Local newsmakers grade the media

Former San Diego Councilman Michael Zucchet had the harshest words for the media

By Jodi Cleesattle, San Diego Pro Chapter

Partner, Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP

San Diego newsmakers went easy on the press – more or less – at this year’s annual session of “Grading the Media,” sponsored by the San Diego Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The panel discussion, held Jan. 17 at Point Loma Nazarene University, featured Mayor Jerry Sanders, former City Councilman Michael Zucchet, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority executive committee member Xema Jacobsen, and John Jodka Jr., the father of one of eight Marines charged last April with the murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdiniyah.

“Since I’ve been mayor, I think I’ve had a pretty good relationship with the press,” Sanders said. “By and large, I’ve been treated pretty fairly.”

Sanders, who opted to give the media a passing score on a pass/fail scale rather than assigning a letter grade, said he tries to take an easygoing approach toward media coverage of City Hall.

“Is it an error or something I simply don’t care for?” Sanders said. “If it’s something I don’t care for, that’s my problem. If it’s really an error -- honestly, I don’t think there have been many errors, so I just let that go. … If it’s accurate, that’s all I’ve ever asked for, [even if] I may not like it.”

Jacobsen, who was among those at the center of the controversy over the proposed relocation of San Diego’s airport to Miramar, also praised the media for generally evenhanded coverage -- singling out Voice of San Diego and KPBS for their in-depth coverage.

“The airport selection issue is controversial in itself. It’s very polarizing,” Jacobsen said. “As far as a balanced approach, I think the media did a good job.”

Jacobsen gave the print media, online media and KPBS a grade of B. She kept quiet about her grade of the local television coverage, but she did note that Channel 10 did a good job covering the airport story by interviewing a greater diversity of sources.

Zucchet, who was convicted but later acquitted of conspiracy, extortion and wire fraud in San Diego’s “strippergate” controversy, had the harshest words for the media.

“The media doesn’t have interest when things are just going along,” said Zucchet, who declined to grade the media. “When it hits the fan, they’re all there. They contribute to a feeling, an environment, a frenzy. … When you get a case involving strippers, money and Las Vegas, it’s a dream world for the media.”

Zucchet said he was treated well by reporters during his tenure on the city council, but said things changed once he became a criminal defendant.

“The media in general does a disservice to criminal defendants,” Zucchet said. “There’s a natural prosecution bias. Prosecutors leak titillating details. It’s hard for reporters to write about the weakness of a prosecutor’s case when he’s feeding them scoops.”

Zucchet said, for the most part, he was treated fairly during his trial, but said he thought some media focused on the sensational rather than the straightforward.

“Newspapers want their papers to sell. TV news wants to get ratings. Internet sites want hits,” Zucchet said. “You don’t do that by writing analytical, thoughtful, middle-of-the-road stories, but by doing sensational, sometimes hysterical pieces.”

Jodka was caught up in another sensational story, which began when his son, Marine PFC John J. Jodka, III, was charged with the murder of an Iraqi civilian.

“In general, the media was very kind to my family and kind to me personally,” Jodka said. “That’s not to say I wasn’t treated like a commodity because I was, especially by the national media. … On national TV shows, we were shoved in and out like cattle. … The local media did a good job.”

Jodka gave grades of A-/B+ to the print media, C to local radio and television stations, and an F to the national television media.

“The hard questions were not asked [by the national media],”Jodka said. “They were only looking for a sound-bite or an inflammatory comment. But once I learned that trick, I used it to my advantage. I played that game to put the word out to raise funds for the legal defense for my son. I was selling for them. … If it weren’t for the fact that my son was fighting for his life, it would have been fun.”

Jodka added, “The media spotlight was an intrusion, but it was not painful. What was painful was watching my son go through the military justice system.”

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Cox Channel 4’s Dennis Morgigno, will be broadcast soon on Channel 4.

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By James Giannini

Journalism student, Point Loma Nazarene University

A panel of newsmakers from the past year attended the recent “Report Card on the Media” hosted by the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.  

The event was held in Point Loma Nazarene University’s Fermanian School of Business and featured Mayor Jerry Sanders; Xema Jacobson, a member of the executive committee board of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority; Michael Zucchet, a former San Diego city councilmember; and John Jodka Jr., whose son John Jodka III was one of the eight Marines charged last April with the death of an Iraqi civilian. 

Panel members were invited to give the media a grade on how fairly and accurately they thought their stories were covered. 

Jacobson started the discussion by talking about her experience with the Airport Authority and it’s creation of Proposition A on last November’s ballot. San Diego voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure, which proposed the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar be developed into a commercial airport. Jacobson said the media did a good job of covering the story, but she would have liked better coverage of the airport selection process and more discussion on the ballot language. She gave the media a B.

Mayor Sanders believed his experiences with the media changed slightly when he moved from police chief to mayoral candidate. He said his beliefs tended to be more liberal and he got along fairly well with the media. However, when he was branded a Republican during his candidacy, he noticed a shift in the media’s attitude towards him.   

The mayor reacted strongly to a question posed by moderator Dennis Morgigno, regarding Sanders’ apparent orders to clamp down on providing information to the media. Sanders felt the story was completely inaccurate and opted out of giving the media any specific letter grade.  Instead, he decided the media should be graded on a pass/fail basis.

Zucchet, who was convicted but later acquitted of conspiracy, extortion and wire fraud in July 2005, was a little more critical of the media. 

“Newspapers want their papers to sell, TV news wants to get ratings, Internet sites want hits,” Zucchet said. “You don’t do that by writing analytical, middle-of-the road stories, but by doing sensational, sometimes hysterical pieces.”

He spoke of the unfair portrayal of criminal defendants in the media and believed the media tend to side with the prosecution.

“How are they supposed to report fairly when the prosecution is feeding them information and stories?” said Zucchet.

Jodka believed the media was, in general, very kind to his family. He said local news outlets did a good job at protecting his privacy.  He also said national print organizations received an F due to their “disrespect for the process.”

Jodka said it took him awhile to get used to the idea of being treated like a commodity and not a human being by the national news media.   

“The hard questions were not asked,” he said.  “They were just looking for their next juicy soundbite.”

Jodka said he managed to turn his TV appearances into fundraising events for his son’s legal defense fund.  “I put on my four-color-packaging and did what I had to do,” he said. 

After the panelists finished giving their grades, the floor was opened to a question-and-answer session from the audience, made up of various media outlets and PLNU students.