Based on what's found in here:
HISD Interim Superintendent Latham talks taxes, budget cuts, campus closures. HoustonChronicle.com
As Houston ISD administrators outlined an initial projection of a $76 million shortfall in 2019-2020, Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan this week addressed several issues facing the state’s largest school district. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle — her first since HISD trustees voted to replace her before reversing course in mid-October — Lathan touched on HISD’s mounting budget challenges, her outlook on spending cuts, whether HISD should seek a tax increase and predictions for school finance reform, among other topics.
Here are Lathan’s extended comments, with additional context from the Chronicle on each topic. (emphasis mine)
I would not, under any circumstances, sit down for an interview with the Houston Chronicle until after they disavow this horrid practice.
Interviews where a newspaper doesn't release the actual recordings, or live-stream them, are bad enough, just ask Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw about that. In fact, the Chronicle Editorial Board has a long history of playing fast and loose with quotes from some elected officials. It got so bad that, starting with Rick Perry, Republican elected officials at the state level just stopped interacting with them at all.
Now that they've seemingly decided to openly editorialize in supposed interviews on the hard news side there's very little impetus for you to talk to them at all. If one of their reporters comes at you with questions I would record the conversation. In fact, I would have no conversations with them absent a video recorder and 2 witnesses.
This type of editorializing in-line is journalism malpractice. The editor who green-lighted it should be either demoted, fired, or required to spend the rest of their career chasing after John McClain and ensuring he has enough snacks to last the game.
It remains to be seen whether or not this becomes the new norm for the Chronicle when interviewing or if it's just reserved for a category of public figures they don't like all that much. I wouldn't take the chance. In fact, given the electoral record you'd probably be better just not speaking with them at all.
Don't worry about freedom of the press, there are both other outlets that you can speak with who will not behave in this manner and, if they persist along this route, they're not really the "press" anyway are they?
Interviews should be just that, questions and answers related to the public in an honest, transparent manner without allowing the newspaper to editorialize in a manner the subject is not allowed to respond to.
I wonder if Ms. Latham knew this "context" was going to be added in after the fact? My guess is no, she did not.
Nor will you, when they decide you're on a side they don't like and try to "context" you either.
Just don't do it.
Sincerely,
YDOP.
