At a Sept. 21 Lancaster County commissioners meeting the focus turned to the journalistic practices of LNP | LancasterOnline.
During public comments, LNP | LancasterOnline staff writer Tom Lisi asked the commissioners about the commissioners’ office policy on interacting with LNP | LancasterOnline.
“I’m not aware of any restrictions on you asking questions—that’s why we have multiple public meetings a week,” Commissioner Josh Parsons said. “So, you can ask any question you want here, as you know, Tom.”
“What about outside meetings?” Lisi asked.
“You can ask any questions you want, but this is the forum for you to get answers,” Parsons responded.
Parsons then gave an example of why he is wary of interacting with LNP | LancasterOnline outside of public, recorded meetings. Parsons recounted a Sept. 20 public meeting that included discussion of the upcoming county budget. The commissioners mentioned budget gaps that would be addressed during the budget planning process, prior to final adoption of the budget.
“You reported in your article something that was absolutely false,” Parsons told Lisi. “You reported, ‘The preliminary report also showed numbers that would represent a $4.4 million budget deficit next year, though Parsons said that this is typical for how Lancaster County devises its budget. Throughout the year, he said, cost-cutting and unspent funds will eventually make up the difference.’ That’s not true. That’s absolutely false.”
Parsons said the commissioners had stated that they will work with budget services to close any gaps during the budget draft process.
Parsons then pointed out how Lisi’s initial story also said the county passed a budget with a deficit last year. Parsons said that was incorrect as well.
“This is false information and you put it out to the community,” Parsons said. “And, so either you did it deliberately, which is possible with LNP, or you didn’t understand a very basic thing and didn’t ask any further questions.”
Parsons said the false information in the article came despite the Sept. 20 meeting being publicly recorded and verifiable. “If you’re willing to do that, when it’s all on video and easily provable, what are you willing to do when it’s not on video?” he asked.
Parsons said the LNP | LancasterOnline article on the budget process was a “disservice to the community” and leads to people being misinformed about the issue. “This is why I tell people, if you read LNP you are actually worse educated on the issues,” said Parsons.
Lisi thanked Parsons for correcting the errors, noting it was the first time he was told about an error in his reporting.
“No, that’s not true,” Parsons said. “You do it all the time. And usually what you do is shade the truth.”
Parsons said that the commissioners used to have an “objective relationship” with LNP | LancasterOnline, but his distrust in the media organization has grown in recent times. “You have to be honest, and you have to print honest articles, and you’re not doing that,” Parsons told Lisi.
Lisi said if he was wrong about the budget, he would make a correction to his article.
“If it’s a mistake, it’s disqualifying,” Parsons said. “You’re not qualified to report on the budget if you make that kind of mistake. If it’s false information that you deliberately put out, then it’s disqualifying.”
Lisi’s story on LancasterOnline was later updated to include the following statement: “CLARIFICATION: Two paragraphs in the final section of the story have been updated to make clear the commissioners are still working on the 2023 budget and are continuing to work on a balanced spending plan.”
“The damage is done. Because people got false information out there, those that are still reading LNP,” said Parsons.
Local pastor Joel Saint also commented during the meeting, noting that LNP | LancasterOnline falsely claimed that Saint attended a rally at Rep. Bryan Cutler’s residence. A June 15 article from LNP | LancasterOnline was updated to include the following clarification: “Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Joel Saint attened [sic] at a protest at Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s house on Dec. 30, 2020.”
Saint criticized the publication for making claims without evidence. “You are either a liar or an idiot,” he said. “One or the other. I don’t know a third way.”
LNP | LancasterOnline also published an article on June 23 falsely stating that an outreach Saint attended included a sign that said “Burn Gays.” The Lancaster Patriot published a story with photographic evidence that the sign said “Born Gay” and was held by someone not associated with Saint or those with him. As of today, that false claim is still in the LNP | LancasterOnline article.
The video of the public meeting can be viewed via Vimeo. The discussion about LNP | LancasterOnline begins at 18:30. Saint’s comments occur at 36:05.
Chris Hume is the managing editor of The Lancaster Patriot. He can be reached at chris@thelancasterpatriot.com or @ChrisHume1689 on Twitter.
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