Kirsten Pabst-Lacroix goes after Missoulian

[TomCat88]

http://www.pabstlaw.net/Blog.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Former attorney in the Missoula County DA office.

So why can the Missoulian publish allegations labeling legally innocent people as ‘sexual offenders’ because a couple of disgruntled young adults, who get to remain anonymous, spin a good story to a reporter too lazy to check the facts? Why can a reporter combine sensational facts from different scenarios and weave them together into a fascinating tale of horror and shame? Why can one journalist invoke such fear in the minds of so many, with NOBODY, except an occasional blogger, calling foul? The answer is that reporters answer to no one, except their corporate owners who, by all accounts, need to sell many, many more papers than are currently filling the yellow boxes. Thankfully, most reporters are guided by their own sense of community obligation, truth and justice. But sadly, all of those reporters have moved on.

Not sure I've read anything in the Missoulian labeling anyone to be a sex offender. The articles I've read (I haven't read them all, so maybe I missed it) haven't said anyone is a sex offender. They've said that someone has been accused of a sexual offense, which may or may not be in poor taste. A direct reference to an article showing that this occurred would've helped this rant.

What keeps legitimate newspapers and reporters honest is getting the story straight. If you continually fail to do so you go out of business/are fired or become the National Enquirer or a reporter for it. No need to have reporters be elected to office (yes, I realize she isn't serious about that).

[SonomaCat]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

[TomCat88]

Just wanted to clarify this:

They've said that someone has been accused of a sexual offense, which may or may not be in poor taste.

Meaning that if someone is accused, not charged, there's a line where you name or don't name them in print. It would be in poor taste to put some Average Joe's name in the paper based on an accusation. It depends on that person's standing in the community, such as a well known public official, celebrity, etc. A lot of people (namely fans of those teams) do, so I have a difficult time understanding why those fans, who put these guys on a pedestal, are complaining. We're the ones who give the impression that the players are celebrities or pillars of the community.

[tampa_griz]

Just wanted to clarify this:

They've said that someone has been accused of a sexual offense, which may or may not be in poor taste.

Meaning that if someone is accused, not charged, there's a line where you name or don't name them in print. It would be in poor taste to put some Average Joe's name in the paper based on an accusation. It depends on that person's standing in the community, such as a well known public official, celebrity, etc. A lot of people (namely fans of those teams) do, so I have a difficult time understanding why those fans, who put these guys on a pedestal, are complaining. We're the ones who give the impression that the players are celebrities or pillars of the community.

I think releasing names of people that have been accused of a crime, while not charged with a crime, is usually reserved for much higher profiles than Jordan Johnson. He isn't a governor or wealthy celebrity. This is going to have a terrible on impact on the rest of his life whether he's guilty or not. It's not like he's a 1st round draft pick raking in gobs of cash.

The Missoulian has been rocked lately by a lot of veteran journalists leaving their paper. Jaimie Kelly, Michael Moore, Chelsi Moy, Joe Nickell, and Erica Schenck have all left very recently. They've got some serious problems there. Now they've recently hired George Ochenski; the biggest drama queen that ever wrote for a newspaper. Check out this article written by Florio in today's edition. The first sentence reads, "The cross-dressing former snowmobile salesman and militia leader who hasn’t been seen since a shootout with Missoula County sheriff’s deputies more than a year ago is still missing". I can't exactly explain what it is that bothers me about it but I can't remember stories written like that before her arrival. It just seems very tabloid-ish.

[cats2506]

So really is any of this new. Some papers called Andrew Jackson's wife a "whore" during his presidential election, Thomas Pain can easily be considered a propagandist. Just watch MSNBC some night and tell me they are not promoting a certain agenda. Reporters are accountable to their editors and publishers, it comes with the 1st amendment. Prosecutors and Public Officials have been whining about this since the bill of rights was written. The fact is that there is more than enough smoke coming out of the university in Missoula that the Missoulian is justified in reporting on the fire, in fact they could be considered negligent in their duties as the press if the ignored it like many fizz homers wish they would.

[tampa_griz]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

[cats2506]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

I'm not saying that they aren't still despicable scum, deal with it like the rest have for years, just because one of your own has turned on you is no reason to whine about it

[tampa_griz]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

I'm not saying that they aren't still despicable scum, deal with it like the rest have for years, just because one of your own has turned on you is no reason to whine about it

One of our own?

