thisnewday

[Over the past weekend, the Syracuse Post-Standard, which is often criticized for its lack of in-depth, investigative reporting, published a story with details of a binding, pre-tenure employment contract between the director of operations (early forties, female) and the interim superintendant (mid-to-late-sixties, male) of a local school district already rocked by lawsuits, financial distress, and accusations of fraud, conspiracy, and abuse of authority.

The lynch pin of the article was the revelation that the newspaper had staked out the super's rented apartment in the affluent village of Skaneateles and observed the up-for-tenure director of ops arriving late in the evening and leaving early in the morning. Both are married.

In response, I submitted the following comment which the editors promptly deleted. Maybe I was just wrong about support for the arts in Central New York.]


I think I can appreciate good investigative journalism as much as anyone. But comparing this article to the work of Woodward and Bernstein is, in my opinion, a bit of a stretch. After all, the Watergate sleuths kept us in suspense for months without ever revealing who Deep Throat was. In this article, you know after the first few paragraphs.

On the other hand it seems to me that, for simple brevity and elegance of expression, nothing beats the traditional limerick. So, for those still lamenting our city's recent loss of the Syracuse Symphony, I offer the following:

The Midnight Ballad of Paula & Larry

Two crooks named VanMinos and Zachers
Conspired to screw all of their backers
So they cooked up a deal
Between grunts and squeals
That made Enron execs look like slackers.

See? Fine art still lives in Central New York!

LPK
LiveJournal
5.16.2011