that council allow thc imlalla-
'I lust learned alnmt TU's intent to install the
poles several months ago, but the $7 million
figure was never discussed until the last
council meeting," Sieb said.
"Vq'fll the citizens of the future scoff at us for
allowing these poles to be installed?" he
asked, referring to our committment to build
a beautiful city for the future.
"Yon really can~ plant a free that would make
a signifiemt impact on trying to camonflage
the uega6ve impact of a pole that is 90-1 10
feet in the ai~," h~ said.
The photograph of the poles on Marsh Road
appears above, and a natmal treeline is shown
landscaping the poles on Thweatt Road in
Coppell shown below. The TU official said
that only one side of the poles would be
used for wires for the first 15-20 years.
So Long, Coleman and Shay
Special thanks to Gazette staff writer Mi-
chad Coleman and Metrocrest
News staff writer Kevin Shay
for all of your hard work. You/ '.~
guys helped get the word out
to the public. You are true
professionals and I thank you~.~\ i.~-~
for being responsive to the
needs of our community and writing good,
accurate copy. You will be missed.
Philip Mills
Mike Masingill
The Area's #1 Sales Team
"We've Sold Hundreds
of Homes in our Market."
Call Us At
393-2100
WE CAN SELL YOUR HOME!
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