[cats2506]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

I'm not saying that they aren't still despicable scum, deal with it like the rest have for years, just because one of your own has turned on you is no reason to whine about it

One of our own?

griz fan - douchebag reporter ..... I classify them the same

[Weltercat]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

That is a really good point! I am always amazed when people think that stifling the press and limiting access to courts is a good substitute for relying on people’s morals. This would be a classic argument between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.

[tampa_griz]

This whole "blame the press" thing is Missoula has gotten kind of insane. It seems like they are in an echo chamber and don't realize how bad that sort of thing is looking to the rest of the world.

What's even more insane is all of this new-found love for journalists by BN posters! One of the biggest slams against UM for years was that it produced journalists because journalists are despicable scum. Not anymore!

I'm not saying that they aren't still despicable scum, deal with it like the rest have for years, just because one of your own has turned on you is no reason to whine about it

One of our own?

griz fan - douchebag reporter ..... I classify them the same

You think Florio is a douchebag reporter?

[gtapp]

The article/blog makes some good points. I don't know if the Missoulian published stories without any background work or not and if they did shame on them! But the article/blog associates this apparent lack of effort/poor journalism with everyone being innocent. At least that is how I read it. The two are not related. If the Missoulian was out of line that is a seperate issue from the main concern which is how many sexual assaults in Missoula have been ignored by the justice system (if any) and how many sexual assaults have been committed by um football players and ignored (if any)? Every newspaper, radio station and TV station is trying to make a profit and thus they all sensationalize to various degree's but that does not mean their stories don't have merit, just that there not always as severe as they make it out to be!

[SonomaCat]

Reporting negative news about an organization (the Griz football team) that is practically worshipped by a huge percentage of your target demographic and advertisers doesn't seem like something that would be motivated by the business side of a newspaper. In fact, it would seem like a pretty terrible business approach.

[tampa_griz]

Reporting negative news about an organization (the Griz football team) that is practically worshipped by a huge percentage of your target demographic and advertisers doesn't seem like something that would be motivated by the business side of a newspaper. In fact, it would seem like a pretty terrible business approach.

Does she still quote people that don't know how to find out who owns eGriz?

[Toucat]

The article/blog makes some good points. I don't know if the Missoulian published stories without any background work or not and if they did shame on them! But the article/blog associates this apparent lack of effort/poor journalism with everyone being innocent. At least that is how I read it. The two are not related. If the Missoulian was out of line that is a seperate issue from the main concern which is how many sexual assaults in Missoula have been ignored by the justice system (if any) and how many sexual assaults have been committed by um football players and ignored (if any)? Every newspaper, radio station and TV station is trying to make a profit and thus they all sensationalize to various degree's but that does not mean their stories don't have merit, just that there not always as severe as they make it out to be!

I live in the Missoulian market, and the general consensus I'm hearing on the street is just like you note; yes, the stories do have merit, but Missoulian has generally exaggerated the severity of this thing by trying to do a "gotcha" with every story by implying that every person in any way related is part of a grand conspiracy. Pabst-Lacroix herself is a good example. She was one of the primary prosecutors involved with prosecuting of a lot of the alleged offenses until she left the county attorney's office early this spring. In various stories the Missoulian has implied she was neck deep in a conspiracy to protect the football players and other suspects (Pabst-Lacroix actually testified on behalf of a suspect in one case), and implied that she left the county attorney's office as part of the house-cleaning that's going on in Missoula.

I don't know Pabst-Lacroix, but everything I have ever heard about her has been positive, except what I've read in the Missoulian with regard to Rape-Gate. I don't think gtapp should be surprised that Pabst-Lacroix equates the Missoulian's allegedly poor coverage with a suspect's innocence. She was responsible for determining whether several of these matters were prosecuted, so a claim that the county attorney's office was not doing its job usually falls on whether Pabst-Lacroix was doing her job.

[gtapp]

The article/blog makes some good points. I don't know if the Missoulian published stories without any background work or not and if they did shame on them! But the article/blog associates this apparent lack of effort/poor journalism with everyone being innocent. At least that is how I read it. The two are not related. If the Missoulian was out of line that is a seperate issue from the main concern which is how many sexual assaults in Missoula have been ignored by the justice system (if any) and how many sexual assaults have been committed by um football players and ignored (if any)? Every newspaper, radio station and TV station is trying to make a profit and thus they all sensationalize to various degree's but that does not mean their stories don't have merit, just that there not always as severe as they make it out to be!

