Topic: News Media (262)

Bellingham Herald Reprints Seattle Times Article - But With Edit

How the Herald reports Bellingham news by reprinting articles from the Seattle Times - but cannot even do that honestly.

How the Herald reports Bellingham news by reprinting articles from the Seattle Times - but cannot even do that honestly.

By

The graphic to right is an online screenshot of a Seattle Times article from Thursday, May 28. The Bellingham Herald reprinted the Times article today, Friday, May 29, in their morning print newspaper. But apparently they could not resist editing the article to remove an especially important and key word: whistleblower. The Herald eliminated “whistleblower” from the first sentence of the Times article but did not indicate on the byline that they had edited Ron Judd, the Seattle Times reporter in Bellingham.

Bellingham Herald, Friday, May 29
Bellingham Herald, Friday, May 29

No big deal, some will say. Yet actually, the whole story on Dr. Ming Lin is about his blowing the whistle on St. Joseph Medical Center and its poor-to-the-point-of-dangerous management of their medical staff by allowing them to be exposed to COVID-19 from patients. And while we know that a number of hospital staff did contract COVID-19, St. Joseph Medical Center has refused to let news media or the public know what the relevant numbers are.

Whistleblowing was the reason PeaceHealth (the large corporate owner of St. Joe’s) instructed TeamHealth (the large corporate employer and doctor rental outfit) to terminate Dr. Lin in March. Lin tried to quietly inform hospital management of serious shortcomings and they ignored him. So he went public - something he is allowed by law to do. And they fired him for it. Which is illegal. The Herald opted not to report on the story for days, until it was being reported nationally and internationally by multiple media outlets. Everywhere except in Bellingham.

I subscribe to the digital edition of the Seattle Times for $9 a month - actually $7.96 per four weeks. I also subscribe to the Bellingham Herald digital for $17 a month. The Seattle Times has their reporter cover major stories in Whatcom County and I am often able to read a story in the Times that never appears in the Herald. I subscribe to the Herald because I live here and even car crashes and local business news is important to me. Still, it is sad that our local paper does not report on our local governments, our planning departments’ decisions, our city and county councils, and so much more that is paid for with our property taxes and impacts us. I subscribed to the Herald print edition for decades, until March when we stopped bringing the paper inside because of concerns with COVID-19. So I cancelled the print version and went with digital-only. Then I was informed it would be the same price I was paying for both print and digital. Really?! Over the past year or two Herald subscription prices have been volatile - jumping up by $6 a month with no notice.

Dr Ming Lin at Rosebud / photo by Mauricio Birriel MD
Dr Ming Lin at Rosebud / photo by Mauricio Birriel MD

Subscribing to the Bellingham Herald is like buying a plane ticket; the person sitting next to you may have paid half what you paid. So, I was not surprised to learn that digital prices could be conveniently matched to what I was paying for both the print paper delivered to my home and online access. Such is the Herald.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ming Lin is working today and for the next week or more in South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, the home of the Lakota/Sioux, at their Medical Center. I asked him for a photo of himself there and he sent me this little snapshot. He is providing medical care where it is needed and appreciated.

Northwest Citizen does not pretend to compete with nor replace professional media, like the Herald. But we do serve the mission of nudging and prodding them into covering important local issues. And we try to fully report on issues, especially on development planning, that the Herald ignores almost totally.

About John Servais

Citizen Journalist and Editor • Fairhaven, Washington USA • Member since Feb 26, 2008

Comments by Readers

Michael Riordan

May 30, 2020

And another thing about fish-wrap: it really stinks after it’s a few days old.

Read More...
To comment, Log In or Register

Bellingham Herald Reprints Seattle Times Article - But With Edit

By John ServaisOn May 29, 2020

How the Herald reports Bellingham news by reprinting articles from the Seattle Times - but cannot even do that honestly.

1 comment, most recent 4 years ago

PeaceHealth Sets Up Straw Man of Dr Lin

By John ServaisOn Apr 06, 2020

Wherein we pick our way through the evolving versions of the PeaceHealth letter/ad in Sunday’s Bellingham Herald. And cover their obsessive efforts to marginalize Dr Lin.

