Around 5pm yesterday (8/23) many folks got a BREAKING NEWS ALERT from WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC news, breathlessly reporting that the Allen County Commissioners had eliminated SE Fort Wayne as a potential location for the new Allen County Jail.
Well, not quite. Here's what happened:
During a Zoom call/meeting with a WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC reporter, Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters explained that due to much consternation (pressure) from the community, the Commissioners were looking at two other locations for the facility. In his measured and reserved voice, Commissioner Peters seemed to indicate that the SE Fort Wayne location was "off the table". Commissioner Peters did not say it was "off the table" exactly, as his comments were not precise.
That's where the problem began. IF the intrepid WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC reporter had asked for a clarification, (Commissioner Peters is a politician skilled at mincing and parsing words) or even asked the specific question "so, the Southeast Fort Wayne location is "off the table" WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC might not have ended up with egg on their face. Instead, they took their interpretation of Commissioner Peter's words and ran with them.
Commissioner Peter's "announcement" was music to the ears of many who had been fighting the placement of a new jail in SE Fort Wayne. Councilman at-large Glynn Hines repeated Commissioner Peters "announcement" during closing comments at Tuesday's City Council meeting, taking joy and encouragement that Fort Wayne's often ignored Southeast side would not be further stigmatized by being awarded another undesirable institution. (Remember the toxic landfill?)
They joy of a victory was short-lived, however. According to a person inside the building on Butler Road, Mr. Peters called to complain that he had been "misquoted" and demanded that the story be "corrected" to say that while two other locations were being considered, the proposed SE site was, indeed, not "off the table". Scripts were then revised, web pages updated and WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC went into full Cover-Your-Ass mode.
For a textbook case of ass-covering, here's the REVISED story from the kids out on Butler Road.
By comparison, WANE-15's Dirk Rowley had no problem deciphering and understanding Commissioner Peters comments. Readers will note that the WPTA ABC21/Fort Wayne's NBC story still has material differences compared to the WANE-15 story. It would appear that Dirk and WANE-15 got it right.
