From our friends at Channel 12, a change in tone this New Year? [correction]

[Note correction below in boldface]

Last year there were many posts here reporting on Channel 12's news segments concerning the City of Lake Worth: the constant errors, one-sided political 'news stories', and the inflammatory screen images were the norm for Channel 12 (WPEC). From Jonathan [not "Matthew" as in original post] Beaton's take on the panhandling issue, to Michael Buczyner's terrible piece on commissioner travel, to Israel Balderas' "Holy War" in Lake Worth, it was hard to interpret this reporting as anything else but an organized effort to discredit the city and our current majority commission. Or was it buffoonery, plain and simple?

The topic of Channel 12 and their 'reporting' is brought up often in conversations around the city and there are many theories. Someone who I know that is very familiar with the situation is convinced most of the reporters are oblivious to what is going on. The reporters are hard working professionals, however it's the assignment editors and news editors that choose the news stories and work them up for the news viewing audience, like this for example:

There are so many good things happening in Lake Worth. Lake Worth is a city that was hit particularly hard by the Great Recession. Commercial investment in the city was non-existent for seven years and openly discouraged by our elected representatives at the time.  Out of all Palm Beach County municipalities, you could make the case that one or two other cities in the county suffered worse than our City of Lake Worth. As our City revives and grows we're not asking for any special treatment from the news media, only fairness. Is that too much to ask? 

When Channel 12 does a news story about blight in Lake Worth and they interview two ordinary concerned citizens, Katie McGiveron and Lynn Anderson, you know that Channel 12 has a problem. (I have heard of Mrs. McGiveron recently ranting in the utility offices about how high her bill was, with four of her disciples in tow.)

On New Years Eve, Lauren Hills did a story from the American Legion on Dixie Highway here in Lake Worth. It was a good story and she interviewed some local veterans who shared their wishes and concerns on the war in Afghanistan. 

The good people of Lake Worth look forward to many such stories from Channel 12 in 2015. Let's hold them to this resolution.