I live in the Missoulian market, and the general consensus I'm hearing on the street is just like you note; yes, the stories do have merit, but Missoulian has generally exaggerated the severity of this thing by trying to do a "gotcha" with every story by implying that every person in any way related is part of a grand conspiracy. Pabst-Lacroix herself is a good example. She was one of the primary prosecutors involved with prosecuting of a lot of the alleged offenses until she left the county attorney's office early this spring. In various stories the Missoulian has implied she was neck deep in a conspiracy to protect the football players and other suspects (Pabst-Lacroix actually testified on behalf of a suspect in one case), and implied that she left the county attorney's office as part of the house-cleaning that's going on in Missoula.

I don't know Pabst-Lacroix, but everything I have ever heard about her has been positive, except what I've read in the Missoulian with regard to Rape-Gate. I don't think gtapp should be surprised that Pabst-Lacroix equates the Missoulian's allegedly poor coverage with a suspect's innocence. She was responsible for determining whether several of these matters were prosecuted, so a claim that the county attorney's office was not doing its job usually falls on whether Pabst-Lacroix was doing her job.

Fair enough! I still think the blog could have been written better to maybe imply that the jury is still out (sort of speak) on some of these cases!

[grizatwork]

I think you have to be naive to think that the media of today resembles anything like it did 20 years ago. Traditional media is dying on the vine. Look at both Fox and MSNBC. Both are obvious schills for the republican and democratic parties respectively. Newspapers are dying for readers and advertisers. I initially found it odd that Will and now Colter spend so much time here, but they almost have to. Notice that when Colter posts something, it is a link to the chronicle. He has to get hits on that site. The fourth estate is dying. No one wants to read an unbiased story with credible sources that are double checked and verified. People would rather go to their favorite tabs and pull up the political site that already validates their partisan view of the world. Look at Rehberg. He sent a letter to the EPA demanding they stop spying on us with drones based on information from a conspiracy website that was picked up another site and another and another before he decided to believe it as fact. It is like a bad game of telephone we played as kids. The message boards we use are just as guilty. Personally, I have been guilty of it as well. Telling people something I read on this or egriz as fact, when it has turned out to be rumor. Personally I would rather have a paper on my lap in the morning while I am on the toilet instead of my laptop or tablet, but I guess I am old fashioned that way.

[PapaG]

[

I think releasing names of people that have been accused of a crime, while not charged with a crime, is usually reserved for much higher profiles than Jordan Johnson. He isn't a governor or wealthy celebrity. This is going to have a terrible on impact on the rest of his life whether he's guilty or not. It's not like he's a 1st round draft pick raking in gobs of cash.

The starting QB of the Grizzlies is arguably the most recognizable and feted person in Missoula. Being accused of sexual assault, coming directly on the heels of numerous sexual assault accusations and/or alleged cover-ups, is newsworthy.

Florio is an investigative reporter for the Missoulian. I'm not sure what people expect out of somebody with that role, and as BAC already pointed out, what does the Missoulian have to gain by going after the lifeblood of the Missoula community?

From the outside, all of this hand wringing and teeth gnashing over Gwen Florio and the Missoulian seems like a rather basic case of projection by the Griz faithful. Circling the wagons and lashing out at others is not a new sociological concept for those who find themselves in a defensive stance. Pretending that the starting QB of the Griz is just another citizen of Missoula seems rather odd, too. Should Griz fans also demand that Johnson's photo not be on the front page of the A-section when the Griz get a big win on the field? Or does only positive news extend past the Sports' page, and negative news be ignored?

[grizatwork]

Good point papaG. You can't be excited when your quarterback makes the front page because he beats the cats and then tears apart Northern Iowa in and ESPN night game and then be surprised when he makes it above the fold because of off the field issues. You will never catch me blaming the Missoulian in any of this. You may find me lamenting the change in journalism in general and waxing poetically about how much better a newspaper feels in my hands in the morning on the toilet instead of a kindle fire, but to blame the messenger is just dumb.

[vike_king]

I think you have to be naive to think that the media of today resembles anything like it did 20 years ago. Traditional media is dying on the vine. Look at both Fox and MSNBC. Both are obvious schills for the republican and democratic parties respectively. Newspapers are dying for readers and advertisers. I initially found it odd that Will and now Colter spend so much time here, but they almost have to. Notice that when Colter posts something, it is a link to the chronicle. He has to get hits on that site. The fourth estate is dying. No one wants to read an unbiased story with credible sources that are double checked and verified. People would rather go to their favorite tabs and pull up the political site that already validates their partisan view of the world.

Great point, especially about Fox Opinion and MSNBC. What a waste of time they both are....I call them "Preaching to the Choir" channels.

Even CNN doesn't really have much of a news report anymore. It has become sensational trying to keep from losing advertisers. News departments have to be cash streams now, not "News" outlets.