5 comments, most recent 4 years ago

Three ways to cover a whistleblower story

By John ServaisOn Mar 20, 2020

How the Seattle Times, Bellingham Herald and this site, NWCitizen, reported on the issues raised in Dr. Ming Lin’s letter to Charles Prosper, the CMO of PeaceHealth.

1 comment, most recent 4 years ago

Bellingham Herald to end Saturday publication

By Dianne FosterOn Jun 25, 2019

Dianne Foster expresses her thoughts and regrets as the Bellingham Herald announces the pending cancellation of Saturday newspapers.

1 comment, most recent 5 years ago

New LLC Ownership for NW Citizen

By John ServaisOn Sep 27, 2018

Am delighted NW Citizen now has a solid future with its acquisition by a new LLC company

3 comments, most recent 6 years ago

A time to change NW Citizen ownership

By John ServaisOn May 13, 2018

After 20 some years of owning and managing Northwest Citizen, I am retiring - and hopeful that some person or group will take ownership and go forward.

7 comments, most recent 6 years ago

What Is Doug Ericksen Thinking?

By Michael RiordanOn Feb 13, 2018

Sen. Doug Ericksen’s blind fealty to a deeply unpopular president and his profligate use of taxpayer funds are likely to cost him dearly as he vies to get reelected in November.

8 comments, most recent 6 years ago

Dick Conoboy awarded Paul deArmond Citizen Journalism Award

By John ServaisOn Jan 10, 2018

Dick Conoboy has written for over 10 years about Bellingham city hall not enforcing its own laws and the slow destruction of single family neighborhoods. The award is well earned.

3 comments, most recent 6 years ago

KMRE Community Radio Needs Our Help

By John ServaisOn Nov 03, 2017

Saturday and Sunday, Nov 4 and 5, KMRE is hosting town hall meetings seeking ideas and help for the future of the radio station.

Operation Black and Blue Truckers Protest

By John ServaisOn Oct 07, 2017

Truckers are protesting in three states - and the news media is pretending it is not happening.

What is with the Herald?

By John ServaisOn Aug 09, 2017

Honesto Silva Ibarra died while toiling in Whatcom County berry fields. The Herald does not report it. The Weekly does. Oh, and Margaret Bikman is let go by the Herald.

2 comments, most recent 7 years ago

Cascadia News Now: Murphy, Bostrum and Layton

By John ServaisOn Aug 04, 2017

Interviews with council candidates Roxanne Murphy, Eric Bostrum and Layton Murphy

4 comments, most recent 7 years ago

Two Communications Directors?

By Michael RiordanOn Aug 01, 2017

Doug Ericksen and Anthony Scaramucci were ill cast in the role of communications directors.

The Former Joe Show

By Ellen MurphyOn Jul 27, 2017

Ellen Murphy writes a requiem. The Joe Show on KBAI is being shut down. The noon every day show is the victim of a decision of large corporate media located 2,000 miles away.

3 comments, most recent 7 years ago

Primary: I’m voting Jean Layton for city council—and you should, too

By Ralph SchwartzOn Jul 09, 2017

The Aug. 1 primary is more about who shouldn’t advance than who should.

4 comments, most recent 7 years ago

Stephanie Kountouros To Receive Paul deArmond Citizen Journalism Award

By John ServaisOn Feb 07, 2017

Stephanie Kountouros, talk show host on local community radio station KMRE, will receive the 2016 Paul deArmond Citizen Journalism Award.

A Millennial Response to Deja Vu Article

By Guest WriterOn Nov 12, 2016

We feel it appropriate to allow this millennial to blast away at us for my articles on Trump and Hillary. These articles can be referred to a year and years from now for how well they stand up.

3 comments, most recent 7 years ago

Whistleblower Defenders

By Anne MackieOn Oct 26, 2016

The role of the investigative journalist

The state of citizen journalism is strong: Two receive deArmond awards

By Ralph SchwartzOn Mar 11, 2016

The third annual deArmond dinner celebrated the work of Sandy Robson and Neah Monteiro.

2 comments, most recent 8 years ago

Dwindling Information Makes Voters Susceptible to Spin

By Guest WriterOn Oct 27, 2015

A perspective on the our changing news system, the consequences, and the challenges for the future. With a suggestion of the solution.

5 comments, most recent 9 years ago