We have seen for several years that
the Marietta Daily Journal (MDJ) has little interest in
journalistic objectivity, either on its news pages or its
editorial pages. However in these past few weeks they have demonstrated
such arrogant partisanship that I was moved to write this article
and to publish here a recent letter I wrote to the editor.
On August 1st, they published a
so-called news items about how Donna Rowe, wife of failed
Republican school-board candidate Al Rowe, was supporting the John
Crooks campaign. The paper opines "Although
the winner of the Aug. 8 runoff still has to face Democratic Post
6 hopeful Dr. Beth Farokhi, a retired administrator from Georgia
State University, in the November general election, Mrs. Rowe says
'she expects the winner of the Aug. 8 runoff to have
essentially won the seat in heavily Republican east Cobb.'"
The MDJ
has essentially written off Dr. Farokhi's candidacy. Here is
what I wrote in response:
I need to remind Mrs. Rowe (Around Town, August 1) that although East Cobb has voted Republican in the past, School Board races are not always partisan political contests. Indeed, this year, there is another formidable candidate running for the Post 6 School Board, Dr. Beth Farokhi. In a June 28 forum, sponsored by the East Cobb Civic Association, where Post 6 and other School Board candidates spoke, Dr. Crooks admitted, in his own words, “Dr. Farokhi is by far the best-qualified school board candidate here tonight.” Whereupon, he suddenly caught himself, realizing what he had just said, and smiled sheepishly. By his own admission, Dr. Crooks believes Dr. Beth Farokhi is the best candidate for the school board. I agree with him.
I have met Dr. Crooks and admire the stand he has taken against the incumbent Kathie Johnstone. However, Dr. Crooks, although perhaps a good church administrator, has little or no real experience as an educator. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree and has spent his entire career as a church administrator. Whereas, Dr. Beth Farokhi earned her Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Georgia and has spent her entire career working to improve the education of our children. She began her career as an elementary school teacher right here in Cobb County. She served on countywide committees for curriculum, textbook selection, and mathematics curriculum objectives. She was appointed by the superintendent to revamp the non-graded curriculum and reporting system for grades 1-12. After receiving her master’s degree from Emory and a doctorate from UGA, Dr. Farokhi continued her career in education by serving as an administrator at Georgia State’s School of Education. Beth served on the national board of the American Association of University Women and served for two terms as its Executive Vice President/Secretary. She served previously on the board as Regional Director for the South Atlantic Region for four years where she traveled to six states and Puerto Rico providing leadership training.
Beth has received numerous awards for her leadership and work in education. She was named Woman of Achievement in Georgia 2005 by the Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Women. She was selected three times to Who's Who in American Education. She was also elected to Kappa Delta Pi, International Education Honor Society. She was recognized three times as a named gift honoree for the Educational Foundation of the American Association of University Women.
I can understand why Dr. Crooks believes that Dr. Beth Farokhi is the most qualified of any school board candidate in many years. So do I, and so will most East Cobb voters this November, no matter what their party affiliation. It is time we put highly qualified educators and leaders on the school board. I’m afraid that Dr. Crooks does not fit the bill.
As Democrats, we must stand up to
partisan media attacks with attacks of our own. The MDJ is
probably the most egregiously partisan paper in our area.
They feature the most vile right-wing Regressives in their
editorial pages on a regular basis (Anne Coulter and Bill
O'Reilly.) Even on its news pages we find so-called journalists
giving their opinions as real news. When Democrats see such
garbage masquerading as news, we must respond. Write your
letters to letters@mdjonline.com.
[Addendum, 8/11/06 - Yesterday, I
received a call from Bill Kinney, Associate Editor of the Marietta
Daily Journal. He explained that they had elected not to run the
letter above in the midst of the Runoff campaign. He said
they wanted to wait until later in the year to run it.]
Contact Sander
Bellman
