So, Where Was That Crime-Stats Story?

• Natinsky does know you can't file an Open Records request against a private entity like the DMN, right? I mean, he couldn't be THAT ignorant, could he?

• I prematurely hit the "Post" button. It's not for nothing that it's called the Dallas Managed News. Ryan could have spared himself the grief by simply touching base with Leppert, who likely would have told him the fix was in.

• This reminds me of the Wright Amendment. On one occasion, a cub reporter and on another, a more seasoned reporter who had relocated here from out of town (both were TV reporters), who spent a fair amount of time preparing fairly unbiased stories that they were confident were run. On both occasions, I pointed out that American Airlines was a major advertiser and supporter of pet causes of the power elite and that both stories would be killed by the editors-- on both occasions I was right. As an interesting side note, the DMN tasked Katie Fairbanks as one of their lead reporters covering controversial aspects of the Wright Amendment-- left undisclosed was the fact that her husband was a pilot with American Airlines.

• That guy in the picture kinda looks like Jim from "The Office" (with a couple of xmas-es on him). But if readers of DMN (or even Unfair Park) were really fed the true statistics--ex: car burglaries in Uptown (which are always slightly more elevated acc to a cop I know, than, say, burby Dallas)--would we ever want to go anywhere or leave our houses? Do we really want to know the whole truth? It's important for accountability's sake, but once you know, was it worth the struggle?

• It seems an odd dichotomy that the BELO Mothership would be harping on the way the DPD reports crime stats. As "in-the-tank" that the DMN seems to be on most of the City and Leppert's pet projects...one would think it would be in their best interests to support any accounting by the police that shows crime is going down in Dallas...regardless of methodology. Safer streets attract businesses, revenue and on down the line. Not trying to scare up conspiracy theories...but could it be Dallas's Power Elite used a little pressure to kill this story? Some DMN Staffer must not have gotten the memo...but hats off to them for trying to uncover the DPD pulling a fast one on us. Sounds like The Observer needs to do a little digging.

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